“The attitude of the Bahá’ís must be two-fold, complete
obedience to the government of the country they reside in, and
no interference whatsoever in political matters or questions.
What the Master’s statement really means is obedience to a
duly constituted government, whatever that government may
be in form. We are not the ones, as individual Bahá’ís, to judge
our government as just or unjust—for each believer would be
sure to hold a different viewpoint, and within our own Bahá’í
fold a hotbed of dissension would spring up and destroy our
unity. We must build up our own Bahá’í system, and leave the
faulty systems of the world to go their way. We cannot change
them through becoming involved in them; on the contrary, they
will destroy us.”