Bahá’í World/Volume 26/Unity in Action, Models of Bahá’í Community Life
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David Bikman explores some of the
ways that Bahá’í communities around the world are striving to translate the Bahd ’z' teachings on community life into reality.
UNITY inACTION
Moclels OJ; Bahá’í Community Life
he practice of banding together to draw upon one another’s
strengths—What Alexis de Tocqueville called the “art of association”—is an essential component of the human experience. Over the millennia, humanity’s unity-building capacity has evolved to the level of the nation-state, the latest incarnation of political collaboration. The increasing reliance of people all over the world on tribal and religious identities, however, rather than the ideals offered by their country, has given rise to environmental ruin, inhuman Violence, and institutionalized injustice. Conflicts between Hutus and Tutsis, Hindus and Muslims, and Serbs and Croats, for example, all contribute to the fragmentation of the world, and demand the adoption of a system that can satisfy their unique needs while drawing them into the international community. Prominent thinkers now debate the merits of the nation-state itself, offering instead models based on regional and transnational networks. But whatever changes these conflicts and debates may
1. See Jurgen Habermas, “Beyond the Nation-State?”, Peace Review 10.2 (June 1998), pp. 235—239 for a typical critique.
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bring, it is clear that the world is searching for models that can accommodate the increasing interdependence of its participants. The ability of a community, whether it be local, national, or international, to draw to gether in mutual trust—its ability to create and maintain “social capital”—is integral to its long—term health. The degree to which social capital exists in a society is intimately linked to its ability to create wealth, to promote civic stability and prosperity, and to advance morally and spiritually. The teachings of the Bahá’í Faith are designed to stimulate the creation of social capital and regenerate the fortunes of humanity by providing a pattern of life centered around specific spiritual principles.
The distinctive pattern of life found in the thousands of Bahá’í communities around the world draws its inspiration from the Bahá’í View that people are essentially and eternally spiritual beings Who have been created to express the characteristics of divinity and contribute to “an ever—advancing civilization.” By attempting to translate the social and spiritual teachings of Baha’u’llah into reality, Bahá’í communities are learning how to live in spaces defined not by exclusion and conflict, but by unity and security. In this regard, emphasis on the transcendence of nationality is an important element of Bahá’í thought. As a Rwandan Bahá’í refugee expresses it, “When people see my face, they ask me, ‘Are you from Rwanda, are you a Tutsi? Who are you?’ And I say, ‘Nationality is not important to me. Ijust know that I am a Bahá’í.’”
In almost every country of the world, members of the Bahá’í Faith have for decades been engaged in the process of building social capital, experimenting With holistic techniques of economic development and struggling to root out the pernicious influences of prejudice, injustice, and ignorance. A Bahá’í community is distinctive both in the way it utilizes forms of social infrastructure designed to advance simultaneously the goals of the individual and the collective, and in the way it offers its transformative pattern of community life to the world.
Guidelines for the establishment and functioning of institutions that foster community spirit and inspire the creation of social capital are indivisibly woven into the Bahá’í teachings. For example, once a Bahá’í month, or every nineteen days, local Bahá’í communities gather to worship, consult about the affairs of the
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community, and socialize at the Nineteen Day Feast, which forms the heart of the unique rhythm of Bahá’í community life. The Feast provides a place where community members can take part in devotions, discuss issues relevant to the community, offer recommendations to the Bahá’í administrative institutions, contribute to the Bahá’í funds, reinforce social bonds, share news, and otherwise feel part of a growing, thriving, network of support. Activities at the Feast are designed to create new patterns of social interaction and eventually form the basis of future global cooperation. Such patterns are reflected in the words of a Bahá’í refugee from the wartorn Democratic Republic of Congo, who recounts his experience with the local Bahá’í community in these words: “I’m alone; no parents, n0 brothers, n0 sisters, n0 uncles; everyone’s gone. They were killed. .. The problems I’ve had could have made me want to kill myself, but with the writings of Baha’u’llah, with the community, I’ve been comforted and I have hope in life again. And I hope that if this message of Baha’u’llah is shared with everyone, it will Change the world.”
