Charles Mason Remey: An Open Letter to the Bahá'ís in America March 21, 1918 - Violation of the Covenant

 

AN OPEN LETTER

 

TO

 

THE BAHAIS IN AMERICA

 

            Written to refute certain erroneous statements which are being made with reference to the activities of the Bahai Committee on investigation in its endeavor to free the Cause of Baha’o’llah from the spirit of violation through the application of the explicit commands of the Center of the Covenant regarding the treatment of violators.

 

By

C.M.R.

March 21, 1918

 

 

         **************************************************************************  

 

                                                                                                Washington, D.C.,

                                                                                                       March 21, 1918.

 

TO THE BAHAIS IN AMERICA, GREETING!

Dear Friends In His Service:

 

            During the recent work of the Bahai Committee of Investigation, conducted by the members of the committee in person, in Chicago, New York, Boston, and here in the District of Columbia, certain complaints have been made against the committee and the methods and lines upon which its work is being conducted.  As far as possible, this matter has been met by verbal explanation, which has been quite sufficient to make clear in the minds the position of the committee, save in those cases where the souls are prejudiced in favor of those who stand against the committee,--some of whom are yet questioning the advisability of our stand.

           

As long as this criticism was merely against the personnel of the committee, its members did not think it necessary to try to protect themselves; but now matters have taken a turn from the criticism of the members of the committee to attacking the principles of firmness against violation, which are laid down in the Bahai sacred writings, and upon the principles of which the committee has conducted its work. 

           

People have spread false reports and stories, and letters misstating facts have been  circulated in various parts of the country, until the minds of many souls are confused and troubled.  Therefore, I feel moved to write this letter in order to try to protect the minds of the friends from some of the slander and untruths which are being circulated about the country regarding the stand of the Bahai Committee of Investigation in its endeavor to protect the Cause from the subtle and disintegrating effects of the violation. 

 

I.  It is said that no violation of the Bahai Covenant exists, and that “This trouble in Chicago” is only a “personal affair between certain individuals.”

 

The written report of the committee which is now being generally circulated amond the friends quite explains and conclusively proves that there is not only violation in Chicago, but that the violation there is directly connected with the violation of the Bahai Cause elsewhere in America.

 

II. It is said that Bahais should not “judge one another,” and that those who are now taking this stand against the Nakazeen are breaking this Bahai principle.

 

The Bahai Sacred Writings are the standard of equity, truth, and justice for the world of this new and glorious dispensation; and therein we are taught and instructed how to judge others, not according to any human standard, but according to the standards of “The Kingdom.”  The Bahais are told that dealing according to “justice” means the giving to everyone according to his right—to give what is due to everyone.  Therefore, in its work of investigation the committee and the people who stand with it, see that certain

persons are violating the Covenant, and this they have been enabled to do in accordance with the clear and explicit commands and standards set forth by the Center of the Covenant.

 

            III It is said that the committee is traveling about the country making a division amongst the people in the Assemblies.

           

The work of the committee is that of trying to elucidate this matter in the minds of the people, as will be seen in the written report, by presenting their findings regarding the affair, together with the Holy Words, which tell us exactly what to do when traces of violation are found in our midst.

           

The firm Bahais are responding to this command of the teachings to hold aloof from the violators, and in so doing the necessary division between the firm and the wavering souls is generally being accomplished, and thus an absolute division and separation is made between the firm souls and the wavering ones.

 

            IV It is said that the committee has been “un-neutral” in its stand and that the meeting of December 9^th, in Chicago, should not have been in the home of Mrs. True, but in a place where both sides could have been represented and heard, and that the above-mentioned gathering was a “packed meeting” and so arranged that only one side could be represented.

           

            As soon as the committee was assured beyond a shadow of a doubt that violation of the Covenant existed in Chicago, every care was taken to protect the firm friends from the influence of the violators, and to segregate the firm souls from the wavering ones.

 

            All the members of the committee had had past personal experiences with the Nakazeen, so they were particularly alive to the danger of this contamination. It was upon the committee’s request that Mrs. True opened her home for the meeting of December 9^th, and this request was made because the committee knew that in that place probably no sympathizer of the violation would venture, and if they did come they could easily be ejected, and the meeting made safe.

 

            That gathering was, indeed, a prearranged meeting.  The friends were asked to come together to hear the report of the findings of the violation.  The program of readings from the Holy Words, report, and testimonies, were all arranged for beforehand as thoroughly and as carefully as possible and in conformity with the Bahai Teachings.

