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| VOL. 18 | FEBRUARY, 1928 | NO. 11 |
| Page | |
The Voice of Universal Peace { 'Abdu'l-Bahá} | 343 |
The Divine Plan for Reconciliation { 'Abdu'l-Bahá} | 351 |
Editorial, Stanwood Cobb | 323 |
The Coming of the Glory, Chapter IV, “The Sun of Truth” Florence E. Pinchon | 325 |
Reflections of a Bahá’í Traveler, Siegfried Schopflocher | 334 |
The World Vision of a Savant, Dr. Auguste Henri Forel | 339 |
Women’s Conference on Cause and Cure of War, Robert Myers | 342 |
Excerpts from the Message of President Coolidge at Havana, Cuba | 346 |
Universal Religious Peace Conference | 348 |
of Dr. Zia M. Bagdadi; preserved, fostered and by them turned over to the National Spiritual Assembly, with all valuable assets,
as a gift of love to the Cause of God.STANWOOD COBB | Editor |
MARIAM HANEY | Associate Editor |
ALLEN B. MCDANIEL | Business Manager |
Subscriptions: $3.00 per year; 25 cents a copy. Two copies to same name and address, $5.00 per year. Please send change of address by the middle of the month and be sure to send OLD as well as NEW address. Kindly send all communications and make postoffice orders and checks payable to Baha'i News Service, 706 Otis Building, Washington, D. C., U. S. A. Entered as second-class matter April 9, 1911, at the postoffice at Washington, D. C., under the Act of March 3, 1897. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103 Act of October 3, 1917, authorized September 1, 1922.
--PHOTO--
Haifa and Mt. Carmel: Of the future of Haifa, ’Abdu’l-Bahá has said that it would become one of the first ports of the world, that it would grow to be a great industrial, cultural and educational center. Already the renaissance of Palestine under the new Jewish Movement is beginning a remarkable development of Haifa, the nearest port to the vast hinterland which was once Babylonia
| VOL. 18 | FEBRUARY, 1928 | No. 11 |
to us by the Manifestations who walk amid their glories. It remains for the soul of man to follow Them in these paths of eternal life through the exercise of its own human will.”
CRITICS OF CHRISTIANITY lay stress upon the fact that the so-called Christian world is not living out the spiritual principles given by the Messiah. Could it have been expected, however, that these divine teachings would immediately bring about a divine civilization? Where and how numerous were the human beings capable of living up to these ideals? They were but few. These few did indeed succeed in manifesting the Christ spirit in their daily lives, and with such astounding results that the whole of Europe eventually accepted the doctrines which these early Christian saints and martyrs not only taught but also exemplified.
But is it thinkable that the great mass of people then outwardly accepting Christianity would become pure and saintly Christians, as had been those Christian apostles whose exemplary lives had served to make universal the adherence to their Master’s gospel of peace and love? Anyone who understands human nature would see the impossibility of such an event. Not a hundred per cent, not fifty per cent, not twenty-five per cent, even, of the total population styling itself Christian could have been expected to even partially
live up to the teachings of Christ. They had not the capacity. Only individuals here and there, and special groups, made any successful practice of the Christian ethics.
WHAT THEN shall we say of the Christian dispensation? That it has been a failure? No, it has not been a failure. The purpose and aim of Christ’s dispensation was not to immediately establish the Kingdom of God on earth, but to prepare humanity for the coming of this Divine Civilization at a later date. This purpose has now been fulfilled. By the Twentieth Century it has come to pass that in all quarters of the globe the ethics of Christ are accepted as the most ideal, the most glorious, the most perfect that could be devised for man. Not only is there this outward recognition, there is also a vastly increased inner spiritual readiness for practicing these divine principles. There are today on earth a very great number of people of spiritual capacity sufficient to initiate them into the Divine Civilization, were such to be established. So numerous groups of deeply spiritual souls did not exist at the beginning of the Christian
dispensation. That they exist now at its culmination, is both the direct result of and the goal of the Christian dispensation. This is its success, its accomplishment.
To all who read carefully the gospel of Christ will come the realization that He announced the Kingdom of God as coming to earth not alone through man’s spiritual strivings and aspirations, but by means of another Manifestation of God, another outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and a more powerful (than in any past epoch) expression of God’s Will that this earth-planet should leave its sinful ways and rise to the plane of spiritual being.
FORTUNATELY FOR US, our destiny is not wholly left to our own control, else would we have made of this world a sorry mess. God, in His infinite love and mercy, sends from time to time His Messengers, to teach humanity and to lead it upward as far as its capacity at any epoch will permit. Now, in this present epoch, thanks to the teaching and spiritual potency of the Christ, there is a sufficient spiritual capacity in humanity for the inauguration of that perfect, divine civilization which Christ called the Kingdom of God.
Such may not appear to be the case. But essentally it is so; and the revelation of this truth will shortly take place. It will not take place, however, through man’s unaided efforts. Just as the Christian dispensation was ushered in by the spiritual influence and potency of Christ, and through the aid of the Holy Spirit which was then poured out to an unusual degree upon mankind, so the Kingdom of God will now be ushered in by that promised Manifestation which was to renew and establish in the life and practice of humanity the message of the Christ.
THIS MANIFESTATION we believe to be Bahá’u’lláh. And the spiritual power now through Him being poured down upon the earth is in degree and potency greater than at any previous epoch. It is the direct force of God’s Will-to-Perfection, as described in Christ’s parable of the Master of the Vineyard. Yes, after sending His servants, and then His Son, The Master of the Vineyard Himself is to reveal His Majestic Power in a final and decisive degree. And He will turn over the management of His Vineyard to others than those who have been exploiting it and abusing their power.
What is this Vineyard, if not the world of humanity itself? And who are the unworthy husbandmen, but those selfish, exploiting type of men who have up till now controlled earth’s outer destinies? What is meant by the phrase in Luke 20:16—“He will come and destroy these husbandmen and give the Vineyard to others”? Clearly it implies that in order to bring about the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth, our Lord will cause the scepter of power to pass from the hands of unspiritual man (materialistic, greedy, self-seeking) into the hands of spiritual man (unselfish, severed, seeking only the welfare of others).
UNLESS SUCH a transition of power should take place, it is quite evident that the Perfect Civilization could not be established in outer form on earth, but would continue to exist only as a concept and an ideal in the hearts of a spiritually-minded minority.
How is the power of rule to be transferred from men aggressive to men peaceful, from men exploiting to men serviceable, from men of animal propensities to men of spiritual propensities? That is a mystery which has not yet been revealed.
But all things are possible with God. And it behooveth individual man to concern himself at this critical epoch of the earth with increasing his own spiritual capacity to the point of effective functioning, and to earnestly invite others to enter through the open door of the Spirit to the plane of the Kingdom. Ere long the Power of God will appear and make Itself felt—and the door will be closed upon unspiritual man, not by any outer arbitrary law but in accordance with the law of his own being. Only spiritual man can
flourish in a spiritual civilization. This is a truth so evident as to be axiomatic.
Now it becomes clear why ’Abdu’l-Bahá urged Bahá’ís to actually put in practice the divine art of living for “ere long the assayers of mankind shall in the holy presence of the adored one accept naught but the essence of virtue and pure and holy deeds. This is the day-star of wisdom and divine mystery that hath shone above the horizon of the divine will. Well is it with them that turn thereunto.”
“O Son of Man! How long wilt thou be asleep upon thy couch? Lift thy head from slumber for verily the Sun hath already reached midday, that it may shine upon thee with the lights of Beauty.”-Bahá’u’lláh.
“Shadows disappear when a Universal Lamp is lighted.”—’Abdu’l-Bahá.
[Synopsis of previous installments: Chapter I, “The Argument,” and Chapter II, “Night,” explained most convincingly the conditions preceding the dawn of a New Day and reviewed briefly various aspects of history, showing the great need for the coming of the new Spiritual Springtime; how, during the last eighty years, a mysterious Spiritual Power has been gradually revitalizing and renewing the whole world, and how some who had kept their vision clear and who longed for the coming of God's Kingdom on earth, had set out to find the Master of a New Day. Chapter III, “The Morning Star,” told dramatically and brilliantly the story of the life and martyrdom of the Báb, who was the Herald of the new dispensation.]
THE Morning Star pales its radiance before the Rising Sun. The Herald has fulfilled His task. The Promised One is here.
Amid the confusion of this reign of terror, there emerged into the
* Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá'í Cause, has referred to the book, “The Coming of the Glory,” now appearing from mouth to month in serial form in this magazine, in the following words: “The book is correct in its presentation of the essentials of the Faith, eminently readable, exquisitely arranged, and has a distinctive charm unsurpassed by any book of its kind, whether written by Eastern or Western believers. I heartily recommend it to every earnest and devout teacher of the Cause.”
anguished arena another Leader—Mirza Hussain Ali of Noor—subsequently known as Bahá’u’lláh, i. e., Glory of God.
Born on the 12th of November, 1817, Bahá’u’lláh, like the Lord Gautama, was reared in luxury and refinement, His family being one of the noblest and wealthiest in Persia. Like His great Forerunner also, He had, from infancy, exhibited signs of greatness, profound erudition, unerring wisdom. When only nine years old, He frequented the Cabinet of Ministers. At twelve, as Jesus in the Temple, He spoke in important assemblies on intricate metaphysical and religious problems, with a knowledge and inspiration to which all paid the greatest deference. When
His father, a minister of state, died, every position in the Government was open to His brilliant eldest son. But, like the Buddha, He forsook the riches of earth, and went forth fearlessly and alone, in order that once again to wandering men might be revealed the pathway of Renunciation that leads to the Palace of Life.
Now that pathway had led Him from the foot of the throne to the foulest of the imperial dungeons. Although His innocence regarding the attack on the Shah was indisputably proved, His house was sacked, His possessions confiscated, His family captured and stoned.
In a dark and filthy dungeon, already overcrowded with thieves and assassins, heavily chained about the neck, this gently-nurtured, heroic man of God lay, with some of His followers, for four months. Every day one or more of them were taken out to torture or death. These would answer the dreadful summons with joy, kiss the hands of Bahá’u’lláh, and hasten with eagerness to the place of martyrdom. Impossible! No, for this gloomy prison-house was alight with such divine Love, enthusiasm and spiritual happiness that it had become to these souls the very gate of heaven!
Bahá’u’lláh relates how one night He had a dream, in which He heard voices all about Him speaking marvelous words of comfort and assurance.
“Grieve not for that which hath befallen thee and have no fear * * * Verily thou art of them who are secure * * *. Verily We will aid thee to triumph by thyself and by thy pen.”
But it seemed as though the body of Bahá’u’lláh would not longer endure the frightful suffering, when He was summoned again before the Tribunal, and partly owing to the kindly intervention of the Russian
Ambassador, sentence of death was commuted to one of exile.
Oh, that long and terrible journey in the depths of winter to Baghdad! The insufficient food and clothing, the lack of vital necessities, the exposure and fatigue! Only the love of Bahá’u’lláh for the world He came to redeem, only the love that He inspired in His family and disciples made it possible to endure and survive. Yet in one of His Tablets He wrote:
“The more they heap persecutions upon us, the more our Cause will spread. If they drown us in the sea, my voice will be raised from the desert. If they throw me down from the mountains, my voice will be heard from the sea! Because I have come, not of myself, but by the command of God.”
In those last words lay the source of the strength, the secret of this Holy Messenger. “Not of myself * * * but of God.” Did not Christ say the same? “I do the Will of Him that sent me.”
Baghdad—to the Western mind what a glamour seems always to hang over that ancient city of the Tigris, whose yellow-red brick walls, terraced roofs, countless turrets and gleaming domes rise from the midst of its date-palms and pomegranates, olives and fig-trees. Baghdad—for five centuries the seat of the powerful Caliphates. Baghdad of the cruel Tartars, the cause of constant rivalries and bloodshed. Baghdad—which the influence of Muhammadanism made the center of the great Arabian civilization. Baghdad of Haroun-al-Raschid and his beloved Zobeida, when at the pinnacle of its prosperity and learning, through it poured the riches of India and Persia, Turkestan and Arabia.
But when in the year 1853, the exhausted and destitute little band of exiles reached the shelter of its portals, the city had lost much of its former greatness. Yet, merchants and traders from every part of the Eastern and even from the Western world still thronged its fine bazaars. While Arabs and Turks, Persians and Indians, Jews and Christians, jostled each other in the narrow unpaved streets; and caravans laden with merchandise “took the golden road to Samarkhand.”
This banishment, thought the enemies of the Cause, would exterminate the Bábí Movement in Persia, and effectually put an end to the influence of Bahá’u’lláh. But how foolish was their wisdom! In this cosmopolitan center the result was exactly opposite, and the field offered for the spread of the new Message was wider than ever. While for the historian of the future the greatest glory of Baghdad will be that, for eleven years, it was the home of a Savior of mankind.
Yet, even here, not for one moment did enemies leave Him in peace; among them now being a foe of His own household. Subh-i-Azal, a half-brother, arrived in the town and, instigated by jealousy, sought to undermine His influence.
So, presently, Bahá’u’lláh, leaving both those who loved and those who hated Him, went forth secretly into the mountains.
These times of withdrawal from all the world’s turmoil and distraction, these spiritual breathing-spaces for uninterrupted communion with God, seem necessary to those upon whose divine humanity has been laid world responsibility. Moses seeks the heights of Sinai, Buddha the Indian forests, Jesus the wilderness, Bahá’u’lláh the wilds of Kurdistan. Here in caves and grottoes, often without food or rest, clothed in
poorest raiment, wandered Bahá’u’lláh for two years. Of this period of His life little is known. Yet His influence made itself felt. Reports soon spread, even through these isolated regions, that a man of remarkable knowledge and power of attraction was among them. Though in so poor and lowly a condition, affection and reverence followed Him wherever He passed. As ’Abdu’l-Bahá, His son, tells us: “An atmosphere of majesty haloed Him as the Sun at noonday,” and “Kurdistan became magnetized with His love.”
The holy confirmations that descended upon Him during this period Bahá’u’lláh describes in the following wonderful words:
“I was as one amongst mankind, slumbering upon my couch. The gales of the All-Glorious passed by me and taught me the knowledge of what hath been. This thing is not from me, but from One who is mighty and all-knowing. He bade me proclaim betwixt the earth and the heaven, and for this hath there befallen me that whereat the eyes of those who know overflow with tears * * *. This is a leaf which the breezes of the Will of thy Lord, the Mighty, the Extolled have stirred. Can it be still when the rushing winds blow? * * *. His decisive Command did come, causing me to speak for His Celebration amidst the worlds!”
Then from the mountain-top Bahá’u’lláh descended again to the world of men at Baghdad. Oh! the joy of that reunion! ’Abdu’l-Bahá, the little Son, falling overwhelmed at the feet of His Father and Lord.
During the remaining years passed in this city, ’Abdu’l-Bahá grew from boyhood into early manhood. His devotion to and care of His Father
being wonderful to see. Indeed the Son’s will and understanding reflected always that of His Father’s, as Bahá’u’lláh mirrored forth to men the Eternal Mystery and Perfect Will of God.
While still quite young ’Abdu’l-Bahá sought to protect His Father from the visits of the merely curious or the insincere. He interviewed them first, answering questions and giving counsel with a sagacity that astonished all who met Him. He assisted the family and assumed most of the household responsibilities.
This was a period of great activity for the Cause. Bahá’u’lláh bent His energy and attention to organizing and directing the enthusiasm of the believers; teaching them the true significance of the Báb’s mission and preparing them to recognize the Manifestation foretold. From far and near people of all nations and faiths, including many prominent men, came to visit Bahá’u’lláh, and hear His teachings. To them he revealed the Oneness of Mankind: “Ye are all leaves of one tree, drops of one sea, flowers of one garden.” This teaching lies at the very heart of this Revelation, inculcating in human beings a new keen sense of their identity.
He taught that the great Founders of religions, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Muhammad, Christ, were all Messengers of God, perfect mirrors reflecting His attributes to men. The essence of the teachings they delivered is the same throughout the ages, only the outward forms being changed according to the requirements of the times in which they were given. The Light is the same in whatever lamp it is burning; the sun, whether it shines from the East or from the West. The Manifestation about to be revealed would bring to a riven world the divine gift of religious unity.
With irrefutable arguments that satisfied and illumined all sincere enquirers, Bahá’u’lláh expounded to the Moslems the prophecies and inner meanings of the Qur’án, and the clear declaration made by Muhammad as to the coming of a Mahdi in the day of resurrection. He reminded the Jew of the prophecies in the Old Testament regarding the long period of exile and oppression the Children of Israel would endure before the Lord of Hosts would appear to gather them from all nations. To the Christians He unfolded the sayings of Christ as to the many wars and afflictions which would occur until the Coming of the Son of Man “in the glory of the Father.” To the Zoroastrian and Sufi the warnings they had received as to the three thousand years of conflict that must pass before the Coming of Shah Bahram to establish a reign of peace and righteousness.
He unfolded the meaning of Life, its essential unity and interdependence, and states of spiritual consciousness realized by the soul both here and hereafter. Such knowledge could only have been innate and inspired, acquired—even had it been possible—in no earthly college.
The envoys that the Mullahs, still plotting against Him, sent to test Him, returned, confounded, acknowledging the peerlessness of His wisdom and understanding.
A request was brought that Bahá’u’lláh should perform. some miracle as proof of His Prophethood. But he made answer that “miracles” so called, were not in themselves proofs of Prophethood, being but the operation of law, as yet little known to man. But, whatever sign they desired and agreed upon, He was willing to give on condition that, if fulfilled, they would cease their opposition. From so fearless a challenge they shrank in dismay; realizing
that, in the open, they dared not meet Him. Angry and baffled they persisted in their efforts to obtain His removal.
But while the dark intrigues and machinations of His foes and of the Persian and Turkish Governments were gathering round Him, Bahá’u’lláh remained serene and confident. Always very happy with nature, He would walk in the evenings along the banks of the Tigris, where the quaint round boats of basketwork, covered with skins, plied busily their way, even as they did, perchance, in the days when Babylon and Nineveh were mighty cities of the land. Returning with radiant face, Bahá’u’lláh would proceed to write down verses of exquisite beauty and wisdom. Verses within which are enfolded meaning upon meaning of comfort, rebuke, illumination. The precious manuscripts had to be carefully concealed for a long time from the ever-present enemy; but now the translations from the original Persian and Arabic have been given to us in the little book known as “Hidden Words,” from which the following few excerpts are quoted:
“O Son of Spirit! The first counsel is: Possess a good, a pure, an enlightened heart, that thou mayest possess a Kingdom, eternal, immortal, ancient and without end.”
“O Son of Being! By the hands of power I have made thee, and by the fingers of strength have I created thee, I have placed in thee the essence of My Light; therefore depend upon it and upon nothing else, for My Action is perfect, and My Command has effect.”
