A new version of the Bahá’í Reference Library is now available. This ‘old version’ of the Bahá’í Reference Library will be replaced at a later date.
The new version of the Bahá’i Reference Library can be accessed here »
48: No machinery falling short of the standard inculcated by the Bahá’í… |
No machinery falling short of the standard inculcated by the Bahá’í
Revelation, and at variance with the sublime pattern ordained in His teachings,
which the collective efforts of mankind may yet devise can ever hope to achieve
anything above or beyond that “Lesser Peace” to which the Author of our Faith
has Himself alluded in His writings. “Now that ye have refused the Most Great
Peace,” He, admonishing the kings and rulers of the earth, has written, “hold
ye fast unto this the Lesser Peace, that haply ye may in some degree better
your own condition and that of your dependents.” Expatiating on this Lesser
Peace, He thus addresses in that same Tablet the rulers of the earth: “Be
reconciled among yourselves, that ye may need no more armaments save in a
measure to safeguard your territories and dominions… Be united, O kings of
the earth, for thereby will the tempest of discord be stilled amongst you, and
your peoples find rest, if ye be of them that comprehend. Should any one among
you take up arms against another, rise ye all against him, for this is naught
but manifest justice.”
|
The Most Great Peace, on the other hand, as conceived by Bahá’u’lláh—a
peace that must inevitably follow as the practical consequence of the
spiritualization of the world and the fusion of all its races, creeds, classes
and nations—can rest on no other basis, and can be preserved through no
other agency, except the divinely appointed ordinances that are implicit in the
World Order that stands associated with His Holy Name….
|
The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, whose supreme mission is none other but the
achievement of this organic and spiritual unity of the whole body of nations,
should, if we be faithful to its implications, be regarded as signalizing
through its advent the coming of age of the entire human race. It should be
26
viewed not merely as yet another spiritual revival in the ever-changing
fortunes of mankind, not only as a further stage in a chain of progressive
Revelations, nor even as the culmination of one of a series of recurrent
prophetic cycles, but rather as marking the last and highest stage in the
stupendous evolution of man’s collective life on this planet. The emergence of
a world community, the consciousness of world citizenship, the founding of a
world civilization and culture—all of which must synchronize with the
initial stages in the unfoldment of the Golden Age of the Bahá’í Era—should,
by their very nature, be regarded, as far as this planetary life is concerned,
as the furthermost limits in the organization of human society, though man, as
an individual, will, nay must indeed as a result of such a consummation,
continue indefinitely to progress and develop.
|
The whole of mankind is groaning, is dying to be led to unity, and to
terminate its age-long martyrdom. And yet it stubbornly refuses to embrace the
light and acknowledge the sovereign authority of the one Power that can
extricate it from its entanglements, and avert the woeful calamity that
threatens to engulf it.
|
Ominous indeed is the voice of Bahá’u’lláh that rings through these
prophetic words: “O ye peoples of the world! Know, verily, that an unforeseen
calamity followeth you, and grievous retribution awaiteth you. Think not that
which ye have committed hath been effaced in My sight.” And again: “We have a
fixed time for you, O peoples. If ye fail, at the appointed hour, to turn
towards God, He, verily, will lay violent hold on you, and will cause grievous
afflictions to assail you from every direction. How severe, indeed, is the
chastisement with which your Lord will then chastise you!”
|
Must humanity, tormented as she now is, be afflicted with still severer
tribulations ere their purifying influence can prepare her to enter the
heavenly Kingdom destined to be established upon earth? Must the inauguration
of so vast, so unique, so illumined an era in human history be ushered in by so
great a catastrophe in human affairs as to recall, nay surpass, the appalling
collapse of Roman civilization in the first centuries of the Christian Era?
