Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity
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Unity of humanity is one of the central teachings of the
Oneness
The Baháʼí teaching of the unity of
In the Baháʼí view, humanity has always constituted one group, but that ignorance, prejudice and power-seeking have prevented the recognition of the oneness of humanity.[5] The historical differences that have existed between different ethnic groups is attributable to differences in education and cultural opportunities over a long-term, as well as to racial prejudice and oppression.[4]
Unity in diversity
In the Baháʼí view, unity does not equal uniformity, but instead the Baháʼí writings advocate for the principle of unity in diversity where the variety in the human race is valued.[3] ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, the son of the founder of the religion, compared the human race to a flower garden where the garden was made more beautiful by its diversities of colour and form.[3]
The world of humanity is like unto a rose garden and the various races, tongues and people are like unto contrasting flowers. The diversity of colors in a rose-garden adds to the charm and beauty of the scene as variety enhances unity.[6]
The Baháʼí writings note that unity will not be arrived at through the suppression of difference, but instead when each respects the intrinsic value of other individuals and cultures. In this view, it is not the diversity that causes conflict, but rather people's intolerance and prejudice towards diversity.[7]
The cultural norms in the religion have gone through major transitions.
While those early processes continued locally international attention shifted to Africa for Baháʼís in the West and East. In Africa there was widespread conversions to the religion following the 1950s.[15] It was emphasized that pioneers be self-effacing and focus their efforts not on the colonial leadership but on the native Africans[16] – and that the pioneers must show by actions the sincerity of their sense of service to the Africans in bringing the religion and then the Africans who understand their new religion are to be given freedom to rise up and spread the religion according to their own sensibilities and the pioneers to disperse or step into the background. See Baháʼí Faith in Africa.
Since then other examples of this pattern of growing respect for cultures has taken hold in specific instances. Unlike the spread of Christianity within Indian country, in the United States, the Baháʼí Faith has never been associated with a fortification of colonial occupation, Euro-American assimilation, or forced conversions of Native Americans. Indeed, in 1960
Elimination of prejudice
One of the main principles of the Baháʼí Faith that comes about from the unity of humanity is the elimination of all forms of prejudice, and it entails non-discrimination against individuals on such things like race, religion, gender or class.[19] ʻAbdu'l-Bahá states that while the challenge is large, social prejudices including religious, political, and patriotic lead to war, and thus the elimination of prejudice was essential for human well-being.[20] In that regard, the Baháʼí teachings state that the elimination of all forms of prejudice is a fundamental requirement to achieve world unity and peace.[21] Two prime examples of this in action exist – one comes from the American South, and the other from South Africa.
Arriving in the face of the rise of Jim Crow laws and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan as a broad-based national movement and in contrast to Protestant, Catholic and Jewish organizations in South Carolina, the Baháʼís explicitly promoted racial integration from the local level up.[22] Called by the scriptures of their faith to “associate with all the peoples and kindreds of the earth with joy and radiance,” they deliberately sought converts from diverse backgrounds, forging bonds of shared religious identity across traditional social boundaries even when their meetings were raided. By the end of the twentieth century, the Baháʼí Faith was the largest non-Christian religion in South Carolina, and it was well known for its longstanding commitment to promoting racial harmony, interfaith dialogue, and the moral education of children and youth.
In South Africa, faced with the segregated social pattern and laws of
Abhorring all forms of
Political unity
An essential mission in the teachings of Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, was to bring about a consciousness in the peoples of the world regarding the oneness of humankind.[5] However, Baháʼu'lláh stated that along with the increase in individual and collective consciousness of the oneness of humanity, new social structures are also needed for the oneness of humanity to be achieved.[7] He wrote:[7]
It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country, and Mankind its citizens.[27]
The Baháʼí teachings thus state that it is not sufficient for humanity to acknowledge its oneness if it still lives in a disunited world that contains prejudice and conflict.
The principle of the Oneness of Mankind — the pivot round which all the teachings of Baháʼu'lláh revolve — is no mere outburst of ignorant emotionalism or an expression of vague and pious hope. Its appeal is not to be merely identified with a reawakening of the spirit of brotherhood and good-will among men, nor does it aim solely at the fostering of harmonious cooperation among individual peoples and nations. Its implications are deeper, its claims greater than any which the Prophets of old were allowed to advance. Its message is applicable not only to the individual, but concerns itself primarily with the nature of those essential relationships that must bind all the states and nations as members of one human family.... It implies an organic change in the structure of present-day society, a change such as the world has not yet experienced.... It calls for no less than the reconstruction and the demilitarization of the whole civilized world....[29]
Thus, in the Baháʼí view, unity must be expressed by building a universal and unified social system that is based on spiritual principles. In this view, the fundamental purpose of society is spiritual and is to create a society that is favourable to the healthy development of all its peoples.[28] A new world order based on these principles is envisioned, that will gradually unfold through processes of development that result in the successive stages of the Lesser Peace, the establishment of a World Super-State, the Great Peace, and the Most Great Peace.
