Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 18, 2001, Page 109
13 Concerning the protection duties of these appointed officials, the Universal House of Justice states :
―The Board members must remain ever vigilant, monitoring the actions of those who, driven by
the promptings of ego, seek to sow the seeds of doubt in the minds of the friends and undermine
the Faith. In general, whenever believers become aware of such problems, they should
immediately contact whatever institution they feel moved to turn to, whether it be a Counsellor,
an Auxiliary Board member, the National Spiritual Assembly or their own Local Assembly. It then
becomes the duty of that institution to ensure that the report is fed into the correct channels and
that all the other institutions affected are promptly informed. Not infrequently, the responsibility
will fall on an Auxiliary Board member, in coordination with the Assembly concerned, to take some
form of action in response to the situation. This involvement will include counselling the believer in
question warning him, if necessary, of the consequences of his actions and bringing to the
attention of the Counsellors the gravity of the situation, which may call for their intervention.
Naturally, the Board member has to exert every effort to counteract the schemes and arrest the
spread of the influence of those few who, despite attempts to guide them, eventually break the
Covenant.‖ Universal House of Justice. (2001) The institution of the counsellors. Retrieved
January 9, 2002 from the Baha‘i Studies List Archive:
http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist/m24780.html
14 Adherents.com Index.(n.d.). Retrieved January 9, 2002 from
http://www.adherents.com/Na_41.html This cites Kosmin, B. &S. Lachman.(1993). One nation
under God: Religion in contemporary American society. New York: Harmony Books, pp. 15-
17. Kosmin and Lachman say on the issue of the Baha‘i undercount: ―... possible that our
methodology [over 100,000 phone surveys] tended to undercount groups that live in communal
settings... [This] was suggested to us by the Baha‘i..., [which] claims 110,000 adherents
nationwide... we found only 28,000 ― Baha‘is do not live ―in communal settings‖, however, the
phone survey may have failed to take into account Baha‘i family members living in the same
household.
One reason for the highly inflated membership statistics is that members of the Baha‘i Faith are
only removed from the rolls if they write a letter of resignation to the National Spiritual Assembly
most former converts drift away without doing so. As Adherents.com reported ―As is typical with a
religious group made up primarily of converts, Baha‘is who drift from active participation in the
movement are less likely to retain nominal identification with the religion --because it was not the
religion of their parents or the majority religion of the surrounding culture.‖
15 Khan, Peter. (June 2000). Talk given by Peter Khan at the National Teaching Conference,
Auckland, New Zealand, June 2000. Retrieved January 8, 2002 from Juan R.I. Cole website:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jrcole/bahai/2001/khannz.html
16 Five Year Plan, published in The American Baha’i, 20 August 2001.
17 Hatcher, John (1996)The new role of the scholar in Baha’i society. Presented on 8 August 1996
at Green Acre Baha‘i School. Retrieved January 9, 2002 from the Baha‘i Academics Resource
Library: http://bahai-library.org/conferences/role.scholar.html
18 The anti-theocracy position can be found in Cole, Juan R.I. (1998). Modernity and the
millennium: The genesis of the Baha’i Faith in the nineteenth century Middle East .New
York: Columbia University Press. See also McGlinn, Sen. Church and state in the World Order
of Baha’u’llah. Retrieved January 9, 2002 from Baha‘i Academics Resource Library:
http://bahai-library.org/unpubl.articles/church.html
19 Universal House of Justice.(1999) April 7 letter to National Spiritual Assemblies. Issues related to
the study of the Baha’i Faith.
20 New Mexico lawsuit against Baha’i institutions for fraud and libel. Retrieved January 8,
2002 from Baha‘i Faith &Religious Freedom of Conscience:
http://members.fortunecity.com/bahaicensorship/NMLawsuit.htm
21 As an example of this pattern of small, scattered communities: In my electoral unit in rural
Northern California, there were approximately 300 adult Baha‘is on the rolls in the late 1980s.
These were divided between ten communities large enough to elect LSAs (i.e. having at least nine
adults) and nine communities organized as ―groups‖ where there were less than nine members.
There were also a great number of ―isolated believers‖ living in localities with no organized
community. Of the ten communities that had LSAs, only three had more than fifteen adults, the
level at which assemblies are encouraged to incorporate as non-profit agencies. There were no
Baha‘i communities in the unit with more than fifty adult members on the rolls.
22 For an example of NSA intervention in local affairs, see Cole, Juan R.I.(2000). Race, Immorality,
and Money in the American Baha’i Community: Impeaching the Los Angeles Spiritual Assembly.
