Dear Victor, Susan and others,
Mostly this is about loyalty. How do we become or stay loyal to God? By accepting Baha’u’llah and then trying to figure out where to go from there. It seems as though everyone is extremely sincere, and dedicated to following their understanding of the covenant. It may mean loyalty to a Universal House of Justice or a person they believe is the Guardian. It is tricky if you believe Mason to be the Guardian after Shoghi, but then do you accept Joel as the one appointed, or Donald Harvey,(appointed later) or Pepe (who was never Baha’i but an adopted son)? Another way to determine is by the fruit. Who is living the life, who is following the teachings? Pepe did not follow the teachings, he was not even a Baha’i. It is hard for me to accept this lineage as a Baha’i lineage. As for the Haifa Baha’is, they are lovely, lovely people but their UHJ does not seem to be divinely guided or acting in a just way toward their followers (shunning and hard handed tactics toward questioners). There is an aweful lot of fear in their hearts toward those who really pose no threat to their organization. The Orthodox Baha’is I have met are very sweet, kind hearted and not only that, extremely well versed in the writings. But, regardless of who the True Baha’is are, we are all children of God and the one we want to follow and worship is God. I respect the fact that we are all trying. God can do whatever and hopefully He will reunite us all and if not we can learn to live peacefully and honestly together. Janice