Our present generation, mainly due to the corruptions that
have been identified with organizations, seem to stand against any institution. Religion as an institution is denounced.
Government as an institution is denounced. Even marriage as an institution is
denounced. We Bahá’ís should not be
blinded by such prevalent notions. If such were the case, all the divine
Manifestations would not have invariably appointed someone to succeed Them.
Undoubtedly corruptions did enter those institutions, but these corruptions
were not due to the very nature of the institutions but to the lack of proper
directions as to their powers and nature of their perpetuation. What
Bahá’u’lláh has done is not to eliminate all institutions in the Cause but to
provide the necessary safeguards that would eliminate corruptions that caused
the fall of previous institutions. What those safeguards are is most interesting
to study and find out and also most essential to know. In a letter that Shoghi
Effendi has lately written to the friends in the West, he mentions the
distinguishing features of the institution that Bahá’u’lláh has left as well as
some of the safeguards that He has provided against its corruption. One of the
main things we boast about is that whereas previous religions were more or less
static in their nature the Bahá’í teachings are progressive. Now, how could
this progressive tendency be maintained without an institution such as the
Guardianship and the House of Justice, who are empowered to legislate upon
matters not referred to by Bahá’u’lláh? - Shoghi Effendi (From a letter dated 25 March 1930
written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer; compilation:
‘The Universal House of Justice’, by the Research Department of the Universal
House of Justice, February 2021; Online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i
World Center)