“O Son of Spirit! I have created thee rich, why dost thou make thyself poor? Noble have I made thee, why dost thou degrade thyself? Of the essence
of knowledge I have manifested thee; why searchest thou for another than Me? From the clay of love I have kneaded thee; why desirest thou another? Turn thy sight unto thyself, that thou mayest find Me, standing within thee, Powerful, Mighty, and Supreme!”
At length, in 1863, the long-anticipated blow fell.
Bahá’u’lláh was summoned by the Sultan to Constantinople. Consternation reigned amongst the believers everywhere. They thronged His house dismayed and heart-broken. So great was the pressure that it was decided, while preparations were being made for the long journey, to camp outside the town in a garden belonging to a certain Pasha.
In this garden of Ridvan, during these twelve days (April 21 to May 3) took place an important event in Bahá’í history. For Bahá’u’lláh announced to His immediate followers that He, Himself, was the Promised One of all the faiths and ages–the Manifestation of God to men. As a great Physician He had come to heal a sin-sick world. As the sun in the Springtime to make all things new. He had come to establish an era of universal progress and enlightenment. He upon whose head any moment the sword might fall, yet showed Himself dignified, assured, exalted—changing the sorrow of His followers into joy, their fears into confidence and enthusiasm. Friends from far and near crowded the gardens, even the Governor and officials coming to pay a last deference to the gracious and noble Exile.
So the great Drama unfolds itself. Slowly the caravan, consisting of Bahá’u’lláh, His family and some seventy followers who refused to leave Him, moved forward on the
long trek to Constantinople. Throughout the day, by the side of His Father’s wagon rode ’Abdu’l-Bahá. At night He guarded His tent, never all through that journey relaxing in the most watchful vigilance.
Now scene after scene of suffering and persecution followed. Confinement in utterly inadequate quarters. Questioning and hostility from the clergy and authorities. Then further banishment through the heavily-falling snow, again in a state bordering on destitution, to Adrianople.
Here in this important city of Roumelia, imprisonment again in verminous, overcrowded rooms. But through it all the majesty of the Prisoner shone more and more clearly. As calamities increased, only the brighter grew His radiance, spiritual influence and authority. An authority that even His bitter enemies acknowledged and feared. As Bahá’u’lláh wrote:
“I am not impatient of calamities in His way, nor of afflictions for His love and at His good pleasure. God hath made afflictions as a morning shower to His green pasture, and as a wick for His lamp, whereby earth and heaven are illumined.”
At length came a little relief from the acute hardships; the gathering together again of a large following; the writing of many important works, and among them His now famous Epistles to the Kings. In language eloquently appealing, yet authoritative, He, their prisoner, addressed the Shah of Persia and the Sultan of Turkey, rebuking their tyrannies, summoning them to righteousness and just government. He also wrote other Letters to the crowned heads of Europe, proclaiming His station as a Messenger from God; exhorting them to establish justice in their countries and international peace. Many of
the startling prophecies contained in these Epistles have already found fulfillment.
Then Bahá’u’lláh made a public declaration of His mission; and from this time on His followers became known as Bahá’ís, i. e., followers of the Light. The Cause began now to definitely assume a universal significance. Not only the East needed to be illumined, guided, purified, but also the West. As a great trumpet call the voice of God’s Messenger rang across the world, and is ringing today with ever-increasing insistence.
“This is the hour of unity of the sons of men * * *. All nations should become one in faith, and all men as brothers; the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; diversity of religion should cease, and differences of race be annulled * * *. So it shall be! These fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the Most Great Peace shall come.”
Today these ideas are alive in the world and steadily growing in importance. But sixty years ago they would have been considered, except by a few, impossible dreams.
Then came the enemies’ final challenge-banishment to a penal colony in northern Palestine, a place to which only criminals of the worst type were sent to die—to the most great prison of ’Akká.
’Akká—on the last day of August, 1868—its cold, grim fortifications frowning at the shrinking group of harassed prisoners, some seventy in number—men, women and children—whose jail it was to be till kindly death would set them free. And as the gates of “this most desolate of cities and metropolis of the owl”
closed behind them, this must have been the tragic end, had Bahá’u’lláh’s mission not been of Divine Origin and Mandate. But instead of defeat, it became the crowning glory of His long passion and travail for the souls of men.
On arrival, the whole company were, at once, flung into two indescribably foul rooms; deprived of proper drinking water, beds and food. Consequently malaria, dysentery, typhoid and other sicknesses befel them all. Even their dead were treated as dogs. No one was allowed outside the prison door, except under guard. So pestilential was the climate and prevailing conditions, that it was said “a bird could not fly over ’Akká and live.”
For two years they suffered these appalling miseries. But during all the time the little company remained in great spiritual happiness, rejoicing to share in the afflictions of their beloved Leader and Lord. And many of them lived to see even the climate undergo a wonderful transformation; and the Governor of ’Akká, in willing obedience to Bahá’u’lláh’s request, repair the old Roman aqueduct; thus supplying the town with clean, fresh water. ’Abdu’l-Bahá’s loving skill and care for them, especially during the times of grave sickness, was also a source of infinite solace. While the Prophet wrote:
“Fear not. These doors will be opened. My tent shall be pitched on Mt. Carmel and the utmost joy shall be realized.”
Yet communication with the outside world and with the believers in Persia and other countries was entirely cut off. Picture the soldiers even splitting open the loaves of bread brought in to the prisoners, lest they should contain a message!
But look! Far away on a moat encircling
those forbidding walls, walls which once had echoed to the victorious shouts of the Crusaders, stand a group of pilgrims from Persia. They had traveled on foot all the way-a journey of six months—enduring great hardships, running grave risks, in order to obtain a glimpse of their Master. He stands at the barrack window. They gaze upon Him and weep. Then turn reluctantly away, filled with renewed strength for service and sacrifice. A proof of spiritual attraction surely rare in the annals of history!
During these long years of confinement in this gloomy prison-house Bahá’u’lláh penned numberless Tablets, dealing with every department and phase of life, both material and spiritual. In them he laid down the great principles that are to serve as foundation stones whereon to erect the new edifice of a divine civilization. For to Bahá’u’lláh “religion is not one of life’s several aspects, but the predominant spirit which expresses itself through all aspects, producing in its purity, harmony among the diverse elements of will, imagination, feeling and thought. First, the realization of God; then the realization of self; then the realization of one’s relation to his fellow men and to the world.” (Paper read at Conference on Religions in 1924.)
Some of these writings would make an appeal to the most simple, others to the most profound minds. The principles one can grasp at once; the teachings and their application demand the study and the devotion of a lifetime. Indeed, the true significance of the mission and station of Bahá’u’lláh none can fully grasp, while the meaning and purpose of the New Revelation only future centuries will unfold. “For through Him appeared all that was hidden and invisible from all eternity * * *.
Through Him the standard of knowledge is planted in the world, and the banner of unity is raised among the nations. The meeting of God cannot be obtained save through meeting Him * * *. The One who hath come from the heaven of Pre-existence with the Greatest Name, and with a power that the hosts of the earth fail to withstand.” (Bahá’í Scriptures, p. 153.)
Bahá’u’lláh is the Voice of God. In His writings it is clear that sometimes He speaks as a man, entirely submissive and obedient to the Will of God. At other times He speaks as God, Himself, and writes as the Supreme and Eternal Pen. “There hath not been in my soul but the Truth, and in myself naught could be seen but God.”
So passed the years, until one day Bahá’u’lláh expressed longing to gaze again upon the beauties of nature He had always so greatly loved. He said: “I have not gazed on verdure for nine years. The country is the world of the soul, the city the world of bodies.” ’Abdu’l-Bahá determined that His Father’s implied wish should be fulfilled, and at once set about trying to find means for its accomplishment. In wonderful ways these were discovered. And ’Abdu’l-Bahá, in spite of the repeated orders forbidding prisoners to venture outside the city walls, was able to leave the town and arrange for the residence of His Father and the family in a beautiful home a few miles distant. So Bahá’u’lláh, regardless of man-imposed restrictions, at length threw his prison-bonds aside and passed out to the freedom of a home at Bahji.
And now, although still nominally a prisoner, He lived again as a “prince” among men. Not with outward
magnificence and luxury, but in a blessed state of freedom from privations and confinement, and as a Spiritual King among His devoted followers.
From every quarter poured in a continuous stream of pilgrims, devotees and seekers after Truth. The offerings of hundreds of thousands of loyal and ardent disciples were laid at his feet. Prominent people, Governors and officials constantly sought for admission to His presence. But ’Abdu’l-Bahá, guarding as ever His beloved parent, admitted very few, undertaking the duty and responsibilities of meeting and talking with all comers. When those in official authority came, they were either refused admittance, or when allowed to enter, were almost overcome with reverence and awe.
In the light of these events, it is interesting to recall an ancient Muhammandan saying which runs: “Blessed is he who has visited ’Akká, and blessed is that one who has visited the Visitor of ’Akká.”
The following remarkable and now well-known description of a visit to Bahá’u’lláh by the late Prof. Browne of Cambridge, is taken from “A Traveler’s Narrative.”
