[Editor's Note: In this letter Pepe asks that his letters not be circulated to Dr. Jensen, what Dr. Jensen did not know was that his letters were being distributed to former members of the BUPC such as Brent Mathieu. Therefore we are publishing these letters as a matter of historical record since they have already been published by people such as Brent Mathieu whom Pepe had already circulated copies of key communications to. The full text available here is courtesy of Dave Cornell ]
Brent Mathieu included the following letter fragment in the discussion revolving around Neal Chase's Guardianship claim in 2004:
On August 9th, 1990, Pepe sent me a copy of a portion of the letter he
wrote Leland Jensen, dated 13 May 1990. An edited excerpt of that
letter was quoted in Neal Chase's Open letter, message #2004. See his
text below. Here is the unedited excerpt:
"Page 2....Ltr to L. Jensen 13 May, 1990
"In reading over what you wrote on Page 20 of your letter referring to
certain dreamers desiring to become Guardian of the Faith, the idea
came to me that you might select one such person manifesting those
qualities you deem worthy in subsitution for the ADVERSE, HARANGUING,
DENSE, LETHARGIC, etc. etc., individual that you described me to be.
Your choice might better be for one possessing a compromising,
condescending, duty-bound, submissive nature devoid of resistance to
your dictates. A far cry from the Shoghi Effendi type Guardian Mason
Remey descibed to me. Prepare the necessary adoption papers
conforming to your requirements allowing me to adopt that person
SPIRITUALLY, thus passing on to him the AGHSAN lineage that you claim
Mason Remey received from Abdu'l Baha' and I from Mason. What could
be simpler? Any problems arising can readily be removed by your
issuing a Divinely Inspired Explanation and your VERY MUCH DISTURBED
believers may have THEIR guardian and no longer be troubled by all you
admonish me for in the first paragraph of your letter."
[Transcriber note: all capitalization is Pepe's.]
Source: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HeartoftheBahaiFaith/message/2121
Full Text of Letter:
May 13, 1990
Florence, Italy
Dr. Leland Jensen:
It has been my belief that you, and your followers, were dedicated to upholding what Mason Remey stood for in the Baha'i Faith's controversy after the death of Shoghi Effendi. For that reason, I have never OPPOSED or IMPEDED you in your cause, as you claim in your last letter (MARCH-MAY 1990) to me. Neither have I HARANGUED you nor expressed ADVERSITY in any way while ignoring the many threatening letters received urging me to disassociate myself from your spiritual mission. In that letter, you accuse me of having a DETRIMENTAL EFFECT on the Cause of God and go further to accuse Mason and me of having BROUGHT THE BAHA'I FAITH TO AN END. You refer to my REBELLION and to my PAGAN BELIEFS when you cannot know what I believe in as we have never discussed the matter. Your denunciations and false accusations against Mason Remey so blatantly berate him in that letter forcing me to suspect you opportunistically use his name only because it fits into your spiritual scheme. What I found most objectionable, however, are the remards on page 45 of that communication where I am relegated "in the sewer" and "thrown to the dogs". With these vituperations, let us hope that you have reached the bottom of your barrel of bickering to spare me further anguish having to read unfounded, unjust and certainly unkind accusations against Mason Remey and myself. If this is an example of the kind of "indoctrination" you propose the members of your IBC to teach me, frankly, I prefer to REMAIN AS I AM.
It would be useless for me to attempt offering a defense against your false accusations and ungenerous denunciations for I know, as in your past replies to my letters, you will insist on having your usual dictatorial last "say" in the matter challenging even those experiences I personally witnessed and lived through. Can a mere mortal possible hope to contest the unveilings of a Divinely Inspired Expounder?
On Page 10 of your letter, you brought up the matter of Donations. Let me assure you, if an account of the Economy of Mason's guardianship years were brought to light, many of his so-called supporters would suffer embarrassment. It should suffice to know Mason's remains had to be temporarily interred in Potters Field in a plain wooden coffin. The whole business cost about 200 dollars! The donations that came to him while in Italy were of such meager proportions that no one offering them could possibly have felt DEPRIVED;- those were not Depression Years!!
On Page 2 you insist Mason Remey Aghsan adopted me and appointed me his successor in the guardianship. This is false. I was adopted by Charles Mason Remey,....period.....not by Mason Remey Aghsan. And, I have never DEMANDED (as you put it on Page 28 of your letter) that you prove anything pertaining to that matter. Going to the Courts in Israel was proposed by people from your quarters and totally foreign to me. You want to prove my Aghsan heritage, I don't. With this statement, perhaps you may placate the troubled minds who are unable to understand my STANCE in the matter and end up forgiving my IGNORANCE of the Baha'i Faith, my DENSITY, my REFUSING TO SEE THE LIGHT, my LETHARGY and finally, understand the reason why I CHOOSE TO REMAIN THAT WAY. (All capitalized words taken from your letter).
Long before he died, Mason Remey publically appointed Donald Harvey to succeed him. No one offered objections to that appointment at that time. After Mason's death, many accepted Donald as his successor and I believe you did too, for a time, Dr. Jensen.....or have I been misinformed on that point? After Mason's death, I was totally ignored for a long, long time. Where were you all then?
