The American Bahá’í/Volume 6/Issue 10/Text

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The American Bahá’í October, 1975

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America, 1776: An example and a promise of the approaching reality of peace

By Dr. Allan Ward

It was in the spring of 1753 that Shaykh Aḥmad was born in Persia. He was undergoing life experiences there while America was declaring its independence, experiences that would send him on a quest to prepare for the coming of the new Revelation from God that would culminate in the next century in the establishment of the Bahá’í Faith.

Shaykh Aḥmad prepared a group of disciples for the coming of the Promised Day of God when the Almighty would send two new Messengers to unite the whole earth.

He felt he would not live to see it and said to his students just before his passing at the age of 81: “You have no time to lose. Every fleeting hour should be fully and wisely utilized. You should gird up the loins of endeavor, strive day and night to rend asunder, by the grace of God, those veils of heedlessness that have blinded the eyes of men.”

His group of seekers continued their preparation under the guidance of the noble Siyyid Káẓim who in turn, before his passing in 1843, told them: “It is incumbent upon you to renounce all comfort, all earthly possessions and kindred in your quest of Him who is the desire of your hearts and minds.”

So it was that one of the disciples, Mullá Ḥusayn, set out on his quest to find the Promised One, guided by prayer and a study of the scriptural prophesies. His feelings led him to the city of Shíráz where he arrived the evening of May 23, 1844. His meeting with the Báb, a title in Persian meaning the Gate, on that night and the Báb’s explanation that He was the first of the two Messengers God had sent for the redemption of all mankind, constitutes the founding date of the Bahá’í Faith.

In America on that same fateful evening, Samuel F.B. Morse tapped out the first message on the telegraph, a message that he had chosen from the Bible (“What hath God wrought?”), opening the modern era of communication. That same year Charles Goodyear patented the vulcanization process for rubber, the first edition of Alexander Dumas’, The Three Musketeers was published in America, and the first private bath in an American hotel was introduced in New York.

The dichotomy of American character was apparent even then; great good combined with serious limitations which the Writings of the Bahá’í Faith would so clearly delineate at a later time. In 1844, there were riots in Philadelphia between Catholics and non-Catholics which left burned churches and 24 dead, and in Carthage, Ill., religious leader Joseph Smith and his brother were murdered by a mob.

In Persia, the Báb gathered a group of 18 disciples whom He sent forth to proclaim the advent of a new Day of God to prepare the way for the coming of the second Messenger, prophesied to appear in 19 years, who would give the Teachings to unite all men to one spiritual planetary unit. In a matter of a few years, the Báb’s followers grew by the thousands. A persecution met the growth of the Faith and 20,000 followers suffered martyr’s deaths, climaxing in the martyrdom of the Báb in 1850.

America, at that midpoint in the century, had grown in population to 23 million with 369,000 immigrants arriving on its shores that year, some paying a fare of only $10 from Europe. California was admitted as the 31st state to the union. English visitors that year ‎characrterized characterized‎ the most ‎prevelant prevalent‎ American habits as bragging and tobacco chewing. The final design for the United States Capitol building was made. A major negative part of American history concerned the horrors of slavery. The Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Bill were both passed that year.

In Persia, the remaining followers of the Báb turned naturally to the magnetic leadership of one who declared publicly in the midst of religious exile in 1863 that He was Bahá’u’lláh, the Glory of God, the second expected Messenger. His Writings continued to pour forth throughout four decades the moral, ethical, spiritual, and administrative explanations, admonitions, ordinances, and laws that would form the structure of the Bahá’í Faith, a framework that Bahá’ís believe will furnish a welcome pattern for a world reaching the stage of its maturity. From His Pen came sweeping social pronouncements on the oneness of humanity and religion; the equality of men and women; the independent investigation of truth; the agreement of science and religion; the need for a universal language, weights, and measures; spiritual solutions for the economic problems; the expunging of all prejudices; the establishment of a universal tribunal; and universal peace. He emphasized, as a basis for all this, profound character development in the daily practices of His followers. Bahá’u’lláh even admonished the kings, rulers, and religious leaders of the earth in a series of profound tablets in the late 1860s and early 1870s, addressing them with the opportunity for ending war, establishing peace, and the ‎consquences consequences‎ to themselves, their dynasties, and their peoples if they did not.

In America, this was the period when Ulysses Grant was elected president; when the 15th Constitutional Amendment was passed, stating that suffrage shall not be denied or abridged because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude; that the United States population had grown to 39 million; when the Indian Appropriation Act nullified all previous Indian treaties; when the Chicago fire left 98,000 homeless; and when the New York Times apologized to its readers for increasing the number of pages from eight to a more cumbersome twelve.

By 1892, Bahá’u’lláh had discharged all the tasks He felt God had commissioned Him to perform and, at His passing, asked the followers to be guided by His Son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, whose name denotes the Servant of the Glory of God.

Within a year, like two converging lines of destiny, the direct ‎ccourse course‎ of Bahá’í history intersected America with the first public mention of the Faith at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 when the huge Colombian Exposition was being held. This was the year that Grover Cleveland was inaugurated for the second time; the Cherokee Strip opened between Kansas and Oklahoma, causing a land rush of 100,000 people for the six million acres; while Henry Ford road-tested his first car.

News of the newly arrived Teachings spread from coast to coast, and by 1898 the first Americans made their first historic pilgrimages to the Holy Land to personally meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. With great zeal, they returned to America to tell the story of Bahá’u’lláh and His Revelation, saying they believed He was the fulfillment of the Messianic hopes of the Jewish population and the return of Christ longed for by the Christians. The growing ranks of followers felt these newly discovered Teachings were a fulfillment and extension of the truth they had already believed.

