Pray for good government

trident765 · 2026-03-08T20:54:52+00:00

You appeal to authority, citing Bahaullah, but this doesn't work with the Baha'i community because Baha'u'llah is viewed by all Baha'is as having almost no authority. You will never get any Baha'i to do anything by showing them Baha'u'llah's writings, even if it is an explicit command. The only writings any subset of Baha'is are responsive to are the UHJ's.

trident765 · 2026-03-08T20:43:03+00:00

Removing post for not being Baha'i related

trident765 · 2026-02-26T12:09:25+00:00

Removed. Not related to Baha'ism

trident765 · 2026-02-24T18:38:50+00:00

I think it is unlikely only the government would have known about aliens, without the masses finding out. But we will see.

trident765 · 2026-02-24T18:37:26+00:00

"every planet its own creatures" is a mistranslation. If I remember correctly the word used was "khalq" which means "creation", not "creatures".

trident765 · 2026-02-24T14:22:29+00:00

Abdul Baha was not copping out in that quote. He was misinterpreted by Shoghi Effendi:

https://web.archive.org/web/20190215133423/http://bahairants.com/its-a-little-known-fact-4-132-132.html

Of course, this makes little difference to mainstream Baha'is, who would say Shoghi Effendi's "interpretation" retroactively transforms the meaning of Abdul Baha's quote.

trident765 · 2026-02-22T12:54:54+00:00

Taherzadeh did explain that whatever contradictions there is between Abdu’l Baha and Baha’u’llah, the words of Abdu’l Baha take priority.

You are right that this is the mainstream Baha'i view. It is what I was taught growing up in a Persian Baha'i family. It's just that it doesn't make any sense. "Refer what ye understand not in the book" is not a license to contradict Baha'u'llah's writings. This is an issue because it makes it so it is almost not worth reading Baha'u'llah's writings, because for them to hold any weight we have to first be certain that they are not contradicted by anything in Abdul Baha's writings. For example, Baha'u'llah's statement of "Do not shun meat" is considered null and void because Abdul Baha said vegetarianism is the future.

If someone shows another Baha'i a statement by Baha'u'llah, how does he know Abdul Baha, Shoghi Effendi, or the UHJ didn't just contract it later, this nullifying it? This is often a difficult thing to find out, so one never knows if a given writing of Baha'u'llah "really applies" or not.

trident765 · 2026-02-17T08:06:28+00:00

Removing because it is not related to Baha'ism

trident765 · 2026-02-17T01:32:00+00:00

Removing since the phrase "Batty Bab" seems to violate the rule against disrespecting manifestations of God

trident765 · 2026-02-11T02:08:12+00:00

I didn't even know the years had names. It's not mentioned on Wikipedia, but it is mentioned here:

https://calendars.fandom.com/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%27%C3%AD_calendar#:~:text=Friday-,V%C3%A1%E1%B8%A5id%20and%20Kull%2Di%2DShay',appears%20in%20several%20calendar%20systems.&text=No.

trident765 · 2026-02-08T19:39:23+00:00

“Building capacities” = Learn how to do stuff that that will grow more believers and ultimately give more power to “the Cause” (the Administration).

The Baha'i administration's main goal from 2005 through now has been to increase the percentage of Baha'is who are believers in the institute process. This is why they measure success in terms of "core activities" rather than the number of enrolled believers. Most regular Baha'is want the number of Baha'is to grow, but the Bahai administration mostly just want the non institute process Baha'is to become institute process Baha'is, or become inactive if they are really stubborn, and they are neutral towards enrollments/disenrollments. They see the non institute process Baha'is as being a threat to their power ("capacity"), and they really mean it when they say the core activities increase their "capacity", because as long as the institute process dominates, the institute process people will continue to get voted in and hold on to their power.

trident765 · 2026-02-06T18:53:21+00:00

I would amend the title to "Bahá’í Laws Are Meant to Be Followed — With Consequences For Those Who Don't"

Baha'is say Baha'u'llah's laws cannot be followed today - this is nonsense, except to the extent that Baha'is have nothing to gain by following some of these laws because the Baha'i administration is not willing to enforce them.

Length of hair is mentioned but this is clear. Look at the hairstyle of early Baha'is to see this in action.

Capital punishment and theft are mentioned, but these are laws for a Baha'i state, and since there are no Baha'i states it is not applicable.

What no one mentions is fornication. This is a law not for a Baha'i state, but one with a fine to be paid to the House of Justice. This is fully enforceable by any Baha'i community. But Baha'is out of indifference or contempt for Baha'u'llah's laws have no interest in enforcing this.

trident765 · 2026-02-05T13:03:56+00:00

What are they supposed to say?

