I was raised Roman Catholic. My first two years of college, at St. Mary’s College in northern California, were as a seminarian. I felt that the most important course I took during this time was a course in Formal Logic. I left the seminary to see if I could live by the New Testament in the outer world before presuming to tell others how to live by it as a priest. I transferred to Loyola-Marymount where I majored in psychology. I sought an expression of faith that was coherent with the science of the fulfillment of human potential, and effective at promoting world peace; within a few years I found the Bahá’í Faith. Later I went to law school and took post-graduate program in international law at Salzburg University, including work in the legal offices of the United Nations in Vienna. My professional background is as an attorney. I have taught university courses in international law and in business law. I have testified before Congressional committees on matters related to international commerce.

Over the course of nearly 50 years I have served in various elected and appointed capacities in the Bahá’í community, and often spoken at Bahá’í conferences and summer schools. I have a particular interest in demonstrating the spiritual bridge between the Christian and Bahá’í revelations. I have a keen interest in the scriptural foundations of the Universal House of Justice, in the Covenants linking the progressive stages of the Bahá’í revelation, and in the connection between the legal and mystical aspects of the Bahá’í teachings. I have a special interest in gathering and recounting Bahá’í stories. I have written on legal topics for West and Kluwer, and on spiritual topics for the Huffington Post and on my blogs. I am in the early stages of writing a book to introduce Christians to Bahá’u’lláh, and another book directed to new Bahá’ís. I am married to Vickie Hu Poirier, a textile artist of wide renown in the Bahá’í community.