"Clearly the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth is a 'political' enterprise, and the Teachings of the Faith are filled with 'political' principles -- using the word in the sense of the science of government and of the organization of human society. At the same time the Baha'i world community repeatedly and emphatically denies being a 'political' organization, and Baha'is are required, on pain of deprivation of their administrative rights, to refrain from becoming involved in 'political' matters and from taking sides in 'political' disputes. In other words, the Baha'is are following a completely different path from that usually followed by those who wish to reform society. They eschew politcal methods towards the achievement of their aims, and concentrate on revitalizing the hearts, minds and behaviour of people and on presenting a working model as evidence of the reality and practicality of the way of life they propound."Department of the Secretariat, The Unversal House of Justice, letter of 27 September 1995
I always thought there was a paradox in the concept that Baha'is are to refrain from becoming involved in political activities, when, it seems to me that religion is as much a political force (power) as any force in politics.
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