Beware, beware lest the foul odour of the parties and
peoples of foreign lands in the West, and their pernicious methods, such as intrigues,
party politics and propaganda- -practices which are abhorrent even in name --
should ever reach the Bahá'í community, exert any influence whatsoever upon the
friends, and thus bring all spirituality to naught. The friends should, through
their devotion, love, loyalty and altruism, abolish these evil practices, not
imitate them. It is only after the friends completely ignore and sanctify
themselves from these evils, that the spirit of God can penetrate and operate
in the body of humanity, and in the Bahá'í community.
- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter dated 30
January 1923 to the Central Spiritual Assembly of Iran -- translated from the
Persian; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Baha’i Elections)
