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Neal Chase (b. January 30, 1966) is the current President of the Second International Bahá'í Council, the authoratative body of the Baha'is Under the Provisions of the Covenant (BUPC), a Baha'i division established by Dr. Leland Jensen. Chase claims to be the current Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, seated on the Throne of David, having been adopted and appointed by Joseph Pepe Remey. The claims and beliefs of Chase and the BUPC are not accepted by members of the Baha'i Faith, and the followers of both groups have mutually excommunicated each other.

Background

Neal Chase was born a Jew in Bridgeport, Connecticut. After becoming a born-again Christian in his teens, Chase became a Bahá'í at the age of 19 while attending Michigan State University. After several years, he moved to Deer Lodge, Montana to investigate the prophecies of the Morrisites who pioneered the valley to specifically prepare that valley for the coming of the return of Jesus whom they believed would appear to them there on August 9, 1969 (Chase). His research was published in his book Ezekiel’s Temple in Montana (1990).

He hosted a weekly call-in talk show on Missoula Cable Access Television every Friday night from 1992-2001 called Bahá'í Phone-in Live!. The format allowed callers to discuss issues ranging from religion, world events, politics, and special interests. He was invited to speak on the Art Bell radio show Coast to Coast AM in March 1993 after receiving national attention for a press release he wrote which accurately predicted the date of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He also appeared on NBC Television on Michael Moore’s TV Nation concerning future prophecies of attacks against the city of New York. Chase became a board member of the Second International Bahá'í Council upon its inception in 1991. He is believed by the Bahá'ís Under the Provisions of the Covenant to be the 4th Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith.

Guardianship Claim

In 1960 there was a dispute over the succession of the Guardianship which caused a small minority of Bahá'ís to follow Mason Remey as the new Guardian of the Faith, causing mutual excommunication between his followers and members of the Bahá'í Faith. When Shoghi Effendi set up his First International Bahá'í Council he appointed Remey as its President. Remey claimed that this appointment made him the Guardian upon the passing of Shoghi Effendi.

Although the majority of Bahá'ís do not accept that Shoghi Effendi appointed any successor to be Guardian, Chase and the BUPC maintain that the Guardianship is an essential feature of the Bahá'í Administration, and that it is in fact confirmed by Shoghi Effendi's writings that the Bahá'í Faith must always have a Guardian:

"Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh would be mutilated and permanently deprived of that hereditary principle which, as `Abdu'l-Bahá has written, has been invariably upheld by the Law of God." (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 148)

The office of Guardianship is believed by Chase and the BUPC to have continued through adoption and appointment from Mason Remey to his adopted son Joseph Pepe. Pepe was given Power of Attorney over Remey's affairs, and is believed by them to be Remey's successor. In the years following Remey's death Pepe publicly denied being the Guardian, and passed away in 1994. Chase claims that, although Pepe denied being the Guardian, or even a Bahá'í, in private letters to him and others Pepe admitted he was Remey's only possible successor as Guardian. This is one such example:

"Mason was confident that in time the masses of Believers would come to the conclusion that they needed and wanted a Guardian. Had they done so during his lifetime, I should not have objected to being his successor. Mason would have delighted in the conclusion regarding the Afnan and Aghsan branches and if it is true that Mason was, in fact, the adopted Aghsan son of `Abdu'l-Bahá, and if that fact were to be generally accepted, then I should not be able to refuse being his only possible successor.... The fact will always remain that if the Bahá'í Faith must have a Guardian to progress, then only Mason Remey could have fulfilled that role, and Mason Remey intended me as his successor…"''(Pepe, 25 July 1991).

BUPC website-Personal Letters of Pepe Remey

In 2001 Chase announced that he had been adopted by Pepe and appointed to the position of Guardian, quoting letters that he had received while Pepe was still alive. Chase claims a relationship developed over the course of many years through written correspondence with Pepe Remey, which eventually led Pepe Remey to adopt and appoint Chase as his successor.

