Bahá’u’lláh sets a large aim before every soul: not to become a source of sedition, but to labor for whatever makes the affairs of all who dwell on earth prosper. Against that aim He names what tears the common life apart: disorder in the land, the shedding of blood, the wrongful taking of another’s goods, and above all treachery, which He counts among the basest of conditions and which, He warns, returns upon the one who betrays. Even reform can turn corrupt once it has been won. Paul counseled the early Christians to overcome evil with good and to feed an enemy who hungers [1], and a kindred spirit runs through these teachings. Shoghi Effendi saw a generation so wounded by corrupt organizations that it rejected every institution, and answered that the remedy lies in safeguards, not in tearing down. Such a path leads inward to servitude and submission to God, to the repentance that rebuilds trust, and to a wiser understanding of obedience to rightful authority.
It doth not beseem man to become a source of sedition; nay, rather, he should endeavor towards that which will cause the affairs of all that dwell on earth to prosper; thus hath the True One proclaimed, He, verily, is the Ever-Forgiving, the Compassionate.
(Bahá’u’lláh, to Ustad Asadullah Hi Dal -- BH04228)
02
And yet again in another connection: "O people! Spread not disorder in the land, and shed not the blood of any one, and consume not the substance of others wrongfully, neither follow every accursed prattler."
(Bahá’u’lláh, Lawh-i-Ibn-i-Dhi'b (Epistle to the Son of the Wolf), 1308 ? [1891], to Muhammad Taqi Isfahani (son of the Wolf) -- BH00005)
03
The basest and most rejected of souls in the sight of God have been and will be the treacherous ones. He who betrayeth shall be betrayed and shall find no blessing even if all the wealth of the world should gather unto him. God will make it the portion of another.
(Bahá’u’lláh, Lawh-i-'Azim, 1290 [1873] or earlier, to Azim -- BH00871)
04
Say: O My loved ones, take heed lest ye spread corruption in the land after its reformation.
The deeds of those who act without obedience to you shall profit them not, for God has made obedience to you identical with obedience to the Imams who are guided by His command. He has joined the knowledge of you with knowledge of them, and disobedience to you with disobedience to them. Whosoever opposes you has opposed them, and whosoever wages war against you has waged war against them.
(The Báb, 1262 [1845-1846], to Muhammad Hasan al-Natnazi -- BB00113)
Further quotations · supplied wording and references
07
How aptly, even after the lapse of half a century, Shoghi Effendi's views, as conveyed by his secretary, fit the contemporary scene: "Our present generation, mainly due to the corruptions that have been identified with organizations, seem to stand against any institution. Religion as an institution is denounced. Government as an institution is denounced. Even marriage as an institution is denounced. We Baha'is should not be blinded by such prevalent notions. If such were the case, all the divine Manifestations would not have invariably appointed someone to succeed Them. Undoubtedly, corruptions did enter those institutions, but these corruptions were not due to the very nature of the institutions but to the lack of proper directions as to their powers and nature of their perpetuation. What Baha'u'llah has done is not to eliminate all institutions in the Cause but to provide the necessary safeguards that would eliminate corruptions that caused the fall of previous institutions.
M86-01 60.22 (29 Dec. 1988 from the Universal House of Justice)
Supplied quotation · catalogue passage not verified