I became a member of the Baha’i Faith in the early seventies. The initial attraction was to the social teachings of the Faith particularly the tenets about gender and racial equality. I had been raised as a Roman Catholic, but was not very well versed in Biblical Christianity. Since the sixties and seventies were a time of social upheaval and turmoil, the Baha’i Faith seemed like a rational alternative to traditional religious dogma. I had “accepted” the Faith based on a conversation with a Baha’i teacher who asked me if I agreed with the basic nine tenets of the Faith, I told him I did and he said I was a Baha’i. This was quite ironic considering that one of the basic tenets is “independent investigation of the truth”. I had not taken the time to investigate nor done a thorough examination of its history or doctrine. A conference was held by the ruling Baha’i elite. I attended there where several of the “Hands” spoke, too. One of the elements that I found disturbing during the conference was an underlying anti-Christian sentiment, which is what eventually contributed to my leaving the Baha’is later, it was and is something not so overt as much as an arrogant attitude that many Baha’is feel. Some of the contradictions that began to surface for me were a result of a radio broadcast I heard by Rev. Robert Pardon of the New England Institute of Religious Research (NEIRR) on a Lutheran radio station in St. Louis. He was giving an overview of the Baha’i Faith and I called to challenge him and his sources. I felt he was misrepresenting the Faith and had gotten his source material from “covenant breakers” or enemies of the Faith. I thought about what he had said and contacted him through his web site, I was finally beginning to investigate the Baha’i Faith after twenty-seven years. He sent me facsimiles of his source material and I began to meticulously go over it.
I have since accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and have found a peaceful assurance that I had never experienced as a Baha’i. There is hope, peace and life outside of the Baha’i Faith for those who choose to seek it.
