Bahai Faith; Peace -- Religious aspects -- Bahai Faith
Humanity shares in common the intellectual and spiritual faculties of a
created endowment. All are equally subject to the various exigencies of
human life and are similarly occupied in acquiring the means of earthly
subsistence. From the viewpoint of creation human beings stand upon the
same footing in every respect, subject to the same requirements and
seeking the enjoyment and comfort of earthly conditions. Therefore, the
things humanity shares in common are numerous and manifest. This equal
participation in the physical, intellectual and spiritual problems of
human existence is a valid basis for the unification of mankind.
Consider how discord and dissension have prevailed in this great human
family for thousands of years. Its members have ever been engaged in war
and bloodshed. Up to the present time in history the world of humanity has
neither attained nor enjoyed any measure of peace, owing to incessant
conditions of hostility and strife. History is a continuous and
consecutive record of warfare brought about by religious, sectarian,
racial, patriotic and political causes. The world of humanity has found no
rest. Mankind has always been in conflict, engaged in destroying the
foundations, pillaging the properties and possessing the lands and
territory of each other, especially in the earlier periods of savagery and
barbarism where whole races and peoples were carried away captive by their
conquerors. Who shall measure or estimate the tremendous destruction of
human life resulting from this hostility and strife? What human powers and
forces have been employed in the prosecution of war and applied to inhuman
purposes of battle and bloodshed? In this most radiant century it has
become necessary to divert these energies and utilize them in other
directions, to seek the new path of fellowship and unity, to unlearn the
science of war and devote supreme human forces to the blessed arts of
peace. After long trial and experience we are convinced of the harmful and
satanic outcomes of dissension; now we must seek after means by which the
benefits of agreement and concord may be enjoyed. When such means are
found, we must give them a trial.
Consider the harmful effect of discord and dissension in a family; then
reflect upon the favors and blessings which descend upon that family when
unity exists among its various members. What incalculable benefits and
blessings would descend upon the great human family if unity and
brotherhood were established! In this century when the beneficent results
of unity and the ill effects of discord are so clearly apparent, the means
for the attainment and accomplishment of human fellowship have appeared in
the world. Bahá’u’lláh has proclaimed and provided the way by which
hostility and dissension may be removed from the human world. He has left
no ground or possibility for strife and disagreement.
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