Minorities within a future Bahá'í state

A future Bahá'í state to respect rights of minorities of any type; will not force minority to become followers; House of Justice responsible for safeguarding these rights

"As to your question concerning the rights of the minority of non-Bahá'í citizens in a Bahá'í state, it is clear from the writings of our Faith that under a Bahá'í system the rights of the minorities of any type must always be respected and upheld. Just as Bahá'ís today show obedience and loyalty to the government but refuse to bow to the majority if they are asked to deny their Faith, so in the future, when the majority is represented by the Faith the Bahá'ís will not force the minority to become followers of Baha'u'llah but they will expect the minority to be similarly obedient and loyal..."

"The ultimate safeguard in the Faith of Baha'u'llah to ensure that this principle and all its other fundamental tenets are not violated is the Universal House of Justice, which, as its Constitution clearly stipulates, is charged with the responsibility of maintaining the integrity of the teachings and of safeguarding their inviolability."

(On behalf of the Universal House of Justice, letter dated 9 March 1977, to an individual believer, cited in https://bahai-library.com/cooney_world_order_literature and https://bahai-library.com/compilation_cultural_diversity_maturity#181 )

Explain principle of upholding rights of minorities to those fearing for minorities or individuals under a vision of a future worldwide commonwealth inspired by Divine Revelation; no compulsion to join Faith or prevent from leaving; State accepting law of God as its own law would be supremely voluntary and democratic process

"In answer to those who raise objections to this vision of a worldwide commonwealth inspired by a Divine Revelation, fearing for the freedom of minority groups or of the individual under such a system, we can explain the Bahá'í principle of upholding the rights of minorities and fostering their interests. We can also point to the fact that no person is ever compelled to accept the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh and moreover, unlike the situation in certain other religions, each person has complete freedom to withdraw from the Faith if he decides that he no longer believes in its Founder or accepts His Teachings. In light of these facts alone it is evident that the growth of the Bahá’í communities to the size where a non-Bahá’í state would adopt the Faith as the State Religion, let alone to the point at which the State would accept the Law of God as its own law and the National House of Justice as its legislature, must be a supremely voluntary and democratic process."

"As the Universal House of Justice wrote in its letter of 21 July 1968 to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States:

"It is not our purpose to impose Bahá'í teachings upon others by persuading the powers that be to enact laws enforcing Bahá'í principles, nor to join movements which have such legislation as their aim..."

(On behalf of the Universal House of Justice, Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1986-2001, at https://bahai-library.com/uhj_messages_1986_2001#Separation_of_Church_and_State ; also at https://bahai-library.com/uhj_theocracy )

See also

• For a fuller discussion, see https://bahai-library.com/uhj_theocracy

See also

• Bahá'í State
• Theocracy
• Covenant-breakers - respect of rights