u/Cult_Buster2005

There are currently two mods, myself and u/MirzaJan. The third one, investigator919, was removed by the reddit admin for prolonged inactivity. So now, I want to see another mod appointed soon.

I nominate u/DrunkPriesthood for that job.

I’ve been inactive for a long time and have gone through varied emotional phases in my relationship to the Faith, including anger. Where I am at now is wanting to reconcile. The caveat is that I have no intention of being celibate or hiding my identity. Will I be accepted? What would be my place in the Baha’i community? Thank you so much in advance for any advice you can offer.

So the Baha'i Faith is popular in three states now?

Do you have to be anti Christian to join the exmormon club ? I have a problem with the Mormon corporation monopoly and it’s non taxed advantage in the economy and believe it’s values hurt the environment and personal freedoms. I also dislike the secrecy and manipulation of the religion. but if I mention I am a exmormon that is now a full believer in the trinity, the bible, and grace alone that I will get hate on exmormon

I find this incredibly amusing, considering that the two groups referred to here are both "Remeyite" factions descended from the rebellion of Hand of the Cause of God Mason Remey who proclaimed himself the Second Guardian in 1960, causing the other Hands to expel him as a Covenant breaker. And over 60 years later......

https://orthodoxbahai.com/mislead/

>The So-called “Bahá’ís Under the Provisions of the Covenant” Are Heterodox Believers

Inquirers who happen upon a web site on the Internet that has been established by a group of people who call themselves “”Bahá’ís Under the Provisions of the Covenant” need to recognize that the basic premises upon which that organization was developed place its members outside the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh.

Recently on an America Online board, one of the “Provisions” leaders posted a document that set forth some of the conjectures of its members, while purportedly citing Bahá’í references that they claim support their views. Because the “Provisions” people have wrongly identified themselves as within the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh, and because other heterodox “Bahá’ís and inquirers may think that the Orthodox Bahá’í Faith is in some way related to the Montana-based “Provisions” group, we feel that it is essential for those who encounter the members of that group to know that there is no relationship whatsoever between those heterodox believers and the Orthodox Bahá’í Faith.

Based upon the convoluted thinking of Leland Jensen, developed while he was incarcerated in the Montana State Prison for child molestation, the “Provisions” people believe that Jensen became a latter- day Joshua who had the power to discern the real truth of the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Contrary to the wording of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will and contrary to the elucidation of Shoghi Effendi’s “Dispensation,” Jensen’s followers maintain that Shoghi Effendi was NOT the first Guardian of the Cause. Instead, they consider Shoghi Effendi to be a kind of interim leader between ‘Abdu’l- Bah” and Charles Mason Remey, the latter being identified by them as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s adopted son. They then extend the line of succession to Mason Remey’s adopted son, Joseph Pepe, an individual who both discounted Mason Remey’s Guardianship and who himself never became a Bahá’í.

Like the heterodox “Bahá’ís under the sans-Guardian Universal House of Justice, the Jensen believers mistakenly maintain that Shoghi Effendi was required to appoint a blood relative of Bahá’u’lláh to succeed him. They, like the other heterodox believers, have failed to recognize that when Shoghi Effendi translated the Will and Testament into English (the language from which all other translations are to be made) the first Guardian used the following words with respect to the appointment of the Guardian’s successor:

Thus, should the first-born of the guardian of the Cause of God not manifest in himself the truth of the words:–“The child is the secret essence of its sire,” that is, should he not inherit of the spiritual within him (the guardian of the Cause of God) and his glorious lineage not be matched with a goodly character, then must he, (the guardian of the Cause of God) choose another branch to succeed him.

Heterodox “Bahá’ís, whether they are members he Jensen group or followers of the sans-Guardian Universal House of Justice, have made much of the Arabic word “Aghsán,” interpreting it to mean a descendant of Bahá’u’lláh, and saying that the word is used in the original Will of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. However, Shoghi Effendi himself on page 239 of God Passes By provides a different interpretation for the word “Aghsán” Quoting passages from Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant, which appointed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá the Center of the Faith and the Delineator of the Faith’s future institutions, Shoghi Effendi wrote that the “weighty and incomparable Document…directs, in particular, the Aghsán (His sons) to ponder the ‘mighty force and the consummate power that lieth concealed in the world of being.'” (Emphasis supplied.) Thus, the heterodox “Bahá’ís have ignored Shoghi Effendi’s interpretation and have falsely interpreted the provisions of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will in order to make the words of the Will conform to their faulty conception of the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh.