Celebrations commemorating Bahá’í holy days are other sources of shared joy and reflection. The sponsorship of Children’s classes, literacy education, rural health care, environmental advocacy and clean-up, activities for youth, arts performances, efforts to promote race unity, the advancement of women and human rights, academic education, and the development of agricultural technology serve to bring Bahá’í communities together in collective service. These many different acts are all expressions of the perspective that humanity is undeniably 0n the path to a lasting world peace, but that social action—no matter how deliberate, well planned, or sophisticated—cannot be completely effective when uninspired by spiritual principles. Through the Nineteen-Day Feast, service projects, celebrations of Bahá’í holy days, participation in social and economic development projects, and educational activities, Bahá’ís all around the world are constantly reminded that their fellow believers are committed to creating livable, sustainable, evolving communities.
The Bahá’í Administrative System The goal of the Bahá’í system of administration, as explicitly outlined in the Bahá’í writings, is to canalize the spiritual forces
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released by the advent of religious revelation into structures that can best ensure both the spiritual and material prosperity of mankind. The Bahá’í system is flexible enough to be responsive to the needs of the individual but sufficiently robust to govern a united civilization.
On the local and national levels, the Bahá’í community’s affairs are governed by annually elected councils called Spiritual Assemblies, whose deliberations are conducted using the cooperative, non—adversarial decision-making process of consultation. On the international level, the Universal House of Justice directs and coordinates the affairs of the entire Bahá’í world.
The Bahá’í administrative system also consists of complementary appointed institutions that are charged with counseling, encouraging, and assisting individual Bahá’ís and elected bodies. The men and women who are Chosen to perform this essential service are appointed on the basis of their experience and maturity.
The elections of local, national, and international Bahá’í governing bodies are Viewed as sacred events, and include time for group consultation and socialization. The Bahá’í teachings forbid campaigning, electioneering, or even the nomination of candidates; all Bahá’ís aged twenty-one and over are eligible to be elected. Voting takes place by secret ballot after a period of prayer and meditation; eligible members of Bahá’í institutions are Chosen according to their spiritual qualities, capacities, and experience. Participants in the Bahá’í system pledge themselves to obey the decisions of its institutions and to bend their energies towards the furtherance of their shared goals.
In war—torn central Africa, Local Spiritual Assemblies administer communities that have seen more than their share of tribal and political violence. So little social stability remains after years Of war, famine, and political upheaval that Bahá’ís there, by building new systems of collective functioning, have literally had to recreate their culture. Bahá’ís gathered in the refugee camps have laid a firm basis for the well—being of their Bahá’í communities by electing Local Spiritual Assemblies, meeting for the Nineteen—Day Feast and early-morning devotional meetings, and participating in development projects—all within the confines of the refugee camp.
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A Bahá’í working in the camps recounts recent victories in the work of rebuilding their community as follows, “We begin to get letters [from the other refugee camps] saying, ‘We have started activities again; we have formed our local communities, we have dawn prayers again, we have Cleared our Village of brush’: really exciting news!” Speaking about the growing role that consultation is playing among refugees, she says: “When there are problems between people—because when people are from all over there are bound to be differences—they often come to the Bahá’ís asking for help. They say, ‘There’s this group of people there, they say they are Bahá’ís, can they share their advice with us?’”
Love and Service as Builders of Civilization
Ghana, while more politically stable than some of its neighbors, must still address such problems as poverty, the inferior social status of women, and age-old tribal conflicts. According to local legend, the town of Bawdie (pronounced Bode-iay), Close to the edge of Ghana’s rainforest, was founded as the result of a conflict between two brothers. Today, however, solidarity and unity form the backbone of the town’s daily life. Relationships tend to be strong; people of all backgrounds are comfortable with each other, and many townspeople work to gether in agricultural development projects. “It’s Visible,” says one resident of Bawdie’s atmosphere of unity, “it’s not something that you need to search, or you need to look for. You see it, and when you come to this community, you always carry something with you, to go and apply to your community.”
