The Baha'i Studies Listserv Mark, thanks, your feedback is mot helpful. I think I will start using your term "plenary inerrancy to refer to what I don't believe in as valid definition of infallibility. I need a shorthand for a complex concept. In the interest of brevity, I will not quote the bulk o f your response that I found most illuminating, but only a short section I want to follow up on.
On Fri, Jan 2, 2009 at 1:21 AM, Mark A. Foster <[email protected]> wrote: > The Baha'i Studies Listserv > I think that the main point is to accept the authority of the Central > Figures and of the Administration. The infallibility issue is really a bit > like metaphysical speculation. > Mark, I agree with you on this. I wholly and 100% accept the authority of the Universal House of Justice in all Baha'i matters. > > > I have been advised on this list to just stay quiet and not worry about >> it. But I take this Faith seriously and I can't get this out of my mind. I >> believe most folks on this list believe in what I would call literal verbal >> inerrancy of the Writings and the Central Figures so for them its not an >> issue. But for me it is and I don't want to become inactive or be an outcast >> or leave the Faith because of this. >> > > Someone advised you to stay quiet? > Mark, not in a threatening way mind you, but in a very loving way that makes sense from a practical point of view. Why not just privately hold my beliefs and not talk about them since they are apparently outside the norm of the Baha'i community? But here's an example why I can't let it go. I live in Los Angeles now and so I attended the recent Conference. I found it inspiring in many ways. It was attended by maybe 5000 people (just my estimate) and there were many beautiful and inspiring talks and such. One was by a lady introduced I believe as a Counselor, certainly as one of the Learned. She gave a speech I found wonderful in many ways. Other inspiring figures gave talks. However, some of them also referred to certain statements by the Universal House of Justice, and concluded that certain things were inevitable; to happen because the infallible House has said they are going to happen. The infallibility of the House was specifically mentioned and highlighted several times to back up claims. I can't help it but I find this cult like and it bothers me. I do not believe anyone can magically predict the future. For instance, entry by troops in the very near future is considered inevitable. The learned speakers at the LA conference alluded to its inevitability, citing the infallible House as the reason. To me, this gave a cult like aura to the Conference that I can't shake. I don't consider Entry by Troops in the very near future to be inevitable. In fact, I think the kind of "magical" thinking by our leaders (that things will happen as predicted by the House) to be a major reason why Entry by Troops probably wont happen soon. I believe such beliefs and statements turns off a lot of potential seekers. Keep in mind our Faith should appeal to folks who are looking for a religion that is not in conflict with science and reason. It seems to me that a belief in 'plenary inerrancy' (to use my new term ;-)) of scripture is THE major problem in modern day Christian and Islamic fundamentalism and I hate to see us emulate that foundational mistake. As I see it anyway. Ron > > __________________________________________________ > You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] > Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto: > [email protected] > > Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to > [email protected] > Or subscribe: > http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st > Baha'i Studies is available through the following: > Mail - mailto:[email protected] > Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st > News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st > Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:[email protected] Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [email protected] Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:[email protected] Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
