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THE INSTITUTION OF THE COUNSELLORS
A Document Prepared by the Universal House of Justice
January 29 2001
Quote
Protection of the Cause (pp. 15-16)
Although deepening the friends’ understanding of the Covenant and increasing their love and loyalty to it are of paramount importance, the duties of the Auxiliary Board members for Protection
do not end here. 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 theconsequences
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.
The need to protect the Faith from the attacks of its enemies may not be generally appreciated by the friends, particularly in places where attacks have been infrequent. However, it is certain that such opposition will increase, become concerted, and eventually universal.
The writings clearly foreshadow not only an intensification of the
machinations of internal enemies, but a rise in the hostility and opposition of its external enemies, whether religious or secular, as the Cause pursues its onwardmarch towards ultimate victory. Therefore, in the light of the warnings of the Guardian, the Auxiliary Boards for Protection should keep “constantly” a “watchful eye” on those “who are known to be enemies, or to have been put out of the Faith”, discreetly investigate their activities, alert intelligently the friends to the opposition inevitably to come, explain how each
crisis in God’s Faith has always proved to be a blessing in disguise,
and prepare them for the “dire contest which is destined to range the
Army of Light against the forces of darkness”. Anonymous222