About ten percent of the town’s residents are Bahá’ís, giving the Bahá’í system ample opportunity to demonstrate its efficacy. People often bring their personal problems for resolution to the Local Spiritual Assembly. One resident, Prince Abadu, says, “I like this community because of one unique thing: they love to come to work together as a group—as a team—and to do everything in common. They have come together to put up a [Bahá’í] center; they have come together to make a community farm; and they have come together also to make a nursery, from which [local] people come and buy things to plant, like seedlings, at a moderate rate.” The town has just begun a comprehensive literacy campaign, called “Enlighten the Hearts,” which uses traditional music, dances, and
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drama to educate children, men and women. In addition to literacy, classes often focus on moral development and the art of consultation. One participant says of Bawdie, “Whatever these people learn from the Bahá’í teachings, they try to translate it into action.”
The Advancement of All People
Any effort at promoting global prosperity that ignores humanity’s potential for unity in diversity will not succeed, for people will not participate in a system that does not make room for their unique cultural contributions. Rather than proving a source of discord, it is the complexity and diversity of the human race that allows its members to realize their potential as spiritual beings. Race unity, the advancement of women, and the development of youth are integral to the future health of every local, national, and global community.
Bahá’í efforts to combat racial prejudice are pursued all over the world. One notable initiative is currently underway in the United States, where the Bahá’í community is lending its weight to a nation-wide campaign aimed at helping eradicate racial prejudice within the country. Meetings held in the homes of Bahá’ís and in Bahá’í centers to discuss race unity are bolstered by local, regional, and national broadcasts of a documentary Video (called The Power ofRace Unity), a web site, and a toll-free phone number to call for more information. Thousands of requests for further information about the Bahá’í Faith have been received.
As the future inheritors of the affairs of humanity, the youth of the world must be systematically educated to work for race unity and greater cultural tolerance. Any scheme that is designed to draw youth away from gangs or other exclusive alliances and to counter the present racial divide must offer them the sense of community, solidarity and purpose they find with their peers. The first Bahá’í “youth workshop” was founded in Los Angeles in the 1970’s to assist in filling that need. In a single workshop, youth of all ages, races, and socioeconomic backgrounds can be found performing and serving their community together. Bahá’í youth workshops are now operating in over fifty countries, with over one hundred in the United States alone.
Workshops and other youth activities are integral to the overall pattern of Bahá’í community life. The workshop centers on the
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principle of service to humanity and aims to create a supportive, loving climate within which that service can be performed. Within guidelines established by Bahá’í institutions, workshop participants are given a generous hand in forming the character and atmosphere of their own group, thereby creating an environment that speaks directly to their personal concerns and aspirations. Service projects, academic study, devotional activities, and frequent travel for performances in schools, auditoriums, and outdoor venues are some of the activities common to Bahá’í youth workshops. Performances feature dynamic modern dances——often choreographed by the youth themselves—Which address ideas related to race unity, drug abuse, the advancement of women, and cultural diversity. Bahá’í youth workshops seem to inspire audiences wherever they go. The sincerity and sophistication of the dances are often profoundly inspiring, moving many audiences to tears, laughter, and enthusiastic applause.
A youth workshop performing in a small town in eastern Germany found itself challenged one evening by the presence of a group of skinheads—young people who shave their heads to demonstrate their belief in racial and ethnic separation. The skinheads taunted the workshop members and their message of racial unity throughout the evening, and returned the next day to a workshop-sponsored seminar to heckle them further. But later, after one of the workshop members approached the skinheads with an attitude of friendliness and warmth, some of the skinheads let down their guard and engaged in a dialogue with the workshop youth, sharing their fears about the economic depression of their town and the changing reality of ethnic relations in Europe. Over the next few days, the skinheads became the workshop’s greatest supporters, Cheering the loudest during their dance performances and encouraging their friends to join the audience.
