Bahá’í World/Volume 28/Brazil’s Response to Who is Writing the Future
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Brazil's Response to WHO IS WRITING THE FUTURE?[edit]
n 1999 the Bahá’í International Community's Office of Public Information released the statement Who is Writing the Future?, which offers a reflection on the twentieth century from a Bahá’í perspective. It opens with a description of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies' commemoration of the centenary of Bahá’u’lláh’s passing, during which one of the deputies asserted that Bahá’u’lláh’s writings constitute "the most colossal religious work written by the pen of a single man." The statement comprises five sections on themes central to the development of humankind, including the essentially spiritual nature of life, the need for a social and intellectual evolution, and the creation of a unified global society.
The Bahá’ís of Brazil, wishing to share the document with their fellow citizens, initiated the publication of Quem está escrevendo o futuro? 25 textos para o Século XXI [Who is Writing the Future? 25 Texts for the XXI Century]. The book is a compilation of twenty-five essays contributed by Brazilian
1. For the text of this document, see The Bahá’í World 1998-99, pp. 255–68.
[Page 128]
SEMINÁRIO: BAHAT "Quem Está Escrevendo o Futuro?"[edit]
(From left to right) Frei Beto, Luiz Gushiken, Neissan Monadjem, and Jonas Resende participate in a panel discussion at the release of Quem está escrevendo o futuro? 25 textos para o Século XXI.
philosophers, scientists, theologians, journalists, and politicians, each of which offers a response to the vision of the twentieth century proposed in the Bahá’í International Community's statement. Though the authors were not Bahá’ís, Bahá’u’lláh’s vision still resonated with them. Twenty-one photographs by internationally known photojournalist Sebastião Salgado illustrate the essays.
The book was published as a joint venture between the Bahá’í community of Brazil and the Brazilian publishing firm Letraviva Editorial, with the authors' rights to the material being transferred to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
It was released in Rio de Janeiro on 8 December 1999, at a seminar sponsored partially by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Ten of the authors participated in panel discussions and offered further views on the book's themes and ideas to the audience of approximately one hundred participants. Canal Futura, a Brazilian cable channel, conducted interviews with the authors, and both the launch of the book and the seminar received coverage in Brazil's national newspapers.
Following are three essays from the book, translated from the Portuguese.