* * * “A second or two elapsed ere, with a throb of wonder and awe, I became definitely conscious that the room was not untenanted. In the corner where the divan met the wall sat a wondrous and venerable figure, crowned with a felt headdress of the kind called “taj” by dervishes, but of unusual height and make, round the base of which was wound a small white turban. The face of Him on whom I gazed I can never forget, tho-ugh I cannot describe it. Those piercing eyes seemed to read one’s very soul; power and authority sat on that ample brow, while the deep lines on the forehead and face implied an age which the jet-black
hair and beard flowing down in indistinguishable luxuriance almost to the waist seemed to belie. No need to ask in whose presence I stood, as I bowed myself before One who is the object of a devotion and love which kings might envy and emperors sigh for in vain.”
On the 28th of May, 1892, at the age of seventy-five, Bahá’u’lláh passed out from His earthly tabernacle and ascended to the realms of that Supreme Concourse from whence He had come to be the Guide and Teacher of men. He was laid to rest in a beautiful tomb on the plain of ’Akká, close to the mansion of Bahji.
So once again in the story of the Ages a Divine Being has known crucifixion and exaltation, humiliation and adoration in the sacred land of Palestine. Upon the Mount of Elijah He pitched His tent of glory, even as He predicted. And from the top of Carmel, as from the prison of ’Akká, Bahá’u’lláh is making His voice heard throughout the world today.
For today is the “Day of Resurrection” from material conceptions, effete ideas, worn-out customs. This is the great “Day of Judgment” so often predicted in the Bible, which was to come in the “last days”—that is, at the end of the age, or world-cycle. For the Coming of the Glory of God in Bahá’u’lláh has been, and still is, a time of supreme trial and testing, both for individuals and for every nation on earth.
But now “the people that walked
in darkness have seen a great Light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the Light shined.”
“Unto you that fear My Name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings.” Yes, with healing for all the sickness, physical, mental and spiritual, of a sinful, discordant, weary world.
With unmistakable clarity Bahá’u’lláh has stated His mission and offered irrefutable proofs of His claim. “Surely the Father hath come and hath fulfilled that which you were promised in the Kingdom of God.”
“Verily He hath come from Heaven as He came from it the first time.”
“Fear God * * * follow Him who hath appeared unto you with manifest knowledge and evident certainty.” (Bahá’í Scriptures.)
With “evident certainty,” for by the fulfillment of prophecy; by the creative power of His words, which can change and transform all hearts from the most cultured to the most ignorant, from the highest to the most lowly; by His marvelous life of suffering and forty years of imprisonment through which His Majesty shone undimmed; and lastly, by His Teachings; He has proved the validity of His claim to all who will investigate. There is no greater proof than these teachings. They are the spirit of this cycle, the light of this age. And from Him has appeared such a cleansing, unifying, revivifying power that it cannot but ultimately succeed in redeeming the whole world.
Copyright, 1927, by Florence E. Pinchon.
“The Perfect Man—the Prophet—is one who is transfigured, one who has the purity and clearness of a perfect mirror, one who reflects the Sun of Truth. Of such a one—of such a Prophet and Messenger—we can say that the Light of Divinity with the heavenly perfections dwells in Him. * * * All the Prophets and Messengers have come from One Holy Spirit and bear the Message of God fitted to the age in which They appear. The One Light is in Them and They are One with each other.”
Last month, the author gave us glimpses of life and scenes in New Zealand and Australia. In this, his fourth article, he describes some of his experiences in a brief visit to the Philippine Islands.
FOR the passage from Brisbane to China, via the Philippines, I always prefer a Japanese steamer. I have travelled on these boats before, quite often, and invariably find a service which combines discipline and order with the utmost courtesy. The Japanese are a proud race and rightly so since they are the only Asiatics who have successfully, and from the outset, resisted the foreign yoke; but we must not dwell on the subject now since we shall visit this charming country later.
There were very few passengers on board—six Europeans and a few Japanese gentlemen. The intercourse with them was most cordial, the Japanese passengers making personal sacrifices in order that the Europeans might take with them, as they undoubtedly did, a recollection of perfect satisfaction with the voyage. A study of their behavior made it apparent that the Japanese have nothing to learn from the European in the matter of courteous deportment, but something possibly to teach. It was a pleasant trip to say the least.
After following the coast of Australia within the Great Barrier
Reef for five days in smooth and placid waters, passing by mountains and verdant shores bathed in sunshine, we reached Thursday Island, so often described in romantic fiction. The romance of Thursday Island is not apparent to the visitor, however. The whole island can be explored in an hour; and there is nothing particularly noteworthy except a little pearl-fishing.
On the long voyage to the Philippines there is only one uninhabited island, fittingly called “Bird’s Island.” As the steamer passes by and blows her whistle the sky becomes black with birds and the click of cameras is heard all over the ship.
It is with almost childish pleasure and expectation that land comes into view again after having seen nothing but water and scattered islands for three weeks. We have recently crossed the Equator and the heat is at its very best. The first stop in the Philippine Islands is at Davao, a new port which owes its importance to large settlements of Japanese colonists cultivating hemp, the fibrous residue of a cactus plant. The population is increasing very rapidly. As
--PHOTO--
A type of new town planning in the Philippines
in all Eastern seaports, there is a very large Chinese element, and the new settlement, which is a grouping round the site for a harbor about to be established, presents a true Oriental mixture of races. What used to be Spanish influence is fast disappearing.
The old town is about two miles from the ocean and affords but scant interest, although the ride to the
--PHOTO--
Royal Palm Avenue through a citrous orchard
plantation is very interesting as we pass through the native villages. One soon becomes accustomed to the peculiarities and characteristics of the native population, however.
The steamer only stopped long enough to take on freight and a great number of passengers, the greater number being Japanese, although there were many Filipinos of almost every walk of life.
We had with us the local Governor, an exceedingly able man who was on his way to Manila to be present at a
meeting of Governors of the different provinces.
We have all heard much about the unrest in these islands. It must be understood that the Philippines comprise thousands of islands and that it takes fully three days steaming to reach Manila from the southern end of the main island—Luzon. It is difficult to estimate the population of the islands, but a conservative
estimate would be about twelve millions. They are a people who have felt the yoke of Spanish domination and have benefited greatly from the liberal and humane administration of the free people of the United States.
We had on board the leading government officials of the provinces, the mayor of the city, Filipino physicians and professional men, and others. It was a great pleasure to meet these people and once more be assured that the same human heart
pulsates beneath the mask of color and skin. It must be understood that the teaching of history, whether English, American or any other, brings before the people a wrong impression which turns their thoughts to rebellion against the “foreign yoke.”
The example of George Washington or Oliver Cromwell, for instance, gives the natives something to emulate, and the honors which are heaped upon the memories of such men is something to covet. Moreover, the motion pictures shown in Eastern countries give a visualization of what goes on in other “superior” parts of the world, and although they may exhibit examples of courage and bravery, they also exhibit examples of other characteristics, which might be turned into wrong channels by a naive audience. Many of the films shown in Oriental countries are films which would be unhesitatingly banned in other countries, and it must be said that the European films are even worse than our own United States products.
The Filipinos have their national hero, Jose Rizal,* who pointed out the path his people should follow to liberty and enlightenment. In his day (in 1872 to be exact) the rule of the Church was not in good hands. It was the priests or friar-priests who were not good enough for Spain, who were sent out to the Philippines, where each one became a god and tyrant in a tiny pueblo in which his authority was unbounded and unquestioned. No doubt some of these friar-priests were good men, but the enervating climate, the lazy life,
* Mr. Vicente G. Bunuan, Director of the Philippine Press Bureau, Washington, D. C., said in a recent address: “The difference between him [Dr. Rizal] and others is that in his varied tasks and labors, from boyhood up to the time when death called him to the grave, he did the day's work, whatever it was, with greater industry, higher application, greater thoroughness, deeper thinking, more perseverance, greater honesty, more courage, higher candor, more uprightness, greater manliness, better insight, greater poise than his fellows. These are what made Rizal, the famed Rizal, the heroic Rizal, the revered patriot.”
--PHOTO--
Bust of Dr. Jose Rizal Filipino hero, patriot and martyr. He is the Washington of the Philippines
their complete irresponsibility, and their undisputed power over the superstitious and childish Malays, were too much for the men of God, and the stories of their cruelty and rapacity which are being told even to this day are revolting. It is only natural that a man who could emancipate his fellow countrymen from these oppressions should become a national hero to be venerated forever. There is no oppression or tyranny greater than the cultivation of fear; and it is an easy thing for a man, sufficiently educated, to understand certain natural phenomena (to know, for instance, when a storm is coming)—to get a strong hold on
these simple captives of nature, who are prone to misinterpret natural events and are not yet elevated to the power of the Spirit. It fills my heart with veneration when I think, not of the person, but of the spirit of a man like Rizal, who kept to his purpose, steadfast and undeterred, right up to the moment when he faced the rifles of a firing squad. It brings us so much nearer to ’Abdu’l-Bahá, Who carried the heavy burden of oppression, injustice and intolerance on His shoulders and Whose example sheds a ray of pure bright light on the characters of these national heroes. To Rizal, the firing squad brought relief from his earthly trials, but ’Abdu’l-Bahá had to wait forty years for the prison doors to open and end His term of captivity and deprivations, letting out a great beam of Light to be reflected, not by a few, but by everyone who has in his heart the love of God which must manifest itself in action and in a love towards our fellow men without regard to race, creed or color.
While writing these lines I received a letter from a dear friend in Australia, whose acquaintance I made on the very trip I am now describing. In it he says, “I have read quite a lot of your book* (Esselmont) while on board the boat, and I must admit that while reading the same the truth is conveyed to the mind in a practical manner. It did me no harm but rather brought a great truth. The next thing to love, is to help.”
