me in Germany which has
thus far refused to trample upon the domain of individual conscience in
all matters pertaining to religion will never encroach upon it in the near
future, unless some unforeseen and unexpected changes take place. And this
seems to be doubtful at present.

For whereas the friends should obey the government under which they live,
even at the risk of sacrificing all their administrative affairs and
interests, they should under no circumstances suffer their inner religious
beliefs and convictions to be violated and transgressed by any authority
whatever. A distinction of a fundamental importance must, therefore, be
made between spiritual and administrative matters. Whereas the former are
sacred and inviolable, and hence cannot be subject to compromise, the
latter are secondary and can consequently be given up and even sacrificed
for the sake of obedience to the laws and regulations of the government.
Obedience to the state is so vital a principle of the Cause that should
the authorities in Germany decide to-day to prevent the Baha'is from
holding any meeting or publishing any literature they should obey and be
as submissive as our Russian believers have thus far been under the Soviet
regime. But, as already pointed out, such an allegiance is confined merely
to administrative matters which if checked can only retard the progress of
the Faith for some time. In matters of belief, however, no compromise
whatever should be allowed, even though the outcome of it be death or
expulsion.

There is one more point to be emphasized in this connection. The principle
of obedience to government does not place any Baha'i under the obligation
of identifying the teachings of his Faith with the political program
enforced by the government. For such an identification, besides being
erroneous and contrary to both the spirit as well as the form of the
Baha'i message, would necessarily create a conflict within the conscience
of every loyal believer.

For reasons which are only too obvious the Baha'i philosophy of social and
political organization cannot be fully reconciled with the political
doctrines and conceptions that are current and much in vogue to-day. The
wave of nationalism, so aggressive and so contagious in its effects, which
has swept not only over Europe but over a large part of mankind is,
indeed, the very negation of the gospel of peace and of brotherhood
proclaimed by Baha'u'llah. The actual trend in the