Bahai Faith; Peace -- Religious aspects -- Bahai Faith
Although I felt indisposed this afternoon, yet because I attach great
importance to this assembly and was longing to see your faces, I have
come. The expression of kindly feelings and the spirit of hospitality
manifested by the former speakers are most grateful. I am thankful for the
susceptibilities of your hearts, for it is an evidence that your greatest
desire is the establishment of international peace. You are lovers of the
oneness of humanity, seekers after the good pleasure of the Lord,
investigators of the foundations of the divine religions.
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 find that peace and
fellowship are factors of upbuilding and betterment, whereas war and
strife are the causes of destruction and disintegration. All created
things are expressions of the affinity and cohesion of elementary
substances, and nonexistence is the absence of their attraction and
agreement. Various elements unite harmoniously in composition, but when
these elements become discordant, repelling each other, decomposition and
nonexistence result. Everything partakes of this nature and is subject to
this principle, for the creative foundation in all its degrees and
kingdoms is an expression or outcome of love. Consider the restlessness
and agitation of the human world today because of war. Peace is health and
construction; war is disease and dissolution. When the banner of truth is
raised, peace becomes the cause of the welfare and advancement of the
human world. In all cycles and ages war has been a factor of derangement
and discomfort, whereas peace and brotherhood have brought security and
consideration of human interests. This distinction is especially
pronounced in the present world conditions, for warfare in former
centuries had not attained the degree of savagery and destructiveness
which now characterizes it. If two nations were at war in olden times, ten
or twenty thousand would be sacrificed, but in this century the
destruction of one hundred thousand lives in a day is quite possible. So
perfected has the science of killing become and so efficient the means and
instruments of its accomplishment that a whole nation can be obliterated
in a short time. Therefore, comparison with the methods and results of
ancient warfare is out of the question.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account