If a person is registered as a member of a church or similar
religious organization he should withdraw from it on becoming a Bahá'í.
In the case of new believers, it should be made clear to
them in the course of teaching them the Faith that one cannot be a Bahá'í and
also a member of another religious organization. This is simply a matter of
straight-forwardness and honesty. A great part of the teaching of Jesus Christ
concerned His Second Coming and the preparation of His followers to be ready
for it. The Bahá'ís believe He has come. No Christian Church believes this; on
the contrary, they either look for Him still, or have ceased to believe that He
will come. For a Bahá'í to be a member of a community which holds such beliefs
is disloyalty to Christ and hypocrisy towards the Christians.
You should not formalize the method by which the withdrawal
from the church is to be made, and certainly nothing should be added to a
declaration form, if you use one. It should be left to the Local Spiritual
Assembly which is accepting the declaration to satisfy itself, as it deems best
in each case, that the new believer has already resigned from the church, or
does so within a reasonable time of his declaration.
In regard to the old believers, your Assembly should
tactfully, and in a kindly way, make the Bahá'í position clear to them and
gently persuade them to resign from their former churches. This is a matter for
great tact and discretion. If such a believer remains adamant you will have to
consider depriving him of his voting rights.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter to the National Spiritual Assembly of Switzerland, November
21, 1968: Canadian Bahá'í News Special Section, March 1973; compilation:
‘Lights of Guidance’)
