Guardian’s Statement

Statement from the Third Aghsan Guardian of the Baha’i Cause

Dr. Jensen made it absolutely clear that there were only two criteria for a person to legitimately be an Aghsan successor:

• Must be an Aghsan, either biologically or through adoption

• Must be appointed by the previous Guardian

What follows is a very brief set of proofs that I, Glenn Goldman, fulfill both of those criteria.

Must be an Aghsan

I was adopted into the Aghsan line by Pepe. Doc taught Pepe that legal adoption into the Aghsan lineage could follow the model of how ‘Abdu’l-Baha adopted Mason. Doc taught that because ‘Adbudl-Baha referred to Mason as “son” in his letters, and then bequeathed to him, through Shoghi Effendi, the sacred token of Baha’u’llah’s Blood and Hair, Mason was legally ‘Abdu’-Baha’s son under Baha’i law. Under this form of Baha’i adoption, therefore, two things must be true: 1) the adopter must refer to the adoptee as his son, and 2) the adoptor must give the adoptee a relevant token.

1)Pepe referred to me as “boy” or “son” four times in our correspondence between 1990 and 1991. Further, in February of 1992, he wrote the following kind, fatherly words to me [my emphasis]:

“I have no [biological] children of my own and my purpose in life has always been to instill in the minds of youngsters who enter the sphere of my own life, something noble and fine that will help them through life, thus projecting myself into the future through them… just as Mason Remey has done with me. . .If, through some help from me, you achieve success in life and remember my contribution, you do me honor in the future.” [my bold]

This is notably similar to something Pepe wrote to Doc in March of 1976:

“_The main reason he [Mason] wanted to adopt me was that he might project himself into the future through me_.… I admit that he desired very much for me to succeed him in his spiritual activities as well as the material ones…. In any event in my heart of hearts, I know that you are not mistaken in your belief that Mason wanted me to be his successor.” [original underline; my bold]

2) I received tokens directly from the hands of Pepe. In February of 1992, while visiting my sister in Europe, I took a side trip to Italy, the land of my mother’s heritage. While in Florence, I paid a visit to Pepe. At the end of my visit, he gave me a photograph of `Abdu’l-Baha that had belonged to Mason. This is an important piece of institutive evidence, for it represents the passing of `Abdu’l-Baha’s line of descent from Mason to Pepe, and then to me. He also gave me a letter written to Mason by a Mr. Hansen-West, whom Mason had introduced to the Baha’i Faith. Included with the letter from Mr. Hansen-West was a small horseshoe-shaped token that he had made for Mason.

Because of Pepe’s awareness of the Palestinian law and its relevance to the history of the Aghsan succession, we have reason to believe that he was quite aware that he was giving me institutive evidence of adoption by giving me the photograph of `Abdu’l-Baha. He also knew that had I only received the photograph, anyone could call into question its provenance. In giving me the letter with the horseshoe token in addition to the photograph, Pepe was providing me with evidence that he had in fact given me possessions that had been bequeathed to him by Mason.

Must be Appointed

On March 29, 1993 Pepe wrote to me:

At one time in the past – several years ago – when I was carrying on an active correspondence with Daniel Scherr, yourself and Brent Mathieu I thought seriously that should the time come when the mainstream Baha’is might want to correct their error regarding Mason’s claim to the guardianship and ask me to succeed him, I would have had the three of you as sub-guardians – one to dedicate himself only to the WORD – one to the Administrative Order of `Abdu’l-Baha and one to the Teaching Efforts. I believe the time will come when only one guardian will not be able to handle all the chores. There may be several guardians acting in various capacities but only one spiritual Head (The Repository of Divine Guidance) to oversee all and to assure that PROTECTION promised by Baha’u’llah. I was enthralled with the three of you and should have been proud to have you as my “sons.” A pity it all fell apart. You are the only one of the three who is still in communication.

