On 3 Jan 2008 at 18:32, maidenhairleaf wrote:
>...it obviously was not the letter
> that states dis-enrollment or the reason for the action, but rather a
> blanket statement about specific issues.
Yes you are correct here and to avoid any secrecy or misconception about
Sen's enrollment here are
precisely the only words written, we assume by the House of Justice
but penned by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Netherlands.
Dated, 28 November 2005
"Dear Mr McGlinn,
The Universal House of Justice has advised us of its conclusion that,
on the basis of your established pattern of behaviour and the
statements you have published, you cannot properly be considered as
meeting the requirements of Bahai membership. Accordingly, we have
removed your name from our membership roll and have informed de (the)
Bahai instituitions concerned."
I believe that there must be a good reason why the Universal House of
Justice has chosen to give only a general reasoning and I trust that
they know what they are doing. So I hope you understand why, I took
such a stern tone in response to Susan's claims about the Universal
House of Justices' views of Sen's writing. It is not her place to
decide which of Sen's statements are the ones they are referring to,
if they themselves have not stated this.
One Bahai did write to them and specifically ask if it was because of
his book: Church and State, and the answer to this was 'no'.
As far as I am concerned any Bahai who claims to know the reasons for
Sen's disenrollment other than what the House of Justice itself has
written above, is in my view, second-guessing the House of Justice.
I share this letter to show this is not secret and Susan has already
seen this letter.
When I encounter Bahais who treat us (after all as Sen's wife, I am
lumped in with him as are our children and I am proud to be his
spouse and share his world) by our deeds (our words and actions) then
I see how the Bahai Teachings do inspire humanity.
What this experience has taught me is that you are a Bahai by your
deeds not by what you call yourself. So if Bahais spread lies about
what Sen has written, we tend to ignore this. Engaging with each
others' differing views and disagreeing with each other is quite
another matter and hopefully a healthy way of developing our ideas.
As far as we are concerned, we are Bahais because we live by the
Bahai Teachings, are inspired by them and try to learn and deepen in
them. In the end this is what matters. In many ways I am very
fortunate because what I have gained here is to look past 'names'
people call each other and to the real message of the Bahai Faith and
this includes not being afraid to ask questions and look for
interpretations to things that trouble me and hopefully for things
that I take at face value :)
Ron and others, although it isn't easy living with the label
'unenrolled' Bahai, it hasn't stopped either of us from believing
that the Bahai Teachings encourage us to:
"ponder each created thing, (and) we shall witness a myriad perfect
wisdoms and learn a myriad new and wondrous truths."
(Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 32)
So everyone, as far as Sen and I am concerned there is no privacy
about Sen's unenrollment nor the reasons the Universal House of
Justice have stated for making this decision.
Now I think the discussion should move on...
Sonja
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