One thing that I still like about the Bahá’í Faith is its severe prohibition against backbiting:

“The worst human quality and the most great sin is backbiting, more especially when it emanates from the tongues of the believers of God. If some means were devised so that the doors of backbiting could be shut eternally, and each one of the believers of God unsealed his lips in praise of others, then the teachings of His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh would be spread, the hearts illumined, the spirits glorified, and the human world would attain to everlasting felicity. ”

—`Abdu’l-Bahá’, Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era

“backbiting quencheth the light of the heart, and extinguisheth the life of the soul.”

—Bahá’u’lláh, the Book of Certitude

“Ye have been forbidden to commit murder or adultery, or to engage in backbiting or calumny; …”

—Bahá’u’lláh, the Most Holy Book

Funny thing, then, that—to my knowledge—a Bahá’í can lose his administrative rights for being openly gay, or worse—for drinking beer, but I have never heard of a Bahá’í losing his administrative rights for backbiting.

Oh, and I could not help but notice that these same men who preached so clearly and firmly against backbiting happened to have made so many hateful and defamatory statements against their foes.