This is the dynamic power in this great Movement. The slightest attempt to live the life of the Master, and bear His love in our hearts, has an effect, but we must remember that it is the Bahá’í act which makes the Bahá’í. Bahá’u’lláh said that if a man travels through a village or city without so much as opening his
* “Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era,” by Dr. J. E. Esslemont.
mouth the effect will be felt—a saying which we should ponder over and try to understand.
Manila, the great capital of this island group, is the next and only other port we touch at. We see the walled city, a monument of the former Spanish empire and culture, its antiquities, its many cathedrals and churches, and narrow streets of stone houses forming a marked contrast with the modern city which has been built around it. And the impression forces itself upon us that there could be no walls strong enough to withstand the progress of modern life and the march of industry and commerce. We see, for example, the great modern piers, built by the Americans, within ten minutes’ walk of the old walled city which wears the air of a world which existed four hundred years ago.
Manila is a beautiful city, exhibiting a mixture of peoples and merchandise—European or American in one shop and Oriental in the next. The annual Exhibition was on while I was there and a friend from the boat made it a point to guide me through the most interesting parts of the Exhibition, which was not unlike an American affair of the kind. The so-called amusements were of a crude type (dance halls of the American type, for instance, with a little Spanish “Baile” thrown in) but the products of the country were of amazing variety; some good and some not so good. The most gratifying part of the expedition was the genuine hospitality shown by this newly-made friend, who had been attracted by the Bahá’í spirit and was only too glad to let me have an insight into the spirit of the people.
My stay in the Philippines was short, because my business was such that it could be transacted during the time the steamer was in port, but I should like to say a word or two
about the religious conditions of the country.
I could not help smiling when I read in a book the following paragraph:
“I am afraid the unbiased observer would find the missionaries far more convincing in their enthusiasm if it led them to give up the beautiful houses and comfortable carriages they enjoy here, their tea parties, lectures and so on, and go and rough it in some of the other islands where there were plenty of savages, Muhammadans, devil-worshippers, cannibals and all sorts of unreclaimed sheep.”
And my smile was aroused by including the Muhammadan in a category
--PHOTO--
Entrance to the city of Zamboanga, capital of the Moro Island of Mindanao
which included savages, devil-worshippers and cannibals! I am almost inclined to believe that the One God so unfalteringly advocated by Muhammad preserved these islands as a fit foundation for a beneficial and modern civilization to build upon.
Like in all countries of Spanish influence, there is a society of the old Spanish population with their own “circles,” where the grandeur of the Spanish grandee still survives in excellent shape and form.
see the image and likeness of God. If you are eager to serve God, serve mankind. Renounce the self in the Self of God. When the aerial mariner steers his airship skyward, little by little the inharmony and incongruity of the world of matter are lost, and before his astonished vision he sees widespread the wonderful panorama of God’s creation. Likewise when the student of the path of reality has attained unto the loftiest summit of divine love, he will not look upon the ugliness and misery of mankind; he will not observe any difference: he will not see any racial and patriotic differences; but he will look upon humanity with the glorified vision of a seer and a prophet. Let us all strive that we may attain to this highest pinnacle of ideal and spiritual life.”
We are very pleased to have an article from our friend, Dr. Forel, one of the greatest scientists in the world and the greatest living authority on ants. His life has been devoted to humanitarian aims and purposes; he is a thinker, a scholar, a deer. He has been very active in temperance work in Europe at a time when public opinion was wholly on the opposite side. He is a man who believes in deeds rather than words, and when he took up this temperance reform, he had his vineyards destroyed. In the September, 1924, Star of the West will be found an account of our visit to this venerable scholar and philosopher at his home bordering Lake Geneva, Switzerland.—Editor.
TRUE science should occupy itself only with what man can know. Now, we can know things only through the channel of our senses—sight, hearing, touch, and so forth. These take the impressions of the exterior world to our brain by the aid of the nerves. The human brain, of which I have made a profound study from 1872 to 1907, comparing it as well as its functions to that of animals—this human brain is an organ weighing on the average twelve hundred and eighty grams, the cerebrum alone weighing about one thousand grams. It is composed of very tiny, interrelated nerve cells or neurones, of which it contains millions which are connected one with another by their fibers and their minute fibers. At a distance, these ramifications become covered with a white sheath which we call nerves, whether in the brain itself or serving to enter it or leave it.
The nerves of our senses enter the brain to carry to it their sensations; the nerves called motors leave the brain in order to direct our muscular movements which we call our will. But between the two, in the interior of the cerebrum, the living force which calls our attention travels from one neurone to another, combining there our sensations and our feelings in order to make of them immediate perceptions, then concepts, and finally abstract ideas with the aid of words, whether spoken or written. All these combinations demand their continual recall
to our self-consciousness which is the synthesizing power over them.
Before the motor nerves leave the cerebrum, the attention is carried to the combinations mentioned above and concentrates on a group of neurones called motors, which are situated on each side of the center of the brain. With the aid of the motor nerves, the attention causes the transportation of the said combinations mentioned above to the spinal column, then to the outer nerve systems of our muscles as soon it becomes necessary to execute a movement of the will. The spinal column itself suffices only for the movements called reflexive. Now, with this necessary premise, let us come to our main subject.
Through ignorance human beings dispute and even make, alas, wars based upon misunderstandings; and these misunderstandings rest, for the most part, on words which excite the passions of hate. It is just the opposite of science. Let us cite some examples.
Peoples often make wars because of not understanding each other’s language—as, for example, the Germans against the French, and vice versa. But then, why does a German born in France take the part of the French in the case of war, and a Frenchman born in Germany do the opposite? This is, nevertheless, what I have always observed. It is for this reason that Dr. Zamenhof,
living in Poland and distressed by such hatreds, without common sense, constructed his splendid international language, Esperanto, which is spreading more and more. But it will be necessary, later on, to perfect this language by having a single word for a single meaning and several words for several meanings.
Moreover, one makes a pretext that there are differences in races; but if one excepts those races, altogether inferior, with a lighter cerebrum (according to Wedda about eight hundred or eight thousand and fifty grams instead of one thousand) it is a fundamental error. All Europeans, Chinese, Japanese, Hindoos, Semites, Americans, and so forth, are equal as races. It is necessary, therefore, to seek for other real causes for the hatreds and the wars than the differences of languages and of race. Here are five such causes:
1. Creeds. It is necessary to distinguish clearly between religion and creed or belief. The term creed ought to be reserved for the beliefs, rites, formalities and so forth which are man-made and crystallized into dogmas; different in the different faiths, and taught by the clergy over the entire world. Diversity of creed separates peoples and foments wars, improperly called religious wars. True religion,* on the contrary, unites them.
2. Domination. Egoism gives to human emotions a tendency toward domination. The man wishes to rule over the woman, sometimes the woman over the man. Man wishes to rule animals, to rule the earth, to rule and control objects; but above all else, to rule other human beings. He wishes to be their superior, whether by brute force, by
cunning, by manual skill and work, by speech, by writing, and so forth. The father or the mother, or both of them, wish in general to dominate their children in different ways. The spirit of domination, personal or collective, is, alas, hereditary. It is a very great obstacle to that social co-operation—peaceful, fraternal, and impartial—of which we have an urgent need.
3. Greed. But the worst hates, individual and national, are caused by money, by the universal money-greed which is corrupting today all humanity. There is only one remedy for this: the true cooperative state of the future, which I have treated elsewhere. It is impossible to adequately treat here of this great social question.
4. Alcoholic drinks. By complete prohibition the United States, Finland and Iceland give us a splendid example. All countries ought to follow their example; for alcoholic traffic is the most nefarious of all things; it poisons life, above all, our brain and our soul. It causes deterioration, moreover, in the germ cells by what I have called “blasphématoire.”
5. Tariff. Customs and duties tend to create national hatreds by their barriers created to bring revenue to national governments. The simplest remedy for this is free international exchange or what is called free trade.
It is necessary, therefore, little by little to suppress wars by a true Society of Nations which shall be a Society fundamentally cooperative. In this supernational society, it will be necessary to take from each state
*’Abdu’l-Bahá teaches that “The first bestowal of God in the world of humanity is religion, because religion consists in divine teachings to men; and most assuredly divine teachings are preferable to all other sources of instruction. * * * Religion has ever helped humanity to progress. But by religion is meant that which is ascertained by investigation and not that which is based on mere imitation—the foundation of Divine Religions and not human imitations. * * * By religion we mean those necessary bonds which unify the world of humanity. This has ever been the essence of religion; for this object have all the Manifestations come to the world.”
its army, making it little by little a supernational army; and to replace everywhere, gradually but surely, military service by civil service.
Our Bahá’í religion, with its twelve principles, is therefore a true religion without creed, supernational and spiritual, without dogmas or clergy. In December, 1917, before I knew about the Bahá’í Movement, I had published, myself as well as the Reverend Tschirn, the “Religion of Social Good.” In March, 1919, I completed it, adding to it the term, “Scientific Religion.” It was not until January, 1921, that at the home of my son-in-law I came to know the Bahá’í Movement. I wrote directly, then, to ’Abdu’l-Bahá, Who was still living. He assured me that Monistes and Darwinists like myself could be Bahá’ís as truly as believers in the various creeds could be. Then I withdrew my “Scientific Religion of Social Good” as unnecessary in the light of this Movement and I became a Bahá’í like my son-in-law, Dr. A. Brauns.
Certain aspects of spiritual philosophy are strongly my belief. First as regards the term “God.”
