Walk the Universalism Talk

By: Kristine

Sons of Bahá’u’lláh: Abbas (‘Abdu’l-Bahá) and Muhammad `Alí

In this video, former Baha’i [which is ready to be seen by the dear readers in the media center of the site Bahaismiran.com], Rev. Eric Stetson, tells Christian Universalists how to walk the talk. In his sermon he mentions the Baha’is as an example of those who have been unable to walk the unity talk, and says that’s why so many people have left the Baha’i Faith in recent years.

[The section about Baha’i starts at 7:20 minutes in the video.]

I agree with a lot of what he says. I think it is fair to listen but retain a discerning mind. That’s one thing that Baha’is are encouraged to discard – their critical thinking ability – and this is one reason I believe Baha’i is a dangerous cult.

‘Abdu’l-Baha told Baha’is that even if they don’t understand what Baha’u’llah says, they “still ought not to oppose it by a single thought.”

Scary, scary, scary .

Very cult-like, don’t you think?

In the video [at 11:27] Rev. Stetson brings up the issue of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s decision to expel his brother from the religion, and suggests the problems with the Baha’i religion started there. I tend to go back a bit further, to the person of Ḥusayn`Alí Núrí himself (Baha’u’llah). He claimed to be able to see the future, yet wasn’t able to adequately prepare his two chosen successors to get along with one another.

Rev. Stetson’s main point is that the Baha’i Faith is like so many other religions that say they have the ultimate truth yet are not able to put their ideals into practice. Baha’is believe UNITY is their main principle but as soon as Baha’u’llah died, his sons were unable to work amicably together, and unity was no more.

To this day the Baha’is have a history of dividing people and families. For example, if one person in a family is declared a covenant breaker (the worst form of excommunication for Baha’is) the rest of the family has to decide whether to talk to that person and accept the covenant breaker stigma on themselves, or stay with the main Baha’i Faith and never talk to their excommunicated family member again.

That’s essentially what happened to Baha’u’llah’s entire family. Most family members chose to support the excommunicated Muhammad `Alí, and all were declared to be covenant breakers. Then after ‘Abdu’l-Baha died and made Shoghi Effendi his successor, the same thing happened. Shoghi Effendi declared everyone else in his family – all ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s daughters and their descendants – to be covenant breakers. Even today, someone born to one of these people is to be considered a covenant breaker that “Baha’is in Good Standing” (BIGS) are not allowed to talk to.

That’s information control. I know, having been a BIGS Baha’i for 30 years until 2000… there’s no access to the information on why all of Baha’u’llah’s living descendants are considered covenant breakers. We were not allowed to talk to them or hear their side of the story, or read anything written by them.

Information control is one of the main signs of a cult mind control organization.

It is not only Baha’u’llah’s family that is threatened with this kind of division. Anyone the Universal House of Justice decides to declare a covenant breaker is subject to having their family decimated.

Steven Scholl, a once-devoted Baha’i and editor of a Baha’i magazine, now publisher at White Cloud Press, is often quoted:

“…I received a letter from a Baha’i Continental Counsellor indicating that I was under threat of being declared a Covenant-breaker, the impact on me personally was less than on my family. My wife is a Baha’i as are many of her family members, . . . . The very real threat of being declared a Covenant breaker meant my wife had to face the decision of joining me as a heretic or divorcing me so that she could maintain her relationships with her family and other lifelong friends. Since [my wife] had no intention of divorcing me, the choices then extended out to her family. Her sister would not refuse to socialize with us so she would automatically be declared a covenant breaker along with her husband and children. Many of my close Baha’i friends would also be faced with the decision of maintaining friendships or joining me as a heretic. The whole thing is absurd and quite medieval. But it does raise the issue which you point out so well; how anyone would want to belong to a group which is willing to act this way and be so cruel is beyond me. That is why I voluntarily left the religion. Not in order to escape punishment but because the Baha’i community had become such an unhealthy place spiritually. I was terribly saddened that my spiritual home of 25 years had turned into a prison and nightmare…”

It is encouraging to see Rev. Stetson’s sermon about his Christian Universalist beliefs and how they compare to his experience with the Baha’i Faith. I appreciate having this kind of information available on YouTube.

Incidentally, my grandmother was a Universalist and had a part in making me ready to accept the Baha’i principle of the unity of religions. If only it had been a true unity, rather than an attempt to make all people of all religions “united” within the label, “Baha’i” . . . I might respect it more. By applying a label, “Baha’i,” disunity is created, because you’re either in, or you’re out. For more than twelve years after leaving Baha’i, my recovery was found in escaping from disunifying labelism, while remaining a believer in God.

Intrigued by this video, I did some research on Christian Universalism, and found the Christian Universalist Association website. Rev. Stetson is listed there as a member of the board of directors.

Eric Stetson wrote a book, Christian Universalism: God’s Good News for All People, published in 2008. My preliminary research shows that the belief is basically Christian with the assurance that nobody is eternally consigned to hell.

http://exbahai.com/