The Bahá'í Faith

Tradition·Founded 1863 CE·est. ~8 million worldwide

Islam → Shia Islam → The Bahá'í Faith

Branch
Precept of The Bahá'í Faith

Consultation.

Say what you think frankly, and then let go of it completely, because the moment it is spoken it belongs to the group and not to you. A decision once taken is executed wholeheartedly by everyone including the dissenters — on the reasoning that a wrong decision carried out in unity reveals its wrongness faster than a right one carried out in fragments.

What it asksConsult — offer your view frankly, then let it go the moment it is on the table, because it now belongs to the group
Who it bindsAssemblies formally; families and individuals are urged to use it
Where it bitesBy the rule that a decision once taken must be supported wholeheartedly by everyone, including those who argued against it — and that if it was wrong, its wrongness will become evident faster through unified execution than through resistance
Understanding it — context, not catechism: how this passage is held

Bahá'í consultation is a specified procedure rather than a disposition, and its rules are unusual. Participants must express their views frankly and completely, and then — this is the operative rule — must detach entirely from them, because an opinion once offered becomes the property of the group and may be dismembered without offence to its author. Discussion continues to unanimity where possible and to majority vote where not. Once a decision is made, all members including those who opposed it must support it wholeheartedly and identically, and the stated reasoning is striking: a wrong decision executed in unity will reveal its wrongness quickly and can then be corrected, whereas a right decision executed in disunity will fail and teach nothing. The method is used by Spiritual Assemblies at every level, and Bahá'ís are encouraged to use it in families and workplaces. It has attracted attention outside the faith from people working on group decision-making, and the hard part in practice is always the detachment clause.

From the sources — the passages this rests on; concise renderings, cited

The shining spark of truth cometh forth only after the clash of differing opinions.

'Abdu'l-Bahá, on consultation (rendered)

The clash is only safe because a view offered ceases to belong to the person who offered it.

The same ground, other faiths

claims that share this one's ideas
Ordaining women, and where the line is drawn. Judaism · community Go deeper →
The masjid. Islam · community Go deeper →
Caste has no standing here. Sikhism Go deeper →
No creed — a covenant. Unitarian Universalism · core tenet Go deeper →
A presbytery writes its own will and dies. The Restoration Movement (Churches of Christ) · story Read it in full →
Everything in one purse. The Twelve Tribes · core tenet Go deeper →

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