188. Review of Online, Self-Published Books

188

Review of Online, Self-Published Books

6 May 2012

To a National Spiritual Assembly

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

188.1 The Universal House of Justice has received your email letter dated 27 February 2012 regarding the need for and the nature of review for online, self-published books. We have been asked to reply as follows. Formal electronic publications, such as electronic books and articles in online journals, are to be submitted to the National Spiritual Assembly to undergo a process of review before they are made widely available, in the same manner as the long-standing procedure for review applied to printed works.

188.2 More generally, there is no list of detailed rules to guide believers who are striving to contribute in various ways to the Bahá’í presence on the Web, nor is there any particular initiative under way to multiply the number of individuals engaged in such activities. Naturally, any website developed by a Bahá’í would avoid presenting inaccurate descriptions of the Faith and would take care to uphold its dignity. While responsibility for providing authoritative information about the Faith, its history, and the activities of its community of adherents clearly falls to the institutions, a growing number of individual believers are finding spaces in which they can appropriately offer insights drawn from their understanding of the teachings on a wide range of issues, thus enriching the Faith’s presence online. In this connection, the House of Justice hopes that National Spiritual Assemblies will become increasingly adept at assisting the friends to appreciate the difference between those areas of activity which are the preserve of the institutions; those in which efforts, while belonging to individuals, may proceed only under the close supervision of the institutions—certain endeavours concerned with defending the rights of the Bahá’í community, for example—and those, usually modest in scope and scale, in which believers may pursue their own initiatives as a contribution to the overall progress of the Faith.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

Department of the Secretariat

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