Dearly cherished Universal House of Justice,
In coming in contact with the junior youth Ruhi Book “On Health and Well-Being”, I feel at once shocked and horrified by the content. It doesn't reflect the Writings of our beloved Faith, and is deceptive at best of the Baha'i standards on health and healing. Since Ruhi books in pre-publication ask for input, I humbly offer mine.The Baha'i Writings do not endorse any medical systems, so why is this course endorsing vaccine programs, and even having a service project to go door to door and “remind” parents about an upcoming vaccine clinic? This is inappropriate.
"The Faith should not be associated with any particular school of medical theory or practice. It is left to each believer to decide for himself which doctors he should consult" —Universal House of Justice 1977
"There is nothing in the Bahá’í Teachings regarding vaccinations but only general indications about health; therefore, the Guardian cannot advise you on this subject." —Shoghi Effendi
"Regarding your question about vaccination: These are technical matters which have not been specifically mentioned in the teachings, and consequently the Guardian cannot make any statement about them." —Shoghi Effendi
"As we are a religion and not qualified to pass on scientific matters we cannot sponsor different treatments." —Shoghi Effendi
Since Baha'is are called upon to independently investigate truth for themselves, I question why this Ruhi Book is addressing only one view on medical practices. Without getting into a lengthy discussion about the vaccine issue, I will refer the Universal House of Justice to two recent books with current information unknown to medical personnel, words from Ghandi on vaccination and some Writings that address the controversy:
“Vax vs Unvax – Let the Science Speak” - a meticulous accounting of trials including over 100 peer-reviewed vaccinated vs unvaccinated studies and the health implications done independently as health agencies have not done these studies, with over 100 graphs showing health outcomes between the two groups and 50 pages of sources and citations.
“Turtles All the Way Down – Vaccine Science and Myth” - a recent exhaustive account of how vaccines are trialed, including conflicts of interest, manipulation of data and subjects, and limitations of trials. A tedious read with summaries for each chapter as well as the book in totality. (Edited by Zoey O'tolle and Mary Holland, J.D., president of Childrens Heath Defense). Again, this book is meticulously cited and sourced.
And some words on vaccination from our spiritual brother Mahatma Ghandi: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/media-interviews/gandhi-words-from-100-years-ago-on-vaccination/
Finally, from the Writings:
“There, of course, remain scientific or medical matters about which experts have legitimate differences of opinion. Believers may, thus, come to various conclousions about such matters, and there is no obligation for the friends to have uniformity of thought about them.” —Universal House of Justice
“So far from adopting a carefree attitude, the community must be conscious of the necessity to present a correct view of itself and an accurate understanding of its purpose to a largely skeptical public. A greater effort, a greater care must now be exercised to ensure its protection against the malice of the ignorant and the unwisdom of its friends." —Universal House of Justice
I feel dismayed that the children of the public at large as well as the Baha'i children are being exposed to information that does not reflect the body of science nor the Holy Writings, and are not encouraged to independently investigate the truth for themselves.
Further, there are literally millions of familes that have experienced vaccine injury of their children and have years of experience and research behind them, and this representation in support of vaccines would certainly turn many people away from the Faith. It does nothing to “defend the downtrodden”, marginalized, discounted and the devestated members of a whole community who are navigating the vaccine injury path. In addition, it tramples parents' rights to teach their ideals to their children. It is my opinion that mothers' intuition should never be supplanted by medicine.
So where is the independent investigation of truth? Where is the discernment? Ruhi book 13.2 states that information is not knowledge.
“O SON OF SPIRIT! The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbor. Ponder this in thy heart; how it behooveth thee to be. Verily justice is My gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness. Set it then before thine eyes.” —Baha'u'llah
“What an extraordinary situation obtains, when no one, hearing a claim advanced, asks himself what the speaker’s real motive might be, and what selfish purpose he might not have hidden behind the mask of words.” —Ab’dul-Baha,The Secret of Divine Civilization
“Let them beware lest they allow themselves to become the tools of unscrupulous politicians, or to be entrapped by the treacherous devices of the plotters and the perfidious among their countrymen.” —Baha'u'llah
“God has created in man the power of reason, whereby man is enabled to investigate reality. God has not intended man to imitate blindly his fathers and ancestors. He has endowed him with a mind, or the faculty of reasoning, by the exercise of which he is to investigate and discover the truth, and that which he finds real and true he must accept. He must not be an imitator or blind follower of any soul. He must not rely implicitly upon the opinion of any man without investigation; nay, each soul must seek intelligently and independently, arriving at a real conclusion and bound only by that reality. The greatest cause of bereavement and disheartening in the world of humanity is ignorance based upon blind imitation. It is due to this that wars and battles prevail; from this cause hatred and animosity arise continually among mankind.” —Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace
“All blessings are divine in origin but none can be compared with this power of intellectual investigation and research which is an eternal gift producing fruits of unending delight. Man is ever partaking of these fruits. All other blessings are temporary; this is an everlasting possession. Even sovereignty has its limitations and overthrow; this is a kingship and dominion which none may usurp or destroy. Briefly; it is an eternal blessing and divine bestowal, the supreme gift of God to man.” —Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace
I simply don't understand how this book was released when it clearly doesn't adhere to the standards of the Baha'i Faith with regard to independent investigation of the truth, not adhering to any one medical model, does not present curent medical research, and oversteps the rights of parents to educate their children by following the advice of trusted doctors of their choice, and would surely turn people away from the Faith.
I call upon the Universal House of Justice to remove this book from circulation, and I seek to understand the process for publishing Ruhi books, which may need some adjustment so that the Faith is not misreprented in the future.
“Happy are they who in the days of world-encompassing trials have stood fast in the Cause and refused to swerve from its truth.” —Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh
Sincerely, C… cc: books@devlp.org