Must a series of profound convulsions stir and rock the human race ere
Bahá’u’lláh can be enthroned in the hearts and consciences of the masses, ere
His undisputed ascendancy is universally recognized, and the noble edifice of
His World Order is reared and established?
|
The long ages of infancy and childhood, through which the human race had
to pass, have receded into the background. Humanity is now experiencing the
commotions invariably associated with the most turbulent stage of its
evolution, the stage of adolescence, when the impetuosity of youth and its
vehemence reach their climax, and must gradually be superseded by the calmness,
the wisdom, and the maturity that characterize the stage of manhood. Then will
the human race reach that stature of ripeness which will enable it to acquire
all the powers and capacities upon which its ultimate development must depend.
|
…
27
|
Unification of the whole of mankind is the hall mark of the stage which
human society is now approaching. Unity of family, of tribe, of city-state,
and nation have been successively attempted and fully established. World unity
is the goal towards which a harassed humanity is striving. Nation-building has
come to an end. The anarchy inherent in state sovereignty is moving towards a
climax. A world, growing to maturity, must abandon this fetish, recognize the
oneness and wholeness of human relationships, and establish once for all the
machinery that can best incarnate this fundamental principle of its life.
|
The unity of the human race, as envisaged by Bahá’u’lláh, implies the
establishment of a world commonwealth in which all nations, races, creeds and
classes are closely and permanently united, and in which the autonomy of its
state members and the personal freedom and initiative of the individuals that
compose them are definitely and completely safeguarded. This commonwealth
must, as far as we can visualize it, consist of a world legislature, whose
members will, as the trustees of the whole of mankind, ultimately control the
entire resources of all the component nations, and will enact such laws as
shall be required to regulate the life, satisfy the needs and adjust the
relationships of all races and peoples. A world executive, backed by an
international Force, will carry out the decisions arrived at, and apply the
laws enacted by, this world legislature, and will safeguard the organic unity
of the whole commonwealth. A world tribunal will adjudicate and deliver its
compulsory and final verdict in all and any disputes that may arise between the
various elements constituting this universal system. A mechanism of world
inter-communication will be devised, embracing the whole planet, freed from
national hindrances and restrictions, and functioning with marvellous swiftness
and perfect regularity. A world metropolis will act as the nerve centre of a
world civilization, the focus towards which the unifying forces of life will
converge and from which its energizing influences will radiate. A world
language will either be invented or chosen from among the existing languages
and will be taught in the schools of all the federated nations as an auxiliary
to their mother tongue. A world script, a world literature, a uniform and
universal system of currency, of weights and measures, will simplify and
facilitate intercourse and understanding among the nations and races of
mankind. In such a world society, science and religion, the two most potent
forces in human life, will be reconciled, will co-operate, and will
harmoniously develop. The press will, under such a system, while giving full
scope to the expression of the diversified views and convictions of mankind,
cease to be mischievously manipulated by vested interests, whether private or
public, and will be liberated from the influence of contending governments and
peoples. The economic resources of the world will be organized, its sources of
raw materials will be tapped and fully utilized, its markets will be
co-ordinated and developed, and the distribution of its products will be
equitably regulated.
|
National rivalries, hatreds, and intrigues will cease, and racial
animosity and prejudice will be replaced by racial amity, understanding and
co-operation. The causes of religious strife will be permanently removed,
economic barriers and restrictions will be completely abolished, and the
inordinate distinction between classes will be obliterated. Destitution on the
one hand, and gross accumulation of ownership on the other, will disappear.
28
The enormous energy dissipated and wasted on war, whether economic or
political, will be consecrated to such ends as will extend the range of human
inventions and technical development, to the increase of the productivity of
mankind, to the extermination of disease, to the extension of scientific
research, to the raising of the standard of physical health, to the sharpening
and refinement of the human brain, to the exploitation of the unused and
unsuspected resources of the planet, to the prolongation of human life, and to
the furtherance of any other agency that can stimulate the intellectual, the
moral, and spiritual life of the entire human race.
|
A world federal system, ruling the whole earth and exercising
unchallengeable authority over its unimaginably vast resources, blending and
embodying the ideals of both the East and the West, liberated from the curse of
war and its miseries, and bent on the exploitation of all the available sources
of energy on the surface of the planet, a system in which Force is made the
servant of Justice, whose life is sustained by its universal recognition of one
God and by its allegiance to one common Revelation—such is the goal towards
which humanity, impelled by the unifying forces of life, is moving.
(11 March 1936, published in “The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh: Selected Letters”, pp. 162–63, 201–4) [48] |