Bahá’í News/Inserts/Issue 351, June/The Most Challenging Issue/Text
| The Most Challenging Issue |
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The Most Challenging Issue[edit]
The Bahá’í Viewpoint[edit]
AT a time when racial tension and strife have become a dominant and increasingly serious problem in the United States and elsewhere in the world, we consider it appropriate to restate and re-emphasize that the oneness of mankind is one of the basic tenets and principles of the Bahá’í World Faith.
In His spiritual Writings, which Bahá’ís accept as being divinely inspired by God, Bahá’u’lláh, Founder of this universal Faith, stated almost a century ago:
“Ye dwell in one world, and have been created through the operation of one Will. Blessed is he who mingleth with all men in a spirit of utmost kindliness and love.”
“The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.”
“The well-being of mankind, its peace and security are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established.”
The implications of these statements are clear. All persons of whatever race, nationality, religion or economic class, are creations of God and are equal in their spiritual essence and human dignity. Any discrimination or restriction because of race, whether of educational or job opportunities, mutual access to accommodations in eating and other commercial establishments and in public facilities, or equal protection of privacy and individual rights under the law, demeans the dignity of the individuals involved and are contrary to the teachings of God for this age as revealed by Bahá’u’lláh. Such discrimination not only creates acute conflicts and social problems which inflict tremendous cost on our civilization but holds us back from enjoying the fruits which could result from the dynamic accomplishments which a truly organic and unified society, freed from all restrictive thinking, could produce.
Today’s racial tension is not an isolated phenomenon. It is one of many facets of the spiritual sickness infecting our age, poisoning our thinking and creating conflict which threatens our destruction. It is the Bahá’í belief that the root cause of all of these conflicts is the lack of spiritual dynamic sufficiently strong to cause people to apply the unifying principles of the great religions to all of their human relationships. Until such a moral revitalization occurs, we cannot expect a truly broad and lasting solution to any of these conflicts.
Therefore, the Bahá’ís concentrate their energies on remedying this spiritual lack. Their teachings require that they obey the laws of the government under whose authority they live. They apply the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, including those regarding the oneness of mankind, in their total lives. They believe that as more and more people come to understand the rational significance of the Bahá’í teachings and sense the spiritual authority and power inherent in Bahá’u’lláh, the foundation will be laid for a world society that will eradicate the prejudices which are the source of today’s racial attitudes.
| Wilmette, Illinois May 15, 1960 |
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA’IS OF THE UNITED STATES |