From: 20-Nov-1992 1626 <hakim@bigq.enet.dec.com>
Newsgroups: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: Schisms
Date: 20 Nov 92 23:26:29 GMT
Article-I.D.: ogicse.46252
Organization: -

One of the Baha'i friends posted a press release to this forum, a part
of which is presented below:

>>WHY:	The Baha'i Faith has managed in 100 years to do
>>	something that no other religion has been able to
>>	accomplish:  to remain unified.	 Alone in this
>>	achievement among world religions, only the Baha'i
>>	Faith has remained free of sectarian division and
>>	schism.
 
allegra!lieuwen@allegra.att.com (Dan Lieuwen), you tend to disagree
with the view offered above:

DL>Please.  You have your schismatics.  I forget the name, Bahais under the
DL>Covenant or some such name.  One of my best friends is a Bahai, and when
DL>I saw a poster for them at UW-Madison, I told him you're postering more.
DL>He asked questions, and then said "oh, them.  They're not real Bahais."
							     ^^^^^^^^^^^ 

Dear Dan, the REALNESS of a Baha'i is determined according to two
documents:

1- The Book of My Covenant (Revealed by Baha'u'llah)

2- The Will and testament of Abdu'l-Baha

That is to say, the basic requirements established in these two
documents are pivotal in determining whether one is a Baha'i or not.
Both documents are available for public scrutiny.  [Prior to departing
for the World Congress, I will try to resubmit an older article on the
Baha'i Convenant, which I recall contains quotes from these works.
--rdt]

DL>Reading statements in newsgroups by people who consider themselves
  				       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
DL>Bahais, but make up their religion as they go also belies this claim.
   ^^^^^^  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I'd like to respectfully recommend that we stop making such judgments
and examine these two documents in order to determine the validity of
any such conclusions. I hope this is an acceptable approach!?

DL>Any religion can claim that it has no schisms by just declaring its
DL>heretics not of the fold.  The first major schism in Christianity
DL>didn't occur until the council of Chalcedon in the middle to late 400s.
DL>All the little heretical sects of Christianity up to that point have
DL>died out.
 
NO RELIGION prior to the Baha'i Faith could claim to have credible
WRITTEN DOCUMENT which discusses legitimate successorship and clearly
assigns the measure of authority and responsibility assigned to the
successor/s and the responsibility of the believers to the appointed
successor/s. Since Christianity lacks such a document, therefore,
comparison of the Baha'i Faith and Christianity in this context is
invalid in my humble opinion.

DL>So, you have about 250 years to go until you can claim to have met
DL>Christianity's level of unity.  I would imagine that similar examples
DL>can be found in other religions.
 
On the contrary, the Baha'i Writings are clear in this area that
Baha'i Faith WILL NOT be fragmented. Nevertheless, one must leave such
a hypothetical issue to history and its verdict. We must focus our
efforts on understanding this issue in the context of the two
documents mentioned above.

DL>So, please be careful with the truth.  Statements like this can only
                                  ^^^^^
DL>harm your credibility.
             ^^^^^^^^^^^

The TRUTH of this matter is enshrined in the two documents identified
above. Furthermore, CREDIBILITY of a Baha'i depends of his/her ability
to remain faithful to the provisions of these two documents.
Discussion of these provisions are welcomed in this newsgroup and
could decisively address your concerns.

Warm regards,

Kamran Hakim