Guest Author - Lisa Schaffer-Harris
2008 is looming upon us and for Americans it is a time for presidential elections. Every day on television, we are inundated with information about each of the candidates and their positions on any given topic. Baha’is are also interested in this process; however, much like Baha’i elections, where there is no campaigning involved, this is a personal matter and one that requires reflection and contemplation.
Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith, as well as the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing body of the current Baha’i administration, have written several letters to National and Local Spiritual Assemblies, as well as to individual believers on the topic of Baha’i involvement in politics.
Baha’is may not hold political office, nor may we engage in partisan politics. On the other hand, we are encouraged to vote in political elections as long as we do not affiliate ourselves with a particular political party. A letter written on behalf of the Guardian in 1933 states: “The friends may vote if they can do it without identifying themselves with one party or another…It remains for the individuals to so use their right to vote as to keep aloof from party politics and always bear in mind, that they are voting on the merits of the individual, rather than because he belongs to one party or another…”
A few years ago, I was serving on a Local Spiritual Assembly (LSA) when I discovered that a member of the LSA, who was a relatively new Baha’i was serving as the chair of the local Democratic party. My husband and I decided to try to advise this person as individuals, rather than as representatives of the LSA regarding this matter. The Baha’i in question was very upset and unaware of this precept. He strongly believed that his involvement as a Baha’i and his involvement in his political beliefs should go hand in hand. Shoghi Effendi addressed this in a letter written on his behalf, to the Baha’is of Canada and the United States: “…No Baha’i can be regarded as either Republican or Democrat, as such. He is above all else the supporter of the principles enunciated by Baha’u’llah with which, I am firmly convinced the programme of no political party is completely harmonious.”
Furthermore, the Guardian also had an explanation as to why Baha’is are not permitted to campaign for political office: “Actual politicians…will for the most part never be willing to forget their ambitions, work and prestige in order to embrace the Faith…” In this same letter, Shoghi Effendi did confirm that Baha’is may serve in government jobs that are non-political. Many Baha’is have served as appointed judges and in other positions with the government. I myself am a civil servant serving a completely non-political capacity.
To summarize the overall reason why Baha’is are not involved in political politics it’s this, UNITY. Unity is the underlying principle of our Faith; the oneness of God, the oneness of religion, and the oneness of humanity. Political partisan politics is by nature divisive, setting one group of people against each other. We as Baha’is strive to overcome forces in our lives that inspire disunity, we try to bring people together, not push them apart.
