In reading through some older posts on Talk Religion Bahá'í I found a paragraph that the Third Guardian, Joel B. Marangella, summarized as a key element in what must be reconciled by all Bahá'ís in order for them to have any real connection with the Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh and `Abdu'l-Bahá. That major hurdle remains and continues to be a valid requirement for the eventual reconciliation among all who call themselves Bahá'í.
“...That the...messages...had been dispatched by Shoghi Effendi following his Proclamation of 9 January 1951, in which he had established the Universal House of Justice, in its embryonic form, under the provisional name of the International Bahá¹í Council and had hailed it as this first embryonic International Institution which would develop in successive stages as an officially recognized Bahá¹í Court, a duly elected body and culminating in its final stage of efflorescence into (the) Universal House of Justice, an obviously evolutionary process in which its final efflorescence as the Universal House of Justice would only logically take place, in the future when National and Local Houses of Justice had been established and were operable and permitted by the governments of the countries in which they were located to apply all of the laws of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas to the believers residing in their respective countries. For this very reason Shoghi Effendi, in his message of 25 April 1951, had stated that the formation of the Bahá¹í Court as the second stage in the development of the International Bahá¹í Court was an essential prelude to the Institution of the Universal House of Justice and reiterated this requirement in his message of 8 October 1952 in connection with the objectives of the forthcoming [Ten Year] Crusade which would include; the establishment of a Bahá¹í Court in the Holy Land preliminary to the emergence of the Universal House of Justice and the Establishment of six national Bahá¹í Courts in the chief cities of the Islamic East; Tihran, Cairo, Baghdád, New Delhi, Karachi, [and] Kabul, objectives that were never met.”
Joel B. Marangella, “Do They really Care,” March 2006
That paragraph tells us that Shoghi Effendi had initiated a plan to facilitate the establishment of the Universal House of Justice in the immediate future, after certain requirements put forth by him would have been fulfilled. During his tenure as Guardian he had defined the preliminary evolutionary stages which would allow his embryonic Universal House of Justice to further unfold.
He named the International Bahá'í Council as the embryonic Universal House of Justice. He was talking about a UHJ that he himself established, which would include `Abdu'l-Bahá’s requirement of having a living Guardian at its head; not the one later established by the Hands in the Holy Land. How do the advocates of the current UHJ reconcile their beginnings with Shoghi Effendi’s step by step plan? In their not following Shoghi Effendi’s plan for the Faith, the Hands constructed a fork in the road to the Kingdom of God on earth, a detour. That was a very serious error in embarkation by the Hands.
However, we all know that detours are only temporary.
Why did they not honor Shoghi Effendi’s instructions and continue what he had begun? It is a paradox that the followers of the current UHJ claim Shoghi Effendi as *their* Guardian in those cases when they absolutely have to reference a *Guardian* in their liturgy. Never mind the conclusive evidence that `Abdu'l-Bahá intended for the office of Guardianship to be occupied by a living individual. They will not let Shoghi Effendi rest in peace in the next world, as is his due. They continue placing demands upon him in his abode in the next world, demands that he is not physically capable of fulfilling here.
How do those heterodox Bahá'ís reconcile that Shoghi Effendi explained that the Bahá'í Court system was to be established in six major cities, named by him so that there would not be any question about what he had in mind, as an essential prelude to the establishment of the Universal House of Justice?
While it may be argued that the first Guardian did not proclaim "...I appoint Mason Remey as the next guardian..." he quite clearly appointed his successor-to-be when he appointed Mason Remey as the President of the IBC. Need I remind again that the Will and Testament states that a Guardian must appoint his successor in his own lifetime?
`Abdu'l-Bahá did not choose the words *the next Guardian*; he chose to use *successor.*
So, why did the Hands in the Holy Land not follow Shoghi Effendi’s instructions?
Why did they not understand that Mason Remey was thus the ranking individual among them, appointed by the first Guardian himself *in his own lifetime?* The Hands were no doubt very heartbroken and confused that their Guardian had unexpectedly left them. I suppose they can’t be faulted for looking for a Will, for they knew him well enough that they expected that he would have left instructions to guide them. In any case, after they discovered there was no Will among his papers, why did they not step back, take a deep breath, and determine whether he had developed a Plan B for his instructions? Is that not what we should all do when surprised in any situation? Look for several means of resolution for a problem according to its importance? What could be more important than finding the next Guardian?
Did they not realize that lacking a Guardian the Bahá'í Faith is no longer the Bahá'í Faith, but something else?
No, they did not look further for a Plan B designed by Shoghi Effendi. Since they did not find his Plans A or B, they immediately began to design their own, ignoring the station that Shoghi Effendi did not take with him to the next world, rather leaving it with another human being to Divinely personify the Institution of the Guardianship. He not only left a plan naming his successor, he further detailed it with goals that would require many years to accomplish.
That is what must be reconciled in the minds of all believers. Whether any of the present followers of the 2008 version of the "Universal House of Justice" come to realize that in their own lifetime is not a determining factor for the victory of the Covenant. While it will be a shame for them not to do so, the Covenant as defined by Bahá'u'lláh and `Abdu'l-Bahá will survive this speed bump, and no doubt many more speed bumps before it is firmly established here.
Apparently most Bahá'ís somehow reconcile their Faith to accept that Shoghi Effendi was the first Guardian, then have imagined a gap in Shoghi Effendi’s tape. Shall we call it a 20 second gap? In any case it is a gap they don't question, nor recognize as being a gap. After 1963 they resumed playing their tape, hailing Shoghi Effendi as their Guardian for life. Their tape is flawed. That 20 second gap can and will be repaired. Whether by them or others is their choice. It has to be in order for God's Plan to continue, in order for the embryo to continue to mature.
That is what all the screaming is about. Joel B. Marangella is screaming to the highest hills to get the attention of the heterodox Bahá'ís, and all his critics will no doubt continue to scream back until at last this Faith resumes listening to the authentic tape without the 20 second gap, the tape originated by Shoghi Effendi.
How can the third Guardian conclude anything other than they don't care, based upon the foundational elements of the 2008 version of the Universal House of Justice?
Hand of Cause David Maxwell