But youth aren’t the only ones to benefit from Bahá’í-inspired development. The Bahá’í Counsellors in Europe are sponsoring a continent—wide campaign to promote the advancement of women. For a number of years Bahá’ís on that continent have been organizing and hosting series of women’s gatherings as part of this campaign. The gatherings are designed to stimulate awareness among women about the unique role they can play in establishing social stability and world peace and to empower them to improve the health of
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their community, which, according to Bahá’í belief, is dependent on the full equality of men and women.2 The seminars include segments where women can give topical presentations to the group and participate in small workshops, where they study writings from psychology, philosophy, and the various religions concerning the advancement of women. The readings in turn guide consultation about issues related to the upliftrnent of humanity and challenges and Victories in their personal lives. The transformation one Romanian facilitator, Bita Zerbes, sees in the participants, she says, has been a source of “radiant joy,” “unbelievable,” and “inspiring.” The women describe their experience in similar terms: “An excellent opportunity to validate ourselves as human beings and meet with our true reality as women,” says one participant. The seminars conclude with each participant making a commitment to perform a concrete act of service for her community in the near future. One woman reacted to the seminar by saying, “God grant that all which we have spoken here will not remain empty words and theories but rather will be put into practice in our daily lives!” Often the women choose to host a women’s gathering in their own home. In this way, the seminars are spreading all over Europe.
Training Institutes: Vehicles for Spiritual and Material Advancement
By regularly offering European women the opportunity to practice skills such as public speaking and consultation, the women’s seminars function as a kind of training, increasing the capacity of the women to take advantage of opportunities for social advancement that greater equality brings. In like manner, Bahá’ís in such far-flung places as Papua New Guinea are using the tool of the formally established training institute to stimulate grassroots human resource development, thereby advancing the social, economic, and spiritual life of their community.
2. The advancement of women has received special attention in the Bahá’í writings, even going so far as to link the advancement of women to the evolution of global politics. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says, “So it will come to pass that when women participate fully and equally in the affairs of the world, when they enter confidently and capably the great arena of laws and politics, war will cease.”
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The islands of Papua New Guinea are thick with rain forest, low-lying marshland, and dotted with volcanic mountains, making the construction of roads almost impossible and restricting long—distance travel to the air. Communities live in general isolation, each Village nearly a society unto itself. Many communities lie as much as a full day’s walk away from their neighbors, and Violent Clan rivalry restricts travel even further. Villages like Kunaia in the district of Mt. Brown, however, are working together to create environments animated by the principles ofjustiee and unity, using the training institute as their primary tool. By organizing their entire daily routine around the pattern of Bahá’í life, these Bahá’í communities are Witnessing a startling transformation in the quality of their community life.
Every morning before beginning the work of the day, the Bahá’í population of Kunaia gathers in the Bahá’í Center to worship. Men, women, and Children all read and sing passages from the Bahá’í writings and consult about affairs affecting the Village. Kunaians are finding that by fostering feelings of unity and interdependence, the act of their gathering together promotes the community’s spirit of service and ability to resolve conflicts. Bahá’í training institutes normally include a devotional component (such as Kunaia’s morning prayer gatherings), academic study circles for adults and youth, Children’s Classes, and social and economic development projects on subjects such as fanning technology, health care, and literacy. Omu Abie, a Christian Deacon in a nearby Village Whose congregation attends classes at the Bahá’í training institute in Kunaia, says, “I find it interesting that the Bahá’ís teach adults to read as well as children. I want to thank the Bahá’ís for bringing us all together.”
By acquiring the necessary skills to improve their spiritual and material life through systematic, participatory learning, the participants Of the training institutes hope to advance the fortunes of their entire country. Kunaia’s Bahá’í Center sits on the highest hill of the Village, surrounded by lovingly tended gardens composed of starshaped hedges, trimmed lawns, and flower—lined footpaths. Papua New Guineans travel from all over the district to Visit them.
