Flora Teckie
Disunity is a danger that the people of the earth can no longer endure. We all yearn to live in a peaceful world. But what are the prerequisites for peace?
Baháulláh, the founder of the Bahá’í Faith, wrote extensively about the importance of the unity of humanity and the imperative need for creating a peaceful world civilisation.
More than 100 years ago, He wrote the following:
"The well-being of mankind, its peace and security are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established. So powerful is the light of unity," is His further testimony, "that it can illuminate the whole earth. … This goal excelleth every other goal, and this aspiration is the monarch of all aspirations”.
Regarding the role of religion in promoting peace, Bahá’u’lláh wrote: "The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race … This is the straight path, the fixed and immovable foundation”.
A question we probably all have is how to change the world with its patterns of conflict to a world in which harmony and cooperation will prevail.
The recognition of oneness of human family and abandonment of all types of prejudice, in the Baháí view, is the first requirement, and it needs to be universally proclaimed and taught in schools.
Adherence to the principle of the oneness of human family will not be in conflict with legitimate loyalties, and will not undermine the diversity of ethnic origins that differentiate the peoples and nations of the world. It is a call for a wider loyalty to the human race and its watchword is “unity in diversity”.
We need to eliminate racism – one of the greatest barriers to peace. “God maketh no distinction between the white and the black. If the hearts are pure both are acceptable unto Him,“ state the Bahá’í Writings.
Humanity can be likened to a vast garden in which grow flowers of every form, colour, and perfume. The charm and the beauty of the garden lies in this diversity.
Another requirement for peace is belief and implementation of the principle of the equality of men and women. According to the Bahá’í Writings: “The emancipation of women, the achievement of full equality between the sexes, is one of the most important, though less acknowledged prerequisites of peace …”.
Religion is a vital force for creating a peaceful and prosperous global society. At the same time, the distortion of religion and religious fanaticism have been the main causes of social disintegration, intolerance, hatred, sexism, poverty, oppression and war.
The Bahá’í Writings state that “the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly source, and are the subjects of one God” and “that all the great religions of the world are divine in origin, that their basic principles are in complete harmony, that their aims and purposes are one and the same, that their teachings are but facets of one truth, that their functions are complementary”, and emphasize: “Love ye all religions and all races with a love that is true and sincere and show that love through deeds and not through the tongue; for the latter hath no importance, as the majority of men are, in speech, well-wishers, while action is the best.”
Creating a peaceful world civilization requires fundamental changes in our behaviour, and by overcoming any lingering feelings of racism, or religious, ethnic and gender prejudices that we may, consciously or unconsciously, harbour.
Pretoria News