Since Shoghi Effendi had no children, he was duty-bound by the provisions of the Will to appoint another branch–another member of the Faith–to succeed him so “that differences may not arise after his passing.” This he did in 1951 when he appointed Mason Remey as the president or head of the embryonic Universal House of Justice. (The Will states that the Guardian is the “sacred head and the distinguished member for life of that body.”)

Throughout His writings ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had emphasized the spiritual relationship of people over the merely physical. In His last tablet to America, He recounted how Qurratu’l-‘Ayn (a heroine of the Faith) had denied her two eldest sons because they had not become believers and how she had, instead, embraced “All the friends of God” as her children because they were believers. The Master then wrote:

Consider! The Divine Gardener cuts off the dry or weak branch from the good tree and grafts to it, a branch from another tree.

While not doub the importance of the lineage of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi, Orthodox “Bahá’ís, in harmony with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s views on spiritual matters, emphasize the primacy of the spiritual relationship over that of the physical. Orthodox “Bahá’ís therefore reject the view of the “Provisions” people that Shoghi Effendi was something less than the first Guardian of the Faith.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote in His Will that Shoghi Effendi “is, after ‘Abdu’l- Bah”, the guardian of the Cause of God,” and He said that “the beloved of the Lord must obey him and turn unto him. He that obeyeth him not, hath not obeyed God; he that turneth away from him, hath turned away from God and he that denieth him, hath denied the True One.”

The Master then warned: “Beware lest anyone falsely interpret these words, and like unto them that have broken the Covenant after the Day of Ascension (of Bahá’u’lláh) advance a pretext, raise the standard of revolt, wax stubborn and open wide the door of false interpretation.”

Leland Jensen and those who now call themselves “”Bahá’ís Under the Provisions of the Covenant” have falsely interpreted the words of ‘Abdu’l- Bah”. Under the pretext of their false Joshua, they are raising the standard of revolt, waxing stubborn, and opening wide the door of false interpretation.

Meanwhile, Orthodox “Bahá’ís, who maintain that Shoghi Effendi duly appointed his successor when he appointed Mason Remey as the head of the embryonic Universal House of Justice, now teach the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh under the guidance of the third Guardian, Joel B. Marangella, who is Mason Remey’s duly-appointed successor.

Imagine if Lutherans, themselves Protestants who broke away from Catholicism, wrote essays slamming Baptists or Presbyterians! That's exactly what that idiocy above looks like!

I've been a Baha'i since 2005 and it's difficult to comprehend, to me.

This is the way I see it. Nobody needs to be a Baha'i. Per Baha'u'llah, no matter what a soul thinks or doesn't think, do or doesn't do, everyone in the past, present and future will go to heaven/God.

There is no Hell, nor is there any judgement on a soul while on Earth. Kinda like what happens in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas.

By Baha'u'llah guidance nobody has any reason to fear death.

Which relieves us of wasting valuable time on rituals, etc.

The primary reason to become a member is that you believe in what Baha'u'llah says regarding the urgent need to be available to teach others.

To teach their is a single source of our creation, that regardless of skin color, gender, etc, we are all one single family of people.

That not until we accept that, we will have stepped up to cause world peace with mutual love and cooperation around the planet.

Mainly due to requirements of, that gross poverty will not be allowed, that excessive wealth has to be eliminated voluntarily, that one must not be a racist, and accept that the souls of both genders and all souls are equal in the eye of God.

So, ideally, people in other faiths, if they actually live their Guidance from God. Which say we need to be honest, kind, compassionate, respectful to all others. The goal of world peace is just as reachable.

In summary, take care to tend to your spiritual improvement through action, but focus on creating a world of peace.

My reasons for this is that I seem to see other Baha'i's over focused on trying to be perfect and what are others doing or not doing!