See also
- Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion
- Baháʼí perspective on international human rights
- Community of common destiny for mankind (CPC)
- God in the Baháʼí Faith
- New world order (Baháʼí)
- Global citizenship
- Global civics
- Planetary consciousness
Notes
- ^ a b Stockman 2000, p. 7
- ^ a b c Smith 2008, p. 138
- ^ a b c Smith 2008, p. 139
- ^ a b c Hatcher & Martin 1998, p. 75
- ^ a b c d e Hatcher & Martin 1998, p. 76
- ^ ʻAbdu'l-Bahá 1918, p. 183
- ^ a b c Hatcher & Martin 1998, p. 78
- ^ Momen, Moojan (1989). "Is the Baha'i Faith a World Religion?". In McGlinn, Sen (ed.). Soundings: Essays in Baháʼí Theology. Christchurch, NZ: Open Circle Publishing. pp. 55–64.
- ^ Lamb, Artemus (November 1995). The Beginnings of the Baháʼí Faith in Latin America:Some Remembrances, English Revised and Amplified Edition. West Linn, OR: M L VanOrman Enterprises.
- ^ "Latin American Administration Develops". Baháʼí News. No. 197. July 1947. p. 3.
- ^ "Historical Background of the Panama Temple". Baháʼí News. No. 493. April 1972. p. 2.
- ISBN 0-85398-350-X.
- ^ Garlington, William (June 1997). "The Baha'i Faith in India: A Developmental Stage Approach". Occasional Papers in Shaykhi, Babi and Baha'i Studies (2). Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- ^ Garlington, William (January 1998). "The Baha'i Bhajans: An example of the Baha'i Use of Hindu Symbols". Occasional Papers in Shaykhi, Babi and Baha'i Studies. 02 (1). Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- ^ "Overview Of World Religions". General Essay on the Religions of Sub-Saharan Africa. Division of Religion and Philosophy, University of Cumbria. Archived from the original on 2007-12-09. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
- ^ "United States Africa Teaching Committee; Goals for this year". Baháʼí News. No. 283. September 1954. pp. 10–11.
- ISSN 1177-8547. Retrieved 2009-12-06.
- . Retrieved December 11, 2012.
- ^ Chryssides 1999, p. 250
- ^ Smith 2000, pp. 275–276
- ^ McMullen 2003, p. 17
- ISBN 978-1-243-74175-2. UMI Number: 3402846.
- ^ a b Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report (1998-10-29). "Regional Profile: Eastern Cape and Appendix: Statistics on Violations in the Eastern Cape" (PDF). Volume Three – Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report. pp. 32, 146. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
- ^ a b National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of South Africa (1997-11-19). "Statement to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission". Official Webpage. National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of South Africa. Archived from the original on 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
- ^ a b Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa (1998-10-29). "various chapters" (PDF). Volume Four – Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa. paragraphs 6, 27, 75, 84, 102. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
- ^ Reber, Pat (1999-05-02). "Baha'i Church Shooting Verdicts in". South Africa Associated Press. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
- ^ Baháʼu'lláh 1976, pp. 249–250
- ^ a b Hatcher & Martin 1998, p. 77
- ^ Effendi 1938, pp. 42–43
References
- LCCN 18012992.
- Buck, Christopher (1999). Paradise and Paradigm: Key Symbols in Persian Christianity and the Baha'i Faith. State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-7914-4061-3.
- Chryssides, George D. (1999). Exploring New Religions. Continuum International Publishing. ISBN 0-8264-5959-5.
- Hatcher, W.S.; Martin, J.D. (1998). The Baháʼí Faith: The Emerging Global Religion. San Francisco: Harper & Row. ISBN 0-87743-264-3.
- McMullen, Mike (2003). "The Baha'i Faith in the World and in America". In Neusner, Jacob (ed.). World Religions in America. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 0-664-22475-X.
- Schweitz, Marth L. (2003). "Baha'i". In Cookson, Catharine (ed.). Encyclopedia of religious freedom. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-94181-4.
- Smith, Peter (2008). An Introduction to the Baha'i Faith. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-86251-6.
- Smith, Peter (2000). "A Concise Encyclopedia of the Baha'i Faith". A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
- Stockman, Robert (2000). "The Baha'i Faith". In Beversluis, Joel (ed.). Sourcebook of the World's Religions. New World Library. ISBN 1-57731-121-3.
Further reading
- ISBN 0-87743-172-8.
- ISBN 0-87743-187-6.
- ISBN 0-87743-231-7.
- Nakhjavání, Alí (2005). Towards World Order. Baha'i Publications Australia. ISBN 1-876322-93-4.
- ISBN 1-85168-002-0.
- Compilations (1985). Research Department of the Universal House of Justice (ed.). Peace. Baháʼí World Centre.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Richard Walter Thomas (Jul 13, 2023). Abdu’l Baha: Pioneer in Anti-racism, Racial Unity, and Cultural Diversity. Abdu'l Baha at Stanford: A Centennial Conference (YouTube). San Francisco, CA: Stanford Iranian Studies Program.