Bahá’í News/Inserts/Issue 398/Human Rights and the Bahá’í Faith/Text

Human Rights and the Baha’ Faith

More than fifty years ago ‘Abdu’l-Baha warned the American people of the deadly consequences of racial prejudice. Today discontent and strife are sweeping the nation, heralding greater upheavals yet to come. The growing movement for racial equality and justice is a matter of crucial concern

to the Baha’i community. We see very clearly in this ©

movement a force which is upsetting the equilibrium of the old order. But our position in regard to human rights has always been unequivocal and clear.

Mindful of Shoghi Effendi’s instructions, conscious of the gravity of the hour, encouraged by the enthusiasm and maturity of the October 1963 conferences, and impressed by the many evidences of individual and community human rights activity across the nation, the National Spiritual Assembly wishes to share with you its conviction that the Baha’i community cannot stand passively by while others strive to put into effect principles to which we have been always committed. We must not neglect the Guardian’s admonition: ‘‘Let neither [the whites nor the Negroes] think that they can wait confidently for the solution of this problem until the initiative has been taken, and the favorable circumstances created, by agencies that stand outside the orbit of their Faith.’’!

A quarter of a century ago Shoghi Effendi emphasized that “every organized community, enlisted under the banner of Baha’u’llah, should feel it to be its first and inescapable obligation to nurture, encourage, and safeguard every minority belonging to any race, class, or nation within it.”’* He urged us to achieve complete freedom from prejudice and to serve as an example to a world which daily tramples upon the rights of minorities. We dare not ignore his admonitions.

Now that the human rights movement has become a national issue, many friends wish to know what we as Baha’is can do either individually or collectively to help achieve the triumph of justice. This question was answered in part in the September 20, 1963 communication distributed with the October issue of Baha’i News. However, no single statement can answer all questions. Additional points will be helpful to the friends and can clarify their thoughts and actions.

Human Rights Organizations

While our principles preclude membership in religious or political organizations, we are free as individuals to join groups whose aims coincide with

Baha’i principles. Therefore, if they wish, the friends may join such organizations as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Congress of Racial Equality, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Southern Regional Council, Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, The Urban League, The National Council of Negro Women, The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, fair employment and fair housing committees, and human relations commissions and councils. Into each of these organizations the injection of articulate, temperate and unequivocal Baha’i principles can only have the most favorable effects.

Friends who wish to join a human rights organization should take the following steps.

1. Each individual must make sure that the local branch of the organization which he intends to join is non-partisan, non-violent, and legal under the laws of the United States.

2. He must write a letter to the organization to which he is applying, stating the conditions under which he is joining, i.e., non-violence, respect for the nation’s laws, and non-commitment to partisan politics. (The National Spiritual Assembly will provide sample letters on request.)

3. He should immediately send a carbon copy of the above-mentioned letter to the Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly for filing.

The friends should be constantly alert to the actual functions of the organizations in which they are enrolled. Should these depart from the basic policies listed above, Baha’is should withdraw formally and in writing, simultaneously notifying the National Spiritual Assembly of their action.

Demonstrations

Participation in civil rights demonstrations is governed by identical considerations. That Baha’is may take part in demonstrations was made clear by Shoghi Effendi when a number of Baha’i students at the University of Chicago joined a protest against racial prejudice and carried a placard with the word ‘‘Baha’i’’ on it. Mr. Ellsworth Blackwell asked the Guardian: ‘“‘Is there anything wrong in the protesting of Baha’i student groups against racial prejudice along with other student organizations?’’ The beloved Guardian replied through his secretary (January 1948): ‘“He does not see any objection to Baha’i students taking part as Baha’is in a protest [Page 2]such as that mentioned in the clipping. On the contrary, he does not see how they could remain indifferent when fellow students were voicing our own Baha’i attitude on such a vital issue and one we feel so strongly about.”’

At a time of demonstration, when Baha’is participate in full conscience, they may carry placards identifying themselves with the Faith and its principles. They must show discretion, however, lest the dignity of the Faith be touched. Demonstrations are troublous at best. But as a present method of protest in a democracy they have a value in calling attention to remediable injustices. Therefore, if Baha’is wish to demonstrate as individuals and carry placards, they may use simple phrases derived from the Writings (Man One Family, Turn Not From Justice, One Mankind), but they are not to use the sacred symbols nor the names of the Holy personages. Remembering that the use of the word “Baha’i” calls attention to the entire community and its concerns, not merely to an individual’s protest, the identification of the ‘‘Baha’i Faith” on a sign must represent a local spiritual assembly action by majority vote.

Dear friends, the responsibilities placed upon the American Baha’i community first by the Master, then by the Guardian, are clear. The opportunities to serve the Cause are unparalleled. As in the past, devotion, courage, and determination must distinguish our actions. It is a difficult role which we choose to play; and undoubtedly there will be opposition. Shoghi Effendi foresaw that ‘“‘storms of abuse and ridicule, and campaigns of condemnation and misrepresentation may be unleashed against them [the Baha’is].”’ But he also foresaw the outcome. “Unpopularity but serves to throw into greater relief the contrast between it [the army of Baha’u’llah} and its adversaries; while ostracism is itself the magnetic power that must eventually win over to its camp the most vociferous and inveterate among its foes.’’8

—NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY, BanwA’fs of THE UNITED STATES Wilmette, Illinois May, 1964 1 Advent of Divine Justice, p. 34

+ Ibid., p. 29

Ibid., p. 35