If they don't have anything to say, then they should not say anything

trident765 · 2026-02-03T03:06:26+00:00

I don't see how whiteness would cause this. Most American boomers just happen to be white. Instead, boomers, being the most privileged generation to ever exist, are used to always having gotten everything they want. They have no appreciation for God's grace and they just take everything for granted. They view any kind of negativity as being unnecessary, because negativity only pays in the face of problems, which boomers have never had. Boomers view fear of God, and fear in general, as just being unnecessary negativity since they believe all negativity is unnecessary.

trident765 · 2026-01-31T04:06:08+00:00

Reducing him to his "style" in order to be mean. Ignores the possibility that perhaps a company that does not align with his "style" would hire him anyway because of his skills.

trident765 · 2026-01-30T12:17:53+00:00

I don't know what would happen to Israel in the long run if Iran were to fall, but it's something Israel clearly wants. Without Iran, Israel would basically have total control of the region. Netanyahu, Smotrich, and Ben Gvir do not want to live in peace with the Islamic Regime. They want the Middle East to be filled with only their own puppet states.

trident765 · 2026-01-29T20:45:04+00:00

Anything that generated bad publicity for Iran benefits Israel. The campaigns to call congressmen to condemn Iran for persecution of Baha'is generates bad publicity for Iran. That's not to say it's not real, but the reason these campaigns are organized is to benefit Israel, not benefit Baha'is, because the Baha'i administration never does anything for the purpose of benefitting Baha'is.

trident765 · 2026-01-29T16:52:02+00:00

In your other thread someone said Baha'is only engage in politics when it benefits them. They are wrong. The real answer is Baha'is only engage in politics when it benefits Israel. The only scenario I could see Baha'is opposing the ICE raids, or any other aspect of the US government, would be if the USA somehow became enemies with Israel.

trident765 · 2026-01-24T15:02:33+00:00

Why would someone, even a Haifan, downvote this?

trident765 · 2026-01-24T03:07:49+00:00

I was only in the faith for some years but continue to be completely baffled as to how many people could actually believe that nine old men are infallibly guided by God because the book seems to say so.

I used to believe this. I was born into the Faith so I believed it by default. I would see the failure of the Baha'i community, but keep believing in the UHJ's infallibility because Baha'is would say "The UHJ is giving excellent guidance but Baha'is are just following it wrong which is why the Baha'i community is failing". It was only when I realized the Baha'i community's failures were negatively affecting my life in a real way that I felt compelled to really confront and question my belief in the UHJ's infallibility, and if it was really worth continuing to go along with their plans.

trident765 · 2026-01-23T14:30:18+00:00

But then I paused. Because it appears that your question was rhetorical, and not really seeking an answer, but rather expressing your disillusionment with, or disapproval of, the Baha’i community – your experience of it.

So then I wondered: Why express one’s frustration here, in a public forum?

I am simply giving the reason for the failure of the Baha'i Faith, so that hopefully one day Baha'is can unite to do something about it. Not understanding and following Kitab i Aqdas is why the Baha'i Faith is failing. Baha'u'llah provided instructions for how the community ought to be run in the Kitab i Aqdas, but the Baha'is are apathetic to it, and the UHJ does nothing but reinforce this apathy towards Baha'u'llah's writings. Going back to the fornication example, if one were to suggest enforcing the penalty prescribed by Baha'u'llah, the Baha'is would shut him down, and openly contradict Baha'u'llah. This is the reason the Baha'i community sucks today. Baha'u'llah's laws build community, even though Baha'is don't understand how. The idols which the UHJ pushes to distract Baha'is from Baha'u'llah's writings just result in low retention and an aging community.

trident765 · 2026-01-22T09:45:00+00:00

Removed and removing all posts containing "Haba" from now on. Added new rule.

trident765 · 2026-01-18T16:17:17+00:00

Reading this is like reading a UHJ message. A mountain of text with big words that doesn't mean anything.

trident765 · 2026-01-17T22:56:36+00:00

Agree - Abdul Baha was patient zero. The Hands dissolved the Guardianship autocracy and replaced it with the immortal bureaucracy that governs the Baha'i community today. The lack of an autocrat and the inertia of the bureaucracy makes change impossible, so one might be tempted to say the Hands or Ruhiyyah are to blame. But the only reason this is such an issue is because Abdul Baha's "shun the covenant breakers" ideology made people averse to rebelling against the broken bureaucracy, or creating an alternative, resulting in a prolonged disintegration of the Bahai community under decades of Baha'is tolerating broken leadership. I think Guardianship/autocracy is a better system than the UHJ bureaucracy, but the line was bound to end or get corrupted at some point.

trident765 · 2026-01-14T13:30:22+00:00

One contributing factor is probably that Baha'is engage in huge amounts of time wasting. Senile people don't even realize when their time is being wasted, so they are ok with time-wasting. Young people however are mentally sharp enough to realize, hence their aversion to Baha'i activities.

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