Dear Scott, What Abdu'l-Baha was trying to do was make sure that individual Assembly members did not undermine the authority of the institution as a whole by opposing the decision that body made. For them not to act in unity under these circumstances is rather like parents arguing discipline issues in front of their children--almost never a good idea if discipline is something the parents hope to maintain.
I think the problem with over-generalizing that quotation from Abdu'l-Baha and applying it to the community as a whole rather than the individual members of the Assembly that made the decision is that it prevents the Assembly from getting the feedback it requires to determine whether or not something they implemented is working so they *can* change it if need be. If the believers 'for the sake of unity' feel they can't say what this isn't working corrections will never be made. warmest, Susan __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:archive@mail-archive.com To unsubscribe, send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, use subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu/read/?forum=bahai-st News - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Public - http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
