Peace More than an End to War

PEACE More Than an End to War

Selections from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Shoghi E²endi, and the Universal House of Justice ______________ compiled by Terrill G. Hayes Richard A. Hill Anne Marie Sche²er Anne G. Atkinson Betty J. Fisher

Wilmette, Illinois

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CONTENTS

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Bahá’í Publishing, 415 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091-2844 Copyright © 1986, 2006 by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States All rights reserved. Published 2006 First edition published 1986. Second edition 2007 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper ∞ 10 09 08 07 4 3 2 1

Librar loging-in-P ubli ata Libraryy of Congr Congree ss Cata Cataloging-in-P loging-in-Publi ublicc ation D Data Peace—more than an end to war : selections from the writings of Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, and the Universal House of Justice / compiled by Terrill G. Hayes … [et al.]. p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-1-931847-39-1 ISBN-10: 1-931847-39-8 1. Peace—Religious aspects—Bahai Faith. 2. Bahai Faith—Doctrines.

I. Hayes, Terrill G., 1948- II. Bahá’í Publishing Trust.

BP388.P43P43 2007 297.9’317273—dc22 2006047911 The publisher gratefully acknowledges the work of Anne Marie Sche²er, whose research in many volumes of the Bahá’í writings on numerous aspects of peace provided the basis for the compilation; of Terrill Hayes and Richard Hill, who devoted many sel·ess hours to shaping the manuscript for publication; of Betty J. Fisher, Anne Atkinson, and Larry Bucknell, who lent their critical talents as a sounding board; of the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice for answering numerous questions; of John Walbridge and Manuchehr Derakhshani, who resolved questions about Persian and Arabic terms; of Peter Khan, who took time from a hectic schedule to provide an eloquent foreword. Thanks are also due to Elaine Field, who devoted many hours to keyboarding the manuscript of the second edition. House style for the transliteration of Persian and Arabic words has been used.

Cover and book design by Suni D. Hannan

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Preface The Bahá’í Faith is the youngest of the world’s independent religions.

Since its inception in Persia in the mid-nineteenth century it has since spread to virtually every corner of the earth. Today its membership represents what may well be the most ethnically and culturally diverse organized association of people. The growth of the Faith has been fueled by a body of teachings that its followers regard as the Revelation of God’s guidance for the collective coming-of-age of humankind: the oneness of the human race, the oneness of the world’s religions as the principal civilizing force in history, and the imperative challenge facing the earth’s inhabitants to construct a global society based on principles of unity and justice.

Among the Faith’s striking features is the fact that it owes its origin to the labors of two successive founding Prophets, the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh.

As the former explained, His mission was to prepare the way for “Him Whom God shall make manifest,” the Manifestation of God awaited by the followers of all faiths. During the course of successive waves of persecution that followed this announcement and that claimed the lives of the Báb and several thousands of His followers, Bahá’u’lláh declared Himself to be the ful³llment of the Divine promise. It is thus the voluminous body of the Latter’s writings that constitutes the main corpus of Bahá’í scripture.

In His will and testament Bahá’u’lláh appointed His eldest son, ‘Abdu’lBahá (1844–1921), to succeed Him in leading the Bahá’í community and to be the interpreter of His writings. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in turn appointed His eldest grandson, Shoghi E²endi (1897–1957), as His successor, the Guardian of the Cause and authorized interpreter of the Bahá’í teachings. Today the Bahá’í world community’s a²airs are guided and directed by the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing and legislative body of the Bahá’í Faith.

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A Statement of the Universal House of Justice

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Part One A Framework for Peace

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Chapter 1 The Promise of World Peace A Statement of the Universal House of Justice TO THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD: THE Great Peace towards which people of goodwill throughout the centuries have inclined their hearts, of which seers and poets for countless generations have expressed their vision, and for which from age to age the sacred scriptures of mankind have constantly held the promise, is now at long last within the reach of the nations. For the ³rst time in history it is possible for everyone to view the entire planet, with all its myriad diversi³ed peoples, in one perspective.

World peace is not only possible but inevitable. It is the next stage in the evolution of this planet—in the words of one great thinker, “the planetization of mankind.”

