"That reasonably intelligent men and women should be unable—after the passage of almost half a century—to free themselves from the relentless undertow of folly and ambition that has drowned every hope and scheme they ever cherished is a cautionary tale indeed. The fate of those who followed Charles Mason Remey is a case study in the nature and paralyzing effect of the virus of Covenant-breaking...
Statement 'MASON REMEY AND THOSE WHO FOLLOWED HIM' referred to by the UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE
MASON REMEY AND THOSE WHO FOLLOWED HIM
Revised January 2008
INTRODUCTION
In addition to explaining the nature and dangers of violation of the Covenant, ShoghiEffendi several times reviewed briefly the fates of individuals and groups who had surrendered to this worst of human failings. To reflect on the consequences experienced by those who seekto undermine the unity of the Cause, he said, helps believers to appreciate more deeply the protecting power of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant. In the perspective of more than four decades that have passed since Charles Mason Remey's violation of the Covenant, it is instructive to review the consequences to those who followed him down this barren path.
I
COVENANT-BREAKING
The Nature of Covenant-breaking
What is Covenant-breaking? In a letter to an individual dated 23 March 1975, the Universal House of Justice wrote:
When a person declares his acceptance of Bahá'u'lláh as a Manifestation of God he becomes a party to the Covenant and accepts the totality of His Revelation. If he then turns round and attacks Bahá'u'lláh or the Central Institution of the Faith he violates the Covenant. If this happens every effort is made to help that person to see the illogicality and error of his actions, but if he persists he must, in accordance with the instructions of Bahá'u'lláh Himself, be shunned as a Covenant-breaker.1
The personal failings that lead people to violate the Covenant to which they know they have committed themselves have been described by the Guardian as "the blind hatred, the unbounded presumption, the incredible folly, the abject perfidy, the vaulting ambition"2 which, in varying degrees, afflict the persons concerned. While some of these may have been duped by others, 'Abdu'l-Bahá has said of them:
These do not doubt the validity of the Covenant, but selfish motives have dragged them to this condition. It is not that they do not know what they do—they are perfectly aware and still they exhibit opposition.3
The Danger It Poses
The Master has warned that, if unchecked, Covenant-breaking would "utterly destroy the Cause of God, exterminate His Law and render of no account all efforts exerted in the past". He sets this warning in the context of the fact that the central purpose of Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation is to create unity:
Were it not for the protecting power of the Covenant to guard the impregnable fort of the Cause of God, there would arise among the Bahá'ís, in one day, a thousand different sects as was the case in former ages.4
2
Apart from the danger that Covenant-breaking poses to the development of the Cause, it represents a spiritual contagion threatening the well-being of the individual believer because of its subtle appeal to the human ego. 'Abdu'l-Bahá called for the complete exclusion from the Bahá'í community of anyone found to be infected with the virus of Covenant-breaking and urged all believers to shun any contact whatever with the persons involved.
More on this subject is available
here:http://info.bahai.org/article-1-3-3-4.html
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