jefff@cadovax.UUCP (Jeff Fields) (12/07/84)
<>
Recently there has been some activity on the net about the
Ba'hais. I would like to mention that what one says about Ba'hai does
not necessarily apply to all sects of the Ba'hai. I know of a sect
that is headquartered in Missoula, Montana (home of my Alma Mater, the
University of Montana) which is led by a radical leader named Lelend
Jensen. Jensen claims prophetic superiority over all religous
leaders. He has even made the tacit claim that he is the
reincarnation of the Bab, who is the major prophet of Ba'hai.
Back in 1978 he predicted that the "End of the World", aka. the
Apocalypse, aka. Armageddon was to occur on April 29, 1979 at 5:00 pm
MST. He based these predictions on measurements of the Great Pyramid
of Giseh and other more arcane sources. Needless to say we are all
still here (I think :-)).
The local newspaper "The Missoulian" of April 30 had a front page
picture of Lelend standing in his living room at 5:00 PM of the
fateful day. The floor of the room was covered with stones and earth
that was to have acted as a protective roof for his basement bomb
shelter. Everyone got a big laugh and held "End of the World" parties
to celebrate the "final hours".
Unfortunately this guy should be taken seriously as perhaps being
more dangerous than the crack-pot image he projects. He has a large
following in western Montana. Some of my friends were caught up with
it. They seemed brain-washed after getting involved. Jensen lost
some credibility amongst his followers after his prediction did not
come true, but there is a hard-core group that surrounds the guy and
thinks that he is indeed the Bab.
The official national leaders of the Ba'hai have censured Jensen
for his radically insane ideas. Most of his philosophy and teachings
center around survival in a post-Apocalypse world. If this isn't
ludicrous enough, another more sordid aspect of Jensen's personality
is the fact that he served seven years in the Montana State Prison for
child molestation.
I am not disputing the legitimacy of the world-wide Ba'hai faith.
I know little enough about it to begin to criticize the Ba'hai. I
just want to point out that there is always the danger of false
prophets rising up in any faith or creed. We must stay alert to the
more dangerous cults so as to prevent another tragedy like Jonestown
from happening again.
--
Jeff Fields
{ucbvax,ihnp4,decvax}!trwrb!cadovax!jefff
Your navel is a bowl well rounded
with no lack of wine,
your belly a heap of wheat
surrounded with lilies.
Your two breasts are two fawns
twins of a gazelle.
-"The Song of Songs" 7:3-4