With warm Bahá’í love,
R. Rabbani
P.S.—As regards the question about a person who is mentally
ill attending the Feasts, anybody who is well enough mentally to
attend a Bahá’í Feast and understand what it is all about is certainly
well enough to be a voting member. Only people who are
very seriously deranged mentally and confined to institutions or
under constant supervision should be deprived of their voting
rights.
Regarding your question of applying the sanction of suspension
of voting rights to people who marry without the consent of
parents, this should be done from now on. The law of the Aqdas is
explicit and not open to any ambiguity at all. As long as the parents
are alive, the consent must be obtained; it is not conditioned
on their relationship to their children. If the whereabouts of the
parents is not known legally, in other words, if they are legally
dead, then it is not necessary for the children to obtain their consent,
obviously. It is not a question of the child not knowing the
present whereabouts of its parents, it is a question of a legal thing—if the parents are alive, they must be asked.
As regards the question of alcohol, the Guardian explained
this to Mr. Raynor,
and he feels that his understanding of it is
quite correct. The Assemblies must be wise and gentle in dealing
with such cases, but at the same time must not tolerate a prolonged
and flagrant disregard of the Bahá’í Teachings as regards
alcohol.
[From the Guardian:]
Dear and valued co-workers:
The Canadian Bahá’í Community, whose members are so
valiantly participating in the furtherance of the World Spiritual
Crusade, now claiming the attention of the entire body of
followers of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in all continents of the
globe, has ever since the inception of this world-embracing
enterprise, proved itself capable of carrying its share of responsibility
in the accomplishment of this collective, colossal
task, and has rendered services that have enriched the annals
of the Faith, not only in a land so dear to the heart of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
but in far-off islands and territories which it is the mission
of this Community to illuminate and conquer.
Ever since the emergence of this progressive, youthful and
dynamic community, as an independent entity, and particularly
since the inception of the Ten Year Plan, it has demonstrated,
on several occasions, those qualities which alone can
provide the guarantee of success in carrying out, as a worthy
ally of her sister community in the Great Republic of the West,
the sacred and historic Mission assigned to it by the Author of
the Tablets of the Divine Plan. The staunchness of the faith of
its members, their unyielding resolve, their ceaseless efforts,
their willingness to sacrifice, their exemplary loyalty, their
steadfast courage, have, time and again, been strikingly displayed,
and served to fortify the hopes which I have always
cherished for their future destiny.
The vastness of the field in which this firmly knit, irresistibly
advancing, steadily consolidating community now operates,
stretching as it does from the Atlantic to the Pacific seaboards,
and touching, on the one hand, the fringes of the Arctic
Region, and extending, on the other, as far as the islands of
the South Pacific, contrasts with the extremely restricted area,
in which, for so many years, and until recently, the administrative
activities of this community were confined. The diversity
and multiplicity of the enterprises in which it finds itself
now engaged, the manner in which it is consolidating its
strength, enlarging its membership, safeguarding the unity of
its members, and noising abroad its fame, may be regarded as
additional evidences of its spiritual vigour, and of its rapid
rise to maturity at so significant a period in the evolution of
the Faith throughout the Western Hemisphere.
At this crucial hour, when the Plan to which this highly
promising community stands committed is entering on the
third phase in its unfoldment, the responsibilities confronting
its members are at once manifold, pressing and inescapable.
The situation on the homefront, so extensive and so varied in
character, calls for careful consideration and energetic action
on the part of your Assembly. The steady increase in the number
of those enlisted under the banner of the Faith must be
paralleled by a multiplication of Assemblies, groups and isolated
centres. The incorporation of all firmly established Assemblies
must simultaneously be accelerated. The virgin areas
now opened, and particularly Anticosti, Greenland, Iceland
and Franklin, as well as those territories deprived recently
of the benefits of a resident pioneer, must be made the object
of the special attention and solicitude of your Assembly, for
upon the preservation of these hard-won prizes must depend
the ultimate triumph of this community’s collective and historic
task, and the enhancement of the prestige it has deservedly
won in recent years throughout the Bahá’í world.
Of equal importance is the strenuous yet highly meritorious
obligation to add, steadily and rapidly, to the number of
the American Indian and Eskimo adherents of the Faith, and
to ensure their active participation in both the teaching and
administrative spheres of Bahá’í activity—a task so clearly
emphasized by the Pen of the Centre of the Covenant, and in
the consummation of which the Canadian Bahá’í Community
is destined to play so conspicuous a part.
Above all, the utmost endeavour should be exerted by your
Assembly to familiarize the newly enrolled believers with the
fundamental and spiritual verities of the Faith, and with the
origins, the aims and purposes, as well as the processes of a
divinely appointed Administrative Order, to acquaint them
more fully with the history of the Faith, to instil in them a
deeper understanding of the Covenants of both Bahá’u’lláh and
of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to enrich their spiritual life, to rouse them to
a greater effort and a closer participation in both the teaching
of the Faith and the administration of its activities, and to
inspire them to make the necessary sacrifices for the furtherance
of its vital interests. For as the body of the avowed supporters
of the Faith is enlarged, and the basis of the structure
of its Administrative Order is broadened, and the fame of the
rising community spreads far and wide, a parallel progress
must be achieved, if the fruits already garnered are to endure,
in the spiritual quickening of its members and the deepening
of their inner life.
The duties incumbent upon this community, and particularly
its elected national representatives, multiply with every
passing day. Heavy is the burden they carry. Rich and immense
are the possibilities stretching before them. Priceless are the
rewards which a befitting discharge of their multiple responsibilities
must bring in its wake. Boundless are the favours
and bestowals which a loving and watchful Providence is ready
to confer upon those who will arise to meet the challenge of
the present hour.
May the members of this community, as well as its elected
representatives, consecrate themselves anew to the mission
which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has conferred upon them, and immortalize
their stewardship to the Faith of His Father through acts
which future generations will unanimously acclaim and for
which they will feel eternally grateful.
Shoghi
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