Freedom of Conscience
2011-03-31 18:29:39 UTC
Baha'is in My Backyard - Full Interview. 2.4 hours.
http://www.fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship/Bahais_in_My_Backyard.html
Given the US Federal Court decisions ruling three times against the Haifan Baha'i denomination in 2008 to 2010, I
believe it is the right moment to make available this full interview for people researching the Bahai Faith.
I was interviewed for the movie Baha'is in My Backyard on October 18, 2004. The movie was produced by the Israeli
company Belfilms. At the time I had not yet realized that the 1912 Covenant of Abdul-Baha existed, as documented in the
early Bahai magazine the Star of the West and by Ruth White, as well as other sources, and was the formative document
for the Bahai Movement in the West, during Abdul-Baha's lifetime, both in the United States and Europe. Consequently,
the 1912 Authentic Covenant of Abdul-Baha is the central document for the renewed and revived Reform Bahai Faith.
Accordingly, some of my remarks in this interview on Shoghi Effendi would be revised today, as would my acceptance of
approximately a million Baha'is in India, which now appears actually to be closer to merely 11,000 people, mostly
Iranian immigrants, according to the testimony of an Indian who was a former NSA member. Otherwise, my opinions and
concerns would remain the same today, though perhaps my comments on the maniuplation of Google search results for Baha'i
were more applicable in 2004. Google has increasingly become aware of and responsive to how people and organizations
attempt to manipulate its results.
Please note that I was interviewed by Belfilms for two and a half hours but they chose a highly selective two minutes to
use, carefully arranged and presented, which distort the full context of my comments and portray me in an unfavorable
light, at best, and in a way that is reminiscent of the tactics of the Haifan Baha'is themselves. They also violated
client confidentiality by making our contract public, including my persoanl signature, without my permission, and in a
way that casts suspicion upon me. Although required by our mutually agreed upon contract, Belfilms both failed to notify
me before the first public broadcast of the film and to provide me with a requisite DVD copy until I had heard of the
airing several months after the event and reminded them of their obligations. The short clip of my interview is further
framed with a lead-in and closing that is meant to present me in a ridiculous and paranoid fashion. I maintain the
fullness of the interview allows the viewer a more comprehensive perspective on both myself and the manner in which the
movie was created, as well as the issues involved.
While people elsewhere on the Internet have speculated that the Unitarian Baha'is and Baha'u'llah's great-grand-daughter
Nigar Bahai Amsalem may have funded, or been behind the movie, or the Haifan Baha'is in what would be a highly
characteristic counter-disinformation effort, since much of the movie simultaneously attempts to diffuse suspicions
raised in the film, presenting Haifans as innocuous, the fact remains that in 2011 it is still unresolved from whom or
where Belfilms received funding for the movie and what was the true motivation for its production. Others have
speculated that the Israeli government was behind the movie in some way. To a perceptive viewer aware of the actual
historical record of Haifan Baha'is when it comes to religious freedom and speech, the movie clearly constitutes more
than a "mockumentary."
Baha'is in My Backyard - Segment 1 - Full Interview - Streaming wmv. Naama Pyritz from Belfilms was the interviewer.
Baha'is in My Backyard - Segment 2 - Full Interview - Two Israeli cameramen present throughout the full interview.
Baha'is in My Backyard - Segment 3 - Full Interview
On Youtube - Excerpts of Full Interview of FG by Belfilms http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=27E91AB0E43D5B74
Bahais in My Backyard - trailer Youtube - Sets up FG and Juan Cole as the demons in the paranoid fantasies of the uhj.
"Documentary, 54 min. A Belfilms Production Directed by Naama Pyritz & Asaf Shafir. Belfilms is one of the leading
production houses in Israel, producing drama, documentaries, feature films and commercials, for Israeli and foreign
broadcasters, advertising agencies, and international co-productions. Belfilms features and documentaries have been
screened in the cinema and television throughout the world and at film and television leading festivals."
Much of the finished movie is available on Youtube Playlist - though edited.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=baha%27is+in+my+backyard&aq=f
Reform Bahai Faith
http://www.ReformBahai.org
--
Reform Bahai Faith
Rochester, Michigan USA
http://www.ReformBahai.org
About the Reform Bahai Faith
http://www.reformbahai.org/about.html
Abdu'l-Baha's 1912 Authentic Covenant
http://www.reformbahai.org/Covenant.html
An Analysis of Abdul-Baha's 1912 Authentic Covenant
http://www.reformbahai.org/Covenant_comments.html
Blog > Reform Bahai Faith
http://reformbahai.blogspot.com
Baha'i Faith & 7th Circuit Court of Appeals
http://bahaifaith7thcircuitcourtofappeals.blogspot.com
Chicago Tribune. Baha'i rift. Baha'is upset with Orthodox Baha'i Faith
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-05-18/news/0905170216_1_orthodox-community-rift-jesus-and-muhammad
Comments posted to The Chicago Tribune Forum on one page:
http://www.fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship/Chicago_Tribune.html
Yahoo Group - ReformBahai
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ReformBahai
Baha'i Faith & Religious Freedom of Conscience
http://www.fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship
http://www.fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship/Bahais_in_My_Backyard.html
Given the US Federal Court decisions ruling three times against the Haifan Baha'i denomination in 2008 to 2010, I
believe it is the right moment to make available this full interview for people researching the Bahai Faith.
