People who have withdrawn from the Cause because they no
longer feel that they can support its Teachings and Institutions sincerely are
not Covenant-breakers—they are non-Bahá’ís and should just be treated as such.
Only those who ally themselves actively with known enemies of the Faith who are
Covenant-breakers, and who attack the Faith in the same spirit as these people,
can be considered, themselves, to be Covenant-breakers. As you know, up to the
present time, no one has been permitted to pronounce anybody a Covenant-breaker
but the Guardian himself. - Shoghi Effendi (From a letter dated 4 June 1957 written on behalf of
Shoghi Effendi to the NSA of Canada; ‘Messages to Canada’)
