Baha’i from the point of view of Baha’i intellectuals and critics Episode 12: Brendan Cook

Dr. Brendan Cook, Baha'i teacher, writer, artist, intellectual and critic, was born in the 1970s to a Baha'i family in Western Canada. He received his PhD in History and English Literature from the University of Toronto in Canada. According to the call of conscience, Brendan Cook was attracted to the teachings and slogans of Baha'i faith, and believing in it, he was a member of the Canadian Baha'i Community for about 30 years and was present in Baha'i prayer and study groups and circles. In all these years, he tried to research about his beliefs and not to accept everything easily. In 1994, he got acquainted with the group of Baha'i intellectuals on the Talisman website and started collaborating and posting content on the Talisman website. Cook was suspected by the Baha’i leadership in Haifa (Beit al-Adl or UHJ) and was unofficially expelled from the Baha’i community due to his contacts and communications with Baha’i intellectuals and the publication of critical articles. Cook has a serious objection to the performance of the Baha'i organization. He objects to the impossibility of the presence of women at the highest level of Baha'i leadership )Bait al-Adl: UHJ( and considers it against the claim of "equal rights of men and women in Baha'i". The so-called Heavenly Book of the Baha’is )Aqdas( is outdated and Inapplicable. He has objected to the fact that the Baha'i leadership instructs its followers on how they should think and considers it to be against reason and the reason for the lack of freedom of thought in Baha'ism. Cook does not consider the teaching of "non-interference in politics and obedience to govern- ments" to be logical and correct. In his stories, in a humorous language refers to the infallibility of the universal House of Justice )UHJ(, the abuse of UHJ from the hard bigotry of some followers, the rejection and expulsion of Baha'is because they do not agree with the House of Justice, and the persecution of the expelled Baha'is. He considers such actions contrary to reason and mo- rality measures. In this article, we get to know some of Brendan Cook's critical positions