Prejudices Destroy Humanity's Edifice

© BWAA. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Carson City, Nev., USA. Excerpt © BIC.

by Glenn Franco Simmons

Prejudices of all kinds seem to be metastasizing, from violent protests to wars and even threaten thermonuclear war at the present.

 “They are polarizing societies at a time when unity is most vital to resolving local, national, and global challenges that seem intractable,” wrote the Universal house of Justice in a 2022 letter. “The statements in the writings of the Faith about the harm that prejudice inflicts on individuals and on society are most emphatic. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has stated that human beings are degraded when they become captives of their own illusions and suppositions. Prejudice stains the human spirit, debases both its perpetrator and its victim, obscures perception and understanding, and prevents the achievement of that lofty standard of justice. …”

In “The Promulgation of Universal Peace,” `Abdu’l-Bahá wrote, “… Bahá’u’lláh declares that all forms of prejudice among mankind must be abandoned and that until existing prejudices are entirely removed, the world of humanity will not and cannot attain peace, prosperity and composure. This principle cannot be found in any other sacred volume than the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.”

“… Among the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is that religious, racial, political, economic and patriotic prejudices destroy the edifice of humanity,” writes ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá in “Tablets to The Hague.”  “As long as these prejudices prevail, the world of humanity will not have rest. …

“As long as these prejudices persist, the struggle for existence must remain dominant, and bloodthirstiness and rapacity continue. Therefore, even as was the case in the past, the world of humanity cannot be saved from the darkness of nature and cannot attain illumination except through the abandonment of prejudices and the acquisition of the morals of the Kingdom.”

© BWAA. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Carson City, Nev., USA. Excerpt © BIC.

The House of Justice quoted `Abdu’l-Bahá, who wrote in “Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá”: “Let them see no one as their enemy, or as wishing them ill, but think of all humankind as their friends; regarding the alien as an intimate, the stranger as a companion, staying free of prejudice, drawing no lines.”

One could say that world peace begins at home in each human heart.

“An individual’s efforts in this respect must begin with earnest striving to develop attributes of the soul such as love, truthfulness, kindness, justice, and generosity; to purify the heart of selfishness, envy, and hate; and to align the mind with Bahá’u’lláh’s principles of unity,” the House of Justice writes.

“A believer’s duty at all times is to demonstrate the unifying power of Bahá’u’lláh’s Teachings by associating with diverse peoples with a spacious heart, an all-embracing love, and a spirit of true friendship. As was ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s injunction, ‘Let those who meet you know, without your proclaiming the fact, that you are indeed a Bahá’í.’”

Shoghi Effendi Diagnoses Causes Of Divisions

Source: Promulgation of Universal Peace. Image use does not imply NASA’s endorsement of use.

by Glenn Franco Simmons

As the world grapples with escalating divisions and moral decay, Shoghi Effendi’s writings offer exacting diagnoses of these ailments.

He wrote in one of seven letters in the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, “The recrudescence of religious intolerance, of racial animosity, and of patriotic arrogance; the increasing evidences of selfishness, of suspicion, of fear and of fraud; the spread of terrorism, of lawlessness, of drunkenness and of crime; the unquenchable thirst for, and the feverish pursuit after, earthly vanities, riches and pleasures; the weakening of family solidarity; the laxity in parental control; the lapse into luxurious indulgence; the irresponsible attitude towards marriage and the consequent rising tide of divorce; the degeneracy of art and music, the infection of literature, and the corruption of the press; the extension of the influence and activities of those “prophets of decadence” who advocate companionate marriage, who preach the philosophy of nudism, who call modesty an intellectual fiction, who refuse to regard the procreation of children as the sacred and primary purpose of marriage, who denounce religion as an opiate of the people, who would, if given free rein, lead back the human race to barbarism, chaos, and ultimate extinction—these appear as the outstanding characteristics of a decadent society, a society that must either be reborn or perish.”

Nationalism is one of the most-nefarious ills humanity faces because, at its core, nationalism is a belief in superiority. Such deleterious “us vs. them” mindsets fuel bigotry, discrimination, prejudice and xenophobia toward other nations or regions.

Source: “Promulgation of Universal Peace.” Photo: © BWAA.

In its most frenzied state, nationalism often results in war.

`Abdu’l-Bahá cautions readers in “The Promulgation of Universal Peace” about this obstinate allegiance to national and other bigotries: “Prejudices of all kinds — whether religious, racial, patriotic or political — are destructive of divine foundations in man. All the warfare and bloodshed in human history have been the outcome of prejudice. This earth is one home and native land.” “The fifth principle or teaching of Bahá’u’lláh is the abandoning of religious, racial, patriotic and political prejudices, which destroy the foundations of human society,” `Abdu’l-Bahá wrote elsewhere in “The Promulgation of Universal Peace”:

“All mankind are creatures and servants of the one God. The surface of the earth is one home; humanity is one family and household. Distinctions and boundaries are artificial, human. Why should there be discord and strife among men? All must become united and coordinated in service to the world of humanity.” Equally destructive is the soul-deadening race to riches at the earth’s and humanity’s expense, in pursuit of raw materials that feed mass consumerism at the expense of unsustainable environmental exploitation.

At the time this artwork was completed and approved by the Cupertino LSA, the text was from the prior Bahá’í Reference Library. Translations have since been updated, but because this was approved by the Cupertino LSA, I use it. However, please note, I can no longer find this quote in the current Authoritative Bahá’í Reference Library. 

In Persian Hidden Word 24, Bahá’u’lláh counseled:

“O ye that are foolish, yet have a name to be wise! Wherefore do ye wear the guise of shepherds, when inwardly ye have become wolves, intent upon My flock? Ye are even as the star, which riseth ere the dawn, and which, though it seem radiant and luminous, leadeth the wayfarers of My city astray into the paths of perdition.” Only the Breath of The Holy Spirit wafting through humanity can cure these ills, but an unrepentant humanity must take the corrective steps common to any penitent: prayer, asking for forgiveness, etc. `Abdu’l-Bahá also emphasized, in “Some Answered Questions,” The Holy Spirit’s sublime significance: “Without the spirit the world of mankind is lifeless, and without this light the world of mankind is in utter darkness.”