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:'''To all those concerned:'''
:Perhaps you don’t understand – we already view ourselves as no longer members of the Baha’i community and we regularly attend Unitarian and Buddhist :activities.
:We do not present ourselves as Baha’is and do everything we can, when people try to introduce us as Baha’is, to politely disabuse them of that :perception.
:We have not attended feast in over a year, or for that matter, any other official Baha’i activity.
:We are deeply disillusioned with the unofficial and official Baha’i views on the war in Iraq, with the rise of Baha’i fundamentalism and intolerance and with the growing “ghettoization” of the Baha’i community in general.
:We increasingly feel unwelcome at Baha’i events where everything seems to be scrutinized by rather mindless “Ruhi Book” mentalities rather than :thoughtful discussions of the Baha’i Sacred Texts.
:One-size-fits-all mass theology serves to only alienate anyone and everyone who wishes to pursue spiritually inspired and independent investigations :of the truth. There appears to be, these days, little room or toleration for Baha’i scholars, Baha’i scholarship, or thoughtful approaches to the :Baha’i sacred texts.
:We are outraged over the Kalimat Press decision! We are, therefore, increasingly embarrassed to be associated with the Baha’i community. We often :hear from our colleagues in the academic world, that they too perceive the Baha’i community as increasingly becoming more and more fundamentalist, :alarmist, and cultish.
:We are not interested in talking to anyone from the National Center and we will not meet with them, even if they come to Norman. Please do not send :your representatives to Norman.
:Use the funds for their plane tickets to do some good at one of the Baha’i schools or to feed the homeless. Please let us get on with our lives. :Your response only convinces us more completely that the Baha’i community has become an authoritarian and fundamentalist movement.
:Most religious scholars’ perceptions of cults are that they make it difficult for members to resign or leave the community with their reputations :intact – please don’t confirm our suspicions! Let us resign and withdraw quietly and without fanfare or with inquisition-like exit interviews. We :are willing to leave the Baha’i community without recriminations, regrets, or active criticisms on our part. Please let us fade from the Baha’i :community as gently and as quietly as possible.
:Sincerely,
:Dann May and Phyllis Bernard<ref>[http://bahaiadmin.blogspot.com/ Correspondence from the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United :States to Danny May and Phyllis Bernard], accessed February 9, 2010.</ref>
==Sects, Divisions and Organizations==