Pros:
He understood the direction society was going in the early 20th century, and predicted the moral decay of the West with surprising clarity for someone who died in 1957. Some of his writings on this (e.g. Signs of Moral Downfall and Isobel Sabri's Pilgrim's Notes) seemed almost prophetic.
Remained true to the conservative aspects of the Baha'i Faith (as it relates to personal morality, chastity), in spite of any pressure there may have been from liberal converts of the time to compromise on these.
Wrote some things limiting the sphere of the UHJ's powers (I guess it might have been in his interests to do this)
Cons:
Held unreasonable grudges that were in the long term very bad for the Baha'i Faith. Used Baha'i Faith as a tool to retaliate against those he had grudges, and did his best to make it sting. Excommunicated his family members, and never forgave them, in spite of them apologizing and begging for decades to be let back in. Because of Shoghi Effendi none of Baha'u'llah's family is in the Baha'i Faith any more.
Enforced unreasonable policies with respect to obedience to governments. Declared Baha'i refugees to be Covenant Breakers for not staying in Iran and getting martyred. Made Lidia Zamenhoff stay in Poland and get slaughtered in the Holocaust.
Cultural purging of the Baha'i Faith. For example, I believe Shoghi Effendi was the first to ban Baha'is from having dual membership in both the Baha'i Faith and in Sufi Orders
Neutral:
His roles as interpreter and translator is mixed. Some interpretations/translations were good and some were bad.
He is the originator of this doctrine of Abdul Baha having a "special station" between a human and a manifestation but closer to a manifestation. This is a bad doctrine, but it didn't really change much since the Baha'is already pretty much viewed Abdul Baha as being a prophet or prophet-like. Who knows - this doctrine may have even been an effort by Shoghi Effendi to prevent Baha'is from viewing Abdul Baha as a prophet.
Shoghi Effendi contributed to the bureaucratization of the Baha'i Faith, but I think he may be given a little to much blame. Most of the problems of the Baha'i administration are simply a result of over-centralization, and I think this is mostly Abdul Baha's fault for creating the institution of the UHJ. Institutions like the ITC and Regional Council were created directly by the UHJ, not Shoghi Effendi. Abdul Baha is also responsible for the Soviet-style Council Democracy hierarchy of the LSA, NSA, and UHJ.
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