Sen McGlinn’s "weak" arguments about the separation of Church and State and the Baha'i position on this issue.

As R. Danesh wrote: “..., the terms Baha’i State and Baha’i theocracy appear in authoritative Baha’i Writings and the Universal House of Justice has spoken of a future that will see the union of spiritual and civil authority.” [“Church and State in the Baha’i Faith: An Epistemic Approach” 2008.] With regard to Sen’s arguments and position, Danesh uses...

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Baha'u'llah revealed Himself to a humanity who had "attained the stage of maturity."

 After all, Baha'u'llah revealed Himself to a humanity who had "attained the stage of maturity."(Gleanings 33:2; see also Kitab-i-Aqdas 149)(Loyalty to the Covenant and Critical Thought - A Commentary by Udo Schaefer)See also...https://bahaitexts.blogspot.com/2018/07/hundreds-of-thousands-of-verses-written.h...

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The "Baha'i state" will function, "in all religious and civil matters, in strict accordance with the laws and ordinances in the Kitab-i-Aqdas".

The Kingdom of Bahá’u’lláh“With regard to the question about the manner in which the laws of the Universal House of Justice will be enforced on the peoples of the world, this needs to be understood within the context of the gradual evolution of the Faith and the emergence of the world commonwealth. From the extract from "Messages to the Bahá'í World,...

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A considerable number of Baha'is accepted Mason Remey

Surely, there is a reason why the Covenant breaking followers of Mason Remey, despite their fallacious arguments, managed to win over a considerable number of people.-Loyalty to the Covenant and Critical Thought - A Commentary by Udo Schae...

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Blending of Church and State in the future Baha'i world.

He [Bahá'u'lláh] has ordained and established the House of Justice, which is endowed with a political as well as a religious function, the consummate union and blending of church and state. This institution is under the protecting power of Bahá'u'lláh Himself. A universal, or international, House of Justice shall also be organized. Its rulings shall...

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al-ulama fil baha (The learned in Baha)

See Kitab-i-Aqdas, verse 173. The learned in Bahá’: al-‘ulamá’ fi’l bahá’. The Arabic term ‘ulamá’ (from ‘ilm=knowledge) denotes those who know, who are qualified by their knowledge. In the Bahá’í community there are no formal criteria for becoming one of the “learned”, or a scholar of the Faith. The only qualification is deep knowledge of the Cause....

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Udo Schaefer & Peter Khan about Baha'i Scholarship and why "a number of very capable and sincere people severed their connection with the Faith"

I know only too well whereof I speak. Over a period of five decades, I have had repeated, painful experiences with the anti-intellectualism in our community.This is obviously a world-wide phenomenon in Baha'i communities. Peter Khan writes "... I saw around me ... in both Australia and the United States, a number of very capable and sincere people...

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Not allowing women in the House of Justice is a superstition.

God has endowed man with intelligence and reason... If religious beliefs and opinions are found contrary to the standards of science, they are mere superstitions and imagination... If religious belief and doctrine is at variance with reason, it proceeds from the limited mind of man and not from God; therefore, it is unworthy of belief and...

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"think of ways of imparting the message to prominent people"

Abdu'l Baha exhorted the believers to "think of ways of imparting the message to prominent people, for once such persons have given their allegiance to the Faith, they will cause the people to be led, troop after troop, to the wellspring of unfailing guidance."(Compilation - Teaching Prominent People (London 1990), p. 1.)(Loyalty to the Covenant and...

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Loyalty to the testimony of our faith is the prerequisite for any intellectual reflection.

The foundation of our faith, our thoughts and intellectual endeavors, is the Covenant of God, established by Bahá’u’lláh, and embodied in his scripture, as well as the authoritative interpretations by ‘Abdu’l-Baha- and Shoghi Effendi. Firmness and loyalty to the Covenant and obedience to the holy writings and the institutions of the community...

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What holds back the development of the Cause of Baha'u'llah?

One danger is that an ultra-conservative attitude, mistrustful of any critical thought, makes unjust claims to interpretative authority and strives to maintain everything the way it is, by disallowing critical questions and by ‘keeping the lid on.’ Such a fundamentalist stance attempts to disallow critical questions from being asked, and holds back...

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Sen McGlinn about "Shoghi Effendi's surprise at the strange beliefs of Western Baha'is"

Shoghi Effendi was often surprised at the strange beliefs of Western Bahais, and when speaking in person he could be almost scathing about their foolishness. “The chatter of idle minds” in the example you gave may not be what he actually said however - the report might be spun to support one faction in the American Bahai community against another....

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The Baha'i world government of the future

The following two passages were quoted in a 5 July 1982 letter to an individual on behalf of the House of Justice:“As regards the International Executive referred to by the Guardian in his "Goal of a New World Order", it should be noted that this statement refers by no means to the Bahá'í Commonwealth of the future, but simply to that world government...

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Baha'u'llah and Shoghi Effendi about philosophy

One important discipline that helps our dialogue with academics is philosophy. One encounters repeatedly the misunderstanding that Baha'u'llah has called philosophy a science that "begins with words and ends with words". This is absolutely wrong, as Shoghi Effendi has encouraged us to study philosophy...(Loyalty to the Covenant and Critical Thought...

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Qur'an is our Old Testament

... this must include an intimate knowledge of the Writings of the Bab, Baha'u'llah, 'Abdu'l-Baha and the clarifications and the writings and explanations of Shoghi Effendi. There is also a need for a deep knowledge and profound understanding of Islam, for the Qur'an is, so to speak, our Old Testament.(Loyalty to the Covenant and Critical Thought by...

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