Whether peace is to be reached only after unimaginable horrors precipitated by humanity’s stubborn clinging to old patterns of behavior, or is to be embraced now by an act of consultative will, is the choice before all who inhabit the earth. At this critical juncture when the intractable problems confronting nations have been fused into one common concern for the whole world, failure to stem the tide of con·ict and disorder would be unconscionably irresponsible.

Among the favorable signs are the steadily growing strength of the steps towards world order taken initially near the beginning of this century in the creation of the League of Nations, succeeded by the more broadly based United Nations Organization; the achievement since the Second World War of independence by the majority of all the nations on earth, indicating the completion of the process of nation building, and the involvement of these ·edgling nations with older ones in matters of mutual concern; the consequent vast increase in cooperation among hitherto isolated and antagonistic peoples and groups in international un-

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dertakings in the scienti³c, educational, legal, economic and cultural ³elds; the rise in recent decades of an unprecedented number of international humanitarian organizations; the spread of women’s and youth movements calling for an end to war; and the spontaneous spawning of widening networks of ordinary people seeking understanding through personal communication.

The scienti³c and technological advances occurring in this unusually blessed century portend a great surge forward in the social evolution of the planet and indicate the means by which the practical problems of humanity may be solved. They provide, indeed, the very means for the administration of the complex life of a united world. Yet barriers persist.

Doubts, misconceptions, prejudices, suspicions and narrow self-interest beset nations and peoples in their relations one to another.

It is out of a deep sense of spiritual and moral duty that we are impelled at this opportune moment to invite your attention to the penetrating insights ³rst communicated to the rulers of mankind more than a century ago by Bahá’u’lláh, Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, of which we are the Trustees.

“The winds of despair,” Bahá’u’lláh wrote, “are, alas, blowing from every direction, and the strife that divides and a¼icts the human race is daily increasing. The signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now be discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing order appears to be lamentably defective.” This prophetic judgment has been amply con³rmed by the common experience of humanity. Flaws in the prevailing order are conspicuous in the inability of sovereign states organized as United Nations to exorcise the specter of war, the threatened collapse of the international economic order, the spread of anarchy and terrorism, and the intense su²ering which these and other a¼ictions are causing to increasing millions. Indeed, so much have aggression and con·ict come to characterize our social, economic and religious systems, that many have succumbed to the view that such behavior is intrinsic to human nature and therefore ineradicable.

With the entrenchment of this view, a paralyzing contradiction has developed in human a²airs. On the one hand, people of all nations pro-

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claim not only their readiness but their longing for peace and harmony, for an end to the harrowing apprehensions tormenting their daily lives.

On the other, uncritical assent is given to the proposition that human beings are incorrigibly sel³sh and aggressive and thus incapable of erecting a social system at once progressive and peaceful, dynamic and harmonious, a system giving free play to individual creativity and initiative but based on cooperation and reciprocity.

As the need for peace becomes more urgent, this fundamental contradiction, which hinders its realization, demands a reassessment of the assumptions upon which the commonly held view of mankind’s historical predicament is based. Dispassionately examined, the evidence reveals that such conduct, far from expressing man’s true self, represents a distortion of the human spirit. Satisfaction on this point will enable all people to set in motion constructive social forces which, because they are consistent with human nature, will encourage harmony and cooperation instead of war and con·ict.

To choose such a course is not to deny humanity’s past but to understand it. The Bahá’í Faith regards the current world confusion and calamitous condition in human a²airs as a natural phase in an organic process leading ultimately and irresistibly to the uni³cation of the human race in a single social order whose boundaries are those of the planet. The human race, as a distinct, organic unit, has passed through evolutionary stages analogous to the stages of infancy and childhood in the lives of its individual members, and is now in the culminating period of its turbulent adolescence approaching its long-awaited coming of age.

A candid acknowledgment that prejudice, war and exploitation have been the expression of immature stages in a vast historical process and that the human race is today experiencing the unavoidable tumult which marks its collective coming of age is not a reason for despair but a prerequisite to undertaking the stupendous enterprise of building a peaceful world. That such an enterprise is possible, that the necessary constructive forces do exist, that unifying social structures can be erected, is the theme we urge you to examine.