The term “God” can be interpreted very differently. All monotheistic creeds believe in a single “All-powerful God.” But while some declare Him personal, we Monistes look upon Him as representing the Force
(metaphysical) of the universe, unknowable to human beings.
[There needs to be a harmonizing of these two concepts of God. The teachings of Bahá’u’lláh are perfectly clear on this subject, and in due time the conceptions of God, so different in different parts of the world and with different temperaments, will adjust themselves to the one true concept.]
There are several conditions of utmost importance which Bahá’ís ought to meet, if they wish to remain scientific. They ought above all to remain supernational and strictly super-ritualistic. They ought, inasmuch as they are Bahá’ís, not to mix with their Bahá'í truths any inherited creeds and beliefs or any other ideas in which error is mixed with truth. They should refrain from metaphysics, from seeking to know the Unknowable; and should occupy themselves wholly with the social good of humanity here on earth.
Confucius said about five hundred years before Christ, “Men of the four seas are all brothers. Do not do to others what you would not like them to do to you.” And the Roman poet, Terence, about one hundred and seventy years before Christ said, “I am a man and nothing that is human can be foreign to me, I think.”
Our duty as Bahá’ís is not only to speak and think of God, but to be active for the social good.
of Divinity. He must come to know and to acknowledge the precepts of God, and he must come to the point of knowing for a certainty that the ethical development of humanity is dependent upon Religion.”
Perhaps one of the most significant activities in behalf of World Peace is the Conference on the Cause and Cure of War, bringing together representatives of the nine foremost women’s organizations of the country. The last of these Conferences was held January 15 to 19, inclusive, in Washington, D. C.
Of the many constructive contributions and significant statements made at the Conference parts of the addresses of the General Chairman, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, of New York, are quoted as the most pertinent and trenchant.
The greatest concrete result of the Conference was the adoption of a resolution recommending to all its supporting organizations covering the entire country, that they give “active and concerted support to the efforts of the Department of State for the conclusion of either a multilateral treaty or bilateral treaties with France, Great Britain, Japan, Germany, Italy and other like-minded nations for the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy.”—Editor.
THE third annual Conference on the Cause and Cure of War was called to order by Mrs. John D. Sherman, Vice-Chairman at Large, in the Hall of Nations at the Washington Hotel, Washington, D. C. There were several hundred delegates present, representing the nine foremost women’s organizations of the country, namely: American Association of University Women; Council of Women for Home Missions; Federation of Women’s Board of Foreign Missions of North America; General Federation of Women’s Clubs; National Board of the Young Women’s Christian Associations; National Council of Jewish Women; National League of Women Voters; National Women’s Christian Temperance Union; National Women’s Trade Union League.
After the formal opening of the Conference a short prayer was offered for the guidance of the Conference and for the setting aside of all racial prejudices.
Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, Chairman, who presided over the sessions, sounded the keynote Monday afternoon when she addressed the delegates, her subject being, “The Status Today of War Vs. Peace.” Among other things Mrs. Catt stated that the question confronting us now is whether the civilized nations are advancing
toward the “much-advertised next war” or toward universal peace. She said: “The advocates of peace are increasing steadily, but so are the advocates of war. War is a great thing; it is vivid, heroic and picturesque; millions of people and thousands of industries thrive on it; but what of the horror, the suffering and the bloodshed?” “For the last five hundred years the war advocates,” she said, “have maintained the slogan that, ‘The Way to Maintain Peace is to Prepare for War.’ This slogan has been a part of world-wide propaganda for war, but it is the greatest fallacy ever held by the mind of man. It is pitifully true that there is no person in the thirty-two nations that fought in the World War who can say who started it, who won it, or who finished it. The only way out of present conditions,” Mrs. Catt claimed, “is to adopt the new slogan, ‘The Way to Maintain Peace is to Prepare for Peace.’ Eighty-two percent of funds in the United States Treasury are used either for past or prospective future wars, and it is our hope that with the adoption of the new slogan this percentage can be changed to about one one-hundredth of one per cent.”
Some high lights from this and other addresses and remarks of Mrs. Catt are the following:
“The preparations for the much-advertised next war are going on just about as much as before the recent great war. There are more armed men in Europe today than there were in 1914.”
“There could have been no world war without oil, steel or money, all of which America controls to a very great degree.”
“In Great Britian they say the war was caused by the great ambition of the United States. In America we say the same thing about Great Britian.”
“War as an institution can be abolished by civilized nations now.”
“The only way to treat the problem of war is to isolate it from all other questions. After listing two hundred and fifty-seven causes of former wars I have come to the conclusion that wars have excuses, not causes. The problems that now confront nations are too crucial to be tried by the arbitrament of guns and bombs. They call for statesmen with brains, not soldiers with guns; for reason, not submarines; for round tables, not battlefields; for conciliation, not poison gas. And let me add, they call for prayer.”
“The only possible substitute for war is compacts between all civilized nations to proscribe war absolutely as between themselves and in agreements to find the peaceful means of settling all disputes.”
“There are now five so-called ‘Great Powers’ in the world. A ‘Great Power’ is nothing more than a nation whose army, navy and resources enable it to impose its will over the weaker nations. There are one billion people living in colonies and provinces controlled by these ‘Great Powers’; this number constitutes sixty-six per cent of the population of the world.”
“I believe the League of Nations to be the greatest thing ever conceived for the maintenance of peace.”
Mrs. Catt concluded her important remarks by asking the members of the Conference to go apart alone and ask themselves these three questions:
1. How much moral courage have you?
2. Are you prepared to readily help others to build an obstacle big enough to prevent war?
3. If men have heroism enough to die for war, do you have heroism enough to live for peace?
The following remarkable Tablet on war and peace was revealed by ’Abdu’l-Bahá for friends in England during the first year of the Great War. It is dated ’Akká, Syria, October 4, 1914. In it He points to the prophecy of this war by Bahá’u’lláh over fifty years ago,* and Bahá’u’lláh’s letters to the kings and rulers of the world urging Universal Peace. He speaks also of His own prophecy, in 1912, while addressing European audiences, of the war which was at hand and His urging of peace, and makes a tragic delineation of conditions, picturing the horrors of this war, ending with a plea to the governments of the world to unfurl the flag of Universal Peace.—Editor.
AFTER the declaration of the constitutional régime in Turkey in 1908, by the Members of the Committee of Union and Progress, this Prisoner of forty years traveled and journeyed for three years—from 1910 to 1913—throughout the countries of Europe and the vast continent
* Now over sixty years ago.
of America. Notwithtsanding advancement in age with its natural consequences, * * * I delivered detailed addresses before large conventions and historical churches. I enumerated all those principles contained in the Tablets and Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh concerning War and Peace.
About fifty years ago His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh proclaimed certain teachings and raised the song of Universal Peace. In numerous Tablets and sundry epistles He foretold, in the most explicit language, the present cataclysmal events, stating that the world of humanity was facing the most portentous danger and asserting categorically that “the realization of Universal War was unfortunately inevitable and unavoidable. For these combustible materials which are stored in the infernal arsenals of Europe will explode by the contact with one spark.” Amongst other things, “the Balkans will become a volcano and the map of Europe will be changed.” For these and similar reasons He (Bahá’u’lláh) invited the world of humanity to Universal Peace. He wrote a number of epistles to the kings and rulers, and in those epistles He explained the destructive evils of war and dwelt on the solid benefits and nobler influences of Universal Peace. War saps the foundation of humanity. Killing is an unpardonable crime against God, for man is an edifice built by the Hand of the Almighty. Peace is life incarnate; war is death personified. Peace is the divine spirit; war is satanic suggestion. Peace is the light of the world; war is Stygian darkness and Cimmerian gloom. All the great Prophets, ancient philosophers and heavenly books have been the harbingers of Peace and monitors against war and discord. This is the Divine foundation; this is the Celestial outpouring; this is the basis of all the religions of God.
In short, before all the meetings in the West I cried out: O ye thinkers of the world; O ye philosophers of the Occident; O ye scholars and sages of the earth; a threatening black cloud is behind, which ere
long shall enevelop the horizon of humanity; an impetuous tempest is ahead, which shall shatter to splinters the ships of the lives of mankind, and a turbulent, furious torrent shall soon drown the countries and nations of Europe. Awaken ye! Awaken ye! Become ye mindful! Become ye mindful! Thus in the spirit of cooperation we may all arise with the utmost magnanimity and through the Favor and Providence of God hold aloft the flag of the Oneness of Humanity, promote the essentials of Universal Peace and deliver the inhabitants of the world from this “Most Great Danger.”
While traveling in Europe and America I met altruistic and sanctified souls who were my confidants and associates concerning the question of Universal Peace and who agreed with me and joined their voices with mine regarding the principle of the oneness of the world of humanity; but alas, they were very few! The leaders of public opinion and the great statesmen believed that the massing of huge armies and the annual increase of military forces insured peace and friendship amongst nations. At this time I explained that this theory was based on a false conception; for it is an inevitable certainty that these serried ranks and disciplined armies will be rushed one day into the heat of the battlefield and these inflammable materials will unquestionably be exploded and the explosion will be through one tiny spark. Then a world conflagration will be witnessed, the lurid flames of which shall redden all the horizons. Because the sphere of their thoughts was contracted and their intellectual eyes blind they could not acknowledge the above explanation.
From the beginning of the Balkan Confederation a number of important personages inquired of me
whether this Balkan War was the expected Universal War, but it was answered, “It will terminate in Universal War.”
