As convenor of this great Conference you must lay your plans very carefully to ensure that the representatives of the various N.S.A.s., the visiting Hands of the Cause, the many Baha’is attending, are properly accommodated, the sessions of the Conference held in an efficient manner, and suitable publicity given to this event. The Guardian also suggests that one or two private sessions could be held at which the N.S.A. representatives and the Hands of the Cause could meet to better and more effectively suggest plans for the future campaign. There will, naturally, be no delegates to the Conference, as it is in no sense a convention, but more concentrated consultation can be obtained through a smaller number being present. No doubt you will also, without sacrificing the interests of the Conference, make good use of any visiting teachers and lecturers.
No Harm in Taking Part in Dramas
In the teachings there is nothing against dancing, but the friends should remember that the standard of Baha’u’llah is modesty and chastity. The atmosphere of modern dance halls, where so much smoking and drinking and promiscuity goes on, is very bad, but decent dances are not harmful in themselves. There is certainly no harm in classical dancing or learning dancing in school. There is also no harm in taking part in dramas. Likewise in cinema acting. The harmful thing, nowadays, is not the art itself but the unfortunate corruption which often surrounds these arts. As Baha’is we need avoid none of the arts, but acts and the atmosphere that sometimes go with these professions we should avoid.
Encouraging the Hindu Baha’is
As regards the question you asked about minorities: because the Hindu believers are a minority at present in the Faith in India, preference should be given to them in India, where the majority of the population is Hindu. A special effort should be made to convert them, so that our enemies may have no excuse for stating that the Cause has scarcely affected the largest elements in the country. There is also an added reason for encouraging the Hindu Baha’is because within the Faith in India they are a minority. In every country throughout the Baha’i World the Baha’is must make a special effort to attract to the Faith the element which constitutes the majority, whether religious or national.