Bahai Faith -- North America; Shoghi, Effendi, 1897-1957 -- Correspondence
No opportunity, in view of the necessity of insuring the harmonious
development of the Faith, should be ignored, which its potential enemies,
whether ecclesiastical or otherwise, may offer, to set forth, in a
restrained and unprovocative language, its aims and tenets, to defend its
interests, to proclaim its universality, to assert the supernatural, the
supra-national and non-political character of its institutions, and its
acceptance of the divine origin of the Faiths which have preceded it. Nor
should any chance be missed of associating the Faith, as distinct from
affiliating it, with all progressive, non-political, non-ecclesiastical
institutions, whether social, educational, or charitable, whose objectives
harmonize with some of its tenets, and amongst whose members and
supporters individuals may be found who will eventually embrace its truth.
Particular attention should, moreover, be paid to attendance at congresses
and conferences, and to any contacts that can be made with colleges and
universities which offer a fertile field for the scattering of the seeds
of the Faith, and afford opportunities for broadcasting its message, and
for winning fresh recruits to its strength.
Nor should any occasion be neglected by the pioneers of attending, if
their personal circumstances permit, either the British or German Bahá’í
summer schools, and of forging such links with these institutions as will
not only assist them in the discharge of their duties, but enable them to
initiate, when the time is ripe, an institution of a similar character,
under the auspices of the European Teaching Committee—an institution which
will be the forerunner of the summer schools that will have to be founded
separately by the future assemblies in their respective countries. Above
all, any assistance which the two national spiritual assemblies, already
established on that continent, and their auxiliary committees, and
particularly their publishing agencies, can extend should be gratefully
welcomed and utilized to the full, until such time as the institutions
destined to evolve in these countries can assume independently the conduct
of their own affairs.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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