| ←195 | Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1986-2001 Cultivating a Proper Attitude toward Bahá’í Elections |
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| 14 MARCH 1995 |
To a National Spiritual Assembly
Dear Bahá’í Friends,
196.1 The Universal House of Justice has received your letter of 8 February 1995 and we have been asked to respond as follows.
196.2 The House of Justice does not feel that you should be inhibited from carrying out the functions specified for the National Spiritual Assembly at the National Convention through fear of being accused of electioneering. Through the performance of these assigned functions to the best of your ability, you will be able to find the appropriate balance between, on the one hand, an excessive prominence of the outgoing members, which could arouse concerns among delegates, and, on other hand, such disengagement from the Convention consultation and from presentation of National Assembly concerns and plans that the delegates could feel deprived of an important component in their deliberations.
196.3 Electioneering is principally a matter of attitude rather than of the extent of exposure of a believer indulging in such a deplorable form of conduct. As the believers grow in their powers of discernment, they can more accurately come to their own private conclusions about any Bahá’í who appears to be seeking to put himself forth in a desire to be elected to an administrative position. It should also be understood that, at this stage in the development of the Bahá’í community, it is not unusual for Assembly members to be subject to unwarranted accusations of electioneering from believers who may have a distorted impression of what a National Spiritual Assembly should do in the discharge of its functions; this should not cause you undue concern, and should not detain you from conscientiously taking those actions which you believe to be in the best interests of the Cause.
196.4 You are no doubt familiar with the statement of the Guardian, in referring to the duties of members of a National Spiritual Assembly, that
- 196.4a They should approach their task with extreme humility, and endeavor by their open-mindedness, their high sense of justice and duty, their candor, their modesty, their entire devotion to the welfare and interests of the friends, the Cause, and humanity, to win not only the confidence and the genuine support and respect of those whom they should serve, but also their esteem and real affection.[1]
196.5 The National Convention is the only occasion at which believers from distant areas, such as . . . to which you refer in your letter, can have informal fellowship with the members of both outgoing and incoming National Spiritual Assemblies, and thus provides a unique opportunity to reassure them about the attitudes of their elected representatives and overcome the sense of separation to which you refer.
- With loving Bahá’í greetings,
- DEPARTMENT OF THE SECRETARIAT
Notes
- ↑ BA, p. 64.