 

            As is now quite generally known throughout the country, there were souls in Chicago on December 9^th who felt that that meeting should be held in a ‘neutral place.” It was even suggested by some that the violators should have been represented in order to plead “their case” and thus insure perfect fairness. Such reasoning is so opposed to the Bahai principles for meeting violation that it is not necessary for anyone to attempt explanation.

 

            It was a grief to the members of the committee that any of the friends should have had so little confidence in the House of Spirituality of Bahais, and those who stand with them against the violation, that they should have refused to attend the meeting called by the committee: for, be it known, that in all of its work regarding the situation as confined to Chicago, the committee found that the House of Spirituality had already solved the local problem in conformity with the Holy Commands, so in reality the work of the committee was merely to report its findings to the believers in America, since it was to that end that they had been appointed, as appears in detail in their written report now circulated.

 

            Had the committee chosen a “neutral” place for the meeting of December 9^th and allowed any violator to enter that gathering, we, ourselves, would have been guilty of violation, for one of the explicit commands is that when one finds “the least trace of violation” that person should immediately warn others and protect them from the poison.

 

            V.  It is said that there is no proof that there has been any “conscious or premeditated” violation upon the part of anyone.

 

            As far as we have been able to find in the Holy Writings, violation is violation and there is no distinction made between willful or ignorant, conscious or unconscious, violation.  When the violators in Chicago were confronted by the committee and accused of their violation, and the proofs of the same presented to them, they showed no signs of reconsidering their stand.

 

            VI  It is said by some that undoubtedly violation exists in Chicago and elsewhere too, but that we should hush over the matter and continue with the work of giving the message, trusting that the “spirit of love and unity” will open the eyes of the violators.

 

            Such observations are made from the point of view of those not thoroughly conversant with the divine teachings of the Covenant, wherein we are told to awaken the people of the Cause to the condition of violation whenever we discover the “least trace” thereof.

 

            VII It is said that the committee has been unjust and harsh in its stand.

 

            Finding and knowing what we do it would have been unjust, and we would have been traitors to the Bahai Cause had we not taken a firm stand against the Nakazeen.  That all of our proceedings have been done without the least trace of harshness will be seen in our report, for nowhere, during any of our work, has there crept in any suggestion of a personal like or dislike.  We have dealt only with vital principles which concern the well-being of the Cause.

 

            VIII It is said that the committee has condemned as violators those who do not “agree with their findings.”

 

            The committee has made no such statement and no such evidence can be produced; yet the members of the committee, as individuals, realize thoroughly that according to the Holy Words those who associate and sympathize with the violators and their cause are quite as dangerous to the well-being and solidarity of the Covenant as those who are openly known as Nakazeen, and that through association and sympathy with the violators a soul breaks the spiritual law of the Kingdom and becomes a violator.

 

            IX  It is said that the House of Spirituality of Bahais in Chicago is trying to “oust” the Executive Board of Bahai Temple Unity, and get control of the Mashrak-el-Azkar.

 

            At no time has the committee found the slightest trace of any such spirit among the members of the House of Spirituality.  This Spiritual body is composed of old and tried and well-known Bahais who for years have stood upholding and serving the Cause.  That these friends have taken a firm and strong stand against the violation is most true.  In all of our experience with them we have found them humble and submissive before the friends, but firm and unflinching in their stand against the poison of violation.

 

            The house of Spirituality has been one of the chief points of attack for the violators, and for years these people have been trying to destroy the confidence of the friends in the other assemblies in the House.

 

            These statements suggesting that the members of the House of Spirituality wish to get control of the Mashrak-el-Azkar are subtle attacks made by wavering souls and should not be countenanced by the friends.

 

            X  It is said by some that we should not be “unkind” to the violators, that while we should follow the instructions of the Cause and not associate with them we should, nevertheless, continue to love them and pray for them always.

 

            The  work of the committee has been done in the spirit of justice and kindness to all.  Though certain persons may not have been pleased with us, our thought has never been to be unkind to any soul.  So far aw we have had access to the Holy Writings we find no direct instructions to pray for the Nakazeen, nor does there seem to be any mention made of kindness nor unkindness in this connection.  In justice to all concerned we are taught to hold aloof from all those who would violate the Cause.

 

            XI  It has been said that the Bahai Cause is a “democratic Institution” and that the “voice of the people” should decide who is to be cast out and who is to remain within the fold.

 

            This, it would seem, is but another personal idea and one which is not to be found in the Holy Utterances.  God’s Kingdom is established under the law of the Creator, and we human beings have nothing at all to do with the making of those laws. We should keep them, and if we break them we must suffer the consequences.

 

            Our beloved Abdul Baha is protecting us from harming ourselves through our ignorance of the divine law; therefore let us all hasten to conform our lives to his exhortations and teachings, for therein lies our safety and strength.

 

            XII Many other false things have also been circulated, but it is our hope that the friends will not allow themselves to be upset by these many reports and rumors circulated by wavering ones.  It is through study of the Holy Words and abiding thereby, and not through our own human reasoning, that firmness in the Covenant of Abha is attained.  It therefore behooves us, each and everyone, to study diligently the “Tablets and Holy Utterances” and to know, each one for himself and herself, the fundamental principles of the Cause, in order that our firmness be as an impregnable fortress against the storms and tempests of violation.

 

            As will be seen in the written and circulated report of findings of the Bahai Committee of Investigation, this committee was appointed by the Bahais assembled from the various Bahai centers of America (Chicago excepted) in Chicago, on the centenary of Baha’o’llah.  The committee was authorized:

 

            First: to make an investigation of the alleged violation of the Covenant of Abha, centered in Chicago, and

 

            Second: to report its findings to the Bahais in America.  After a thorough investigation a meeting of the Bahais from various parts of America was called by the committee in Chicago on December 9, 1917, in order to render to the people the report of its findings. 

 

            After receiving the report, and unanimously accepting it, the assembled friends, realizing that violation existed in Chicago, took action toward awakening and protecting the friends in all parts against the spiritual poison of the violation.  Moreover, those assembled friends prolonged the work of the committee of investigation by commissioning them to travel to various assemblies and to explain and elucidate the facts of violation; to warn the friends in all parts of the country of this great danger to the Cause; and to present to the people the clear and explicit texts of the Holy Writings upon FIRMNESS and VIOLATION, for it is through studying and knowing the Holy Law of God that souls remain firm in the Kingdom.

 

            Since December 9^th, one member of the committee has travelled to the Pacific Coast, where, in several assemblies, he explained the matter, while the other three members of the committee have divided their time between Chicago, Boston, New York, Washington, and other centers in the pursuance of their labors, and in addition to holding meetings in these various cities they have written and circulated their report, so that people in all parts could have their definite statement.  They have also done individual work of explaining, through personal interviews and correspondence, the facts of the matter in question.

 

            Now that through the circulation and study of the Holy Utterance and through meetings, interviews, the report, and letters, the affair is clearly placed before the friends in all parts of the country, there is nothing more to be done save for every Bahai to arise to firmness in carrying out the explicit instructions by holding aloof from those who are violating the Covenant.

 

                                    Faithfully your fellow-servant in El-Abha,

 

                                                Charles Mason Remey.

 

 

P.S.      In the latter part of December last some of the Bahai friends, here in the District of Columbia, signed a letter addressed to the House of Spirituality of Bahais in Chicago, in which they commended the course of action of the Chicago friends in their “long and firm stand against the violation of the Covenant of Baha’o’llah, which violation is centered in Chicago” and their “loyalty in both the letter and the spirit to the Center of the Covenant,” and assured them that they stood with them in this, their “service to the Kingdom of Abha.”

 

            A sincere effort was made in order that every Bahai, here in the District, should be given an opportunity to sign this letter to the Chicago friends, if he or she so desired. This was in no sense put forth as a test to the firmness of these friends, but rather it was an expression, to our brothers and sisters, coworkers and upholders of the standard of firmness in Chicago, of our appreciation of their good work, for prior to the drawing up of the letter in question the Committee of Investigation in several meetings had rendered verbally a comprehensive report of the violation in Chicago, so these friends were fully informed of the affair before the matter of the letter was presented to them.  It was well known among those who took an active part in arranging and sending the letter that certain of the well known and staunch Washington Bahais, for reasons on their own, which they explained, deemed it wise not to affix their signature to this document.  The Committee has never questioned the wisdom of their stand in this matter, nor their firmness in the Covenant.

 

            A reproduction of the letter to the Chicago friends is attached to this statement* in order that the friends may  know exactly what was in that letter. This is one-fifth the lateral dimensions, or one-twenty-fifth of the actual superficial size, of the original document which is now in Chicago.

 

*The copy of the letter is not attached.

 

 

 

Library of Congress Volume 46