Bahá’í News/Issue 452/Text
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| No. 452 | BAHA’I YEAR 125 | NOVEMBER, 1968 |
INTERNATIONAL DEPUTIZATION FUND:
Urgent Need for Urgent Propagation[edit]
To: The Bahá’ís of the World
Dear Bahá’í Friends,
The glorious Conference in Palermo concluded with a burst of eager enthusiasm of determined and dedicated believers who have pledged to do their part in winning the remaining goals of the Nine Year Plan. More than 125 offered to pioneer and more than 100 volunteered to do travel teaching. In addition, there was a generous outpouring of material resources to finance teaching projects. Had the entire Bahá’í world been able to participate in the Mediterranean Conference we have no doubt that all the goals would be quickly won.
With this in mind we wish to impress upon the friends who could not attend the Conference, and who will surely — through reports and personal contact with those who did — sense the enthusiasm generated there, that all believers have the privilege to share in the pioneering work, in the travel teaching program and in contributing to the Fund.
We announced at the Conference that the International Deputization Fund, so far used to aid pioneering and travel teaching on an international level, will henceforth be available to assist such projects on the national level in those areas where support is vitally important to the winning of the goals of the Nine Year Plan. We are concerned that, although we are now approaching the midway point of the Plan we must yet form an additional 6,997 Local Spiritual Assemblies (76% of the goal), and take the Faith to over 22,800 new localities (59% of the goal). Obviously, hundreds of pioneers and traveling teachers will be required, many of whom will serve in their own countries.
Those who cannot pioneer or do travel teaching will want to participate by contributing to the International Deputization Fund. Let them remember Bahá’u’lláh’s injunction: “Center your energies in the propagation of the Faith of God. Whoso is worthy of so high a calling, let him arise and promote it. Whoso is unable, it is his duty to appoint him who will, in his stead, proclaim this Revelation ...” Let the Bahá’ís of the world join in the true spirit of universal participation and win all the victories while there is yet time. Let each assume his full measure of responsibility that all may share the laurels of accomplishment at the end of the Plan.
Our fervent prayer is that this one-hundredth anniversary of the final banishment of Bahá’u’lláh will mark a significant turning-point in the fortunes of the Nine Year Plan.
—THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE
Bahá’í World Center
Haifa, Israel
September 8, 1968
FUNERAL OF HAND OF THE CAUSE ṬARÁẒU’LLÁH SAMANDARÍ[edit]
In his passing to the Abhá Kingdom on September 2, 1968 Jináb-i-Samandarí attained his wish — to die in the Holy Land — and he also lived long enough to witness the centenary of Bahá’u’lláh’s arrival on these sacred shores. Though deprived through illness from participating in the Commemoration at Bahjí, his funeral, by God’s intervention, was an unforgettable part of the historic and eventful week of activities associated with the pilgrimage of an unprecedented number of friends from both East and West.
Nearly one thousand souls attended, most of them joining the funeral cortège proceeding from the Master’s House, where the service was held, to the Bahá’í cemetery at the foot of Mt. Carmel. Included in the readings at the service were three Tablets of the Master to the Samandarí family. The funeral was one of the largest and most impressive since the time of the Master.
Hand of the Cause, Ṭaráẓu’lláh Samandarí.
The funeral of Hand of the Cause Ṭaráẓu’lláh Samandarí in the House of the Master.
Approaching the entrance to the Bahá’í cemetery, members of his family bear the casket.
Fellow Hands and members of the Universal House of Justice act as pall bearers as the casket leaves the Master’s House.
[Page 3]
Hand of the Cause A. Q. Faizí chants one of the closing prayers at the graveside.
An Example to Us All[edit]
Hand of the Cause Mr. Samandarí in 1965, while in Mogadiscio, North East Africa, is shown putting the finishing touches to The Greatest Name which he has just written. An experienced calligrapher, he often devoted his evenings to this work, for which he made his own ink.
His whole way of life, quite apart from the inspiring talks he gave was a lesson to all. Rising at 6 a.m. to chant prayers and Tablets he occupied himself with his vast correspondence, receiving visitors and teaching the Faith. Not a minute of his time was wasted, for his every action: eating, resting, studying the Scriptures was to give himself strength for the one purpose of teaching.
THE PASSING OF TWO KNIGHTS OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH[edit]
The following cablegrams dated September 24, 1968 have been received in Wilmette from Haifa:
GRIEVED LEARN PASSING KNIGHT BAHÁ’U’LLÁH ALVIN BLUM STEADFAST DEVOTED SERVANT FAITH HIS TIRELESS LABORS PIONEER SOLOMONS UNFORGETTABLE ANNALS BAHÁ’Í HISTORY PRAYING SHRINES PROGRESS SOUL ABHA KINGDOM. ADVISE HOLD BEFITTING MEMORIAL SERVICE HONOR. REQUESTING NATIONAL ASSEMBLY AUSTRALIA HOLD MEMORIAL SERVICE MOTHER TEMPLE ANTIPODES. CONVEY LOVING SYMPATHY MEMBERS FAMILY.
GRIEVED LEARN PASSING KNIGHT BAHÁ’U’LLÁH SARA
KENNY DEDICATED SERVANT CAUSE NATIVE LAND
STALWART PIONEER MADEIRA WHOSE DEVOTED LABORS FRANCE MEMBERSHIP FIRST NATIONAL ASSEMBLY AND STAUNCH DEFENSE COVENANT CONTRIBUTED
FIRM ESTABLISHMENT FOUNDATION THAT NATIONAL
COMMUNITY ASSURE FAMILY PRAYERS HOLY SHRINES
PROGRESS HER SOUL ABHA KINGDOM. REQUESTING
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRANCE HOLD BEFITTING MEMORIAL SERVICE.
The Commemoration at the World Center[edit]
Two Thousand Gather to Pay Homage to Bahá’u’lláh[edit]
IT WAS A DAY not unlike any of the thousands of hot summer days which had come and gone in the Holy Land since the last day of August 1868 when Bahá’u’lláh came ashore in Haifa near the end of His historic journey from Gallipoli to the prison city of ‘Akká. Now, exactly one hundred years later, we drove down Vine Street past the very grove of trees where the Lord of Hosts pitched His tent on one of His visits to Haifa. Nearby was one of the square stone houses of the German colony which formerly housed one of the Templar families who came here in the 1860’s to await the return of Christ. The lintel above the door was inscribed “Der Herr ist nahe”.
From All Corners of the World[edit]
Now on this day in 1968 there were almost two thousand of us — from every continent, every background, every race — united by the bond of His Word, coming as the kings of the earth will come in the future to pay homage to Bahá’u’lláh. Only days before the friends had assembled in Palermo, Sicily to hear words of inspiration and to share plans for spreading Bahá’u’lláh’s healing balm to every corner of the world, to every stratum of its societies. In blazing early afternoon sun, buses from Haifa and the environs wound their way down the mountain slopes — the golden dome of the Shrine of the Báb gleaming on levels above the blue arc of the Bay of Haifa. Past grey and beige stone buildings of this new yet ancient land, past the palm trees and the rosy bougainvillaea overhanging the winding walls, the buses rumbled through streets made quiet by observance of Shabbat, the Jewish sabbath. And unlike that unheralded arrival of Bahá’u’lláh in Haifa one hundred years ago, today bus radios announced in Hebrew the arrival of His followers — the largest number ever gathered in the Holy Land — to pay honor to Him.
