To read the writings of Covenant-breakers is not forbidden to the believers and does not constitute in itself an act of Covenant-breaking. Indeed, some of the Bahá'ís have the unpleasant duty to read such literature as part of their responsibilities for protecting the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh. However, the friends are warned in the strongest terms against reading such literature because Covenant-breaking is a spiritual poison and the calumnies and distortions of the truth which the Covenant-breakers give out are such that they can undermine the faith of the believer and plant the seeds of doubt unless he is forearmed with an unshakable belief in Bahá'u'lláh and His Covenant and a knowledge of the true facts. (The Universal House of Justice, from a letter dated 29 October 1974 to the National Spiritual Assembly of Switzerland; Compilation on ‘Writings of the Covenant-breakers and other Enemies of the Faith, Photographs of Baha'u'llah’, prepared by the Research department of the Universal House of Justice)
