Some earliest Baha'is were expelled from the Baha’i faith because they shared the desire for a more free-thinking, liberal Baha’i faith.

A few years ago I read some out-of-print books on the internet, and was fascinated to discover that the earliest “Covenant-breakers” were expelled from the Baha’i community precisely because they shared the desire for a more free-thinking, liberal Baha’i faith. It is not easy to learn this, because the evidence for this fact has been omitted from recently published histories of the religion; and even in the past, the reason for the rebellion of some early Baha’i insiders was glossed over as simply a stubborn refusal to obey legitimate Baha’i leaders. Although many Baha’is in recent times have left the Baha’i community or even the faith itself for the same basic reason they did—conscientious disagreement with Baha’i leaders’ claims to be the infallible representative of God— surprisingly little has been written by religious scholars or historians about the fact that this kind of dissent is nothing new, but is part of a long, rich tradition of liberal-minded “dissident” Baha’is led by members of Baha’u’llah’s own immediate family.

(A Lost History of the Baha’i Faith, preface)

https://www.amazon.com/Lost-History-Bahai-Faith-Progressive/dp/0692331352