Another Village now attracting attention is Maruta, located in a remote region of Oro province. Maruta was traditionally a scattered community; people lived in the bush without a formal Village
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structure and under very difficult conditions. Bahá’ís from the Mt. Brown area of the neighboring province decided to share their cornmunity-building experiences with the people of Maruta. The people of Maruta were eager to listen and improve their living conditions, and their resolute adherence to Bahá’í beliefs succeeded in effecting a profound transformation in nearly every area of their lives. They eventually moved out of the forest to live together in a united village, erecting houses, planting gardens, and lining the walkways with flowers. As a result, their story soon spread throughout the region.
A group of people Visited one day from the mountains of Oro, skeptical that the stories of transformation they had heard were possible. They arrived while the Village was rallying around an agricultural development project sponsored by the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Maruta. The Visitors were welcomed with traditional hospitality, but the next day the villagers excused themselves to continue with their work in the gardens. One Visitor stopped an elderly Marutan on his way to the gardens one morning, telling him that his advanced age allowed him to stay home. The man happily replied that he was feeding his spirit by working with his community and continued on his way. One of the women of the Village, who cooked for the guests every morning, explained that in her work she was obeying the request of the Spiritual Assembly and emphasized that her service was helping her spiritual growth. She then excused herself and left to contribute her share to the work in the gardens. The Visitors commented that they had never seen such community spirit as they had in Maruta.
The Role of Material Advancement in Spiritual Civilization The people of Maruta and Mt. Brown understand that the twin tasks of advancing the spiritual and the physical well-being of a civilization sustain, build upon, and inspire each other. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says, “For man two wings are necessary. One wing is physical power and material civilization; the other is spiritual power and divine civilization. With one wing only, flight is impossible.”3 The
3. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ‘Abdu ’l-Bahd during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912, 2nd ed. (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1982), p. 12.
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Universal House of Justice states, “The oneness of mankind, which is at once the operating principle and ultimate goal of [Baha’u’llah’s] Revelation, implies the achievement of a dynamic coherence between the spiritual and material requirements of life on earth.”4 This is the guiding principle of Bahá’í social and economic development work, which strives to integrate material progress with spiritual and moral advancement. In the Bahá’í View, development must give rise to systems that can effectively insure the application ofjustice, and, by promoting an atmosphere of trust in the community, provide space for individual spiritual development.
To date, there are over 1,700 separate Bahá’í-sponsored projects of social and economic development around the world. They range in size from the very large to the very small and include moral education classes for children, literacy education for adults, vaccination campaigns, the acquisition of clean water, the construction and operation of community learning centers, assisting rural women to be economically self-sufficient through indigenous crafts such as rug weaving, and Bahá’í-operated high schools, colleges and hospitals. Such activities build bonds of trust, interdependence, and unity among the participants and the people and institutions of society at large. Social and economic development is inextricably woven into the process of community development, and its wholeheaited pursuit evidence of the distinctiveness of the Bahá’í community.
Examples ofBahd ’l’-Inspired Development
The Foundation for the Application and Teaching of the Sciences (FUNDAEC, in its Spanish acronym) was created in Colombia in order to integrate traditionally separate endeavors in education, science, technology, and rural development. In the words of its founders, “During the late 60’s and early 70’s, it was becoming increasingly evident that development, defined mostly in terms of industrialization, was failing many of its basic objectives and was not improving the living conditions of the vast majority of the inhabitants of the developing countries.” In the case of Colombia,
4. The Universal House of Justice, from a letter written to the Bahá’ís of the world, 20 October 1983. Published in Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963 to 1986: The Third Epoch Ofthe Formative Age (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1996), p. 602.
