Violation of Orthodox Baha’i Rights by Universal House of Justice

“… The Fundamentally Islamic government if Iran is persecuting Baha’is because of the Faith’s beliefs. But that is just the clergy-dominated government, not Muslims in general.”

Is a “clergy-dominated” leadership also the explanation for this circumstance which we are now observing in America where the leadership of the large body of Bahá’ís in the United States is persecuting Orthodox Bahá’ís by bringing Court action against them in an attempt to stop them legally from practicing their Faith, “framing mischief by decree” (Ps. 94:20), preventing Orthodox Bahá’ís from using the Name of the Founder of their Faith and the symbols of their Faith? How is that attitude and action different from Iranian authorities destroying sacred Bahá’í sites in Iran? The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United states is acting towards Orthodox Bahá’ís with the same attitude as the clergy of the Iranian leadership, classifying Orthodox Bahá’ís as “heretics/Covenant-breakers/apostates.”

“It is such a crime that the Iranians do not allow for the free expression of religious beliefs. It is also a crime that the main Baha’i organization is trying to squelch the free speech of Orthodox Baha’is.

Contempt Motion by Wilmette NSA
against Orthodox Bahá’í Faith:

Parties await decision of Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in NSA’s appeal of decision finding Orthodox Bahá’ís were not in contempt

[Revised 28 February 2009] The parties are awaiting the decision of the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago, Illinois in the appeal brought by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States (NSA), located in Wilmette, Illinois, after it lost its contempt motion against members of the Orthodox Bahá’í Faith and the Bahá’ís Under the Provisions of the Covenant, which are two separate and distinct entities.

The NSA had called upon the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division to hold in contempt members of both minority Bahá’í organizations who, the NSA claimed, were in violation of an injunction its predecessor obtained some 40 years ago against a rival Bahá’í body (the NSA loyal to Mason Remey).

In legal documents provided to the court on December 6, 2006, the NSA claimed that members of the current minority Bahá’í groups, although not parties to the case brought against the NSA loyal to Mason Remey, nevertheless are bound by the 1966 Judgment.  While not providing any specifics with regard to how the minority bodies have harmed the majority body, the NSA contended that the websites (including this one) of the smaller organizations were doing irreparable damage to the NSA.

The basic contention of the NSA was that the members of the minority groups were violating the NSA’s alleged trademarks on the name “Bahá’í” and the religious symbol of the “Greatest Name”, and it sought from the court a ruling which would prohibit the minority members from using the alleged trademarks to the detriment of the NSA.

The NSA sought to restrain both those individuals who at one time were even remotely associated with the enjoined rival Bahá’í body and any ‘nonparty’ members who have since developed different Bahá’í organizations.

Joel B. Marangella (The Third Guardian, Orthodox Bahai Faith )

Those members of the minority group who call themselves Orthodox Bahá’ís, to distinguish themselves from the members of the majority organization, stated that the trademark by the Wilmette NSA on the “Greatest Name” is the equivalent of a Christian denomination trademarking the Cross and then saying that no other Christian congregation can use that symbol in their activities or in their contacts with others.

Additionally, Orthodox Bahá’ís maintain that the name “Bahá’í” is in the public domain and cannot be the exclusive property of one organization. They say that like the name “Christian” and “Muhammadan”, which refer to followers of Christ and Muhammad respectively, the name “Bahá’í” refers to a follower of Bahá’u\'lláh, who all Bahá’ís acknowledge as the latest Prophet from God.

For some 35 years the Orthodox Bahá’ís have been employing the name “Bahá’í” in their newspaper and magazine publicity and in the telephone Yellow Pages, and during that time the NSA has made no move to implement the provisions of the injunction that the majority organization is now using to seek contempt citations against members of the minority groups. Should the NSA be successful in its efforts to curtail their activities, Orthodox Bahá’ís contend that, for them, the First Amendment of the Constitution is no longer valid.

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