In brief, the point to make clear is this: His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh nearly fifty years ago warned the nations against the occurrence of this “Most Great Danger.” Although the evils of war were evident and manifest to the sages and scholars, they are now made clear and plain to all the people. No sane person can at this time deny the fact that war is the most dreadful calamity in the world of humanity; that war destroys the divine foundation; that war is the cause of eternal death; that war is conducive to the destruction of populous, progressive cities; that war is world-consuming fire, and that war is the most ruinous catastrophe and the most deplorable adversity.
The cries and lamentations are raised from every part to the supreme Apex; the moanings and skriekings have thrown a mighty reverberation through the columns of the world; the civilized countries are being overthrown; eyes are shedding tears hearing the weeping of the fatherless children; the hearts are burning and being consumed by piercing sobbings and uncontrolable wailings of helpless, wandering women; the spirits of hopeless mothers are torn by rayless grief and endless sorrows and the nerve-racking sighs and the just complaints of the fathers ascend to the throne of the Almighty.
Ah me! The world of creation is totally deprived of its normal rest; the clash of arms and the sound of murderous guns and cannons are being heard like the roaring of thunder across the heavenly track, and the explosive materials have changed the battlefields into yawning graveyards, burying for eternity
the dead corpses of thousands upon thousands of youths—the flowers of many countries who would have been the evolving factors in the civilization of the future.
The results of this crime committed against humanity is still worse than whatever I may say and can never be adequately described by pen or by tongue.
O ye governments of the world! Be ye pitiful toward mankind! O ye nations of the earth, behold ye the battlefields of slaughter and carnage; O ye sages of humanity, investigate sympathetically the conditions of the oppressed; O ye philosophers of the West, study profoundly the causes that led to this gigantic, unparalleled struggle; O ye wise leaders of the globe, reflect deeply so that ye may find an antidote for the suppression of this chronic, devastating disease; O ye individuals of humanity, find ye means for the stoppage of this wholesale murder and bloodshed. Now is the appointed time! Now is the opportune time! Arise ye, shew ye an effort, put ye forward an extraordinary force, and unfurl ye the Flag of Universal Peace and dam the irresistible fury of this raging torrent which is wreaking havoc and ruin everywhere.
Although this Captive has been in the prison of despotism for forty years, yet he has never been so sad and stricken with regret and grief as in these days. My spirit is aflame and burning; my heart is broken, mournful, heavy and despondent; my eyes are weeping and my soul is on fire. Oh! I am so bowed down and sorrowful.
O people, weep and cry, lament and bemoan your fate. Then hasten ye, hasten ye, perchance ye may become able to extinguish with the Water of the new-born Ideals of spiritual democracy and celestial freedom, this many-flamed, world-consuming
fire, and through your heaven-inspired resolution you may usher in the golden era of international solidarity and world confederation.
O Kind God! Hearken to the cry of these helpless nations; O Pure Lord! Show Thy pity to these orphaned children; O Incomparable Almighty! Stop this destructive torrent; O Creator of the world and the inhabitants thereof! Cause the extinction of this burning fire; O Listener to our cries, come to the
rescue of the orphans; O Ideal Comforter, console the mothers whose hearts are torn and whose souls are filled with the blood of irremediaeble loss; O Clement and Merciful! Grant the blessing of Thy Grace to the weeping eyes and burning hearts of the fathers. Restore calmness to this surging tempest and change this world-encircling war into Peace and Conciliation.
Verily Thou art the Omnipotent and the Powerful and verily Thou art the Seeing and the Hearing.
The following, reprinted from “The Evening Star,” of Washington, D. C., are some of the more important points in the message of President Coolidge to the delegates at the Pan-American Conference, Havana, Cuba, January 16, 1928. The Chairman of the United States delegation, Mr. Charles Evans Hughes, said of the message, in part: “After an eloquent tribute to the qualities and achievements of the Cuban people, President Coolidge stressed the common inheritance, aspirations and responsibilities of the American republics and the opportunities for the expansion of the spirit of democracy under the reign of law, with the realization that the highest law is consideration, cooperation, friendship and charity.”—Editor.
YOU have convened to take counsel together for increasing the domestic welfare of the free people of our independent republics and promoting international peace. No other part of the world could provide constituencies in which all have such a unity of purpose. The whole atmosphere of the conference is animated with the spirit of democracy and good will. This is the fundamental concept of your organization. All nations here represented stand on an exact footing of equality. The smallest and the weakest speaks here with the same authority as the largest and the most powerful. You come together under the present condition and the future expectation of profound peace. You are continuing to strike a new note in international gatherings by maintaining a forum in which not the selfish interests of
a few, but the general welfare of all, will be considered.
THE PROCEEDINGS of the successive Pan-American Conferences reveal a record of achievement which, without attempting the spectacular, constantly builds on the solid foundation of the immediately attainable. With each succeeding conference the agreements for the orderly settlement of such differences as may arise between the American republics have been extended and strengthened, thus making their relationship more certain and more secure. Each conference has contributed its share toward developing more intimate cultural ties among the nations of this hemisphere, and establishing new currents of mutual understanding. Obstacles to closer economic relations
have been removed, thus clearing the pathways of commercial intercourse.
Of scarcely less importance have been the many special conferences which from time to time have assembled for the purpose of dealing with the more technical questions in the relations between the republics of America. The meetings of the International Commission of Jurists, the Pan-American Highway Conferences, the Child Welfare Conferences, the Sanitary Conferences, the Conference on Consular Procedure, the Scientific Congresses, the Financial Conferences, the Red Cross Conferences, and the highly important and significant Congress of Journalists have all served to strengthen that spirit of Pan-American solidarity which, in the last analysis, represents one of the greatest achievements of our American civilization and one which, in the future, is destined to play so important a part in the fulfillment of the high mission intrusted to the republics of this hemisphere.
IT HAS BEEN most gratifying to witness the increasing interchange of university professors and the constantly growing stream of student migration from one country to another. No other influence can be more potent and effective in promoting mutual comprehension of national aims and ideals. It is sincerely to be hoped that this cultural interchange will with each year assume larger proportions.
The founders of our republics sought no peculiar preferment for themselves. That same disinterested spirit which has animated the conduct of our past conferences has given the American family of nations a high place in the opinion of the world. Our republics seek no special privileges for themselves, nor
are they moved by any of those purposes of domination and restraints upon liberty of action which in other times and places have been fatal to peace and progress. In the international system which you represent the rights of each nation carry with them corresponding obligations, defined by laws which we recognize as binding upon all of us. It is through the careful observance of those laws which define our rights and impose our duties that international cooperation is possible. This lays on us all a continental responsibility which none of us wish to avoid and the fulfillment of which is one of the most important guarantees of international friendship.
WHILE THE LAW is necessary for the proper guidance of human action, and will always remain the source of freedom and liberty and the ultimate guaranty of all our rights, there is another element in our experience which must always be taken into consideration. We read that “The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” Oftentimes in our international relationship we shall have to look to the spirit rather than to the letter of the law. We shall have to realize that the highest law is consideration, cooperation, friendship, and charity. Without the application of these there can be no peace and no progress, no liberty, and no republic. These are the attributes that raise human relationships out of the realm of the mechanical, above the realm of animal existence, into the loftier sphere that borders on the Divine. If we are to experience a new era in our affairs, it will be because the world recognizes and lives in accordance with this spirit. Its most complete expression is the Golden Rule.
The following is a preliminary announcement by the Church Peace Union, founded by Andrew Carnegie, “of a world-wide religious peace conference, in which men and women from all countries and all religious faiths will participate because of their ability, knowledge and interest in those questions which affect human brotherhood and international accord between the nations, and who believe that religion offers a means of establishing permanent peace on earth and good will among men.”
The Editors of THE BAHÁ'Í MAGAZINE take great pleasure in printing this Announcement almost in its entirety.
THE conditions which today face humanity and threaten the progress of the world demand that all men of good will from every religion associate themselves in promoting peace among the nations.
Every religiously minded person is confident of that invisible, superhuman, spiritual power which is available for lifting the life of humanity to divine levels. There is needed now more urgently than ever before the help of devout men of faith who are concerned for the brotherly cooperation of the world.
Individuals selected from the historic religions in all nations are being invited to come together for the purpose of formulating and carrying out constructive plans for the banishing of war from the world. This conference will not be composed of officially appointed delegates.
Its findings will commit no religious body.
It will be a conference of individuals associated with and holding the views of different religions.
In the proposed meeting no one will be encouraged to boast of the past or of any superiority except in his ability to serve humanity and to rid the earth of the age-long curse of war. There will be no attempt to compare religions nor to judge nor adjust according to any scale the religious faith of an individual or people. It will not be the purpose of this conference to attempt to establish a formal league of religions as
such, nor will it interest itself in the internal activities of the various faiths. Neither will there be discussed questions relating to doctrine, formulas and forms of faith, nor will any effort be made to expose or to espouse any political or social system nor give force to any criticism of such national and community arrangements as are now recognized and held sacred in the various parts of the world. The sole purpose of the Conference will be to consider how the forces of religion in all nations can be mobilized in a concerted action against war and that spirit and those things that make for war.
Surely men and women of all religions can now share with one another this high concern and it is of the utmost importance that, in humility of spirit and with high hopes, the leaders should come together and in a brotherly spirit contribute all that is possible from their respective communities to this lofty aim of peace on earth, good will toward men.
