Here’s one of the Haifan Bahá’í counselors speaking about the UHJ:
“We don’t want to be like those people who want to see God with their own eyes, or hear His melody with their own ears, because we have been given the gift of being able to see through the eyes of the House of Justice and listen through the ears of the House of Justice.” – Bahá’í Counselor Rebeque Murphy.
(To hear this section of her talk go to: http://media1.bahai.us/tab/Highlights/Sunday/…)
Currently, the Bahá’ís think of humanity as being divided into a few official groups or castes. I have organized them in a list from “best” to “worst” based on how many rights they would have in a future Bahá’í world order:
1. Bahá’í in good standing
2. Bahá’í with administrative rights removed
3. Non-Bahá’í
4. Covenant-breaker
If you include more subtle gradations, which may possibly acquire a greater degree of official status in the future, the list would look like this:
– Bahá’í in good standing, active
– Bahá’í in good standing, inactive
– Bahá’í with some administrative rights removed
– Bahá’í with all administrative rights removed (Feast attendance, voting, eligibility for election, contribution to Funds, contribution to Huququ’llah, plus anything I’m forgetting to mention)
– Non-Bahá’í (never been a Bahá’í)
– Ex-Bahá’í, left voluntarily (not an opponent)
– Ex-Bahá’í, membership revoked/expelled by UHJ (not an opponent)
– Opponent or enemy of the faith, non-Bahá’í
– Opponent or enemy of the faith, ex-Bahá’í
– Child or grandchild of Covenant-breaker, not practicing in Covenant-breaker organization
– Covenant-breaker, not officially declared by UHJ but member of Covenant-breaker organization
– Covenant-breaker, officially declared by UHJ Groups 10-12 constitute the Bahá’í version of the “untouchable caste.” Groups 4-12 (the vast majority of categories) would not have the right to vote in elections for the highest governmental positions, i.e. the Bahá’í Houses of Justice that would have final authority at the local, national, and international levels.
How’s that for unity of all people, huh?
Best, Eric Stetson (Group 11 – I think)
