The Baha'i Studies Listserv On 23 Nov 2010 at 10:25, Stephen Gray wrote: > The Baha'i Studies Listserv > Executive? Doesn't that mean they will have veto power?
Executive is used in two different ways in the Bahai writings, which can cause confusion, although the different contexts always make it clear what is meant in each case. When Shoghi Effendi speaks of the institutions of a world commonwealth of nations, he speaks of the executive, judiciary and legislature, adopting the terms used in modern western political theory since Montesquieu. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_powers These three arms of government are aspects of the state, according to Shoghi Effendi: ======== Such a state will have to include within its orbit an international executive adequate to enforce supreme and unchallengeable authority on every recalcitrant member of the commonwealth; a world parliament whose members shall be elected by the people in their respective countries and whose election shall be confirmed by their respective governments; and a supreme tribunal whose judgment will have a binding effect .... (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 40) -- This commonwealth must... consist of a world legislature, whose members will, as the trustees of the whole of mankind, ultimately control the entire resources of all the component nations, ... A world executive, backed by an international Force, will carry out the decisions arrived at, and apply the laws enacted by, this world legislature, ... A world tribunal will adjudicate and deliver its compulsory and final verdict in all and any disputes that may arise between the various elements constituting this universal system. (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 203) ====== However Abdu'l-Baha does not speak within this framework, his background is Islamic political theology, in which the government is spoken of as the executive power in society. So he writes: ===== If you refer to history, you would find countless examples of this [negative] sort, all based on the involvement of religious leaders in political matters. These souls are the fountainhead of the interpretation of God´s commandments (tashrii`), not of implementation (tanfiidh). That is, when the government requests an explanation concerning the requirements of the Law of God and the realities of the divine ordinances ... they must explain what has been deduced of the commands of God, and what is in accordance with the law of God. (Abdu´l-Baha, Sermon on the Art of Governance) -- This House of Justice enacteth the laws and the government enforceth them. The legislative body (tashrii`) must reinforce the executive (tanfidh), the executive must aid and assist the legislative body so that through the close union and harmony of these two forces, the foundation of fairness and justice may become firm and strong . . .(Will and testament 14-15) ===== Once we've sorted out that these are two different things, the model of governance in the Bahai writings becomes quite clear. It has a basic two-part architecture, the religious and the political spheres, separate and cooperating. In the political sphere there are three arms: the judicial, executive, and legislative. They exist at local and national levels and according to the Guardian will eventually exist at a global level, as part of the commonwealth of nations. This is a civil government: in the Guardian´s descriptions of it there is no mention at all of the Houses of Justice or Assemblies. (see, for example, World Order of Baha´u'llah 203, partially quoted above ) We also have the Bahai Administrative Order, which is a government of the religious community, by the religious community, in religious and community matters. This does not separate the judicial, executive, and legislative; rather it separates (1) the liturgical (House of Worship), (2) the doctrinal (the Guardianship) and its extensions for propagation and protection, known collectively as the Learned of Baha, and (3) the `legislative´ which is also the religious judiciary (the House of Justice both makes the laws and is the highest court of appeal for Bahais), known collectively as the Rulers of Baha. All this is simple enough: The world order has two arms, each divided into three organs, giving six core institutions. The Bahai community also has the function of "Head of the Faith´ which was held first by Baha´u'llah, then Abdu´l-Baha, then the Guardian and now by the Universal House of Justice. This position entails "authority" - something like the executive in the civil government. The Guardian is the head and sole member of the doctrinal arm (though he had assistants), and he often refused to "legislate" on matters, saying instead that the future Universal House of Justice would have to decide. Nevertheless, when he gave instructions to NSAs and individuals, they had to be obeyed, because he was head of the community; yet these instructions did not become part of Bahai law. And now, when the Universal House of Justice gives instructions, they have to be obeyed (yet they do not become part of Bahai doctrine). So instead of three distinct judicial, executive, and legislative arms, as in the commonwealth of nations, in the Bahai Commonwealth we have the House of Worship, the Guardianship and the House of Justice, representing Liturgy, Doctrine and Law, and another function, the executive, which we call "Head of the Faith," now performed by the Universal House of Justice. On the political side of the World Order, nations also have heads of state, which may take the form of a monarch, a president, or some other form. The ideal form of government is a constitutional monarchy but that ideal has to embodied in the material actually available in a nation, its history, culture, existing institutions etc. The Head of State may have executive power, as in an American-style presidency, but in the most successful democracies, the executive power is exercised by a cabinet rather than the head of state. The six essential organs, and the head of the Faith and head of state, gives us a six-plus-two model of the World Order of Baha´u'llah. If we then read the Bahai Writings, putting each bit into the appropriate box, the Writings are quite clear and not (very) hard to understand. The difficulties Bahais have arise largely from trying to impose preconceived categories on the Writings, and to a lesser extent by the difficulties of the Guardian´s prose, some awkward or bad translations etc., and misunderstandings based on pilgrim´s notes. Sen ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Sen McGlinn http://senmcglinn.wordpress.com *** When, however, thou dost contemplate the innermost essence of things, and the individuality of each, thou wilt behold the signs of thy Lord's mercy . . ." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -- __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:leave-542084-27401.54f46e81b66496c9909bcdc2f7987...@list.jccc.edu 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]
