Saturday, June 07, 2008

What about Covenant breakers?

I saw Baquia and Gerald discussing how to apply the writings about Covenant breakers, and the writings about unity, at the same time. It might help some people to have compilations on both topics, and some examples of how people have tried to apply them together.

I've done a lot of research and thinking about it, since the first time I thought of the possibility of encountering Covenant breakers in Internet discussions. Here are some of my thoughts:
  • No one but the House of Justice has any authority to say who is a Covenant breaker and who isn't.
  • I don't think that the requirement to avoid fellowship with Covenant breakers requires us to try to find out which people in Internet discussions are Covenant breakers according to the House of Justice. What we need to avoid in Internet discussions is not certain people, but certain kinds of discussions.
  • In Internet discussions, I try not to make any distinctions in the way I treat people individually, between people who are promoting a Guardian after Shoghi Effendi and others. People who are promoting a Guardian after Shoghi Effendi rarely address me, but when they do, I try not to respond any differently from the way I would respond to anyone else.
  • I have always strictly avoided forums which I thought were primarily gathering places for people promoting a Guardian after Shoghi Effendi.

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