…the Guardian would like to point out to your Assembly that, although it is sometimes necessary to take away the voting rights of a believer for purposes of discipline, that this prerogative of the National Assembly should be used only in extreme cases. It is very bad for the believers to have the feeling that their Assembly will deal too harshly with them, and the net result can only be that a feeling of fear or alienation or resentment may grow up in their hearts towards the body that they should look to as being, not only their elected representatives, but their helper,—one might almost say their father—and the one to whom they can confidently take their problem, and whose wishes and decrees they will respect and obey unhesitatingly.
- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter dated 2 March 1951, written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to NSA of Germany and Austria; ‘The Light of Divine Guidance’, vol. 1)