1
13 May, 1990
Page 2....Ltr to L. Jensen
In reading over what you wrote on Page 20 of your letter referring to certain dreamers desiring to become Guardian of the Faith, the idea came to me that you might select one such person manifesting those qualities you deem worthy in substitution of the ADVERSE, HARANGUING, DENSE, LETHARGIC, etc. etc., individual that you described me to be. Your choice might better be for one possessing a compromising, condescending, duty-bound, submissive nature devoid of resistence to your dictates. A far cry from Shoghi Effendi type Guardian Mason Remey described to me. Prepare the necessary adoption papers conforming to your requirements allowing me to adopt that person SPIRITUALLY, thus passing on to him the AGHSAN lineage that you claim Mason Remey received from 'Abdu'l-Baha and I from Mason. What could be simpler? Any Inspired Explanation and your VERY MUCH DISTURBED believers may have THEIR guardian and no longer be troubled by all you admonish me for in the first paragraph of your letter.
The real CAUSE OF THE DILEMMA THAT HAS BEEN CONFUSING THE PEOPLE OF BAHA' (next paragraph, Page 1) is more likely due to your categorically ignoring my numerous pleas asking you to refrain from coercing me into the role of Guardian rather than any failure to act on my part. Instead, you encouraged your supporters to address letters to me as THEIR guardian - something I never wanted, encouraged or agreed to.
The word PROOF in the Biblical account of Moses and Pharoah is never mentioned. You substituted it for the word SIGN. Some people need proofs as did Doubting Thomas who was reassured by Jesus when he said: "Because thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed." The proselytizing work of Jehovah's Witnesses is replete with proofs. At the bottom of Page 13 in your letter you quote from 'Abdu'l-Baha (in referring to Baha'u'llah) as having said: "if you had attained to the court of his presence, and had witnessed his luminous beauty, you would have understood that his teachings and perfection were not in need of further evidence." That explains exactly how I feel about proofs being unnecessary, thus, my convictions are in the tradition of Jesus and 'Abdu'l-Baha. How can you believe a person requiring proofs possesses a superior faith than one who has faith without asking for proof?
The reason I may have told someone they need not read Baha'i writings to become wonderful Baha'is (see Page 27 of your letter) may be attributed to a statement expressed by 'Abdu'l-Baha wherein he tells us that some of the best Baha'is may well be individuals who have never heard the name Baha'u'llah pronounced. Reading Baha'i writings will, of course, help develope those persons' spiritual growth but you know as well as I that many Baha'is well versed in the Baha'i writings don't even begin to possess the ESSENCE of what Baha'u'llah taught. The surviving members of Mason's family accepted my adoption unconditionally and have made provisions for my basic needs for life which is what Mason hoped the Baha'is would have done for me. Were it for Baha'is, I should have starved to death long ago. Consequently, I feel perfectly justified in considering the Remey relatives amongst the best Baha'is living (in the sense 'Abdu'l-Baha suggested) and it is doubtful any of them have ever read any of the Baha'i writings.
May I remind you that my so-called IGNORANCE of the Baha'i Faith was self-proclaimed. That does not mean that I am incapable of thinking for myself nor that I need indoctrination from individuals who may well be better indoctrinated from individuals who may well be better indoctrinated by me than I by them. I am neither a puppet to be maneuvered nor a dependent to be managed at will and may not be appropriated as a piece of property.
2
13 May, 1990
Page 3.....Ltr to L. Jensen
On Page 34 of your letter you start with the words: "The reason that Mason failed......".....to which I add.....was that he thought he was being supported by sincere friends only to find himself surrounded by a host of hypocrites who were bickering, back-biting and in furthering their personal ambitions. I know the heart-aches and the anguish Mason suffered because of those quarrels and I know those who were involved. It would be very embarrassing indeed to many if I were called on to compile a list. In the first paragraph of your letter you place me at the top of list for my ignorance in the faith. Believe me, I feel happier there than to have to find myself at the top of the list mentioned previously.
Further down the page (34) you also state: "You have had some bad experiences with Mason....." With Mason? ? ? My dear Leland Jensen, my bad experiences were with the Baha'is who were pretending to be "in his service" while seeing in me an obstacle to their personal goals (material and spiritual). When the personal attacks against me grew too severe for me to cope with, I was forced to stop typing Mason's Baha'i correspondence and, painful as it was to me, he had to write out his messages by hand; - it was the only way possible to stop being accused (by Baha'is, mind you) of exerting an influence over the Guardian. Isn't that sad?
This letter was originally intended not to exceed one page but having had to read over your last communication, it appears evident that you have come to the end of your rope with me and I have come to the end of mine as well. Therefore, this will probably be the last time you will receive further communications from me. Your reactions to whatever I write you seems to create an effect diametrically opposed to my intentions. You are determined to have your way in spite of anything offered by me. Besides, I am cursed with a vivid memory and often your erroneous accounts of past events open old wounds that hurt deeply.
With a clear conscious and
Prepared for whatever comes
In this world
or the next, I am,
Ever a constant and devoted defender of all Mason stood for
Joseph Pepe, Jr.
P.S. I don't send copies of my letters out, this is something between us. I don't like my letters distributed. JP