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The Roots of War and Strife

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Part Two The Promise and the Challenge

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Chapter 2 From Adolescence to Adulthood: Civilization Comes of Age Understanding the Condition of Today’s World The Roots of War and Strife BEHOLD the disturbances which, for many a long year, have a¼icted the earth, and the perturbation that hath seized its peoples. It hath either been ravaged by war, or tormented by sudden and unforeseen calamities.

Though the world is encompassed with misery and distress, yet no man hath paused to re·ect what the cause or source of that may be. . . . No two men can be found who may be said to be outwardly and inwardly united. The evidences of discord and malice are apparent everywhere, though all were made for harmony and union.

—Bahá’u’lláh 1 The world is wrapped in the thick darkness of open revolt and swept by a whirlwind of hate. It is the ³res of malevolence that have cast up their ·ames to the clouds of heaven, it is a blood-drenched ·ood that rolleth across the plains and down the hills, and no one on the face of the earth can ³nd any peace.

—‘Abdu’l-Bahá 2 The world is at war and the human race is in travail and mortal combat. The dark night of hate hath taken over, and the light of good faith is blotted out. The peoples and kindreds of the earth have sharpened their claws, and are hurling themselves one against the other. It is the very foundation of the human race that is being destroyed. It is thousands of

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households that are vagrant and dispossessed, and every year seeth thousands upon thousands of human beings weltering in their lifeblood on dusty battle³elds. The tents of life and joy are down. The generals practice their generalship, boasting of the blood they shed, competing one with the next in inciting to violence. “With this sword,” saith one of them, “I beheaded a people!” And another: “I toppled a nation to the ground!” And yet another: “I brought a government down!” On such things do men pride themselves, in such do they glory! Love—righteousness—these are everywhere censured, while despised are harmony, and devotion to the truth.

—‘Abdu’l-Bahá 3 Today no state in the world is in a condition of peace or tranquillity, for security and trust have vanished from among the people. Both the governed and the governors are alike in danger.

—‘Abdu’l-Bahá 4 I wonder at the human savagery that still exists in the world! How is it possible for men to ³ght from morning until evening, killing each other, shedding the blood of their fellowmen: And for what object? To gain possession of a part of the earth! Even the animals, when they ³ght, have an immediate and more reasonable cause for their attacks! How terrible it is that men, who are of the higher kingdom, can descend to slaying and bringing misery to their fellow beings, for the possession of a tract of land!

The highest of created beings ³ghting to obtain the lowest form of matter, earth! Land belongs not to one people, but to all people. This earth is not man’s home, but his tomb. It is for their tombs these men are ³ghting. There is nothing so horrible in this world as the tomb, the abode of the decaying bodies of men.

However great the conqueror, however many countries he may reduce to slavery, he is unable to retain any part of these devastated lands but one tiny portion—his tomb! If more land is required for the improvement of the condition of the people, for the spread of civilization (for the substitution of just laws for brutal customs)—surely it would be possible to acquire peaceably the necessary extension of territory.

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But war is made for the satisfaction of men’s ambition; for the sake of worldly gain to the few, terrible misery is brought to numberless homes, breaking the hearts of hundreds of men and women!

How many widows mourn their husbands, how many stories of savage cruelty do we hear! How many little orphaned children are crying for their dead fathers, how many women are weeping for their slain sons!

There is nothing so heartbreaking and terrible as an outburst of human savagery!

—‘Abdu’l-Bahá 5 For centuries and cycles humanity has been engaged in war and con·ict. At one time the pretext for war has been religion, at another time patriotism, racial prejudice, national politics, territorial conquest or commercial expansion; in brief, humanity has never been at peace during the period of known history. What blood has been shed!

