“What religion are you?” I guess it’s human nature to want to categorize people. It certainly can make the world easier to navigate. But it has a down side. We can end up putting people into our mental boxes, and when they try to escape, we want to wrestle them back in.

One answer that I have to my least favorite question is: I try to follow the religion of God as progressively revealed by His Messengers, Prophets and Manifestations. That means that I accept Noah, Abraham, Moses, Krishna, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, the Bab and Baha’u’llah as authentic. Because I believe that the latest of the Manifestations was Baha’u’llah, it’s not wrong for me to call myself a Baha’i. But that’s not the end of the story.

The three main pillars of the Baha’i Faith are: 1) living a Baha’i life, 2) teaching the Baha’i Faith, and 3) firmness in the Covenant. Future posts will consider the first two. It’s #3 that I want to focus on a bit today.

Baha’u’llah left a Covenant, and only a person who is steadfast and firm in that Covenant can be said to be under the spiritual protection of Baha’u’llah. So I can call myself whatever I want, but how I actually measure up against the standard of the Covenant is the reality of my situation. The Baha’i writings make that crystal clear.

So here’s an even fuller answer to my least favorite question: While I consider myself to be a Baha’i, I am not a member of the Baha’i World Faith, which is the organization currently centered in Haifa, Israel. The reason for that has to do with my understanding of the Covenant.

The Covenant of Baha’u’llah is in writing. It’s unambiguous. There is no question in my mind that the Baha’i World Faith has gone far astray. They would say the same of me. It’s unfortunate that believers in Baha’u’llah, Whose revelation is for the unity of mankind, find themselves in different camps. The optics are bad.

Still, one person, or a handful of people, on the side of God is a majority. The Covenant as revealed by Baha’u’llah, as elucidated by Abdu’l-Baha, and adhered to by Shoghi Effendi, is accessible for everyone to see. But they have to want to see it. And there’s the rub.

“Today that which is most important is firmness in the Covenant and the Testament and otherwise Baha’i unity will not be preserved. If Baha’i unity could be preserved through something else, undoubtedly the Blessed Beauty would have commanded it.” (‘Abdu’l-Baha, Star of the West, Volume 10, #14, p.268)