“Dear Neal Chase: In spite of my many “harsh” words for you—which are “forced efforts” on my part to provoke you into “open conflict” – there has always remained some “carry over” of the initial “agreeability” of our first contact.” “Keep on opposing me...I like something about you.” (Pepe to Neal, 9/9/91 and 9/23/91)

"Be surprised what beautiful spiritual expressions will be showered on you. It wasn't my nature to be vulgar." (Pepe to Neal 9/20/91)

"Unfortunately, my Italian sentiments got the best of me and I allowed myself to get carried away in my retaliatory responses." (Pepe to Dr. Leland Jensen 2/9/92)

BUPC website-Personal Letters of Pepe Remey

Chase points to a series of letters where Pepe refers to Chase as "my dear boy" and "my son" as evidence that Pepe adopted him in the same manner that he believes `Abdu'l-Bahá adopted Mason Remey, although these adoptions are not accepted by any of the other Bahá'í divisions. In one such letter Chase claims that Pepe asked: "shall I adopt you?".

Chase further asserts his claim of appointment with the fact that the Executor of Pepe's estate was enjoined by Pepe's Will to bestow certain artifacts from Pepe's estate in person to Chase, including the "Locks of Hair and Drops of Blood of Bahá'u'lláh" that `Abdu'l-Bahá had left for Remey upon His passing in 1922. This artifact was an inheritance from Remey to his son Pepe, and along with a Lapus Lazuli ring that Remey had commissioned, were bequeathed to Chase in Pepe's Will.

Domain name dispute over UHJ.net

In 2000 the National Spiritual Assembly (NSA) of the Bahá'ís of the United States filed a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization Arbitration and Mediation Center against Neal Chase for his use of the domain name <www.uhj.net>.

The case resulted in Chase keeping the domain name on the basis that “uhj” as an acronym is not commonly used in the Baha'i Faith to refer to the Universal House of Justice. The panel also concluded that the NSA was not attempting a reverse domain name hijacking. All other issues were deemed not necessary to address. (see WIPO document)

Contributions, Publications, and Notability

PUBLICATIONS

Neal Chase is the author of several published books, of note are:

• Lazarus the Sick World (1987) by Neal Chase
• Ezekiel’s Temple in Montana (1990) by Neal Chase
• e-Book: King of Terror (2003) Foreword and Afterword

He has also been published in

• Harper’s Magazine (February 1995)
• The Anthology, The End of the World (1997) by Lewis H. Lapham

Anthology, Includes:

• Epic of Gilgamesh, Moses Genesis, Plato, Virgil, Isaiah, Mark, Josephus, Pliny, John, Augustine, Joachim de Fiore, Da Vinci, Columbus, Nostradamus, Shakespeare, George Washington, Mary Shelley, Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Jack London, Freud, H.L. Menkin, Primo Levi, and Neal Chase

MEDIA Radio and Television:

1. He has been guest on the Art Bell Radio Show Coast to Coast AM in March 1993.
2. He appeared on Michael Moore’s TV Nation, aired on NBC and BBC.
3. He has appeared on KUFM Public Radio in Montana.
4. And for 9 years hosted the television program Bahá'í Phone-Live on MCAT from 1992-2001.

Newspapers:

1. “Killing People to Get Elected” (1992) by Neal Chase, Published in the Phoenix Liberator
2. Articles about him and his work:

• The Missoulian (January 29, 1991) "Bahá'í: Deer Lodge Sanctuary)" Front page.
• The Montana Standard (Feb. 9, 1991) “Ezekiel’s Temple in Montana!”
• The Missoula Independent (July 17-24, 1997) “Millennial Fever” Front page.
• The Missoulian (Sept. 20, 2001) “9-11: A Time to Weep”

ACADEMIC STUDIES:

Chase and his work is also the subject of several academic studies concerning the Sociology of Religion and the History of the Bahá'í faith. Three of these are:

• Millennium, Messiahs, and Mayhem: Contemporary Apocalyptic Movements (1997) by Tom Robbins
• Expecting Armageddon (2000) edited by Jon R Stone
• Harvard University, Committee on the Study of Religion

See also

• Bahá'ís Under the Provisions of the Covenant
• Dr. Leland Jensen
• Pepe Remey
• World Civil War

References

• Neal Chase, (1990). Ezekiel’s Temple in Montana, Baha'i Publishers Under the Provisions of the Covenant, Missoula , Montana 59802
• Shoghi Effendi,(1974). The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, Bahá'í Publishing Trust, Wilmette, Illinois 60091
• UN WIPO Decision - Ruling in domain name dispute

External links

Universal House of Justice - Official website

Baha'is Under the Provisions of the Covenant - Official website

Bahá'í Covenant-breakers Thwarted in Domain Dispute- News article

• Bahá'í individuals
• Bahá'í divisions