How many fathers have mourned the loss of sons; how many sons have wept for fathers, and mothers for dear ones! Human beings have been the food and targets of the battle³eld, and everywhere warfare and strife have been the theme and burden of history. Ferocity has characterized men even more than animals. The lion, tiger, bear and wolf are ferocious because of their needs. Unless they are ³erce, cruel and unrelenting, they will die of starvation. The lion cannot graze; its teeth are ³tted only for food of ·esh. This is also true of other wild animals. Ferocity is natural to them as their means of subsistence; but human ferocity proceeds from sel³shness, greed and oppression. It springs from no natural necessity. Man needlessly kills a thousand fellow creatures, becomes a hero and is glori³ed through centuries of posterity. A great city is destroyed in one day by a commanding general. How ignorant, how inconsistent is humankind! If a man slays another man, we brand him as a murderer and criminal and sentence him to capital punishment, but if he kills one hundred thousand men, he is a military genius, a great celebrity, a Napoleon idolized by his nation. If a man steals one dollar, he is called a thief and put into prison; if he rapes and pillages an innocent country by military invasion, he is crowned a hero. How ignorant is humankind! Ferocity

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does not belong to the kingdom of man. It is the province of man to confer life, not death. It behooves him to be the cause of human welfare, but inasmuch as he glories in the savagery of animalism, it is an evidence that divine civilization has not been established in human society.

—‘Abdu’l-Bahá 6 Beset on every side by the cumulative evidences of disintegration, of turmoil and of bankruptcy, serious-minded men and women, in almost every walk of life, are beginning to doubt whether society, as it is now organized, can, through its unaided e²orts, extricate itself from the slough into which it is steadily sinking. Every system, short of the uni³cation of the human race, has been tried, repeatedly tried, and been found wanting.

Wars again and again have been fought, and conferences without number have met and deliberated. Treaties, pacts and covenants have been painstakingly negotiated, concluded and revised. Systems of government have been patiently tested, have been continually recast and superseded. Economic plans of reconstruction have been carefully devised, and meticulously executed. And yet crisis has succeeded crisis, and the rapidity with which a perilously unstable world is declining has been correspondingly accelerated. A yawning gulf threatens to involve in one common disaster both the satis³ed and dissatis³ed nations, democracies and dictatorships, capitalists and wage-earners, Europeans and Asiatics, Jew and Gentile, white and colored. An angry Providence, the cynic might well observe, has abandoned a hapless planet to its fate, and ³xed irrevocably its doom.

—Shoghi E²endi 7 Is it not a fact . . . that the fundamental cause of this world unrest is attributable . . . to the failure of those into whose hands the immediate destinies of peoples and nations have been committed, to adjust their system of economic and political institutions to the imperative needs of a rapidly evolving age? Are not these intermittent crises that convulse present-day society due primarily to the lamentable inability of the world’s recognized leaders to read aright the signs of the times, to rid themselves once for all of their preconceived ideas and fettering creeds, and to re-

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shape the machinery of their respective governments according to those standards that are implicit in Bahá’u’lláh’s supreme declaration of the Oneness of Mankind—the chief and distinguishing feature of the Faith He proclaimed?

—Shoghi E²endi 8 Please God, the peoples of the world may be led, as the result of the high endeavors exerted by their rulers and the wise and learned amongst men, to recognize their best interests. How long will humanity persist in its waywardness? How long will injustice continue? How long is chaos and confusion to reign amongst men? How long will discord agitate the face of society? . . . The winds of despair are, alas, blowing from every direction, and the strife that divideth and a¼icteth the human race is daily increasing. The signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now be discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing order appeareth to be lamentably defective. I beseech God, exalted be His glory, that He may graciously awaken the peoples of the earth, may grant that the end of their conduct may be pro³table unto them, and aid them to accomplish that which beseemeth their station.

—Bahá’u’lláh 9 We have created you from one tree and have caused you to be as the leaves and fruit of the same tree, that haply ye may become a source of comfort to one another. Regard ye not others save as ye regard your own selves, that no feeling of aversion may prevail amongst you. . . . It behooveth you all to be one indivisible people.

—The Báb 10 Today there is no greater glory for man than that of service in the cause of the Most Great Peace. Peace is light, whereas war is darkness. Peace is life; war is death. Peace is guidance; war is error. Peace is the foundation of God; war is a satanic institution. Peace is the illumination of the world of humanity; war is the destroyer of human foundations. When we consider outcomes in the world of existence, we ³nd that peace and fellowship are

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