Violetta Zein mentions this letter, and the preceding events, at around 1 hour 24 minutes in her excellent youtube video:…
NSA to McGlinn, Nov 2005
Dear Mr. McGlinn,
The Universal House of Justice has advised us of its conclusion that, on the basis of your established pattern of behaviour and the statements you have published, you cannot properly be considered as meeting the requirements of Baha’i membership.
Accordingly, we have removed your name from our membership roll and have informed the Baha’i institutions concerned.
Sincerely
…[signature]
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the Netherlands
Short link: http://wp.me/PcgF5-11G
Nexus 7 said
God does not expel or remove anyone so therefore the Bahai world lacks understanding and compassion.
Sen said
It’s not a fair comparison. God is not running a democratic organisation.
We have a populist politician in the Netherlands, whose “party” has no membership, which means, he decides everything and no-one else has a say in it. He’s God in his own world. But if an organisation is intended to be democratic, it has to define its membership: who has a vote, what is a quorum, how many is a majority? That’s why the Bahai Faith appears bureaucratic as compared to a house church run by one pastor. However, this defined membership applies only to the administrative organ in the whole community. The Mashriqu’l-adhkar is the heart of the community, and it is a home for all who wish to worship, without a doctrinal or membership requirement.
It’s hardly likely that everyone who has membership is “really” a Bahai, and there are certainly Bahais who are not members – there are some countries where there is no Bahai administration to be a formal member of, but there are Bahais there. “Being a Bahai” is something in the ideal world, membership lists are made up in the contingent world, where nothing is perfect and few things are entirely clear. If one applies the standard “God” (as we imagine God) in the way you have, to anything at all in the world, it will fall short. So it’s a cheap argument.