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traditional forms of development had failed in the goal of creating unified, diverse communities based on justice, sustainability and grassroots participation. In 1974 a group of scientists and professionals chose to serve their community by developing programs of education and rural development that took into account the capacities and aspirations of the typical rural Colombian.
The Tutorial Learning System, developed by FUNDAEC, began with a very small number of students in the North Cauca region of Colombia, was gradually accepted among various educational institutions throughout the 1980’s, and has recently been adopted by the Colombian Ministry of Education as an alternative secondary education option for rural areas of the country. Based on a close relationship between the students and teachers and great flexibility in structure and curriculum, this educational system was designed to help stem the flow of country—dwellers to the city and stimulate the development of social capital in rural Colombia. The exodus of youth moving from their birthplaces in the country to the larger cities creates overcrowding and increased poverty in the city and a lack of qualified people to run the Vital institutions of rural communities. Rural cities have had to import people from outside their community in order to operate their libraries, pharmacies, post offices, hospitals, and schools. The Tutorial Learning System is designed to train rural people so they can create economic opportunity in their home community, rather than having to seek it elsewhere. The developers of the System decided that curricula imported from urban areas was inadequate for the needs of the rural population, so they developed their own.
The Learning System is continually improved in the light of experience, and now includes ten private and public institutions teaching nearly 15 ,000 students. “I have worked with young people most of my life and I have never seen a group of rural students so energized,” says James Mitchell, a Catholic priest who uses the curriculum. “It’s not just an education program by itself and isolated from everything else. It is part of a whole development process.” Small towns all over Colombia are now be ginning to see their youth stay to work in town and enrich the community, rather than fleeing to the cities. The program’s emphasis on community participation has, in the words of one facilitator, “greatly strengthened the process
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of participation and the cultural identity of the community in those rural communities where it is offered.”
Inspired by the work of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, FUNDAEC established its own microfinanoe network for Colombian farmers in 1989. Called the “Solidarity Production System,” and instituted after many years spent researching alternative microfinance systems, the program operates under the conviction that rural development will succeed only when local communities are encouraged to let moral and ethical values—not market valuesguide the life of their community.
Under the Solidarity Production System, small groups of farmers are trained in technical and administrative matters and participate in programs of ethical education: Virtues such as trustworthiness, honesty, truthfulness, service, and the ability to consult are all seen as integral to the success of a group-driven project. After receiving their loans (microfinance credits are usually between $50 and $500), farmers are linked to a group of three to five other farmers Who are working within the system. All the members are coresponsible for each other’s credit, thus avoiding the need for collateral. Bahá’ís View their efforts as successful only When those Who are to receive its benefits are given control of their destiny; progress, if it is to be sustained and ultimately valuable, must be driven by natural movement among the grassroots. In an area of the world where excessive attachment to market ideals has damaged traditional cultural ties, the Solidarity System has great potential for formalizing trust and reestablishing bonds based on shared goals and experiences, and is an example of the Bahá’í desire to create Vibrant, supportive communities.
Conclusion A community is more than a haphazard grouping of like—minded people. It is, as the Universal House of Justice writes, “a comprehensive unit of civilization composed of individuals, families and institutions that are working. .. in an unremitting quest for spiritual and social progress” as “originators and encouragers of systems, agencies and organizations” that advance these goals.5 Clearly, then,
5. The Universal House of Justice, letter to the Bahá’ís of the world, Riḍván 153 BE. (1996, unpublished).
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the role envisioned for the individual is one of mindful participation in local and global affairs alike—neither a slavish devotion to the state nor an uncompromising deification Of the self. Community development is not an easy process; varying degrees of maturity among the Bahá’ís, civil strife and ethnic conflict, natural disasters, and conditions of crushing poverty are challenges that need to be continually and creatively overcome. Encouraged by the idea that community-building is an evolving process, however, Bahá’ís all around the world persist in their efforts, convinced that peace on earth is “not only possible, but inevitable.”6
6. The Universal House of Justice, The Promise of World Peace (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre Publications, 1985) p. l.
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