Through lovely massive iron gates we streamed to an expanse of lawn lined with rows upon rows of benches for the auspicious occasion. Stately cypress trees lined the paths of smooth white pebbles, and all along were circular patterns of shrubs and flowers and lines of eucalyptus and olive trees. And then there it was in all its beauty — Bahjí — the white arcade of its balconies, its blue shutters, its rose-tiled roof. Punctuated only by embraces of friends long missed and friends newly met and by quiet conversation, the Bahá’ís came in multicolored garb — a fascinating sight to onlookers whose eyes had never beheld such a gathering and whose ears had never heard such a multiplicity of languages.
Nearly two thousand Bahá’ís from approximately sixty countries gathered in Bahjí in the vicinity of the Most Holy Shrine to participate in the observance of the Centenary of Bahá’u’lláh’s arrival in the Holy Land.
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Members of the Universal House of
Justice at the Commemoration of
the Centenary of the arrival of
Bahá’u’lláh in the Holy Land.
Quietly the friends waited in the shade of the trees in
front of the Mansion where Bahá’u’lláh, after years of
incomparably tormenting imprisonment, summoned to
His presence the entire company of believers — including several pilgrims — before His ascension. Here it
was that He spent the twelve final years of his life.
The Assemblage at Bahjí[edit]
Now on this day, cool breezes were wafted over the assemblage as from a breath on high, mitigating the heat of the sun. As four o’clock approached, all stood as honored Hands of the Cause and members of the august Universal House of Justice entered single file to be seated in front of Bahjí Mansion, followed by ‘Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum, widow of the beloved Guardian, attended by Hand of the Cause Dr. Ugo Giachery. Missed from their midst was revered Hand of the Cause Mr. Ṭaráẓu’lláh Samandarí, who lay ill in a hospital.
Signaling the beginning of the commemoration, ‘Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum brought greetings on behalf of the Hands of the Cause and the Universal House of Justice. Emphasizing the monumental significance of the occasion, she read, in Persian, words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá about His Father. Characterizing the Cause as a great love affair, she cited God’s love for His creatures and named Bahá’u’lláh as the greatest beloved that the world has ever known. Stressing, together with Bahá’u’lláh’s majesty. His infinite kindness and mercy, she said “We must come to feel Him as the nearest thing in our midst.” Turning to Bahá’u’lláh’s mission, she referred to His words to Professor Browne — the only Westerner known to have left any record of attaining His presence — in which Bahá’u’lláh stated that He sought the good of the world and the happiness of nations. She commented on the extent of the misery of the world, stating that no longer are only individuals unhappy but whole nations are engulfed by sorrows. She characterized Bahá’u’lláh’s message as one of joy and fulfillment, emphasizing that Bahá’ís present must become rededicated
‘Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum
arriving to participate in the Commemoration program accompanied
by Hand of the Cause Dr. Ugo Giachery. Other Hands of the Cause on
the platform are: (l. to r.) Enoch
Olinga, A. A. Furútan, Paul Haney,
Zikru’lláh Khádem, Raḥmatu’lláh
Muhájir, ‘Alí Muḥammad Varqá
(partially obscured) and William
Sears.
[Page 6]
‘Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum, opens the program at the
Commemoration in Bahjí with brief remarks on the significance of this event.
Friends completing the circumambulation of the Shrine of
Bahá’u’lláh following the Commemoration program. The Mansion of Bahá’u’lláh is at the left.
and take to the Bahá’ís at home and to the world the
inspiration of the days of commemoration of Bahá’u’lláh’s journey to the Holy Land and of the unprecedented visit of many friends to the Shrines. Beloved Rúḥíyyih Khánum closed with a prayer in English (Prayers and Meditations, pp. 35-39).
Alternating among Persian, Arabic and English, other Hands of the Cause followed with readings and prayers. Dr. Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir presented a prayer of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Persian; Mr. Paul Haney read extracts in English (pp. 64-67) from the writings of Bahá’u’lláh quoted in The Advent of Divine Justice. Mr. Zikru’lláh Khádem then recited a eulogy of Bahá’u’lláh in Arabic from the writings of the beloved Guardian, followed by Mr. William Sears’ recitation of a eulogy of Bahá’u’lláh in English — quoting extracts from God Passes By (pp. 93-100). Following the eulogies Mr. ‘Alí Akbar Furútan presented in Persian quotations from Lawḥ-i-Ra’ís — The Tablet of Bahá’u’lláh to the Grand Vazir of the Sultán of Turkey. In English translation Mr. Enoch Olinga followed with a meditation of Bahá’u’lláh (pp. 103-106, Prayers and Meditations). While the entire assemblage faced the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh, Mr. Abu’l-Qásim Faizí closed the verbal part of the commemoration with the recitation in Arabic of the Tablet of Visitation for Bahá’u’lláh.
All Circumambulate the Shrine[edit]
Then filing in solemn procession, the honored Hands of the Cause, led by beloved Rúḥíyyih Khánum and the members of the Universal House of Justice, began circumambulating the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh, followed by the friends who had come by air and by sea for this unforgettable occasion. Struck with awe by the great beauty and the immensity of the cypress-lined gardens, they streamed down the paths past the green, red and purple patterns of shrubs and flowers. Only the sound of footsteps, the singing of the trees, and whispered greetings of “Alláh-u-Abhá” could be heard as the continuous stream passed guides along the way — youth from many countries who had come to serve at the World
LEFT: The friends ascending the terraces from Carmel Avenue to the Shrine of the Báb on Sunday, September 1st. CENTER: Asia meets Africa at the Commemoration. Le hoc, Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam with Auxiliary Board member Belete Worku of Ethiopia, Mrs. Worku and Mrs. Le Loc. RIGHT: Mr. Thomas Anoquad, member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada, and Mrs. Anoquad pose near the Shrine of the Báb.
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Center for the period of commemoration. Then as
twilight descended, the last members of the long procession climbed the steps leaving the gardens, returning past Bahjí Mansion to the waiting buses.
The Procession on Mt. Carmel[edit]
Another procession highlighted the next morning — this time the steepest of ascents to the Shrine of the Báb, the route that the kings will take in the future to pay homage. At the foot of the mountain, only blocks from the home of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and of the headquarters of the Universal House of Justice, the pilgrims assembled starting the ascent in the early morning heat of Haifa. Looking far up to the magnificent Shrine of the Báb above and looking back occasionally to the streets and the harbor below, the friends — the old and the young — mounted the steep path lined by towering cypress trees and bougainvillaea along the wall. Photographers along the way recorded the climb for a film that will seek to convey the beauty, the uniqueness and the universality of our beloved Faith.
These days of commemoration, inspiration, and rededication shine forth as the friends scatter now to all corners of the world with the introductory words of Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablet of Carmel in their hearts: “All glory be to this Day, the Day in which the fragrances of mercy have been wafted over all created things, a Day so blest that past ages and centuries can never hope to rival it, a Day in which the countenance of the Ancient of Days hath turned towards His holy seat.”
THE PILGRIMAGE[edit]
A FEW EARLY ARRIVALS registered for their Holy Land pilgrimage on Monday August 26th — but the great bulk of the more than 1,800 who came arrived in Haifa much later. At the Old Technion campus, where registration headquarters had been set up, a crew of World Center staff and volunteer youth helpers verified credentials and distributed tickets for buses which would transport the friends to the Holy Places in ‘Akká and Bahjí and to the Commemoration program on August 31st.
Buses left from UNO Avenue near the Shrine of the
Pilgrimage tour to the House of ‘Abbúd (‘Akká) during the Commemoration activities.
Báb almost every hour from 8:00 in the morning until
4:00 in the afternoon. Forty-five minutes later they
arrived at the Most Great Prison in ‘Akká, and the
pilgrims visited the very cell where Bahá’u’lláh was
imprisoned one hundred years ago. They were also
permitted to see the House of ‘Abbúd where Bahá’u’lláh
stayed with His family for seven years, and to set foot
in the room where the Kítab-i-Aqdas was revealed.
In Bahjí both the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh and the Mansion were open and the friends were able to pray at the Holy Threshold and in the room where the Blessed Beauty ascended in 1892.
Upon return to Haifa each one was permitted a brief visit to the International Archives Building and was privileged to view the portraits of Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb. Arrangements were also made for the friends to visit the House of the Master in Haifa during the afternoons. The Shrine of the Báb was open from 8:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. and the gardens were open for two more hours each day. All were asked to pray silently so that everyone could meditate and be alone with his thoughts in this Sacred Spot.
Mazra‘ih and the Riḍván garden were not on the official tour, but many believers made special trips to see these historic sites while they were here.
Over 2,275 believers from 67 countries gathered in Fiera del Mediterraneo for the sessions of the Mediterranean Conference in Palermo, Sicily.
World-Wide Proclamation — The New Dimension[edit]
The Community of the Most Great Name is now well
launched on that “unknown sea” of world-wide proclamation of the Message of Bahá’u’lláh — that divine call
for the unification of the nations and peoples of the
earth raised by the Supreme Manifestation of God more
than one hundred years ago.
This new dimension in proclaiming the true purpose of the mission of Bahá’u’lláh was called for by the Universal House of Justice in a series of messages preparing the Bahá’ís for the stupendous task of making their fellow men aware of God’s purpose for humanity in this Day of Fulfillment and Age of Maturity.
“Now at last, at long last, the world-wide community of the Most Great Name is called upon to launch, on a global scale and to every stratum of human society, an enduring and intensive proclamation of the healing message that the Promised One has come and that the unity and well-being of the human race is the purpose of His Revelation. This long-to-be-sustained campaign, commencing next October, in commemoration of the centenary of the sounding of the ‘opening notes’ of Bahá’u’lláh’s own proclamation, and gathering momentum throughout the remainder of the Nine Year Plan, may well become the spearhead of other plans to be launched continually until humanity has recognized and gratefully acclaimed its redeemer and its Lord.” [Message Riḍván 1967]
“As the Bahá’í world enters the third phase of the Nine Year Plan we are called upon to proclaim once again that Divine Message to the leaders and masses of the world, to aid the Faith of God to emerge from obscurity into the arena of public attention, to demonstrate through steadfast adherence to its laws the independent character of its mission and to brace ourselves in preparation for the attacks that are bound to be directed against its victorious onward march. Upon our efforts depends in very large measure the fate of humanity.... The Centenary campaign has been opened by the Universal House of Justice presenting to 140 Heads of State a compilation of Bahá’u’lláh’s own proclamation. The friends must now take the Message to the rest of humanity. The time is ripe and the opportunities illimitable. We are not alone nor helpless. Sustained by our love for each other and given power through the Administrative Order — so laboriously erected by our beloved Guardian — the Army of Light can achieve such victories as will astonish posterity.” [Message Oct. 1967]
Presentation of Proclamation Book to Heads of State[edit]
The Proclamation Book compiled by the Universal House of Justice has now been presented either directly or indirectly to 109 of the 140 Heads of State selected by the House of Justice to receive it. This is the total as of August 18, just a few days ago.
Although the reception accorded these presentations was in many cases polite, and in some even cordial, it is evident that at this juncture of history — one hundred years after Bahá’u’lláh summons to the kings, rulers and ecclesiastics of His time — the world’s present political and religious leaders are not going to bring their people into the New World Order foreshadowed in the writings of Bahá’u’lláh. The Bahá’ís themselves are the ones who are called upon to discharge this weighty responsibility in the course of the proclamation campaigns which are to gather momentum progressively from now until 1973 and beyond. It is the Bahá’ís who now have their rendezvous with destiny one hundred years after the Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh, and not the religious and temporal leaders and rulers who have had their chance once again and have failed to grasp it.
In a recent news letter of one of the National Assemblies represented on our program this morning, there appeared the following quotation from the writings of Goethe, the great German poet and philosopher:
“If you have any faith, give me, for heaven’s sake, a share of it! Your doubts you may keep to yourself, for I have plenty of my own....”
We must endeavor to find hundreds of thousands and indeed millions of people, at every level of society, who are in this state of mind.
These days most people seem to have doubts about practically everything and faith in nothing, and perhaps this is one of the factors contributing to those “illimitable opportunities” which lie ahead to take the Message of Bahá’u’lláh to the rest of humanity.
Most Important Elements of Proclamation[edit]
In pursuing this goal and in waging this battle it seems evident that we must endeavor to understand at least four essential points, which may be stated as follows:
- What powerful weapons Bahá’u’lláh has placed in our hands to wage the campaigns which lie ahead.
- The consequences of mankind’s failure to heed the call of God — not only at the time it was first raised by Bahá’u’lláh, but also in the intervening period, and especially now when the world is faced with such grave dangers that many people fear humanity may not survive at all.
- The ultimate goals toward which we are working.
- The guidance given to us by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Guardian, and currently by the Supreme Institution of the Universal House of Justice in fulfilling our destiny as Bahá’ís and in achieving our goals.
Bahá’u’lláh’s Message of Proclamation[edit]
The Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh contains words of both warning and promise, and we must strive to understand both. Surely this has been the effort of all of
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us in the months since the Proclamation Campaign was
so auspiciously launched at the six Intercontinental
Conferences in October of last year. However, a few of
these powerful utterances will be quoted here, in order
that together we may gain from them renewed strength
and inspiration on this historic occasion.
First, a few passages from the Súriy-i-Mulúk (the Tablet to the Kings) revealed by Bahá’u’lláh in Adrianople, and described by the beloved Guardian as the most momentous of all the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh. These will be followed by other brief passages from the words of Bahá’u’lláh included in the Proclamation Book compiled by the Universal House of Justice, and then by the description of the Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh and its significance by Shoghi Effendi in The Promised Day is Come.
“O Kings of the earth! Give ear unto the Voice of God, calling from this sublime, this fruit-laden Tree, that hath sprung out of the Crimson Hill, upon the Holy Plain, intoning the words: ‘There is none other God but He, the Mighty, the All-Powerful, the All-Wise’ ... Fear God, O concourse of Kings, and suffer not yourselves to be deprived of this most sublime grace. Fling away, then, the things ye possess, and take fast hold on the Handle of God, the Exalted, the Great. Set your hearts towards the Face of God, and abandon that which your desires have bidden you to follow, and be not of those who perish.”
“If ye pay no heed unto the counsels which, in peerless and unequivocal language, We have revealed in this Tablet, Divine chastisement shall assail you from every direction, and the sentence of His justice shall be pronounced against you. On that day ye shall have no power to resist Him, and shall recognize your own impotence.”
“God hath committed into your Hands the reins of the government of the people, that ye may rule with justice over them, safeguard the rights of the down-trodden, and punish the wrong-doers. If ye neglect the duty prescribed unto you by God in His Book, your names shall be numbered with those of the unjust in His sight. Grievous, indeed, will be your error.... Cast away the things ye possess, and cling to that which God hath bidden you observe.”
“O King of Paris! Tell the priest to ring the bells no longer. By God, the True One! The Most Mighty Bell hath appeared in the form of Him Who is the Most Great Name, and the fingers of the will of Thy Lord, the Most Exalted, the Most High, toll it out in the heaven of Immortality, in His name, the All-Glorious.”
“Hearken ye, O Rulers of America and the Presidents of the Republics therein, unto that which the Dove is warbling on the Branch of Eternity: There is none other God but Me, the Ever-Abiding, the Forgiving, the All-Bountiful. Adorn ye the temple of dominion with the ornament of justice and of the fear of God, and its head with the crown of the remembrance of your Lord, the Creator of the heavens. Thus counselleth you He Who is the Dayspring of Names, as bidden by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.”
“O Concourse of divines! When My verses were sent down, and My clear tokens were revealed, We found you behind the veils. This, verily, is a strange thing ... We have rent the veils asunder. Beware lest ye shut out the people by yet another veil. Pluck asunder the chains of vain imaginings, in the name of the Lord of all men, and be not of the deceitful.... Fear God and be not of the heedless.”1
“Episodes, at once moving and marvelous, at various stages of His ministry, are recounted, and the transitoriness of worldly pomp, fame, riches, and
Hand of the Cause A. A. Furútan addresses the Conference. Other Hands of the Cause
seated on the platform (r. to l.): Rahmatu’lláh Muhájir, John Ferraby, Adelbert Mühlschlegel. William Sears, Paul Haney, Zikru’lláh Khádem, Enoch Olinga and Ugo Giachery. Standing, Auxiliary Board member Charles Ioas and Hand of the Cause A. Q. Faizi.
sovereignty, repeatedly and categorically asserted. Appeals for the application of the highest principles in human and international relations are forcibly and insistently made, and the abandonment of discreditable practices and conventions, detrimental to the happiness, the growth, the prosperity and the unity of the human race, enjoined. Kings are censured, ecclesiastical dignitaries arraigned, ministers and plenipotentiaries condemned, and the identification of His advent with the coming of the Father Himself unequivocally admitted and repeatedly announced. The violent downfall of a few of these kings and emperors is prophesied, two of them are definitely challenged, most are warned, all are appealed to and exhorted.”2
Consequences of Mankind’s Heedlessness[edit]
We are now passing through what our Guardian once termed “a dark age of transition.” Since Bahá’u’lláh sent forth His Proclamation and His divine summons, the world has witnessed the downfall of most of the kings, rulers and ecclesiastics who chose to ignore the words of Bahá’u’lláh and the dire warnings conveyed by them; also either the extinction or the progressive weakening of the political and religious institutions identified with them.
Here we shall quote from the words of Bahá’u’lláh Himself, appearing in The Promised Day is Come, as well as a few of the explanations and observations made by the beloved Guardian in this most wonderful book, written by him nearly thirty years ago and which undoubtedly is one of our most valuable sources of knowledge and understanding of the true meaning of The Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh. We shall also refer to brief passages from that remarkably prophetic and perceptive work of Shoghi Effendi published under the title “The Unfoldment of World Civilization.” (contained in The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh).
“The time for the destruction of the world and its people hath arrived. The hour is approaching when the most great convulsion will have appeared.” “The promised day is come, the day when tormenting trials will have surged above your heads, and beneath your feet, saying: Taste ye what your hands have wrought”.... “We have fixed a time for you, O people! If ye fail, at the appointed hour, to turn towards God, He, verily, will lay violent hold on you, and will cause grievous afflictions to assail you from every direction.”2
“The colossal events that have heralded the dissolution of so many kingdoms and empires have almost synchronized with the crumbling of the seemingly inviolable strongholds of religious orthodoxy. The same process which, swiftly and tragically, sealed the doom of kings and emperors, and extinguished their dynasties, has operated in the case of the ecclesiastical leaders of both Christianity and Islam, damaging their prestige, and in some cases, overthrowing their highest institutions. ‘Power hath been seized’ indeed, from both ‘kings and ecclesiastics’. The glory of the former has been eclipsed, the power of the later irretrievably lost. This process of deterioration, however startling in its initial manifestations, is still operating with undiminished force, and will, as the opposition to
Entrance to Fiera del Mediterraneo, Palermo, where the Bahá’í Mediterranean Conference was held.
Registration for the Conference — the Treasurer’s desk.
the Faith of God, from various sources and in distant fields gathers momentum, be further accelerated and reveal still more remarkable evidences of its devastating power.”2
The present world situation, which is indeed, if anything, more serious and more dangerous than at the time the Guardian gave us The Promised Day is Come, clearly indicates that we are still witnessing the operation of that two-fold process described by Shoghi Effendi in “The Unfoldment of World Civilization”. A clear understanding of this process, as described by our Guardian, is essential if we are to realize the true purpose and significance of the proclamation campaigns which the Bahá’ís are now called upon to wage with increasing vigor and dauntless courage.
“As we view the world around us, we are compelled to observe the manifold evidences of that universal fermentation which, in every continent of
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The translators’ booths. The official language of the Conference
was English, but simultaneous translations were provided in
Italian, Spanish, French, German and Persian.
278 believers from Persia arrived in Palermo by S. S. Kentavros. The ship served as their hotel accommodation and
later sailed for the Holy Land, putting into the port of Haifa,
just before the observance of the centenary of Bahá’u’lláh’s
arrival.
the globe and in every department of human life, be it religious, social, economic or political, is purging and reshaping humanity in anticipation of the Day when the wholeness of the human race will have been recognized and its unity established. A twofold process, however, can be distinguished, each tending, in its own way and with an accelerated momentum, to bring to a climax the forces that are transforming the face of our planet. The first is essentially an integrating process, while the second is fundamentally disruptive. The former, as it steadily evolves, unfolds a System which may well serve as a pattern for that world polity towards which a strangely disordered world is continually advancing; while the latter, as its disintegrating influence deepens, tends to tear down, with increasing violence, the antiquated barriers that seek to block humanity’s progress towards its destined goal. The constructive process stands associated with the nascent Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, and is the harbinger of the New World Order that Faith must erelong establish. The destructive forces that characterize the other should be identified with a civilization that has refused to answer to the expectation of a new age, and is consequently falling into chaos and decline.
A titanic, a spiritual struggle, unparalleled in its magnitude yet unspeakably glorious in its ultimate consequences, is being waged as a result of these opposing tendencies, in this age of transition through which the organized community of the followers of Bahá’u’lláh and mankind as a whole are passing.”3
God’s Purpose and the Ultimate Goal[edit]
As every Bahá’í knows, the unification of mankind in all aspects of its life must be the distinguishing feature of the stage of its development which human society has now reached or is rapidly approaching.
Bahá’u’lláh Himself stated that the essential purpose of His Teachings was “to endow all men with righteousness and understanding, so that peace and tranquility may be established amongst them.” He also explained that:
“A new life is, in this age, stirring within all the peoples of the earth; and yet none hath discovered its cause, or perceived its motive.” “O children of men, the fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race ... This is the straight path, the fixed and immovable foundation. Whatsoever is raised on this foundation, the changes and chances of the world can never impair its strength, nor will the revolution of countless centuries undermine its structure.” “The wellbeing of mankind, its peace and security are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established.” “So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.”3
The underlying purpose of Bahá’u’lláh’s Teachings, we know, is a spiritual one, far removed from political considerations. However, we also know that these Teachings furnish a broad outline of the specific channels through which man’s activities must be directed to bring them into harmony and agreement with the basic principle of unity enunciated by Bahá’u’lláh. These aspects of our Faith should also be stressed in the world-wide campaigns of proclamation now underway.
It is the inescapable duty of the Bahá’ís in every land to assist our fellow-men to find Bahá’u’lláh, to turn to Him, and to seek their salvation through Him. We must strive to make them aware of the true significance of words of Bahá’u’lláh such as these:
“Soon will the present day Order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead. Verily, thy Lord speaketh the truth and is the Knower of things unseen.” “By Myself, the day is approaching when We will have rolled up the world and all that is therein and spread out a new Order in its stead. He, verily, is powerful over all things.” “The world’s equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating influence of the Most Great, this new World Order. Mankind’s ordered life hath been revolutionized
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through the agency of this unique, this wondrous
System, the like of which mortal eyes have never
witnessed.”3
We should also endeavor to understand the writings of the beloved Guardian explaining the significance of the Administrative Order which the believers are building and expanding. The following statements made by Shoghi Effendi in “The Unfoldment of World Civilization” seem to bring into clear focus our goal and the relationship of our teaching and administrative activities to the ultimate attainment of this objective:
“Dearly-beloved friends! This New World Order, whose promise is enshrined in the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, whose fundamental principles have been enunciated in the writings of the Center of His Covenant, involves no less than the complete unification of the entire human race. This unification should conform to such principles as would directly harmonize with the spirit that animates, and the laws that govern the operation of, the institutions that already constitute the structural basis of the Administrative Order of His Faith.”3
“Who else can be the blissful if not the community of the Most Great Name, whose world-embracing, continually consolidating activities constitute the one integrating process in a world whose institutions, secular as well as religious, are for the most part dissolving? They indeed are ‘the people of the right’, whose ‘noble habitation’ is fixed on the foundations of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh — the Ark of everlasting salvation in this most grievous Day. Of all the kindreds of the earth they alone can recognize, amidst the welter of a tempestuous age, the Hand of the Divine Redeemer that traces its course and controls its destinies.......Conscious of their high calling, confident in the society-building power which their Faith possesses, they press forward, undeterred and undismayed, in their efforts to fashion and perfect the necessary instruments wherein the embryonic World Order of Bahá’u’lláh can mature and develop. It is this building process, slow and unobtrusive, to which the life of the world-wide Bahá’í Community is wholly consecrated, that constitutes the one hope of a stricken society. For this process is actuated by the generating influence of God’s changeless Purpose, and is evolving within the framework of the Administrative Order of His Faith.”3
The Universal House of Justice in its Riḍván Message of 1967, referring to the proclamation campaigns which the Bahá’ís would soon be called upon to undertake, gave us a clear indication of the relationship of these campaigns to our other activities in teaching the Faith:
“World-wide proclamation, the unknown sea on which we must soon sail, will add another dimension to our work, a dimension which will, as it develops, complement and reinforce the twin processes of expansion and consolidation. This pattern of teaching, emerging so soon after the completion of the framework of the Administrative Order, may well be the means of advancing the vital work of consolidation and of rendering more effective the teaching wisdom which has been gained in a hundred years, and more particularly since the beloved Guardian called us to systematic and planned activities....... Every effort of proclamation must be sustained by teaching, particularly locally where public announcements should be related to such efforts. This co-ordination is essential, for nothing will be more disheartening than for thousands to hear of the Faith and have nowhere to turn for further information.”
Thus the proclamation campaigns must go hand in hand with and be coordinated with teaching programs at the national and local levels, and the teaching efforts of every individual Bahá’í.
It may not be too much to hope for that the proclamation campaigns, at least in the so-called free and developed countries, may be the key which will unlock and open the doors to the beginning of that mass conversion which the friends in these lands have awaited so long and for which they yearn so ardently.
The Promises of Divine Assistance[edit]
As we view the unparalleled challenge and the awesome tasks which lie ahead, in the remaining years of the Nine Year Plan and beyond, we must derive our comfort and our strength from the Divine Promises enshrined in our Teachings and the power of accomplishment inherent in them.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá told the believers in Paris that “No capacity is limited when led by the spirit of God” [Paris Talks]. He also once told a group of the friends that “As nothing can prevent the fall of rain from heaven to give life to the gardens of earth, so no human power is able to prevent the fulfillment of the word of God” [The Chosen Highway].
Therefore we need have no fears and no doubts about the future if we respond as we should to those powerful words and weapons placed in our hands by Bahá’u’lláh and by the chosen expounders of His Mighty Covenant.
If we all arise with determination, fix our gaze undeviatingly on the goals set for us by the House of Justice, and resolve to demonstrate the quality of our faith in heroic acts and selfless service, the Blessed Beauty will undoubtedly sustain us, and enable us to perform such deeds as will cause all men to bow down in awe and admiration before the name of Bahá’u’lláh!
References:
- The Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 7, 9, 11, 17, 63, 74-5
- The Promised Day is Come, pp. 45-6, 1-3 (citation from Bahá’u’lláh), 76-7
- The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 170, 202-3 (citation from Bahá’u’lláh), 161-2 (citation from Bahá’u’lláh), 162, 194-5
People of many races and ethnic backgrounds attended the Mediterranean Conference — in all, 67 countries were represented.
“To Teach Those Who Will Teach”[edit]
The Bahá’í year 125 began auspiciously in Ecuador with the visit of beloved Hand of the Cause ‘Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum who spent ten days in that country, travelling to 17 villages in two provinces in six days. Highlights of her trip are pictured, and the following excerpts from her Naw-Rúz talk in Quito are given below. They convey the central message which she wished to bring to the believers on her trip throughout South America. She is very much concerned with the importance of teaching the Indians and said:
“I was surprised to learn that the greeting of the Incas was: ‘Don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t be lazy’. It would be a very good greeting for everybody in the world. I believe that as we teach the descendents of the Incas, we should always tell them the reason why we are bringing the Message of Bahá’u’lláh to them. It is not because we pity them, not because we look down upon them: it is because it is the duty of every Bahá’í to give the Message to all of humanity, but especially to the Indians of the Americas because of the wonderful prophecy in the Faith which is unique. It says that if the Indians of America will accept the Message of Bahá’u’lláh, they will become like a previous people who, in another epoch, accepted the Prophet Muḥammad and illumined the world. We must believe that because this prophecy is in our books, it has a great significance and we must also believe that this power is in the Indian people. There is something inside of them. If they will accept the Message of Bahá’u’lláh, it will release this great power which is latent within them.”
“I must say something tonight because this is my last visit in South America. I believe the Indian people are the people who are going to have to teach their own people the Faith. There are hundreds of thousands of Indians all the way from the north of Canada right to the end of South America in the peninsula of Chile and Argentina, Tierra del Fuego. There are hundreds and hundreds of tribes. They have suffered an injustice that I don’t think is equalled in history. But men are always unjust to each other, and what occurred hundreds of years ago cannot be changed now. Now we must cling to the prophecy of Bahá’u’lláh about the future of the Indians.
“The only people who are going to have the strength and who are sufficient in number as Bahá’ís are the Indians. That does not mean other people will not help them. There are many people and some right here in this room, who have dedicated years and much effort to teaching this Message to the Indians. But we are not sufficient; there are not enough of us, nor do we have the strength to go out among the Indians. All the advantage is with the Indians themselves. It is their language, their country, their people. The Indian knows his own environment; he knows his people better than we do; he has good legs which many of us from North America don’t have. Because of these things he is the ideal person to take this Message to his own people. We must teach the Indians in South, Central, and North America to become the great teachers to their own people.”
Meeting in Iluman in the home of Manuel and Calíxto Cáceres.
In one place the owner built an arc of flowers through which she entered the patio of the house.
Meeting in Tocagon Alto.
Announcement by the Continental Board of Counsellors of North America[edit]
The Universal House of Justice has directed that there be thirteen members of the Auxiliary Boards in North America. These are:
| Protection | |
| Mr. Fred Graham | Mrs. Katherine McLaughlin |
| Mrs. Javidukht Khádem | Mrs. Velma L. Sherrill |
| Propagation | |
| Mr. R. Ted Anderson | Mr. Curtis D. Kelsey |
| Mr. Howard J. Brown | Dr. Peter J. Khan |
| Mr. Albert B. James | Mrs. Jane McCants |
| Mr. Chester Kahn | Mrs. Peggy Ross |
| Dr. William M. Tucker | |
Latin America Welcomes American Youth[edit]
Mexico[edit]
The second youth project to the Yucatan in Mexico, referred to briefly in BAHÁ’Í NEWS for October 1968 (p. 15) was reported in glowing terms both by the five girls who took part and by the National Teaching Committee of Southeast Mexico which, in cooperation with the Department of International Goals in Wilmette, assisted in planning and carrying it out. A house in Merida was rented for the girls, who took part in two teaching projects simultaneously in this house and at the Bahá’í Center in Numo. The letter from the Teaching Committee reads in part:
“As in the project of the last year, the selection of the youthful pioneers was, in itself, a remarkable choice of lovely young Bahá’ís most suitably chosen for this area. The girls of both projects were so sincere and so genuinely outgoing and loving toward the Mayan people that they instantly won the hearts of both young and adult. Without seeming previous experience the girls accepted the conditions in which the Mayan people live, the meager circumstances of their homes, the rigors of the intense and continuous heat of Yucatan, and the discomfort of the effects on their health at times, without hesitating in their purpose to teach the Cause of God. They were careful in their dress not to shock the Mayan sense of propriety, they were dignified but loving in their relations with the friends and contacts, and, perhaps above all, they walked among their Mayan Bahá’í sisters and brothers with such a spirit of oneness and humble courtesy that everywhere we heard praises and loving comments about them.
“The project was enormously assisted by the advice and help from the member of the Auxiliary Board, and later Continental Board of Counsellors, Mr. Artemus Lamb, who did so much to arrange the schedules of the teaching visits and trips and accompanied the girls many times to the villages as well as on their first long trip to the territory of Quintana Roo. Both Mr. and Mrs. Lamb did much to help orient the girls on their arrival and to look after their needs.
“Our beloved pioneer, Susan Millett, the product of last year’s Youth Project, has been doing outstanding teaching work and tirelessly went day after day with the girls to whatever area they were going, including two trips to Quintana Roo, one to Pichucalco in the
Tony and Kuna Indian children in the San Blas Islands.
State of Chiapas and an extended trip to the State of
Campeche.... The new Auxiliary Board member, Don
Celestino Sima, the famous Mayan Bahá’í teacher, also
accompanied the girls on two of the long trips and was
of such great assistance in translating into Mayan in
villages where little Spanish is spoken.
Of the new declarations received during their stay in Yucatan, well over fifty were received in the villages they visited. They also took part in helping to open new villages to the Faith and made many contacts in the City of Merida.
Panama[edit]
The International Youth Project to Panama during six weeks of this past summer was a rigorous one. Kenneth Haley, a senior at Tulsa University, Oklahoma, and Anthony Lee, a University of California graduate from Los Angeles, met in Houston, Texas, on July 2 and flew to Panama. Adhering to the itinerary developed by the NSA of Panama and escorted by United State pioneer to Panama, Ken Francisco, who has achieved wonderful results among the indigenous peoples of that country, the boys traveled among the Guaymi Indians in the Chirique Mountains, the San Blas Islands just off the Colombian coast and the Central Provinces of Panama. In the islands, where they worked with Kuna Indians, they traveled by boat and small plane, in the Chiriques and the Central Provinces they traveled mainly on foot with the aid of horses when available. They spent two or three days, when possible, in the villages. These were rugged experiences.
Later the boys split up and Tony Lee went to Panama City to work with the youth there. Ken Haley went into the Darian Jungle among the Chocoe Indians and, while traveling in that wild area with Ken Francisco, they left their dugout canoe and walked through tangled jungle and along the edge of a swift stream to reach a village during a torrential rainstorm. The dugout canoe was found later. It had been crushed by a falling tree. Tony Lee was able to accomplish constructive work with the youth of Panama. Both of the young men invested their own funds in this brief adventure in pioneering among people of a vastly different culture and condition, a most rewarding experience for these peoples, for the NSA of Panama and for the two young men.
Three Hands of the Cause Attend Iránian Convention[edit]
The Bahá’ís of Írán held their thirty-third annual convention in Ṭihrán May 23-26, with three Hands of the Cause of God present, namely, General ‘Alá’í, Dr. ‘Alí Muḥammad Varqá and Jalál Kházeh. In addition to Auxiliary Board members, there were 153 representatives from various centers present. Discussion was held in respect to fulfilling the goals and on all other pertinent matters. The forty years of services rendered to the Cause by Miss Adelaide Sharp were commented on by the convention chairman, Prof. Hakim. Hand of the Cause Jalál Kházeh also introduced Mr. Rezvani, pioneer to Bolivia, commending him for his services there. One day prior to the convention a meeting was held in the summer school site, Hadighatu’l-Rahman, where the three Hands of the Cause were also present.
RIGHT ABOVE: Hand of the Cause Jalál Kházeh from South America, at left foreground, with Mr. Rezvani, pioneer to Bolivia.
RIGHT BELOW: Prof. Hakim, convention chairman, introduced Miss Adelaide Sharp, commending her services to the Cause in Írán, Mr. Q. Magami, national secretary, appears at the left of photo.
Thirty-third annual convention of Bahá’ís is held in Ṭihrán, Írán, May 24-26.
JAPANESE BELIEVER VISITS HIGHLANDS OF NEW GUINEA[edit]
Bahá’ís of Arrowana village, New Guinea, with traveling
teacher, Masaaki Ushibata, of Japan. A visit to the Highlands
of New Guinea by a Japanese teacher was welcomed by the
Bahá’ís as an opportunity to verify the oneness of mankind
since bitter memories of World War II are still strong in
many parts. Arriving in Goroka on August 23, he was whisked
by jeep to the Siyani area where the majority of the Highlands communities are located, traveling over fifty miles of
treacherous, mountain roads.
RIGHT: Urimo village, the ultimate goal with its fifty Bahá’ís, was
reached at dusk. While rice boiled and kau kau (sweet potato)
was being prepared, the visitors spoke to the friends, with
many questions coming forth as the evening progressed. After
a night spent sleeping on bamboo beds, the party arose
at sunrise to begin their homeward trek. This view shows
Masaaki Ushibata with Tony Voykovic and the bearers leaving
Urimo village.
Some of the Bahá’ís of Keu village greeting Masaaki Ushibata.
He was accompanied by Tony Voykovic, resident youth pioneer, Silas Oba and Margaret Bluett, pioneer of Australia.
Thirty Bahá’ís in Kimo village, with its typical thatched dwellings, greeted the traveling teachers. From this hill-sloped village the party proceeded on foot, laden with sleeping bags and provisions, through coffee fields, mountains and river valleys.
[Page 17]
National Spiritual Assembly of Argentina, 1968-69. Standing
(left to right): Miguel Angel Paniagua, Carlos Talenti, Shapoor
Saeed, Ehgán’u’lláh Said, Osvaldo Costas, Manuel Caballero;
(seated): Cayetano Liardo, Maralynn Dunbar, Jose Milnik.
Newly elected National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of
Alaska for 1968-1969. Front row, left to right: Robert Schwartz,
Mrs. Georgia Haisler (recording secretary), Mrs. Janet Smith
(secretary), Donald A. Anderson (treasurer). Standing: Ben
Guhrke, Robin Fowler, John Kolstoe (vice chairman), Blaine
Reed, Robert E. Moul (chairman).
NEWS BRIEFS[edit]
“The Unfolding Role of Women in Modern Society” was the theme of a Human Rights seminar held in Sydney, Australia, arranged by the Regional Teaching Committee of the Bahá’ís of New South Wales. Ninety women representing major organizations and professional groups attended and listened to speakers who touched on many aspects of the role of women today. Speakers came from Sydney University, the Australian Aboriginal Association, and also included an attorney and alderman. Mrs. Joy Vohradsky represented the Bahá’ís and was able to give a comprehensive presentation of the Faith that stirred the interest of many. At the conclusion of the seminar, the attendants visited the Bahá’í House of Worship for an afternoon service.
World Peace Day was observed in the Seychelles Islands in Victoria on September 15, with a public symposium. This function attracted good publicity in the local press and on the state-owned Radio Seychelles. A fifteen minute radio program on the preceding day carried the message of Bahá’u’lláh to all parts of the Seychelles Archipelago.
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Tanzania elected
at the fourth annual convention held in May 1968. Left to
right, seated: Dr. M. Farhoumand, B. Sikazwe, Mrs. S. Badiei
(recording sec.), C Wanyama, L. Mwaungulu (secretary);
standing: R. Yazdani (treasurer), J. Sekikubo (vice chairman).
Dr. J. Sammandri, Dr. A. Badiei (chairman).
Fourth annual convention of the Bahá’ís of Tanzania held at the National Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds in Dar-es-Salaam May 25-6, 1968. Hand of the Cause Mr. Enoch Olinga appears third from the left, standing.
National Conference on Human Rights[edit]
The National Conference on Human Rights sponsored by the North American Bahá’í Office for Human Rights (NABOHR) was an outstanding success. Dr. Daniel Jordan, chairman of the Conference stated “It was one of the most successful teaching efforts sponsored by the Bahá’í Community since I have been a Bahá’í ... communicated the Bahá’í spirit and answer to the problem in a very powerful way to many leaders and prominent persons who are in touch with thousands of other non-Bahá’ís ... reached many people belonging to minority groups ... a sound educational experience for the many Bahá’ís present on the Bahá’í commitment to justice and human rights in that it encouraged an application of principle to concrete situations.”
The Conference held September 13-15 at the YMCA Hotel in Chicago was attended by some 200 persons representing many organizations including city, state and federal agencies.
A Tribute to the Faith[edit]
The proclamation impact of the Conference can best be illustrated by two incidents. Peter MacDonald, the Navajo Indian speaker, opened his talk with the remark “If only the Bahá’ís had discovered America things would have been different.” William Brandon, from the Chicago Urban League, a workshop leader, opened his workshop report by admitting that he had reluctantly accepted to act as workshop leader, but that the Conference changed his mind — he was impressed by the Bahá’í spirit and held up a Bahá’í prayer book he had been given and said he was even more impressed by it. Each Conference member received a kit of Bahá’í materials relative to human rights including Why Our Cities Burn.
Workshops Make Recommendations[edit]
The Conference was divided into workshops on the American Indian, the Spanish-American, Education, Employment, Housing and White Racism. Among recommendations approved by the Conference:
School textbooks should accurately document the history and achievement of all racial and ethnic groups.
Race should be eliminated as a criterion for the adoption of children.
Low income housing programs must also include appropriate educational, recreational, transportation, medical and employment facilities and not be constructed in isolation.
The United States should ratify all the United Nations Human Rights Covenants and Conventions.
Minority groups should be encouraged and supported in forming their own businesses.
Low interest government loans should be provided to Negroes, Spanish-Americans and other minority groups to cooperatively purchase slum dwellings owned by absentee landlords to improve and rehabilitate these buildings.
Intelligence, aptitude and achievement testing in schools should be directly related to the language,
Mr. Clark M. Eichelberger, Chairman of the Commission to
Study the Organization of Peace speaks on the international
view of human rights. Also at the head table are Mrs. Juliette
Buford, Director of NABOHR and Mr. Peter MacDonald, Director of the Office of Navajo Economic Opportunity.
cultural and social background of the individual child.
A knowledge of Spanish should be required of teachers and administrators of schools in Spanish-American communities.
Human rights should be taught in schools from kindergarten through high school.
Negro history should be taught as part of American history and not as a separate history.
Federal and state agencies should recognize Indian treaty rights and Indians should be given an opportunity for self-determination in matters affecting them.
Indian tribes should have a chance to express their views on the Indian Resources Development Act presently before Congress.
Leaders Address Conference[edit]
Mr. Peter MacDonald, director of the Office of Navajo Economic Opportunity, told the Conference that the Indian is the most misunderstood minority in America. He pointed out that of 500,000 Indians in America, some one-third live off the reservations. The Navajos, with 120,000 members, live on land equal to West Virginia in size. Their unemployment rate of 70 per cent is the highest in the nation.
Dr. Dwight Allen, Dean of the School of Education, University of Massachusetts, pointed to the sameness of American education as a source of inequality, since it is not geared to the needs of all groups in America. He said the school’s failure to teach values in curriculums has contributed to much of the present youth problems. He called for education on human rights in the schools.
Mr. Clark Eichelberger, chairman of the Commission to Study the Organization of Peace, said that Americans should be ashamed that the United States has not yet ratified the United Nations Conventions on Human Rights. He predicted that in future the great threat would be to the human right of privacy.
Injustice Described[edit]
Miss Dorothy Height, President, National Council of Negro Women, stressed that women are still victims of
[Page 19]
Workshop on Education and Human rights led by Mr. Ernest
Yancey, Director of Human Relations, Archdiocese of Chicago
School Board.
inequality in America. Countries like India have more
women in government than does the United States. She
stated we have prejudice because of segregation, not
segregation because there is prejudice.
Mr. I. O. Funderburg, executive vice-president of the Gateway National Bank in St. Louis, called for business to examine its conscience. Business, he stated, must share a part of the blame for the frustration of minority groups since it contributed directly and indirectly to the development of the ghettos and to civil disobedience. Business must engage in a massive program of providing training and jobs for minority groups.
“There is no generation gap, but a spiritual gap. Youth are being denied their God-given right to serve society,” said Mr. Edward F. Carpenter, headmaster of the Harlem Preparatory School. The problem of youth today is their denial of self, soul, God and their lack of knowledge of the spiritual. As a result they turn on and tune out. We must recognize that human rights has a twin brother named human responsibility.”
Necessary Reforms[edit]
The keynote address at the Conference was given by Mr. Hugh Jackson, executive director of the Wichita Urban League, Wichita, Kansas.
He called for the elimination of the ghetto and a major national program to accomplish this. “Black power is a term to be understood and not feared,” he said. He cited the need to decentralize welfare services to neighborhood levels, to open new jobs in the ghetto, and to have Blacks play more active roles in ghetto services.
Bahá’í Message Stated[edit]
The closing address was presented by Mr. Glenford Mitchell, secretary of the U.S. National Bahá’í Assembly. He reminded those attending that over one hundred years ago, Bahá’u’lláh, Prophet-Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, called for a restructuring of society to assure justice for all peoples and to eliminate all forms of prejudice. Bahá’ís, he stated, see human rights as God-given rights.
Outstanding Australian Teacher Passes Away[edit]
Mrs. Mariette Bolton, one of Australia’s most outstanding Bahá’í teachers, passed away on 10th July, 1968, and was laid to rest in the Northern Suburbs Cemetery on 15th July, 1968. Australia and the Pacific Islands have thus lost one of their most ardent teachers. Cables were received from the Universal House of Justice, Hands of the Cause in the Holy Land, the Hand of the Cause in Australasia and many National Spiritual Assemblies in the Pacific.
Mrs. Bolton, whose ability to speak French has been so valuable, had just returned from one of her many teaching trips in the Pacific, when she became seriously ill. Mr. and Mrs. Bolton will always be remembered, besides for their great teaching efforts, for donating the Summer School to the Faith in Australia. The blessings of this wonderful contribution are immeasurable. A Temple Memorial Service was held on Sunday, 28th July, 1968, as suggested by the Universal House of Justice. Many of her friends, Bahá’ís and non-Bahá’ís attended.
Believers and Friends Pay Tribute to Knight of Bahá’u’lláh[edit]
Maria Ciocca Holmlund, pioneer to Sardinia in October 1953, a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh who served steadfastly at her post for fifteen years, passed away there on August 20 on the eve of the first historic Oceanic Conference at Palermo. A letter from the Bahá’í group of Cagliari, Sardinia, states in part:
“Her joy ... was to hear of the progress of the Cause. How fervently she prayed for the success of the First Oceanic Conference, for she knew what a great quickening effect that historic gathering would have for the Cause in the Mediterranean area and throughout the world.
“She lived to see historic things happen in Sardinia! During the last months of her life beloved Hand of the Cause Dr. Ugo Giachery and his dear wife visited the island ... As a result ... the local newspaper carried a lengthy article on the Faith with a photograph of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the first such article ever to appear in a Sardinia newspaper. She witnessed the first declaration in April 1966. The new believer’s young daughter declared in November 1967 and in May 1968 a young lawyer embraced the Cause ... Now, as if by a higher Providence she had the added joy to witness the declaration of yet another soul just three days before her passing. All of this on the island whose inhabitants had been the last on the European continent to embrace the Christian Faith some 800 years after Christ.
“Some one hundred people, mostly Sards, gathered to honor her at her funeral ... (which was) an occasion for teaching the Faith. She it was who fifteen years before, a young girl of 24, had come alone to a land where women alone would never think of coming. Only an undeviating faith in Bahá’u’lláh sustained her, but on the strength of that faith this island will one day give brilliant light to a new world.”
[Page 20]
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of San Bernardino, California at the time of incorporation May 27, 1968. Left to right,
seated: James Brandon, Jane Steele, Joan Titherington; standing: Chester Steele, Virginia Brandon, Simone Bandy, Ailene
Fletcher, LaRue Johns, Albert Williams.
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of St. Marys County, Maryland, formed at Riḍván 1968. Left to right, seated: Jim Inman,
Mrs. Cecelia Inman, Mrs. Rebecca Groves, Mrs. Judith Hammond Guffey, Norman Moore; standing: William Groves (vice-chairman), Miss Hazel Neave (secretary), Mrs. Loretta Sullivan
(treasurer), Joseph Guffey (chairman). In the past year the
group of three adults and one youth enrolled ten new believers, eight since last October.
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Herald of the South is a quarterly magazine published in Australia and available on a subscription rate. Bahá’ís around the world may be interested in subscribing to this journal which is under the auspices of the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia. Bahá’ís from Australia, New Zealand and from many other parts of the world contribute articles to it. Subscription rates: (includes overseas mailing) — $2.00 surface mail; $3.40 airmail. Send subscriptions and money orders to:
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Lesson Plans prepared by the Advisory Committee on Education were made available in June for Grades 7 and 8 and also Bahá’í Holy Days for Grades 1-9. Four more grades have now been added. All manuals are 8½ x 11 size.
- Grade K—Series 1: Progressive Revelation; Teachings for the Individual; Social Teachings.
- Grade 1—Series 1: Bahá’í Heroes; Teachings for the Individual; Social Teachings.
- Grade 2—Series 1: History; Teachings for the Individual: Social Teachings.
- Grade 6—Series 1: History; Teachings for the Individual; Social Teachings.
- Each of the four Lesson Plans, Per Copy ....$2.00
Wall and Pocket Calendars[edit]
Bahá’í Wall Calendar, 1969. The new calendar has a World Center photo, with Feast Days and Holy Days depicted in different colors and detailed information on special observances contained on the back.
Overseas orders should be sent as soon as possible. All orders within the U.S. should also be sent in soon to avoid last minute rush mailings, especially during the last weeks of December when mailing is most difficult. (No standing orders except overseas.)
Per copy | $ .25 |
10 copies | $2.00 |
25 copies | $4.00 |
Note: Minimum orders are S2.00. It is very costly to
process orders for less than this amount, or for a single
calendar. Communities should combine their calendar
orders and order only through local librarian. Isolated
individuals who order the calendar should try to make
up an order of at least $2.00 of various items. This is
much appreciated.
Pocket Calendar, 1969. A World Center photo also illustrates this calendar. Feast and Holy Days are indicated. These are most convenient for billfold or purse, enabling every Bahá’í to always be aware of important Bahá’í days. (No standing orders except overseas.)
20 copies | $1.00 |
100 copies | $4.00 |
110 Linden Ave.
Wilmette, Illinois 60091
BAHÁ’Í NEWS is published for circulation among Bahá’ís only by the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, as a news organ reporting current activities of the Bahá’í world community.
BAHÁ’Í NEWS is edited by an annually appointed Editorial Committee: Mrs. Sylvia Parmelee, Managing Editor: Mrs. Eunice Braun, International Editor; Miss Charlotte Linfoot, National Spiritual Assembly Representative; Mr. Rexford C. Parmelee.
Material must be received by the twenty-fifth of the second month preceding date of issue. Address: Bahá’í News Editorial Office, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091, U.S.A.
Change of address should be reported directly to National Bahá’í Center, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois, U.S.A. 60091.
