9 May 2014
Dear Bahá’í Friend,
Your email letter dated 11 January 2014 has been received by
the Universal House of Justice. We have been asked to convey to you the
following.
You express concern about the challenge Bahá’ís encounter in
understanding and upholding the Teachings in the face of powerful social forces
influencing public attitudes towards homosexuality. In this connection, you
observe that some Bahá’ís are susceptible to the argument that the Faith must
change to keep up with what are perceived to be progressive social values,
while some others, despite their firm adherence to the Teachings, are unable to
resolve the incongruity between the Bahá’í perspective and attitudes prevailing
in the wider society. Your thoughtful analysis of the issues you raise is
warmly appreciated.
The contemporary discussion surrounding homosexuality, which
began in the West and is increasingly promoted in other parts of the world,
generally takes the form of a false dichotomy, which compels one to choose
between a position that is either affirming or rejecting. It is understandable
that Bahá’ís would be sensitive to acts of prejudice or oppression in any form
and to the needs of those who suffer as a result. But to align with either side
in the public debate is to accept the premises on which it is based. Moreover,
this debate occurs within the context of a rising tide of materialism and
consequent reorientation of society, over more than a century, which has among
its outcomes a destructive emphasis on sexuality. Various philosophies and
theories have eroded precepts of right and wrong that govern personal behavior.
For some, relativism reigns and individuals are to determine their own moral
preferences; others dismiss the very conception of personal morality,
maintaining that any standard that restrains what is considered a natural
impulse is harmful to the individual and ultimately to society. Self
indulgence, in the guise of expressing one’s true nature, becomes the norm,
even the touchstone of healthy living. Consequently, sexuality has become a
preoccupation, pervading commerce, media, the arts, and popular culture,
influencing disciplines such as medicine, psychology, and education and
reducing the human being to an object. It is no longer merely a part of life,
but becomes the defining element of a person’s identity. At its most extreme,
the doctrine aggressively propagated in some societies is that it is abnormal
for adolescents to restrain their sexual impulses, unreasonable for young
adults to marry without first having had sexual relations, and impossible for a
married couple to remain monogamous. The unbounded expression of sexuality in
almost any form is thought to be natural and is accepted as a matter of course,
the only limitation being to cause no harm to others, while any notion to the contrary
is deemed narrow-minded or retrogressive. The question of same-sex marriage
arises not simply as an appeal for fairness within a framework of existing
values but as another step, presumed to be inevitable, in clearing away the
vestiges of what is regarded to be a repressive traditional morality.