The Church Peace Union was founded in 1914 by Mr. Andrew Carnegie. A board of 29 trustees was appointed representative of the principal religious faiths of America. The idea in the mind of the founder was that the combined religious life of America should be brought to bear upon this important question of securing permanent peace on earth. No
limit was to be placed upon the scope of the program nor the breadth of its appeal. It has always been the cherished ambition of those charged with the responsibility for administering the affairs of the Church Peace Union that its work should expand until it would embrace the total religious life of humanity. In 1924 the question of holding a Universal Religious Peace Conference was discussed in the annual meeting of the board of trustees and at that time a committee to deal with the matter was appointed. The general secretary, acting for this committee, has conferred with leaders of various faiths in many nations and now the committee is of the opinion that the time has come to make formal announcement and send out a call for a meeting composed of a few representatives selected from the various religions throughout the world, to devise plans and create the simple machinery necessary for holding such a Conference.
The purpose of this Conference is to bring together adherents of the world’s living religions to discuss questions relating to international justice and good will. To make known the content of each religion relating to these questions. To compare the ideals of human brotherhood and world peace as inculcated by the various religions and, if possible, secure agreement on the following:
a. The emphasis on human brotherhood as essential to all religions.
b. World peace can be established only through the recognition of Universal Brotherhood.
c. The religions of the world can cooperate by each working in its own sphere for the attainment of these ideals.
d. Adoption of general plans looking toward this end.
The announcement further states that the Church Peace Union will bring together a preliminary meeting and “Conference on Plans and Arrangements” in 1928, but ultimately all efforts will be directed to the plans for the great world Conference to be held in 1930. The announcement also carries an appeal for cooperation in the following words:
“This committee fully recognizes the enormous task to which it has set itself. Never before in the history of the world has any such attempt been made to mobilize the religious life and impulse of all nations and peoples in a concerted action for good will, universal human brotherhood and the abolition of war. Governmental, scientific, educational and business agencies are at work bringing together men from all nations for this great purpose, but all of these lack that fundamental and compelling power which religion alone can furnish. There is no serious group of men and women anywhere, no matter in what worthy work they are interested and engaged, but knows the value of a great spiritual motive as the deciding factor between success and failure. Religion holds a recognized place in government, in science, in education, in business. It still remains for the united force of the world’s religions to unite against the forces that make for war. Let its organized spirit once be put behind those agencies which are at work for peace and good will among all men, and the day will soon dawn upon a warless world.
“The Church Peace Union, therefore, invites men and women of all faiths to cooperate with them in the enterprise, not for the sake of a conference
itself, or an organization, but under the compulsion of the ideals dwelling in the heart of all religions.” And on several pages of the announcement appear the following, quoted from the various scriptures of the world:
BUDDHISM: Let one cultivate good will towards all the world—a mind illimitable, unobstructed, without hatred, without enmity. This mode of living is the supreme good.
CHRISTIANITY: Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called children of God.
JUDAISM: And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
HINDUISM: To you I declare this holy mystery: There is nothing nobler than humanity.
TAOISM: Weapons, even though successful, are unblessed implements, detestable to every creature. Therefore, he who has the Eternal, will not employ them.
SIKHISM: Churches, teachers, teachings half a dozen! The Teacher of teachers is One; His forms, many. The sun is one; the seasons many. Innumerable are the manifestations of the Creator.
JAINISM: Establish the religion of the law which benefits all living beings in the whole universe! It will bring supreme benefit to all living beings in all the world!
CONFUCIANISM: Within the four seas all are brothers.
ZOROASTRIANISM: May we ourselves be they who help to make this world progress!
SHINTO: I will halt here today; and, having purified myself, will go forth tomorrow; and worship at the temple of the Deity.
ISLAM: To God belong the East and the West. Therefore whithersoever ye turn, is the face of God. Verily, God is all-pervading, all-knowing.
“CONSIDER the influence of the Word of God, that although people of totally different temperament, religion, culture and ideas, live in the Pilgrim House [used for the guests of ’Abdu’l-Bahá’s family] never do we hear even a faint whisper of ill-feeling against each other; they are welded together by the Alchemy of Truth. If you take ten bars of iron and tie them together no matter how closely, they will not become one. But when a metallurgist comes on the scene, he takes the ten bars, melts them in the furnace and casts them in one mould. Only through this fiery process will their atoms commingle with each other, become united and inseparable.
This is the work that Bahá’u’lláh has done and is doing. He has not tied together the iron bars—the religions of the world—with the rope of indulgent tolerance or ordinary amenities of human existence which are liable to break at any time, but with the fire of the Love of God He has melted them first, and then casting them in one mould of spiritual brotherhood, He has rendered the most marvelous services to the world of humanity. Bahá’u’lláh is this Divine Metallurgist, and those who have deep insight and look around the world witness daily the workings of the principle of fusion.”
The Announcement of the purposes of the Universal Religious Peace Conference printed in the preceding pages, amazingly brings onto the plane of reality, in some degree, the ideal solution projected by Bahá’u’lláh over half a century ago in His divine plan for the reconciliation of the religious systems of the world. This divine plan which existed then only in embryo in the world of ideals, projected by the creative Word of the Manifestation of this New Day, is now we see taking actual form in the affairs of the world, at least in part.
Not only the readers of this magazine, but all peoples as far as possible, would do well to study the address of ’Abdu’l-Bahá from which the following excerpt is taken. It is included in the Addresses of ’Abdu’l-Bahá in America, published in book form under the title, “Promulgation of Universal Peace,” pp. 223-230.-Editor.
HISTORY shows that throughout the past there has been continual warfare and strife among the various nations, peoples and sects, but now, praise be to God! in this century of illumination, hearts are inclined toward agreement and fellowship and minds are thoughtful upon the question of the unification of mankind. There is an emanation of the universal consciousness today which clearly indicates the dawn of a great unity. * * *
His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh has said that if one intelligent member be selected from each of the varying religious systems, and these representatives come together seeking to investigate the reality of religion, they would establish an interreligious body before which all disputes and differences of belief could be presented for consideration and settlement. Such questions could then be weighed and viewed from the standpoint of reality and all imitations be discarded. By this method and procedure all sects, denominations and systems would become one.
Do not question the practicability of this and be not astonished. It has been accomplished and effected in Persia. In that country the various religionists have conjoined in investigating the reality and have united in complete fellowship and love. No
traces of discord or differences remain among them; now affection and unity are manifest instead. They live together in harmony and accord like a single family. Antagonism and strife have passed away; love and agreement have taken the place of hatred and animosity. Furthermore, those souls who have followed Bahá'u’lláh and attained this condition of fellowship and affiliation are Muhammadans, Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, Buddhists, Nestorians, Sunnites, Shiites and others. No discord exists among them. This is a proof of the possibility of unification among the religionists of the world through practical means. Imitations and prejudices which have held men apart have been discarded and the reality of religion envelops them in a perfect unity. When reality envelops the soul of man love is possible.
The divine purpose in religion is pure love and agreement. The Prophets of God manifested complete love for all. Each one announced the glad tidings of His successor and each subsequent one confirmed the teachings and prophecies of the Prophet who preceded Him. There was no disagreement or variance in the reality of Their teaching and mission. Discord has arisen among Their followers who have lost sight of the reality and hold fast to imitations. If imitations
be done away with and the radiant shining reality dawn in the souls of men love and unity must prevail. In this way humanity will be rescued from the strife and wars which have prevailed for thousands of years; dissensions will pass away and the illumination of unity dawn. Consider how all the Prophets of God were persecuted and what hardships they experienced. His Holiness Jesus Christ endured affliction and accepted martyrdom upon the cross in order to summon mankind to unity and love. What sacrifice could be greater? He brought the religion of love and fellowship into the world. Shall we make use of it to create discord, violence and hatred among mankind?
Moses was persecuted and driven out into the desert. Abraham was banished; Muhammad took refuge in caves; the Báb was killed and Bahá’u’lláh was exiled and imprisoned forty years. Yet all of Them desired fellowship and love among men. They endured hardships, suffered
persecution and death for our sakes that We might be taught to love one another and be united and affiliated instead of discordant and at variance. Enough of these long centuries which have brought such vicissitudes and hardships into the world through strife and hatred. Now in this radiant century let us try to do the will of God that we may be rescued from these things of darkness and come forth into the boundless illumination of heaven, shunning division and welcoming the divine oneness of humanity. Perchance, God willing, this terrestrial world may become as a mirror celestial upon which we may behold the imprint of the traces of divinity and the fundamental qualities of a new creation may be reflected from the reality of love shining in human hearts. From the light and semblance of God in us may it be indeed proved and witnessed that God has created man after His own image and likeness.
THIS WEEK, while Bishop Manning of the Episcopal Church was announcing in New York his belief that the reunion of all Christendom is imminent and inevitable, a distinguished visitor in New Orleans, Mrs. Keith Ransom-Kehler—a Kentucky woman who has become a great Bahá’í teacher—explained to a press representative that the chief principle of this widespread religious movement is the unifying of all faiths under the single doctrine of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.
Bishop Manning declared that “No utterance can or will stop or retard that movement” (the reunion of Christendom); “it is going on, and Christians all over the world, Catholic and Protestant, are drawing nearer to each other.” And Mrs. Keith Ransom-Kehler goes even further; for her faith seeks to unite, not only all Christians, but all the great religions of the world in the worship of one God and the service of all humanity, irrespective of creed, race or nationality. Under the inspiration of that purpose, more than eight million people, of the Old World and the New, have united to establish peace among religions, as well as among nations. So, for the first time in history, the thought of humanity is definitely turned toward peace and accord, instead of strife and emulations in religions as well as nations.”
