Vajradhara said:
barefootgal, well.. i suppose that you can say that and that may work for some.. but it doesn't work for me, sorry. i suppose that i should say that if a particular tradition places restrictions on people i have no real issue with that within the context of that tradition. if women are not allowed to be elected to the UHJ, so be it. i am a curious individual and always find the reasonings for such things to be fascinating.
As I've stated, however, no "reasonings" for this limitation were given, so we are just stuck here when it comes to trying to explore "why?" We can only come up with speculations of our own until such time that "the reason will become apparent" -- which 'Abdu'l-Baha said would happen one day. Perhaps the true reason is one we would, at this stage in our development, find objectionable -- but 500 years from now, conditions in the world will have changed to the degree that all will at that time find it utterly obvious that this is an absolute neccessity.
I take a lesson from a story which may be familiar to you: of the villagers who were told by their wiseman not to graze their goats on the hillside. Long after the wiseman is dead, and respect for him has faded and been forgotten, a drought occurs, and the desperate villagers decide that there is no reason, that they can see, not to let the goats roam the hillside. The grazing, of course, quickly decimates the delicate ecosystem of the hills, and without the stabilizing roots of its sparse vegetation there is nothing to hold the thin soil. When the rains finally do come, the entire hillside becomes unstable and the village is destroyed in a devastating mudslide.
So, do we defy an exhortation that we do not understand until such time as we can understand it? Or do we follow the exhortation of one whose wisdom we trust, study and question and increase our knowledge until we understand it? Baha'is are bidden to do the latter, as this, at the very least, will prevent disunity, conflict and strife -- and these will be very much more harmful to our community than even doing the "wrong" thing sometimes will be.
This relates to the idea of the UHJ having "supreme" and ultimate authority -- the most important thing here is that somewhere, somehow, by some institution, a resolution be agreed upon. It may sometimes be a less than perfect resolution, it may even rarely be utterly "wrong." A bad decision will quickly become evident and can be easily corrected -- but the wounds inflicted from bitter discord may take decades to heal, and in the cases of individuals injured by invective and contention, may never fully heal.
For Baha'is, the Manifestations of God, and in our time, Baha'u'llah, is "The Divine Physician" -- prescribing what we need for our well-being and safety right now, and for the balance of the millenium. Our own sight and knowledge are limited, while that of the Divine Physician is beyond all limitation. That a certain pill is bitter to our taste does not indicate that it is bad medicine.
Yes! We are encouraged to question everything and seek the knowledge and understanding we need to know the reasons for things. But, as I understand and accept it, while we are waiting for our understanding to develop well enough to do our own doctoring, the path of wisdom is to act on the advice of our Physician.
"Not everything that a man knoweth can be disclosed, nor can everything that he can disclose be regarded as timely, nor can every timely utterance be considered as suited to the capacity of those who hear it."
-- Baha'u'llah (citing a maxim from Persian tradition, I believe)
Vajradhara said:
a political system wherein the individual wasn't considered to be all that important?
Safeguarding the rights and freedoms of individuals is one of the fundamental purposes of the Administrative Order
Vajradhara said:
this seems to support my assertion that the UHJ is the ultimate authority of the Baha'i on this plane of existence...
Yes, but we must bear in mind the fact that the institution is acting in consultation and response to the other institutions of the cause, the recommendations and requests of Baha'i communities, and is required to be mindful and responsive (tho not obedient) to even the recommendations, requests and complaints of individual believers. It's ultimate and fundamental purpose is to
serve the community.
What is hard to realize as an outsider looking in is how organically inter-connected the global, national, local and individual aspects of the community are in its functioning, and how immediate and intense the flow of communication is between the "highest" and "lowest" (i hate to use those terms as they imply comparative value or importance, which is not the case in the Baha'i adminstration) levels of the administrative structure. Also hard to grasp, as herein it differs completely in character from the political systems of countries, the ecclesiastical systems of other religions, and other various organizational structures, is the concept that the Administrative System
exists to serve the Baha'is, and, emphatically, not vice versa.
This is a system created for us, and run by us -- and even for individual Baha'is like myself, it takes several years of familiarity with the system and how it works to begin to fully appreciate how VERY different it is in character from the institutions we are familiar with from other walks of life, and how remarkably well it really does work.
"Justice is, in this day, bewailing its plight, and Equity groaneth beneath the yoke of oppression. The thick clouds of tyranny have darkened the face of the earth, and enveloped its peoples" ...
"How vast is the tabernacle of the Cause of God! It hath overshadowed all the peoples and kindreds of the earth, and will, ere long, gather together the whole of mankind beneath its shelter. Thy day of service is now come. ...
Thou must show forth that which will ensure the peace and the well-being of the miserable and the downtrodden. Gird up the loins of thine endeavour, that perchance thou mayest release the captive from his chains, and enable him to attain unto true liberty."
http://bahai-library.com/writings/bahaullah/tb/6.html