13 Concerning the protection duties of these appointed officials, the Universal House of Justice states :
―The Board members must remain ever vigilant, monitoring the actions of those who, driven by
the promptings of ego, seek to sow the seeds of doubt in the minds of the friends and undermine
the Faith. In general, whenever believers become aware of such problems, they should
immediately contact whatever institution they feel moved to turn to, whether it be a Counsellor,
an Auxiliary Board member, the National Spiritual Assembly or their own Local Assembly. It then
becomes the duty of that institution to ensure that the report is fed into the correct channels and
that all the other institutions affected are promptly informed. Not infrequently, the responsibility
will fall on an Auxiliary Board member, in coordination with the Assembly concerned, to take some
form of action in response to the situation. This involvement will include counselling the believer in
question warning him, if necessary, of the consequences of his actions and bringing to the
attention of the Counsellors the gravity of the situation, which may call for their intervention.
Naturally, the Board member has to exert every effort to counteract the schemes and arrest the
spread of the influence of those few who, despite attempts to guide them, eventually break the
Covenant.‖ Universal House of Justice. (2001) The institution of the counsellors. Retrieved
January 9, 2002 from the Baha‘i Studies List Archive:
http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist/m24780.html
14 Adherents.com Index.(n.d.). Retrieved January 9, 2002 from
http://www.adherents.com/Na_41.html This cites Kosmin, B. &S. Lachman.(1993). One nation
under God: Religion in contemporary American society. New York: Harmony Books, pp. 15-
17. Kosmin and Lachman say on the issue of the Baha‘i undercount: ―... possible that our
methodology [over 100,000 phone surveys] tended to undercount groups that live in communal
settings... [This] was suggested to us by the Baha‘i..., [which] claims 110,000 adherents
nationwide... we found only 28,000 ― Baha‘is do not live ―in communal settings‖, however, the
phone survey may have failed to take into account Baha‘i family members living in the same
household.
One reason for the highly inflated membership statistics is that members of the Baha‘i Faith are
only removed from the rolls if they write a letter of resignation to the National Spiritual Assembly
most former converts drift away without doing so. As Adherents.com reported ―As is typical with a
religious group made up primarily of converts, Baha‘is who drift from active participation in the
movement are less likely to retain nominal identification with the religion --because it was not the
religion of their parents or the majority religion of the surrounding culture.‖
15 Khan, Peter. (June 2000). Talk given by Peter Khan at the National Teaching Conference,
Auckland, New Zealand, June 2000. Retrieved January 8, 2002 from Juan R.I. Cole website:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jrcole/bahai/2001/khannz.html
16 Five Year Plan, published in The American Baha’i, 20 August 2001.
17 Hatcher, John (1996)The new role of the scholar in Baha’i society. Presented on 8 August 1996
at Green Acre Baha‘i School. Retrieved January 9, 2002 from the Baha‘i Academics Resource
Library: http://bahai-library.org/conferences/role.scholar.html
18 The anti-theocracy position can be found in Cole, Juan R.I. (1998). Modernity and the
millennium: The genesis of the Baha’i Faith in the nineteenth century Middle East .New
York: Columbia University Press. See also McGlinn, Sen. Church and state in the World Order
of Baha’u’llah. Retrieved January 9, 2002 from Baha‘i Academics Resource Library:
http://bahai-library.org/unpubl.articles/church.html
19 Universal House of Justice.(1999) April 7 letter to National Spiritual Assemblies. Issues related to
the study of the Baha’i Faith.
20 New Mexico lawsuit against Baha’i institutions for fraud and libel. Retrieved January 8,
2002 from Baha‘i Faith &Religious Freedom of Conscience:
http://members.fortunecity.com/bahaicensorship/NMLawsuit.htm
21 As an example of this pattern of small, scattered communities: In my electoral unit in rural
Northern California, there were approximately 300 adult Baha‘is on the rolls in the late 1980s.
These were divided between ten communities large enough to elect LSAs (i.e. having at least nine
adults) and nine communities organized as ―groups‖ where there were less than nine members.
There were also a great number of ―isolated believers‖ living in localities with no organized
community. Of the ten communities that had LSAs, only three had more than fifteen adults, the
level at which assemblies are encouraged to incorporate as non-profit agencies. There were no
Baha‘i communities in the unit with more than fifty adult members on the rolls.
22 For an example of NSA intervention in local affairs, see Cole, Juan R.I.(2000). Race, Immorality,
and Money in the American Baha’i Community: Impeaching the Los Angeles Spiritual Assembly.