If we go all the way back to a letter he wrote in 1975, we can see clearly that Pepe is imitating Mason’s plan. He wrote to Dr. Jensen that, circa 1963,

. . . [Mason] listed three persons as his successor…..I will not tell you the sequence of the three names…..but I will tell you that my name appeared on that list along with Donald Harvey’s and Joel’s . . . (Joseph Pepe Remey, letter to Dr. Leland Jensen, 7/24/75, p. 1) [my bold]

What we can see from these two statements is that Pepe is following in his father’s footsteps. Just as Mason appointed three successors, with the actual successor appearing with two others who are not the legitimate successors, it is not unreasonable to surmise that in his letter to me, Pepe is deliberately following the same pattern. In the March 1993 letter to me, Pepe wrote that his specific “sub-guardian” plan “fell apart.” He listed the names of the three “sons” whom he had intended to appoint as “sub- guardians” acting under him, and in the next breath implies that this plan fell apart because two of them were estranged from him. His last sentence emphasizes that only one of them is still in communication, implying that he is still on good terms with that one. In the same way, Mason’s list appointing Donald, Pepe and Joel fell apart, and only one one of those three, Mason’s adopted son Pepe, remained the legitimate appointment. So while it was true that Pepe’s plan to have several Guardians or “sub-guardians” was defunct, and that Pepe may have considered that to be “a pity,” God’s plan to have just one Guardian and one successor, as laid out in the W&T, remained intact.

Third Criterion

There is also a third criterion in the Will and Testament, but because only the living Guardian is given the responsibility to discern that criteria, Doc never spoke of it.

The Guardian is supposed to discern spiritual qualities in a potential successor before appointing him. While that responsibility is no one else’s, it seems reasonable to accept into evidence the following statements of Pepe:

May 24, 1991:

Nothing you have written to me previously convinced me, as this last letter did, that you are a truly spiritually oriented individual; that you have a mind of your own and free to draw your own conclusions.

You possess a very excellent mind, Glenn, capable of facing up to that challenge.

February 4, 1992:

I have no children of my own and my purpose in life has always been to instill in the minds of youngsters who enter the sphere of my own life, something noble and fine that will help them through life, thus projecting myself into the future through them… just as Mason Remey has done with me. Mason succeeded in projecting himself through me and when I defend him, it is as if he himself were alive and defending himself. If, through some help from me, you achieve success in life and remember my contribution, you do me honor in the future. I know the pleasure individuals I have helped in the past have experienced because of my relationship to them, and the joy I experience is not for myself alone, but for themselves too because it is a glorious experience to know someone loves you and wants to help you and continue to love you even when you are far apart… even in death.

May 21, 1992:

I, like [doubting] Thomas, have doubted about you, Glenn, but after having SEEN and TALKED with you, my faith was restored.

August 31, 1993

Dear Glenn, Your wanting to share with me the good news that you surely deserved was appreciated. I read all you wrote with sincere interest. Perhaps I have no right to be, but feel “PROUD” of your accomplishments nonetheless.

Finally, while this is not a criterion in the Will and Testament, Dr. Jensen appointed his wife and liaison officer, Wind, as the person to deliver the sacred token of the hair and the Blood into the hands of the one she recognized as fulfilling the two main criteria in the Will and Testament. Wind delivered that Token into my hands in 2004.

Epilogue

Dr. Jensen made it 100% clear: We don’t accept a person as a Promised One, and we don’t accept a person as a Guardian, unless that person fulfills the criteria. In the case of a Promised One, that criteria is Name, Date, Address, and Mission. In the case of the Guardian, 1) he must first be an Aghsan, whether through bloodline or adoption, and 2) he must be appointed by the previous Guardian. Unless a person can provide evidence for the fulfillment of those criteria, everything else is just noise.

We don’t go by our own personal estimation of the person. We don’t go with someone because we like the way they part their hair. We go with the criteria.

I have presented the evidence that I fulfill that criteria. It’s up to believers to examine that evidence and come to their own conclusion.