Hi Mark,
>Being a *member* of the Baha'i Faith entails being part of an
organization. I, for one, would never judge that someone was not a Baha'i
because she or he did not belong to the Baha'i International Community. <
organization. I, for one, would never judge that someone was not a Baha'i
because she or he did not belong to the Baha'i International Community. <
I agree. Only God knows who really is a Baha'i. Even being a member
of the Baha'i community does not guarantee that I am a Baha'i, in God's eyes.
>No "outward reality" is required for self-identification except an
assertion.<
assertion.<
I assume you restrict this principle to assertions of belief.
I think you would not allow someone to perform heart surgery on
you, based on nothing more than his assertion that he is a surgeon.
That is not merely a question of whether the person belongs to an organization
of surgeons. What matters is whether the person has the knowledge and skills
to do surgery well, and whether there is any outside confirmation of that
beyond his own self-identification.
If self-identification stops at just that, that is if a person
does not use self-identification to gain the privileges or responsibilities
of membership in some organization, then I agree it's fine to simply take
the person's word for who he is. But if there are any practical
consequences implied by the self-identification, then I would want
some confirming evidence that the self identification was valid.
If a person asserts that he is a Baha'i, and wants to attend Feast,
then I personally don't need to ask for verification of his membership.
But I think the Assembly should do that.
Tim Nolan
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