Yep.
but they are not considered bahais. They call themselves Orthodox Bahais. Despite that they call themselves Bahai and see themselves as followers of Baha;u;llah, yet they have violated the covenant, because if you read what is written in the will and testaments you will see that we had the institute of the Guardian, but we had not the institute of the UHJ after Shoghi Effendi passed away, and that what followed was a logical consequence of the Will and Testaments of both Abdu'l-Baha and Baha'u'llah.
The will and testament of Baha'u'llah foresees a combination of the Universal House and the Guardian working together. The assumption is that it is a living Guardian, but it might as well be a dead Guardian, who left his guidance in numerous letters, like Shoghi Effendi did. Never was there a time where the two institutions were working together in that both had representatives who were alive, not under Shoghi Effendi's period of leadership, nor when the Universal House of Justice was elected. I think some people turned away from Shoghi Effendi because of that he did not yet deem the time ripe to instigate the election of the Universal House of Justice. However, the Will and Testament of Abdu'l-Baha clearly tells us that he had the right to decide this, and that his decision in matters of the faith was infallible. He did, however, appoint Hands of the Cause...... and quite a few of them.
so yes, they consider themselves Bahai, but anybody can call themselves Bahai if they want to.It will be interesting to see what will remain of these groups after 200 years. I have heard that their number is not great and that they do not grow, only fall into more factions. I have heard this from people whose judgement I trust.
There are some characteristics in the writings which say what is a Bahai. From these I conlude that no matter what they call themselves, Baha'u'llah does not consider them to be Bahais.
There are exortations of Abdu'l-Baha of what to do when a decision is taken which is not in accordance with what you think is right. There are functions of the Hands of the Cause described by Baha'u'llah and Abdu'l-Baha. The Hands of the Cause lead the faith when Shoghi Effendi had died and there was no will by him. They eventually decided the time was ripe for the UHJ. If you read what their function is, Hand of the Cause, you will see that they had the right to do so, especially since it was not one person who was taking this decision, but they had elected among themselves 10 Hands of the Cause to lead the Bahai faith.
The groups you mention did not accept the authority of the Hands of the Cause and/or did not, as Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi made clear, abide by the appeal to abide by a decision taken by the institutions. At that time, the only institutions which could be seen as the final authority was the institution of the Hands of the Cause, as this was the only institution appointed by the Guardian of the Bahai faith.
much love,
janine van rooij
dublin, ireland
Gilberto Simpson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
On Mon, 24 Jan 2005 09:24:35 EST, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:
> In a message dated 1/24/2005 8:11:22 AM Central Standard Time,
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> Islam and Christianity
> allowed the "schools of thought" to factionalize them. In this dispensation
> no faction has prospered where in the past almost every faction prospered
> enough to shatter unity.
History
After Charles Mason Remey's proclamation in 1960 that he was the
second Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, his followers became known as the
Orthodox Bah�'� Faith. Among those who accepted Remey's proclamation,
several further divisions have occurred. Some of these are described
below:
Further Divisions
The Baha'is Under the Provisions of the Covenant
operated under the guidance of Leland Jensen. Jensen's beliefs seem
linked to an argument about the succession of the House of David, and
prophecies found in the Great Pyramid of Egypt. For the groups
homepage see: www.montana.com/bupc. As of 2004, the BUPC appears to
consist of two small communities, one in Montana and one in Alaska.
The House of Mankind and the Universal Palace of Order
followed Jamshid Ma'ani and John Carr�, but appear now to be defunct.
A copy of Carr�'s book outlining his belief that all the disputes
regarding the Guardianship were wrong and that a new prophet would
arise in America in 2001 can be found at the following site run by an
ex-Baha'i. www.bahai-faith.com
The Orthodox Bahai Faith Under the Regency
was founded by Rex King. King argued that Mason Remey was not a
full-fledged Guardian because, according to the traditional
interpretation of Baha'i law, only a hereditary descendant of
Baha'u'llah can hold this office. Nevertheless, due to Remey's
appoi! ntment as President of the International Baha'i Council, King
understood Remey's position as that of a "Regent" who should have been
obeyed as the legitimate leader of the Baha'is but who should never
have gone so far as to claim the Guardianship. King's followers have
reorganized as the Tarbiyat Baha'i Community (www.obcnhj.org).
The Regency Baha'is
appear to be restricted to a single community in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
The Charles Mason Remey Society
followed Donald Harvey as the third Guardian and then Jacques
Soghomonian of France. Discussion of these groups can be found at a
reconciliation site: groups.yahoo.com/group/HeartoftheBahaiFaith
A position paper describing the historical development of these groups
as seen from the perspective of the main Baha'i organization can be
found at bahai-library.org/uhj/c-breakers.and.remey.html
Peace
Gilberto
"My people are hydroponic"
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