I was interviewed for the movie Baha'is in My Backyard on October 18, 2004. The movie was produced by the Israeli
company Belfilms. At the time I had not yet realized that the 1912 Covenant of Abdul-Baha existed, as documented in the
early Bahai magazine the Star of the West and by Ruth White, as well as other sources, and was the formative document
for the Bahai Movement in the West, during Abdul-Baha's lifetime, both in the United States and Europe. Consequently,
the 1912 Authentic Covenant of Abdul-Baha is the central document for the renewed and revived Reform Bahai Faith.
Accordingly, some of my remarks in this interview on Shoghi Effendi would be revised today, as would my acceptance of
approximately a million Baha'is in India, which now appears actually to be closer to merely 11,000 people, mostly
Iranian immigrants, according to the testimony of an Indian who was a former NSA member. Otherwise, my opinions and
concerns would remain the same today, though perhaps my comments on the maniuplation of Google search results for Baha'i
were more applicable in 2004. Google has increasingly become aware of and responsive to how people and organizations
attempt to manipulate its results.
Please note that I was interviewed by Belfilms for two and a half hours but they chose a highly selective two minutes to
use, carefully arranged and presented, which distort the full context of my comments and portray me in an unfavorable
light, at best, and in a way that is reminiscent of the tactics of the Haifan Baha'is themselves. They also violated
client confidentiality by making our contract public, including my persoanl signature, without my permission, and in a
way that casts suspicion upon me. Although required by our mutually agreed upon contract, Belfilms both failed to notify
me before the first public broadcast of the film and to provide me with a requisite DVD copy until I had heard of the
airing several months after the event and reminded them of their obligations. The short clip of my interview is further
framed with a lead-in and closing that is meant to present me in a ridiculous and paranoid fashion. I maintain the
fullness of the interview allows the viewer a more comprehensive perspective on both myself and the manner in which the
movie was created, as well as the issues involved.
While people elsewhere on the Internet have speculated that the Unitarian Baha'is and Baha'u'llah's great-grand-daughter
Nigar Bahai Amsalem may have funded, or been behind the movie, or the Haifan Baha'is in what would be a highly
characteristic counter-disinformation effort, since much of the movie simultaneously attempts to diffuse suspicions
raised in the film, presenting Haifans as innocuous, the fact remains that in 2011 it is still unresolved from whom or
where Belfilms received funding for the movie and what was the true motivation for its production. Others have
speculated that the Israeli government was behind the movie in some way. To a perceptive viewer aware of the actual
historical record of Haifan Baha'is when it comes to religious freedom and speech, the movie clearly constitutes more
than a "mockumentary."
Baha'is in My Backyard - Segment 1 - Full Interview - Streaming wmv. Naama Pyritz from Belfilms was the interviewer.
Baha'is in My Backyard - Segment 2 - Full Interview - Two Israeli cameramen present throughout the full interview.
Baha'is in My Backyard - Segment 3 - Full Interview
On Youtube - Excerpts of Full Interview of FG by Belfilms http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=27E91AB0E43D5B74
Bahais in My Backyard - trailer Youtube - Sets up FG and Juan Cole as the demons in the paranoid fantasies of the uhj.
"Documentary, 54 min. A Belfilms Production Directed by Naama Pyritz & Asaf Shafir. Belfilms is one of the leading
production houses in Israel, producing drama, documentaries, feature films and commercials, for Israeli and foreign
broadcasters, advertising agencies, and international co-productions. Belfilms features and documentaries have been
screened in the cinema and television throughout the world and at film and television leading festivals."
Much of the finished movie is available on Youtube Playlist - though edited.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=baha%27is+in+my+backyard&aq=f
Reform Bahai Faith
http://www.ReformBahai.org
--
Reform Bahai Faith
Rochester, Michigan USA
http://www.ReformBahai.org
About the Reform Bahai Faith
http://www.reformbahai.org/about.html
Abdu'l-Baha's 1912 Authentic Covenant
http://www.reformbahai.org/Covenant.html
An Analysis of Abdul-Baha's 1912 Authentic Covenant
http://www.reformbahai.org/Covenant_comments.html
Blog > Reform Bahai Faith
http://reformbahai.blogspot.com
Baha'i Faith & 7th Circuit Court of Appeals
http://bahaifaith7thcircuitcourtofappeals.blogspot.com
Chicago Tribune. Baha'i rift. Baha'is upset with Orthodox Baha'i Faith
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-05-18/news/0905170216_1_orthodox-community-rift-jesus-and-muhammad
Comments posted to The Chicago Tribune Forum on one page:
http://www.fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship/Chicago_Tribune.html
Yahoo Group - ReformBahai
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ReformBahai
Baha'i Faith & Religious Freedom of Conscience
http://www.fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship