Message from the National Spiritual Assembly regarding participation in public demonstrations and in social media

30 September 2022 / 4 Will 179

All Local Spiritual Assemblies
All Registered Groups

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

In recent months, news emanating from Iran has highlighted the continued injustice faced by many people in that land, including our fellow Bahá’ís.  The renewed waves of persecution afflicting the Bahá’ís have ignited another global outcry of opposition to the government’s senseless oppression of its own people.  Our Office of Public Affairs has been in regular communication with the Government of Canada and Members of Parliament to ensure that Canada’s voice is also heard among the community of nations that uphold the fundamental rights of Bahá’ís in Iran.

Amid this months-long crackdown against Bahá’ís across the country, a wider wave of protest has erupted.  Prompted by the arrest and subsequent death of an innocent young woman, these protests against the government have spread rapidly in Iran and around the world.  A recent letter written to an individual on behalf of the Universal House of Justice noted “the earnest outburst of emotions and the poignant cry from the heart on the part of the masses of people who seek justice and equality fill every fair-minded observer with deep grief and concern.”[i]  At the same time, the protests have generated heightened emotions and a politically volatile environment that must be navigated by Bahá’ís with prudence and wisdom.

The principles that must guide our actions in political matters are well-known to you.  Bahá’ís “endeavour to uphold the standard of justice, addressing inequities directed towards them or towards others,” the Universal House of Justice reminds us in its 2 March 2013 letter to the Bahá’ís of Iran.  Bahá’ís “will not affiliate themselves with political parties, become entangled in partisan issues, or participate in programmes tied to the divisive agendas of any group or faction.”  In another letter, the House of Justice observes that Bahá’ís are “of course free to offer expressions of sympathy and solidarity with the efforts of the people of Iran to seek justice and equity so essential for the progress of their nation.  Yet, as you are surely aware, Bahá’ís should refrain from being drawn into matters and activities that assume a partisan political character or degenerate into violence.”[ii]  One of the challenges in relation to the current public demonstrations is the extent to which many are linked to a call for the overthrow of government, something that a Bahá’í would not do or support.  In a time of political turmoil, it is essential that we hold fast to the principle of non-involvement in politics, with confidence that it will allow us to express our hope and vision for a future society with greater clarity and attractiveness to those searching for solutions.

We note that friends and institutions have raised additional questions regarding the implications of this principle for participation in online spaces of discourse, such as social media.  Indeed, the discussion on social media of matters pertaining to Iran is, as the House of Justice has written, an area of particular sensitivity about which we should be especially on guard.  “Observing strict caution in this respect is essential for the protection of the sorely tried community in Iran.”[iii] Even “liking” or promoting a particular post has implications in this regard.  As the attached letter dated 1 December 2019 notes, the world of social media offers special challenges: “The unparalleled ease with which a person can join in such public debate and the nature of the technology make momentary lapses of judgement and incautious actions more likely and their residue more enduring.”  We urge all the friends to set aside time to study this letter, alone and with others, whether or not they have previously done so.

In its 25 November 2020 letter to the Bahá’ís of the world, the Universal House of Justice placed the global health crisis in a broader context:

Your resilience and your unwavering commitment to the well-being of those around you, persistent through all difficulties, have filled us with tremendous hope.  But it is no wonder that, in some other quarters, hope has become a depleted resource.  There is a mounting realization on the part of the world’s people that the decades ahead are set to bring with them challenges among the most daunting that the human family has ever had to face.  The current global health crisis is but one such challenge, the ultimate severity of whose cost, both to lives and livelihoods, is yet unknown; your efforts to succour and support one another as well as your sisters and brothers in society at large will certainly need to be sustained, and in places expanded.

The letter then outlines the features of the One Year Plan, and continues:

For the present hour, we urge you to recommit your energies, keeping your focus on the mission immediately before you.  We are immensely gratified to see the assured composure with which the community of the Greatest Name has sought to offer the divine remedy under all conditions, especially during this period when society’s established patterns of life have been disrupted and risks of different kinds are being faced by so many.  Withal, the friends must guard against being drawn into the ultimately futile conflict and strife that characterizes so much of the discussion of the affairs of society, or—heaven forbid—allowing interaction of this type to permeate, even fleetingly, the conversations of the community.  Yet such vigilance on your part in avoiding discord and in not becoming entangled in society’s controversies should under no circumstances be construed as aloofness from the many pressing concerns of this time.  Far from it.  You are among the most active and earnest of humanity’s well-wishers.  But, whether through deeds or words, the merit of your every contribution to social well-being lies, first, in your resolute commitment to discover that precious point of unity where contrasting perspectives overlap and around which contending peoples can coalesce.

Capacity has been growing in every community to engage in meaningful, profound conversation that gives access to such a vision to our collaborators, families and friends.  Through the friends’ participation in the training institute, their ongoing study of guidance, and applying what is being learned in their conversations in varied settings, the flow of unerring guidance to humanity from the Universal House of Justice is reaching a wider and wider circle of the well-wishers of humanity.  The passages above describe the environment we seek to create, and the spirit with which we participate in these conversations, conducive to finding precious points of unity.  As the community takes these counsels to heart and applies them, their ardent longing to see change in the world will bear the sweetest fruit.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
OF THE BAHÁ’ÍS OF CANADA
Karen McKye, Secretary

[i] From a letter dated 27 September 2022, written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer.
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] From a letter dated 1 December 2019, written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to all National Spiritual Assemblies.

1 December 2019 letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice