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“WE DESIRE but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations; that all nations shall become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men shall be strengthened; that the diversity of religion shall cease, and differences of race he annulled. These fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the ‘Most Great Peace’ shall come. Do not you in Europe need this also? Is not this that which Christ foretold? Yet do we see your kings and rulers lavishing their treasures more freely on means for the destruction of the human race, than on that which would conduce to the happiness of mankind. Strife, bloodshed, and discord, must cease, and all men be as one kindred and one family. Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory that he loves his kind.”
(Aqá, Palestine 1889)
--PHOTO--
'Abdu'l-Bahá, for forty years a prisoner in Palestine, because of raising the Standard of the “Most Great Peace.”
| VOL. 16 | NOVEMBER, 1925 | NO.8 |
extraordinary effort in the promotion of universal peace, will be encircled with divine confirmations, and will be the object of honor and respect among all the inhabitants of the earth. Such an action will become conducive to the prosperity and well-being of mankind.”
THE WORLD'S WILL TO PEACE is as a strong tide setting in which will inevitably reverse in all channels the currents of war and war-lust. The League of Nations, the Interparliamentary Union, the Permanent Court of International Justice, the Hague Court of Arbitration, and numerous world conferences for peace representing the leading countries of the world, not only give evidence of this spirit of conciliation, but help definitely toward conciliation by actual efforts of interracial harmony and amicableness. Where men gather together over important issues in the spirit of reasonableness, good cannot but result. And where all are united in the desire for a common goal, that goal will ultimately be arrived at, though the ways be now doubtful. So much as regards the will to peace.
On the other hand, we must not forget that those strong currents which bear nations into war are still flowing. There are those who think that war is even yet nearer than peace to the horizon of events. Lord Grey, in his memoirs which have just been published, doubts that the worst of the economic disaster following the great war has yet been seen; he holds that militarism and armaments made the world war inevitable, and he doubts that even yet nations have learned that lesson, without which, he thinks, they must perish.
TWO FEARS are now struggling for supremacy in the heart of humanity: the fear of other nations which is now the chief remaining cause of war; and the fear of war itself as a catastrophe which if it occurs again will destroy civilization. It would seem that the desire for conquest and glory as a cause of war between the leading nations of the world has greatly lost its power of appeal,—due partly to the rapid growth, during the last few decades, of the idea of justice and fair dealing between nations; partly to the disillusionment and horrors of the last war, which showed war for conquest to be a form of speculation leading to sure bankruptcy and ruin, rather than to the material gain and prestige hitherto considered as a very possible prize of a bold and aggressive militarism.
Of the positive factors in the war-psychology, war itself, the great psycho-analyzer, has practically cured humanity. There remain only the negative factors of distrust, fear, hatred, revenge. The fear of limitation in regard to territory sufficient to supply the needs of a crescent population, and the fear of limitation in regard to those natural resources necessary for a nation’s prosperity and welfare, are fears sufficiently well-grounded, under the present economic system that applies between nations, as to warrant a reconstitution of
the system of exchange, and an agreement between nations which would make all partners, to some extent, in those necessities of life—land and natural resources. It is a difficult question; but some solution can be found, better than the old solution of war,–which now is seen to destroy those very resources fought for, and to leave the land to the unprofitable possession of the corpses of those myriads who struggled over it.
But these two fears are not now the chief potential cause of war. It is rather the fear of attack from others, causing the piling up of armaments and the concentration of science upon modes of swifter and more wholesale destruction, which is now keeping the heart of humanity from universal peace based upon international comity and justice.
Fortunately this fear is justified only when shared by all nations. It is a phobia which can be cured by any method which will create confidence in the sincerity of a mutual aim to keep peace.
HISTORY has already given striking evidence that war-phobia between adjacent nations, can be cured, and a mutual confidence be created so deep-seated as to give every indication of being permanent. Recently there was created at Stanley Park, Vancouver, the President Harding International Good-will Memorial to commemorate one hundred and seven years of peace, with an unfortified frontier, between the United States, and Canada, on which are inscribed the following words of the late President:
“What an object lesson of peace is shown today by our two countries to all the world. No grim-faced fortifications mark our frontiers, no huge battleships patrol our dividing waters, no stealthy spies lurk in our tranquil border hamlets. Only a scrap of paper, recording hardly more than a simple understanding, safeguards lives and properties on the Great Lakes, and only humble mileposts mark the inviolable boundary line for thousands of miles through farm and forest."
Because of such mutual confidence and good-will, in 1846 a most difficult dispute involving the ownership of a piece of land equal to the area of France and Germany combined, was settled amicably between the United States on the one side and Great Britain and Canada on the other. This dispute had reached such a pitch that in the presidential election of 1844 there was strong agitation for war, if necessary, in order to support our claims to the entire Oregon territory. But moderation prevailed, and a settlement was made in which we yielded to Canada about one-third of the territory in question without recourse to war. It is in the leading city of that part of the Oregon territory yielded thus peaceably to Canada, Vancouver, that the International Good-will Memorial has just been erected.
Another example almost as striking is the similar long period of peace and unfortified borders between Argentine and Chile, so fittingly commemorated by the beautiful statue, “Christ in the Andes.”
IN THE NEW WORLD, it would seem, was being reserved vast planetary spaces for the trying out not only of democracy. but of a new will and way toward peace. Into these two almost unpopulated continents blessed with immense resources came a multifarious population which forgot, in the tasks of making a new home, its ancient rancors; which learned by pioneer wants the need of cooperation, of mutual aid, of interdependence and mutual confidence. Endowed thus by destiny with endless natural wealth and vast spaces, these settlers had no need, save for a few aboriginal struggles, to wage war for earth, or for earth’s resources, not up to this moment has any such need arisen. Between them and battle-fevered Europe lay a great ocean lending its protective power—an obstacle insuperable to Old World ambition or meddlesomeness.
The destiny of this new world population surely was to be pacific, and to set an example and an influence which would eventually, perhaps, lead its brothers of the older civilization toward a feasible and practical arrangement which would abolish war.
For in reality what holds for the Americas holds also for the whole world, if national and racial divisions could but be forgotten, and barriers be turned into ways of fellowship and cooperation. Even Europe, the densest populated of continents, has land enough to spare if treated as a unit; has resources enough for all, if those resources were pooled.
It is not nature’s scantiness but man’s psychology which creates want. Were this country to be redivided into many separate countries harshly competitive and mutually hostile, where would be the peaceful security in which now live the citizens of whatever region? New England could not thrive without iron from the middle west, without coal from the Alleghanies, without cotton from the south, or beef and wool from the prairie states. Nor could other present sections thrive if the country were disrupted. For few geographical sections of our country are self-sufficing units. It is the country as a whole which is a unit. It is largely because its resources have been so freely and harmoniously interchangeable, in a commerce without let or barriers, that such amazing material progress has been made here.
UNITY, it would then seem, has been the cause of America’s prosperity. Never before in history has so vast a region been organized into not only a true political but also an economic and cultural unit. It is a most pregnant lesson to the world,—that what is needed is not more earth, or more treasures in it, but a different attitude toward the earth-surface, its division, and the division of its resources; an attitude of fellowship, of interracial brotherhood, cooperation, unity above race and creed, in the exploitation of natural resources and in the interchange of goods.
It is no great credit to us that we are pacific. Destiny has determined for us a non-belligerent temperament by preserving us from need of war. This great gift of God to the America’s is not for our own comfort only, but as an object lesson to the rest of the world, a means of leading all humanity ultimately under the canopy of peace. If we fail of this responsibility which God, in so blessing us, has put upon us, it will be the most tragic failure to be recorded against any nation's history.
’ABDU’L-BAHÁ made many utterances here regarding the peace-loving quality of the Americas, their praiseworthy lack of the restraint of worn-out traditions, their intense dedication to progress of all kinds, and the glorious opportunity now open to them of becoming the means of the establishment of universal peace. Few, we think, can read his utterances, a compilation of which follows these editorials, without feeling a great inspiration and a great determination to arise and march with the vanguard of the cause of peace. Surely, were we to become the means of peace, our country would be doubly blessed by God. But it is not for this self-motive we should strive, but that the whole world may once and for all be freed from the curse of war, and find in the Parliament and Brotherhood of Man a new destiny, a new progress, a new prosperity and joy.
A masterly discussion of the plans of Bahá‘u’lláh for world peace, by the well-known Boston attorney, Alfred E. Lunt, appears as a special article in this number. See supplement.
’ABDU’L-BAHÁ’S MESSAGE TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
AMERICA is a noble nation, the standard-bearer of peace throughout the world, shedding her light to all regions. Foreign nations are not untrammeled and free of intrigues like the United States, and are unable to bring about universal peace. But America, thank God, is at peace with all the world and is worthy of raising the flag of brotherhood and international peace. When the summons to international peace is raised by America, all the rest of the world will cry, ‘Yes, we accept!‘ The nations of every clime will join in adopting the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh revealed over fifty years ago. In his epistles he asked the parliaments of the world to send their wisest and best men to an international world parliament, that should decide all questions between the peoples and establish universal peace. This would be the last court of appeal, and the Parliament of Man, long dreamed of by the poets, would be realized. It would be much more far-reaching than The Hague Tribunal. (STAR OF THE WEST, Vol. 6, No. ll, p. 81.)
THE BODY of the human world is sick. Its remedy and healing will be the oneness of the kingdom of humanity. Its life is the “Most Great Peace.” Its illumination and quickening is love. Its happiness is the attainment of spiritual perfections. It is my wish and hope that in the bounties and favors of the Blessed Perfection (Bahá’u’lláh) we may find a new life, acquire a new power and attain to a wonderful and supreme source of energy so that the “Most Great Peace” of divine intention shall be established upon the foundations of the unity of the world of men with God. May the love of God be spread from this city, from this meeting to all the surrounding countries. Nay, may America become the distributing center of spiritual enlightenment and all the world receive this heavenly blessing. For America has developed powers and capabilities greater and more wonderful than other nations. While it is true that its people have attained a marvelous material civilization, I hope that spiritual forces may animate this great body and a corresponding spiritual civilization be established. May the inhabitants of this country become like angels of heaven with faces turned continually toward God. May all of them become the servants of the Omnipotent One. May they rise from the perfections of materialism to such a height that heavenly illumination may stream from this center to all the people of the world. (From an address in New York. Pro. of U. P., p. 17.)
THIS REVERED American nation presents evidences of greatness and worth. It is my hope that this just government will stand for peace so that warfare may be abolished throughout the world and the standards of national unity and reconciliation be upraised. This is the greatest attainment of the world of humanity. This American nation is equipped and empowered to accomplish that which will adorn the pages of history, to become the envy of the world and be blest in the east and the west for the triumph of its democracy. (Pro. of U. P., p. 99.)
I LOVE this country (America) with exceeding love, for its inhabitants are a noble people and its government is fair and just. Its citizens are enjoying the greatest amount of political and civic freedom. In reality, every soul is a real sovereign and delights in the fruit of his hard-won liberty. No one is harassed by secret fears, but expresses his thoughts
freely and without apprehension. The sphere of the mind is made radiant with brilliant ideals, and the field for the discussion of the progressive and advanced problems of the age is as spacious as heaven. Consequently, I hope that this illustrious democracy may become confirmed in the establishment of universal peace . . . . because the greatest principle of His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh is universal peace. He wrote concerning this in wonderful epistles to the governments of the world, urging them to come forward and lay the foundation of international conciliation amongst the religions, nations and races. America has demonstrated great organizing capacity in this direction. (STAR OF THE WEST, Vol. 5, p. 119]].)
PRAISE BE to God! The United States has in reality made extraordinary progress; day by day they are advancing toward the ultimate goal. The material virtues of the people are many; now they must think of the ideal virtues, so that the highest of the perfections of humanity may illumine the regions of America.
Among the highest virtues are universal peace and the oneness of humanity. The chief ailment of humanity today is international strife; this militates against the advancement of the material and ideal virtues. . . . .
But, praise be to God! the American government is no warlike government; the American democracy is not founded upon warlike doctrines. Hence it becomes this democracy to uphold international peace and spread it throughout the world. Through the promulgation of this doctine will be distributed the greatest blessing. . . . My fervent hope and fond desire concerning the American people is that through their instrumentality the scope of this project will be enlarged and that earnest concerted action between the nations of the world will result therefrom. (STAR, Vol. 5, p. 166.)
ENVY AND rancor arise between nations, but because I find the American nation so capable of achievement, and the American government the fairest of the western governments, its systems superior to others, my wish and hope is that the banner of peace may be raised first on this continent, and that the standard of the Most Great Peace may here be unfurled.
May the nation of America and its government unite in their efforts in order that this light may dawn from this point and spread to all regions, for this is one of the greatest bestowals of God. In order that America may avail herself of this opportunity, I request that you strive and supplicate with heart and soul, devoting all your energies to this end, and that the banner of international peace in reality may be unfurled here, and that American democracy may be the cause of the cessation of warfare in all other countries . . . I supplicate the Kingdom of God and ask that you may be instrumental in bringing about the "Great Peace” in this country, in this nation and government, and through them spread it to the world. (Wisdom Talks, p. 13.)
I WAS most pleased with the results of my trip to America. I found a wonderful spirit of peace hovering over that vast continent. The people are inspired with the thought of peace and are working for its final realization. I hope that they will be the first nation to unfurl the standard of peace. I will ever pray for their success. Today this is the most great service to the world of humanity. (Compilation. War and Peace, p. 188.)
AS TO the American people, this noble nation, intelligent, meditative; it is quite disinterested, for its territory is insular and geographically separated from the other nations. Here we find a oneness of interest, a oneness of policy. These are indeed United States. Therefore, the United States is possessed of
the capacity and capability of holding aloft the banner of international peace. May this nation, this noble people, be the cause of unifying humanity! May this noble people spread broadcast the heavenly civilization and illumination! May it be the cause of the diffusion of the love of God! May it proclaim the solidarity of mankind! May it be the cause of the guidance of the human race! Therefore, I request you to give this all-important question your most serious consideration and efforts, (STAR OF THE WEST, Vol. 5, p. 200.)
I HAVE come to America to speak a message of peace and good-will to you. You are a noble nation with a just government. I beg of God that this just and fair land may assist in working for the peace of the world. Let the people of this young and noble nation assist in the great movement for the peace and unity of the world. Let the people light a lamp that will illumine the whole universe. Let us put love in the hearts of all the children of men. Let all mankind labor for this, that the favor of God may descend upon the Orient and Occident. . .
The time has come for us all to work for international peace. No catastrophe can be greater than war, and in preparation for it man is taxed beyond the limit of endurance . . . . The time has come for the establishment of a fair arbitral court of justice for the settlement of all international disputes, and the nations must make use of such a court, and obey its just decrees. (STAR OF THE WEST, Vol. 13, p. 292-3.)
“AMERICA IS the home of the ideals of peace. Its people are peace-loving and its democratic leaders are the sowers of the seeds of peace. I hope that a chain of similar meetings will be organized throughout the States wherein eloquent speakers will expose the iniquities of war and tell of the beauty of peace so that the world may resound with their call to peace. This is indeed most important.
On the other hand, the legislators, far-sighted peace advocates, the practical statesmen of America must from now on frame a code of laws and regulations to be used as the foundation for the future Universal Parliament of Man. The initial step is most difficult and arduous and only a free, disinterested, large-minded, humanity-loving nation like the Americans can perform such signal services. The American people have had sound judicial training and the fundamental principles of their political institutions are based on equality of opportunity for all mankind. Their national and state system of government has been always, a good and beneficial example for the framers of the constitution of the international court of arbitration. In short, America must be the principal factor in establishing lasting peace among the nations of the world. The spreading of peace ideals must be carried on unceasingly—thus the ground may be made ready and the hearts prepared. The promotion of the principles of peace and the exposition of the evils of war will ultimately lead to an astonishing awakening on the part of the people. (STAR OF THE WEST, Vol. 13, p. 293.)
IN THE ORIENT I heard that there are many peace-loving people in America. Therefore, I left my native land to associate here with those who are the standard-bearers of international peace. Having traveled from coast to coast, I find America a continent vast and progressive; the government just; the nation noble. I attended many gatherings where international peace was discussed, and am extremely happy to witness the results of these meetings, for one of the great teachings of Bahá’u’lláh relates to international peace. He founded and taught this principle fifty years ago in the Orient. He proclaimed universal peace among the nations; he summoned the people to establish universal peace
among the various religions; he organized peace among many races, communities and sects. At that time he wrote epistles to all the rulers and kings of the world and summoned them to cooperate with him in spreading these principles, saying that humanity would not attain composure and rest save through universal peace. And he practiced the principle in Persia, therefore, today there are people of various religions and races, in Persia and elsewhere, souls who followed the exhortations of Bahá’u’lláh, living together in the utmost love and fellowship, with no religious prejudice, no patriotic prejudice, no sectarian prejudice,—they live in unity and agreement, Muhammadan, Roman Catholic, Jew, Buddhist, followers of Zoroaster, and all others.
"Now America has arisen to spread the teachings of peace for the illurnination of mankind and for bestowing happiness and prosperity on all the children of men. These are the principles of divine civilization. (STAR OF THE WEST, Vol. 6, p. 81.)
NOW INASMUCH as the standard of international peace must needs be hoisted, I hope that it may be hoisted upon this continent, for the American continent is more deserving, has greater capacity therefor, and is not like other countries. . . . If America takes the first step toward this direction, it is certain to be ascribed to altruism. It will be said by humanity, “There was no other purpose than altruism and service to mankind.” Therefore, it is my hope that you may be the cause, and that you may hoist this banner, for this banner will be hoisted. Raise it aloft, for you are deserving above all other nations. In the other countries there are many who are waiting for this summons, anxiously anticipating this call from some nation bidding all to the Most Great Peace, for the people are distressed because of the excessive and irreparable damage of war. (Star of the West, Vol. 5, p. 131.)
PRAISE BE TO GOD, all the people who have accepted the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh are peace lovers and are ready to sacrifice their lives and forfeit their fortunes for it. Now let this standard be hoisted in the West and many shall respond to the call. Just as America has become renowned because of her discoveries, inventions and skill, famous for the equity of her government and colossal undertakings, may she also become noted for the Most Great Peace. Let this be her undertaking and let it spread from her to other countries. And I pray for you all that you may render this service to the world of humanity. (STAR or THE WEST, Vol. 5, p. 131.)
O GOD! Let this American democracy become glorious in spiritual degrees even as it has aspired to the material degrees, and render this just government victorious.
Confirm this revered nation to hoist the standard of the oneness of humanity; to promulgate the Most Great Peace; to become thereby most glorious and praiseworthy among all the nations of the world.
O GOD; This American nation is worthy of Thy favors and is deserving of Thy Mercy.
Make it near, dear to Thee, through Thy bounty and bestowal. (Wisdom Talks in Chicago, p. 4.)
LIKE UNTO a spirit, this ideal (Universal Peace) must run and circulate through the veins and arteries of the body of the world. . . . There is no doubt that this wonderful democracy will be able to realize it and the banner of international agreement will be unfurled here to spread onward and outward among all the nations of the world. (Pro. of U. P., p. 121.)
THE ultimate goal of the human world must be Peace. Man works towards this end steadily, although often unconsciously. As the centuries move on cause after cause of warfare is eliminated or subjected to some sort of a tribunal, national or international. The last great war, in reality, gives us some encouragement, impossible as that seems. It was fought around causes essentially modern. It is true that older causes, age old, appeared, such as deliberate seizure of territory, subjugation of conquered peoples into servitude, and a tyrannical imposition of the will of an autocrat upon any who chanced to be weaker than he; but they caused such an outburst of indignation, of offended civilization, that the whole world swung into line to stamp to death these already ham-strung monsters of barbarism. The modern causes, such as the desperate struggle to gain world markets, the conflicting empires of machine-made industries, and the haunting danger to autocratic rule by the creeping flood of democratic progress,—these modern causes became suddenly articulate, and shrieked out their warnings to the world; and the forty-odd nations of the world that had united to combat the ancient dangers, learned much to their amazement of the dangers of today that had been hidden from them by their own greed, ignorance, apathy, and selfishness. Some of the lessons learned were exceedingly unwelcome to many people; and this fact, combined with the license and reactions of the post-war period, seemed to let loose the demons of evil. But they will be chained or destroyed; for, from the arctic circles to the equator, the common people of the world saw as they had never seen before, and when the common men awake, understand, and move in their masses, they are irresistible. Moreover, the unity of nations among the allies and the cooperation of men from the farthest ends of the world, resulted in men returning to their homes with many profoundly changed ideas. Some of these new views were dangerous to all stability and progress, but many were progressive, swept by the breezes of the coming day. One was the conception of the divine rights of men, rather than of kings; another was the realization of warfare for the mass of mankind; and a third, its corollary, was that for the common men there must be peace.
The Bahá’í teachings stress unceasingly the need of peace in all the relations of men. From the intimacies of the family group to the widest circle of world affairs, Bahá’ís are taught to see that peace is necessary to progress. The days of warfare are passing, not because men are less warlike than formerly, but because war no longer brings man what he most wants. War is the old-fashioned way of striving for what the Kaiser called his “place in the sun,” gained by pushing someone else out of it, or by forcing the conquered to produce its benefits for the victor at the victor’s command. The newer civilization is discovering
purpose of the Kingdom of God is the promulgation of the cause of universal peace and the principle of the oneness of the world of humanity. Whosoever arises in the accomplishment of this preeminent service the confirmation of the Holy Spirit will descend upon him.”
that war pushes the desired results farther away or procures them at a cost that is prohibitive. The men of the new age are seeing that the greatest asset of humanity is released human energy, and although the ways are often dark, they stumble on towards this God-commanded goal of human perfection.
Every human being should have the opportunity of discovering, training, and using his abilities. Energy should be directed, not dominated; ability should be allowed to function; talent, genius, should be set free, not left imprisoned in the darkness of ignorance or because of drudging. This greater human freedom towards which civilization has been groping and which democracy has envisaged, will be accomplished by spiritualized religion, and the freed human spirit will be guided into its greatest capacity by Divine intelligence and power.
Bahá’u’lláh tells us that man, especially in this last century, has been so fascinated and absorbed in material progress that he has largely ignored spiritual guidance; hence, the world has grown grossly materialistic. No lasting help will come until man accepts Divine illumination and guidance, but when Divine power is admitted into the material consciousness and capacity of man, the twentieth century will see a progress and civilization now undreamed of. Radio will become awkward; air-ships will be slow; present government will be totally inefficient in the glorious day just dawning in the world. But one of the first requisites for this union of man’s capacity with God’s power is peace,—peace in the soul, the home, the nation, the world. Without peace the union can not come. War, discord, hate, jealousy, suspicion, all these destroy, they kill. The world’s energy is depleted by their ravages every day. Only in the fertility and sunshine of peace can the human spirit approximate its power.
How many homes are centers of discord, hate, suspicion, and all the ugliness of which mankind is capable! In such homes the lives of husband and wife are narrowed, perverted, ruined, and the children truly never “have a chance.” To such an extent is warfare in the homes the cause of today's deterioration, immorality, and crime that one of the most thoughtfully written books of the day on the subject of juvenile delinquency has been aptly named Youth in Conflict. Conflict in the home, the street, the school, the church, society, and the law, until there is no such thing in the child’s life as a conception of peace, service, or love. Let peace come into the home, peace founded on justice, unselfishness, cooperation, on Divine love if not on human; let this peace be actually lived by the older members of the family and be taught to the children, and few of the destructive demons would be left that are today grinningly tearing down our homes and eating the hearts out of our children. Let peace on the same foundation principles come into business relations, and fraud and corruption must slink away; capital and labor would learn to do unto others that which they would that others did unto them; lawyers would find less and less to do; governments would be in reality what modern democracies are dreaming for them, instruments or organizations by which a body of men can secure opportunities and blessings, and protect them when once secured; world relations would lose suspicions and greedy dominations, and immature nations would rest securely on the fuller development of their neighbors. Only through peace can we even approach these ends, peace built on Divine cooperation.
This reign of peace is not so distant as many believe. In every nation ardent, energetic people are working intelligently towards it. In many countries, even in war-swept Europe, great masses of men are trudging steadily towards peace, so stolidly that their rulers hardly dare dream of another war. Lawyers and judges are asking and planning to so simplify and enforce the law that greater
justice shall prevail. Great numbers of our youth are turning in disgust from the conflict in the homes of their childhood, and are looking forward with pathetic longing to real peace in a home of their own. Over all this formless longing of the human souls in this old world there hovers the peace that passeth understanding, the outgrowing of the love of the Divine Father, who teaches us by letting us suffer the results of disobedience, who pushes us gently onward if we loiter, who supports us when we stumble, who never neglects us, and who joyfully guides us when we confidingly put our hands in His.
peace and amity; but misunderstandings have crept in. If these misunderstandings disappear you will see that all the religious agencies will work for peace and promulgate the oneness of human kind, for the foundation of all is one reality and reality is not multiple or divisible.
ALL PREJUDICES, whether of religion, race, politics or nation, must be renounced, for these prejudices have caused the world’s sickness. It is a grave malady which, unless arrested, is capable of causing the destruction of the whole human race. Every ruinous war with its terrible bloodshed and misery has been caused by one or another of these prejudices.
Editor's Note: Mirza Ali Kuli Khan, N, D., when Charge d’affaires of Persia at Washington, D. C., addressed the International Peace Congress held in San Francisco. The following passages from his spontaneous speech on that occasion, previously published in the Star of The West, are here reprinted because of their opportuneness in this Peace Number.
HUMANITY, from the dawn of history, has progressed under the guidance of prophetic teachers from a state of infancy through the various stages of development leading to its maturity.
The prophets of God, whose gospels were the result of a well founded optimism, aimed at the unity of man because of their due knowledge of the principle of human unity, which in the mind of God had ever been an accomplished fact. Each world teacher accomplished that plan in conformity with the limited capacity manifested by his people.
God applied His original plan for the unification of Israel through Moses, of the Gentiles through Jesus, of the Parsees through Zoroaster, of the Hindus through the Buddha, and of the other sections of humanity through other world teachers and prophets.
Today, which to the wise and thoughtful is the day of the maturity of the human race, God will accomplish that noble plan. In the voice raised in all parts of the world in favor of peace, and in the efforts extended by the peace-loving element in the world's population, which constitutes the positive, affirmative principle of the human body politic, we find a potent manifest proof that the day of peace has dawned, and is steadily, though slowly, breaking through the dense clouds which temporarily impede its course to the meridian of its glory.
Although the effecting of a world brotherhood is the determined plan of God, it is for humanity itself to cooperate in its realization.
In our effort to unify the world we must take the lessons taught by the past great religions in achieving the moral and spiritual uplift of their respective peoples, for no unity of a people existing in a civilized state could be independent of moral and spiritual character, The building of such character has been the task of every true religion.
As our aim today is the creation of a world civilization, based upon a world unity, we must enlarge our conception of religion to reach the dimensions of a world religion–the religion of humanity.
Such religion should include the truth of all religions and exclude all patriotic, national and racial bias.
The most successful political and industrial steps taken by any nation toward human betterment are those represented by the federal and industrial institutions organized in the United States, the greatest republic of all time; for these American institutions, in their domestic and international relationships, are impregnated with the spirit of justice, altruism and broad humanity, which is embodied in the religion of humanity, because they exhale the fragrance of the noble sayings of the Persian prophet [Bahá’u’lláh] of these modern times: ‘Ye are all the leaves of one tree and the drops of one sea’; ‘Great glory is not his who loves his country, but rather his who loves his kind.’
America is therefore the field in which the seeds of the world religion are given opportunity to germinate, and which will extend to the peoples of all climes the bounties of the religion of humanity. May we not, therefore, look upon America as the nation which is specially chosen by the Almighty to assist in man’s progress upward and to bless humanity with the fruits of universal peace?
THE BULK of humanity has always been greatly overworked, In imagination we can picture those times when puny and dwarfed in comparison to the monsters that surrounded him, man developed that cunning and quick judgment that has always been a far more valuable asset than mere strength.
Between the ever-present struggle for food and the incessant danger from powerful enemies, life in its prehistoric aspects could hardly have been a round of pleasure and glad sunshine. Five successive times this mote of a planet rocked on its axis, spurning the cordial rays of the sun on its northern hemisphere, and five times the polar ice cap, grim, greedy and devastating swept the hard-won achievements of life before its glacial breath. Survival amongst primitive men must have been a stern triumph over the ruthless inroads of pestilence, famine, natural disasters and war.
No doubt a state of comparative civilization flourished on dry land forming the present floor of the Mediterranean sea, which was overflowed to its present capacity as (the earth returning to its normal inclination) the glacier resolved into its liquid form. This is indicated not only by archaeological traces found at the bottom of the Mediterranean but by the story of a great flood included in the religious tradition of all the regions thereabouts.
The actual labor required to organize and build even a village is scarcely understood by a modern urban population. It looks so simple from where we stand on the sidewalk, to watch great steel girders hoisted in their places with acetylene torches welding them into a symmetrical structure, that we place very little value upon the labor involved now or at any time in rearing or in maintaining the mere structure of civilization.
Innumerable civilizations litter the dust, many more unknown, than remembered, and they were all built against the continual protests of nature, and the ill-repressed unfriendliness and warfare of other human beings.
Life has been hard, relentless: the fortuitous struggle of men and the uneventful diligence of women has had little relief except to the few. First men asked for security; as society centralized into cities they found as much of it as could be vouchsafed in a world where war, famine, poverty and disease ever stalked. Next they clamored for happiness; but as they matured in experience they began to realize that personal happiness is not part of the scheme of life on this “inclement, not to say inhospitable planet." Finally as men and women approach the end of their middle years, they relinquish wistfully the hope of happiness and wearily ask for peace. Human beings have worked so hard for so long that they eventually come to that timid, exhausted appeal for a little rest, that seems a simple request after ten thousand generations of relentless toil.
As our minds become more analytical with expansion and cultivation, we see that mankind can never be finally secure so long as one single clever individual, ambitious, unscrupulous and predatious is left in the world; that he can never be really happy so long as he is aiming at happiness; that life is far nobler than just to be happy; that happiness is entirely overestimated; that suffering and sacrifice are the crucible in which the miracle of creation and redemption has been wrought forevermore; and that peace–the only kind that would be worth anything to him–is not a state of quiescence, rest and negation, but the release of all the natural energy and creative power into channels of uninterrupted expression, free from coercion and dread.
When Saint Paul spoke of the "peace that passeth understanding” he was undoubtedly referring to that wrapt and radiant condition of the heroic mighty soul that passing along the “sorrowful way” through the “dark night of the soul" and all those degrees of purgation that are necessary to the annihilation of the self, reaches the ultimate union with their source, and while on earth lives on the spiritual plane.
But the call to this form of peace is not a call to quietude, ease and tranquillity: it is a call to ardor, fortitude, consecration and heroism. The mighty labors of Hercules signify the struggle against the self, and the lives of that resplendent little band of mystics who battled their way up to God and to this shining peace were, if we examine the fruits of their efforts, the most practical, the most competent, the most efficient and the most hard-working people in the world.
The divine Messengers from those ample seas of glory far beyond the confines of our limited imagination, are continally telling us of splendors that “break through language and escape.” Answering their summons from age to age have been these few hardy pioneers who have set out on this perilous voyage from the known and familiar island of self to the shining and wondrous shore of evanescence and union with the illimitable reaches of the Spirit. And they all turn back blinded with the light of this new dimension, to beckon us to its joy and wonder, while telling us that the mysteries of its revelation are incommunicable, that they must remain forever hidden from those who do not seek the far country for themselves.
“To be spiritually-minded,” said Paul in another place, “is life and peace,” and there is no peace outside this, that is other than partial and temporary. But this spiritual-mindedness is conferred only on those who have traversed those untracked wastes that lie between the soul steeped in material limitations, and the gracious freedom of God.
A complete negligence of the world and its standards seems to be the first characteristic of those who have loosed the trammels of the human dimension and become naturalized into the attributes of the divine. Just as the tree conducts itself not from the viewpoint of the static earth but of the changing sky, just as it grasps realities and obeys commands from sources that it could never explain to its deep-buried roots, so the soul, transplanted to its spiritual environment, responds to conditions imposed from the celestial atmosphere that cannot be translated to the consciousness of a lower state.
We have but to glance at the lives of Augustine, Kabir, Jelalu’Din, or Francis, to realize that they were motivated by cosmic intimacies that we have not yet grasped. But is it possible that there is a human soul who has not, if only momentarily, caught the glint of drifting pinions, and been pierced with a sweet ineffable knowledge of freedom and security somewhere in his own being?
The hardest struggles are yet ahead of man! His weariness in the past was for the most part physical exhaustion: there lies ahead of him that desperate conflict with all the pretensions of the ego, crude and subtle, that he must subdue before he can grow into the real stature of humanity. The beginning of this struggle is our first bid for peace, for all the strife and conflict the agony and suffering of the world, come from the unsatisfied desires of the personality.
“The purpose of peace is to destroy antagonism by finding a point of agreement. We cannot induce men to lay down their arms by fighting with them.”
Editor's Note: In a talk given in Paris in 1911 during the war between Italy and Tripoli, ’Abdu’l-Bahá points out the strange inconsistency of man's concern over the accidental death of a few fellow beings, and man’s unconcern over the death of thousands killed in a useless war. The heedlessness of men to the brutalities of war is due to no other thing, he says, than the fact that man docs not know God.
THEY say that a train fell in the Seine river and twenty-five persons were drowned. Today on account of this tragedy there will be a detailed discussion in parliament. They have arrested the manager of the railroad. Great disputes will take place—fierce disturbances! I was very much astonished that for twenty-five persons who fell in the river and drowned, such a strange tumult appeared in the parliament; but for Tripoli, where thousands are being killed in a day, they never say a word. Undoubtedly, so far at least, five thousand persons have been killed. It never occurs to the parliament that these persons are human. It is as if they were stones.
What is the reason that the parliament is in this way disturbed over twenty-five persons and never speaks of the five thousand? The twenty-five are human and the five thousand are human. All are descendants of Adam. The reason is that the five thousand are not of the French nation. It does not matter if they are cut in pieces.
Behold, what injustice, what senselessness, what ignorance! Although these helpless ones in Tripoli have father, mother, son, daughter and wife, they cut them into shreds. What harm have they done? I read in the paper that even in Italy the cry and the wailing of the people is rising. The weeping and wailing of both the Arab and Italian women are rising. The eyes of the mothers are filled with tears; the hearts of the fathers are drowned in blood; the weeping and crying of the children reach to the summit of heaven.
Behold, how bloodthirsty are human beings! Behold, how deceitful is man, how heedless of God! If, instead of using knives, swords, bullets, guns—men should rejoice, be glad, feast and associate with one another in harmony and love; if, in the state of tranquillity, they should become intoxicated with the wine of happiness, if they should become friends and companions and embrace each other, would it not be better?
Which is better: to be like thankful birds and fly together, or to be as bloodthirsty wolves and attack, and devour one another and shed each the other’s blood?
Why should man be so heedless? It is because he does not know God. If men knew God they would love one another: if they had spiritual susceptibilities they would have unfurled the banner of the great peace and if they had listened to the exhortations of the prophets unquestionably they would have established justice.
Therefore, pray, implore and supplicate God to guide them, give them mercy, give them reasoning minds and give them spiritual susceptibilities. Perchance these helpless human beings may live in peace.
The wise man weeps day and night over the condition of mankind. He cries and sighs that perchance the heedless ones may be awakened, the blind may see, the dead become alive and the oppressors grant justice. I will pray. You must also pray. (STAR OF THE WEST, Vol. 7, p. 106.)
“PEACE, peace and there is no peace.” Around us on every side we hear the principle of universal peace proclaimed; but as yet that ideal has not become an established fact. Let us see what solution we can find for the problems that confront us.
The world is in a chaotic condition. The family of nations is divided against itself. The snarling wolves of selfishness and greed are attacking the lambs of peace. The darkness of misunderstanding and strife prevails. Humanity is sick. Its disease is lack of cooperation and altruism. The social conditions of the world lack symmetry. A remedy must be found for this deformed body politic.
Unbalance in the economic relations of the race is depriving man of his birthright, happiness. The nineteenth century marked the dawn of political freedom, when the shackles of slavery were struck from the black man of the race. The twentieth century is confronted with the task of freeing mankind from the shackles of industrial slavery.
The conflict between capital and labor is approaching a crisis. Thinking people all over the world are seeking a remedy for the suffering caused by excessive taxation, low wages and unemployment. These conditions are due in part to the world war. Unless a remedy can be found and applied, the oppressive results of that war will become the cause of another war–an economic war.
Currency, which is the medium of exchange for the body-politic, may be likened to the blood that flows through the arteries, veins and capillaries of the human body. If the flow of blood is as it should be, all parts of the body receive their normal amount of blood supply, and the body as a whole is strong and healthy. But if for any reason an excessive amount of blood becomes dammed-up in one particular place, the whole circulation is impeded, the health of the body becomes impaired. The dammed-up blood causes congestion in some areas, and anemia in others.
For example—if the heart is diseased, the head, or lungs, or liver may be congested; while other parts of the body, such as the hands and feet suffer from lack of blood supply. All parts are thus made abnormal in their functioning. If such an unbalanced circulation persists long enough, the congestion may be changed to inflammation, the malnourished parts become severely anemic, until actual degeneration of cell life results.
'
Such is the danger of the body-politic today. Some of the Captains of Industry are laboring under the stress of an over-abundance of wealth; while the Hands and Feet of Society feel the need of an increase of currency. The result is suffering for the whole body of man. If relief cannot be obtained, great destruction of individual lives may follow.
Two chief remedies are needed–an increase in the spirit of altruism, and the formation of laws that will regulate the flow of blood-currency through the body-politic.
First we will consider altruism. What
of the world of humanity?
“To-day in the world of humanity the most important matter is the question of universal peace. The realization of this principle is the crying need of the time.”
do we mean by altruism, and how can its growth be brought about? To have altruism is to have regard for and devotion to the interests of others. How can regard for and devotion to the interests of others be promoted? Chiefly through education. At the present time mankind is ignorant of the fact that if one part of the body is abnormal, all parts are abnormal.
The heart is often used as a symbol of love, probably because the heart is the organ that propels the blood in its continuous circuit through the human body, as it carries life to every cell; while love is the dynamic force that can cause the spirit of altruism to permeate all parts of the body-politic and carry cheer and good fellowship to every human being.
Man must learn that if he is to help himself, he must help all other members of the race. Mankind is a unit that depends on the normal functioning of each integral part for its highest attainment.
Education can inculcate a realization of the interdependence and oneness of mankind that will help to heal the diseased heart of man and promote the spirit of altruism. Such a spirit of altruism will not be some vague, indefinite sentiment but will in reality be illumined self-interest. Man will realize that he is just a part of the mass of humanity and that the only way he individually can find happiness is through the uplift and well-being of the whole mass. The disease of ignorance will be replaced by the health of knowledge.
Prejudice is another one of the ailments of man. Prejudice of all kinds is rampant in the world today. National prejudice, racial prejudice, political prejudice, religious prejudice, professional prejudice–all contribute to a hardening of the arteries in the body-politic.
Arteriosclerosis or hardening of the arteries is the result of inherited or acquired disease. A hardened blood-vessel wall lacks elasticity. Likewise the blood-vessels of exchange, that transmit the flow of liquid capital throughout the world, also lack elasticity and pliability.
Just as the healing art is learning to eradicate the inherited and acquired diseases that cause high blood pressure, likewise education can free man from the inherited and acquired prejudices that blind his vision and keep him bound by tradition, dogma, and numerous prejudice and fear complexes.
If man can learn to think for himself and not accept blindly the beliefs of forefathers and ancestors, the independent investigation of truth will become a reality–prejudice and misunderstanding will gradually be eliminated. Man will begin to use his reasoning faculties. He will not accept blindly any belief he cannot understand.
He will see science and religion walking hand in hand, while they trample to dust the superstitions of the ages. The definition of religion will then be, man’s love for God as expressed in his attitude toward mankind; while science will make rational and systematic man’s search for truth. Wendell Phillips said, "Most men see truth not with their eyes, but with their prejudices.”
I have the feeling that I would like to psycho-analyze every person in the world. I would like to remove the “complexes,” that like abnormal growths cover the eyes and obstruct the ears. Then such stray words as “sin”—"death"—“God"—“religion"—would not close tight the door of hearing and cause the listener to become deafened by the roar of unseen fears and prejudices. The right kind of psycho-analysis can educate the subconscious mind, can remove the cataracts of fear and superstition that blind the eyes of man and cut off his vision of life. The right kind of psycho-analysis can teach man to react constructively to life experience.
Education then is a needed remedy for a lack of altruism. Until knowledge and understanding take the place of ignorance
and prejudice the hardened arteries of man will resist the normal flow of blood-capital. The diseased and overworked heart will be unable to send a normal supply of blood—currency to all parts of the body-politic.
If capital and labor are to be prevented from destroying the body of civilization, man must be educated concerning the needs of mankind, concerning the interdependence and oneness of mankind, concerning the love of mankind, concerning the need for an independent investigation of truth.
The first step toward a new social synthesis is a change in the heart of man. Universal education in the science of altruism is the first remedy for the economic disease of the body-politic.
The second remedy for suffering men is the formation of laws that will protect both capital and labor, and at the same time preserve the order and well being of the whole world.
How can Universal Peace be established?
We look about us for signs of a positive force, and we become conscious of countless efforts the world over to establish union, harmony, construction. The League of Nations, the World Court, the Interchurch Movement, the League for Peace and Freedom, the International Council of Women, an International Auxiliary Language are a few of the positive efforts toward construction.
These are all comparatively recent. But when we search carefully the library of the world we are amazed to discover that over seventy-five years ago the seed of a universal concept was definitely implanted in the human consciousness. The Personification of positive, constructive, universal love dwelt among men and radiated to all created beings his knowledge of all life.
In a Turkish prison, derided, persecuted and banished from the sight of men for forty years, Bahá’u’lláh, the Persian Seer, lived and radiated his Consciousness of Universal Love, Universal Harmony, Universal Peace to all the world.
By gladly sacrificing his earthly comfort he succeeded in implanting in the human consciousness a realization of the need and the possibility of Universal Peace.
Like a seed, that realization has grown throughout the world until today we can scarcely pick up a magazine, or newspaper, listen to a lecture, or read a book without gaining some idea that leads to a thought of Universal Peace. The seed that was planted seventy-five years ago is sending forth roots and branches and leaves. Ere long that seed shall have become a mighty tree that will cover the whole earth–for Universal Peace is growing nearer every day.
How can Universal Peace be realized?
By an inculcation in the consciousness of men of the Universal Principles that Bahá’u’lláh, the Great Physician of this Day, has contributed for the healing of the nations. The heart of man will then become so permeated by the love of peace that he will radiate that condition to the outside world. “All men will become as brothers.” Almost automatically laws will be created and fulfilled that will make possible a permanent and enduring Peace of the World.
The earth will be covered by human beings who think in terms of one race–the human race. Millions of souls will recognize the brotherhood of man through the Fatherhood of God. Love and understanding will replace the hate and prejudice that accompanies ignorance. Knowledge, human and divine, is spreading through the human family. The governments of the world will all strive toward unity.
ALL the peoples of the world are beginning to feel an opposition to the burden of heavy armaments and of militarism. The idea of the limitation of armaments has been broached, and, in fact, treated by the great International Conference held in this country. The second Conference being planned for by the nations of the world is urged by this country and is quite certain to be held either in this country or in Geneva. It is plain, however, that the logical development of the idea of the limitation of armaments is toward the practical abolition of armaments, provided that all nations move simultaneously in this direction. It would be extremely unwise for any one nation to reduce its armaments to the vanishing point unless every other nation were doing the same thing. It is for this reason that those extreme lovers of peace who urge abolition of all armaments in their respective countries are viewed somewhat with alarm even by those who long for world peace, and are held to be somewhat unpatriotic. Their aim is noble, but the means perhaps unwise. The following statement of ’Abdu’l-Bahá, given in answer to inquiry by a prominent European concerning peace and war, makes very clear the situation here mentioned and the way in which disarmament must safely come about.—Editor.
“By a general agreement all the governments of the world must disarm simultaneously. It will not do if one lays down its arms and the other refuses to do so. The nations of the world must concur with each other concerning this supremely important subject, thus they may abandon together the deadly weapons of human slaughter. . .
“When we speak of Universal Peace, we mean that all the governments must change their fleets of battleships and dreadnaughts to a mighty fleet of merchant marine, plying the oceans of the world, uniting the distant shores and interweaving the commercial, intellectual and moral forces of mankind. But should England alone transform the character of her warships, she would be at the mercy of her enemies and would remain powerless and defenseless. The British Isles would unquestionably be threatened by a powerful, invading, well-disciplined host. Hence, aside from any national prowess, the English people would be pushed into this weltering whirlpool of military and naval expenditures, and would be struggling to keep their heads above the seething water all around them, which, unless calmed down, would drown all of them, irrespective of any nationality.
“No, the question of disarmament must be put into practice by all the nations and not only by one or two. Consequently the advocates of peace must strive day and night so that the individuals of every country may become peace-loving, public opinion may gain a strong and permanent footing, and day by day the army of international peace be increased, complete disarmament be realized and the flag of universal conciliation be waving on the summit of the mountains of the earth. . . .
“Once the Parliament of Man is established and its constituent parts organized, the governments of the world having entered into a covenant of eternal friendship will have no need of keeping large standing armies and navies. A few battalions to preserve internal order, and an international police to keep the highways of the seas clear, are all that will be necessary. Then these huge sums will be diverted to other more useful channels, pauperism will disappear, knowledge will increase, the victories of peace will be sung by poets and bards, knowledge will improve the conditions . . . thus will the world of humanity become a mirror reflecting the virtues and attributes of the Kingdom of God.”
THERE are two influences tending toward prosperity and progress which emanate from the forefront of advancement of the world of humanity. . . .
One is the influence of civilization—that development of the world of nature that concerns the material life of man. It promotes physical advancement and cultivates the social virtues. The laws and deductions of science, so indispensable to progress, are the product of the lofty thoughts of sound minds, the accumulated results of the efforts of ancient and modern scholars. The most effective power for the promotion and dissemination of this influence is just government.
The other is the divine influence, the holy and spiritual revelations, which insure eternal glory, everlasting happiness, the illumination of the world, the appearance of merciful phenomena in the world of humanity, and perpetual life. The fundamental basis thereof is the teachings and precepts of the prophets, the dictates and attraction of the conscience, which belong to the realm of morality. Like unto the lamp they illuminate and brighten the depths and recesses of human realities. The effective power of this is the Word of God.
But the advancement of civilization, material perfections and human virtues will bear no fruit or result unless joined to the spiritual perfections, merciful qualities and sound morals; and the happiness of the human world, which is the original goal, will not be attained. For although through the advancement of civilization and the adornment and refinement of the material world, happiness is realized, and the sight of hopes fulfilled in perfect beauty wins the heart, yet, concomitantly, great dangers, severe ordeals and awful catastrophes are involved.
Now, when ye behold the order and regularity of countries, cities and villages, the attractive adornment, the delicacy of the blessings, the suitability of implements, the ease of transportation and traveling, the extension of knowledge of the facts of the world of nature, the great inventions and gigantic undertakings and the fine and artistic discoveries, ye shall say that civilization is the cause of happiness and the development of the human world.
Yet again, when ye glance over the inventions of infernal instruments of destruction, the creation of the forces of ruin, the discovery of fiery means which cut at the root of life, it becomes plainly evident that civilization is twin with savagery and a concomitant thereof, unless material civilization be aided by divine guidance, merciful appearance, heavenly thoughts, and become joined to the spiritual states, the perfections of the kingdom of God and the divine bounties. . . .
Therefore this civilization and material development must be led by the Great Guidance; the mundane world must be made the place for the appearance of the bounties of the kingdom; material advancement must be made twin with merciful revelation. Thus may the human world appear as the representative of the (heavenly) assembly on the plane of existence, and the exposition of divine evidence may reveal itself in the greatest sweetness and loveliness. Thus may eternal happiness and glory find realization.
Praise be to God! For centuries and cycles the banner of civilization has been raised, the human world has day by day advanced and developed, the material world has flourished and outward perfections increased until now the world of human existence has attained great capacity for the spiritual teachings and divine summons. . . .
Know ye verily that the happiness of the world of humanity is dependent upon the unity and solidarity of mankind, and that material and spiritual progress both rest upon universal friendliness and love among human individuals. . . .
Today no power save the great power of the Word of God, which comprehends the realities of things, can gather together under the shade of the same tree, the minds and hearts of the world of humanity. It is the motive-power of all things; it is the mover of souls and the controller and governor of the human world.—From a Tablet of ’Abdu’l-Bahá to East and West. (STAR OF THE WEST, Vol. 6, p. 65.)
communities and religions may find their highest wish realized in it. At present the teachings of His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh are such that all the communities of the world, whether religious, political or ethical, ancient or modern, find in the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh the expression of their highest wish.
AT PRESENT Universal Peace is a matter of great importance, but unity of conscience is essential, so that the foundation of this matter may become secure, its establishment firm and its edifice strong.
THERE MUST be peace between the fatherlands; peace between the religions. In this period of evolution the world of humanity is in danger. Every war is against the good pleasure of the Lord of mankind. Man is the edifice of God. War destroys the divine edifice. Peace is the stay of life; war the cause of death. If an active, actual peace is brought about, the human world will attain to the utmost serenity and composure. Wolves will be transformed into lambs; devils into angels and terrors into divine splendors in less than the twinkling of an eye.
EVERY AGE requires a central impetus or movement. In this age, the boundaries of terrestial things have extended; minds have taken on a broader range of vision; realities have been unfolded and the secrets of being have been brought into the realm of visibility. What is the spirit of this age, what is its focal point? It is the establishment of Universal Peace, the establishment of the knowledge that humanity is one family.
THIS IS the Day in which war and contention shall be forgotten. This is the Day in which nations and governments will enter into an eternal bond of amity and conciliation. This century is the fulfillment of the promised century.
A NEW dispensation, or cycle of time has dawned for humanity, and woman, ever the potential mother, shall arise from her long years of bondage and inferiority and take her place in the Divine Plan, in fact her position in the new age is preeminent.
"THE most momentous question of this day is international peace and arbitration; and Universal Peace is impossibie without universal suffrage. Children are educated by the women. The mother bears the troubles and anxieties of rearing the child; undergoes the ordeal of its birth and training. Therefore it is most difficult for mothers to send those upon whom they have lavished such love and care, to the battlefield. Consider, a son reared and trained twenty years by a devoted mother. What sleepless nights and restless, anxious days she has spent! Having brought him through dangers and difficulties to the age of maturity, how agonizing then to sacrifice him upon the battlefield! Therefore the mothers will not sanction war nor be satisfied with it. So it will come to pass that when women participate fully and equally in the affairs of the world, enter confidently and capably the great arena of laws and politics, war will cease; for woman will be the obstacle and hindrance to it. This is true and without doubt.”—'Abdu’l’Bahá.
Motherhood and womanhood are in reality one, for every true woman is a manifestation of the mother spirit, whether she is ever a physical mother or not. How often do we find in a home that some maiden aunt is far more a true mother to the children than she who bore them? The reality of motherhood is a state of spiritual consciousness and she who has attained to the highest station of motherhood embraces in her arms the whole world of humanity.
The dominant thought in the mind today is one of reverence and love directed from the child, old or young, to the mother, but I would bring to your attention another angle of the subject, i. e., that of the mother in her relation to the child and the grave responsibility that is hers.
Prenatal influences, both mental and emotional, help to build up or weaken the characteristics of the little soul about to be launched upon the ocean of mortal life. The mother is the first educator of her child and the early impressions engraved upon its mind last throughout its entire life.
We are living in the days of the fulfillment of the wonderful prophecies given forth by our Lord Jesus Christ, when God’s Kingdom shall be established here upon earth as it is in heaven, and it is the mother who can best help in the reconstruction of the world and in the establishment of Universal Peace. Today the power of Divine Love is working in and through her heart as never before.
- When chaos reigned and all unformed
- was man,
- The great creative Fatherhood of God
- Proclaimed in mighty tones, “Let there be
- Light,”
- And in that Light creation did appear.
- Today a mental chaos doth prevail,
- Man seeks as savage beast with brutal
- power
- To kill and to destroy his brother man.
- Hark! hark! another Voice must yet be
- heard
- Above the chaos of the battlefields,
- Above the wild delirium of war;
- E’en through the heart of woman now it
speaks ,
- And shall be heard, the Mother-Voice
- Divine.
- She who has borne in hours of untold
- pain,
- Strong, manly sons, only to give them up,
- To see them slain before her very eyes,
- Amid the din of battle and its roar,
- Its useless sacrifice of all she holds most
- dear,
- To avarice–the hellish greed of man,
- Her voice doth cry, and nations now must
- hear:
- “Let war forever cease." The Voice that
- said,
- "Let there be Light," hath rent the veil
- Of darkest night and cries, “LET
- THERE BE PEACE.”
- In mighty tones above earth’s blood-stained
- sod,
- High, clear, now speaks that MOTHER
- VOICE OF GOD.
As a follower of the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, I would urge that the Basic Principles contained in these divine instructions, which are one with the divine teachings of Christ, but put in a more concrete and fuller form, applicable to the needs of our modern problems, be studied by all women that they may the better educate, first themselves and then their own, or others’ children.
Each child should be taught by its mother the "oneness of the world of humanity,” that biologically there is no difference in the blood of the different races; all are the children of the one God, therefore all racial prejudice, religious prejudice, and all barriers should be removed. The child of the past has had instilled into his consciousness from the first hours of comprehension, hatred and distrust for those of another race or religion. Mothers must teach their children that:
- "God is one, all men are one,
- And faith is ever the same,
- That Love is still the nearest word
- To hint the nameless NAME;
- This is the creed of the East and West
- When you probe to the depths, my son,
- For the Word of the Lord is UNITY
- And the Wil1 of the Lord shall be done;
- Hands may be black, white, yellow or
- brown,
- But the hue of the HEART is one.”
Another Bahá’í principle is Universal Education, an education not merely intellectual, but the unfoldment of the spiritual as well as the mental powers. The development of the intellect alone has reached a high degree in our present civilization and the great World War was the outcome. The powers of mind used for destructive rather than constructive discoveries and human warfare, instead of human welfare, has been the aim of the nations. The ideals of education of the new dispensation include the heart as well as the head, man's spiritual nature as well as his mental.
Another Bahá'í principle is that every child–girl or boy–should be taught an art, craft, trade or profession, that it may have a practical means of earning a livelihood and take its place in the world as a useful citizen. It must be taught that “work is worship.” When every girl has an independent means of earning her own living, she will not desecrate the marriage vows by marrying simply to be supported, and this will give to motherhood its sacred place.
Another Bahá’í principle is Universal Peace. It is the mother who should, above all others, lend her aid in the abolishment of war, for she ever pays the greatest toll. She should inculcate the divine principles of Peace in the heart of her child. To this end all the toys and playthings which enter the child’s life should appeal to its creative powers–the aeroplanes, engines, steamers, beautifully decorated blocks with which to build houses, bridges, etc.; the arrangement of beautiful colors with crayons and all that causes the child to think along constructive lines, should be their means of entertainment. Eugene Field has written, “The little toy soldier is covered with rust.” We wish that every little toy soldier might not only be covered with rust, but the sword and gun broken; the toy pistol and cannon, soldiers’ suits and everything that bespeaks war and conflict, be relegated to the dump heap of past errors. Train the child’s mind to think along the lines of peace, of love and kindly fellowship, that it may become one of the peacemakers of the earth. This is the mothers divine privilege. “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world,” it she will but realize it.
Another Bahá’í principle is the beautiful
equality of man and woman. They are the two wings of the soul of humanity, and each should be equally developed. A daughter should be taught by her mother the divinity of motherhood, and a son the sacredness of fatherhood. Children so taught will be better equipped to meet the problems which will later confront them in their lives.
And, above all, let mothers teach their children the divine value of true Spirituality and its practical application to every condition of life. Teach the child that it “profiteth a man naught if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul.” And by spirituality I do not mean long-faced, gloomy, sanctimonious piety, but the realities of spirit, which are love, wisdom, knowledge, faith, joy, truthfulness, honor, kindliness, mercy, cheer, and all the attributes of God, and these unified in the supreme attribute of SERVICE.
When ’Abdu’l’Bahá, the great Master of Unification, was asked by a certain person, “How shall I develop true spirituality?” he replied, "Characterize yourself with the attributes of God. This is the pathway of intimate approach.” Again he said, “Cosmic Reality (which is pure spirituality) is unfolded in a soul in proportion as it functions in SERVICE. The power of the Holy Spirit is gained by serving others.”
A child so taught will not only arise to call its mother blessed, but will be a priceless gift from her to the world of humanity.
It is a great privilege to live in these days of reconstruction, of the passing away of the old–old dogmas, creeds and intolerance–and the establishing of the new ideals of Universal Love, Brotherhood and Co-operation, a privilege which so few realize. A beautiful instance of full realization of the truth is one of the World War stories of a young Australian soldier, unidentified, who died on the fields of Flanders. There was found in his pocket, written on a bit of paper, these illumined words, which bear a message of vital import to every mother in the world today:
- “Ye who have faith to look with fearless
- eyes
- Beyond the tragedy of a world at strife,
- And know that out of death and darkness
- shall arise
- The dawn of ampler Life,
- Rejoice! whatever anguish rend your
- hearts,
- That God has given you this priceless
- dower,
- To live in these great days and have your
- part
- In Freedom’s crowning hour;
- That you may tell your sons who see the
- Light
- High in the heavens, their heritage to
- take:
- ‘I saw the powers of darkness put to
- flight,
- I SAW THE MORNING BREAK.‘”
Oh, all ye women, mothers, sisters, daughters, wives–ARISE! and use your God-given powers to help free the world of all racial, religious and class prejudices, knowing that the Dawn of Love is breaking and in Its Light shall every shadow flee. The darkness of ignorance, superstition and misunderstanding shall forever pass away and we shall see each other, not through a glass darkly, but face to face and soul to soul, and enter into the Tent of UNITY in the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Glory, here on earth as it is in heaven, and in this Kingdom of high ideal, Motherhood shall ever be exalted and everyday be “Mother’s Day” in the hearts of her children, and she shall receive from their hands her everlasting diadem of reverence and love.
WE HAVE commanded the Most Great Peace, which is the greatest means for the protection of mankind. The rulers of the world must, in one accord, adhere to this command which is the main cause for the security and tranquility of the world. They (Rulers) are day-springs of the power and dawning-places of the authority of God. We beg of God to assist them in that which is conducive to the peace of the servants * * *
In every country or government where any of this community reside (the Bahá'ís) they must behave toward that government with faithfulness, trustfulness and truthfulness.
In this day it is incumbent and obligatory upon all to adhere to that which is conducive to the progress and elevation of the just government and people * * *
O people of God! Be not occupied with yourselves. Be intent on the betterment of the world and the training of nations. The betterment of the world can be accomplished through pure and excellent deeds, and well approved and agreeable conduct.
This oppressed one hath forbidden the people of God to engage in strife and conflict, and summoned them to good deeds and to spiritual and pleasing morals . . . . . . We have forbidden all to work sedition and strife; and ordain that victory he gained only through commemoration and explanation.