With great expectation, this expanding body of believers awaited the coming to America of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1912. He was freed at last by a change in government attitude toward religious prisoners, occasioned by the Young Turk revolution, from an exile and confinement that had begun with His Father in 1853.

The American public was astonished by this personage. Audiences of up to 2,000 greeted ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in universities, churches, and auditoriums across the country with some standing ovations as He calmly and vigorously pronounced the requirements for individual spiritual development and the ‎priciples principles‎ that would unite all religions, races, and nations into the Promised Kingdom of God.

In that same year, New Mexico and Arizona were admitted to the union as the 47th and 48th states, the Titanic sank on its way to these shores. Congress extended the eight-hour-day labor law to all workers under federal contract, and a major topic of discussion at the fourth NAACP convention concerned the ways and means to stop the large number of lynchings.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, after returning to the Holy Land, prepared a document so important for the Bahá’ís of America that it would guide ‎thier their‎ overall activities for generations to come. He placed on them the primary responsibility of taking information of His Father’s Faith to all parts of the world where it was not yet established, a document entitled The Tablets of the Divine Plan.

After ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s passing in 1921, His Will and Testament appointed His grandson, Shoghi Effendi, as the Guardian, or leader, of the Faith to build up the worldwide administrative order envisioned by Bahá’u’lláh. This Shoghi Effendi did, in extraordinary plans that first developed the core of organization needed and then sent pioneers, as the traveling teachers and settlers were called, in a pulsing series of projects ‎iniatiated initiated‎ in 1937, 1946, and 1953 to Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the islands of the sea. Shoghi Effendi’s passing after 36 years of leadership was followed closely by the election of The Universal House of Justice, who Bahá’ís believe direct their activities infallibly under the guidance of the Revealed Word left by Bahá’u’lláh, the explanations and interpretations of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, and under the continued inspiration of these Central Figures from the eternal Worlds of God.

With the coming of America’s Bicentennial year, the Bahá’í Faith is established in thousands of centers across America, in every state, and in some 70,000 locations in several hundred countries and major territories of the planet, with Bahá’í Writings translated into more than 400 languages.

In their belief that humanity steadily is entering the era of united fulfillment, Bahá’ís are excited by a comparison found in their Writings of the early days of uniting the states of America with the present process of uniting the nations of the world. It states: “How confident were the assertions made in the days preceding the unification of the states of the North

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American continent regarding the insuperable barriers that stood in the way of their ultimate federation? Was it not widely and emphatically ‎decalred declared‎ that the conflicting interests, the mutual distrust, the differences of government and habit that divided the states were such as no force, whether spiritual or temporal, could ever hope to harmonize or control? Yet how different were the conditions prevailing then from those that characterize present-day society?”

How eager Bahá’ís are to share with their countrymen their serene confidence in the approaching reality of a peaceful planet, a confidence built in part by this knowledge: that the present problems of planetary unification are in some ways less complex than the uniting of the American states which stand at once as an example and a promise.

Indeed, the highest ideals of this country’s founding fathers find their fulfillment and extension in the Writings of the Bahá’í Faith and in the developing practice of those Writings.

America has a spiritual destiny of which its Bahá’í citizens are aware. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote: “America is, in the eyes of the one true God, the land wherein the splendors of His Light shall be revealed, where the mysteries of His Faith shall be unveiled, where the righteous will abide, and the free assemble.”

As they survey the past two centuries, Bahá’ís want to do all in their power to aid the swift realization of this potential for the future.

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The source of the wondrous achievements

The light, life, felicity, perfection, and beauty of knowledge unfolded from man in the last half of the 19th century.

Celebrations of the Bicentennial of the United States pay tribute to the achievements of great Americans such as Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation, Cyrus McCormick and the reaper, Thomas Edison and the electric light bulb, Alexander Graham Bell and the telephone, Samuel Morse and the telegraph, George Eastman and the simple box camera, and literary figures Walt Whitman and Mark Twain.

It was as if a powerful force had been unleashed. Which is exactly what happened.

“All the wondrous achievements ye now witness are the direct consequences of the Revelation of this Name,” Bahá’u’lláh says in Gleanings.

The Blessed Beauty promises that “every created thing will, according to its capacity and limitations, be invested with the power to unfold the knowledge of the most marvelous sciences, and will be empowered to manifest them in the course of time at the bidding of Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Knowing.” (Gleanings).

Some limitations and vain and obscure thoughts were evident, however.

H. G. Wells points out in The Outline of History that “compared to them (scientists, inventors), the foreign ministers and ‘statesmen’ and politicians of this period were no more than a number of troublesome and occasionally incendiary schoolboys playing about and doing transitory mischief amidst the accumulating materials upon the site of a great building whose nature they did not understand.”

Knowledge continues to unfold for the benefit of man, manifested in such things as nuclear energy, space travel, transistors and ‎computors computers‎, and advances in controlling diseases.

“In the days to come, ye will, verily, behold things of which ye have never heard before,” Bahá’u’lláh says in Gleanings.

Continued progress is thus assured.

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Projects at the National Center

Bicentennial observances in the United States have provided a timely opportunity for proclaiming the Faith, with special projects on the national level utilizing that theme in September.

Foremost in the Bicentennial proclamation was the four-color, full-page advertisement in Life magazine’s special Bicentennial issue, which is estimated to have a readership of three million. This advertisement features a new picture of the House of Worship, against a green background, with a text that includes these words:

“This unusual edifice, recognized worldwide as structurally unique, represents a major architectural achievement of America’s two hundred years. Yet the ideal it expresses—the oneness of mankind—remains among the unfinished business of the democratic experiment which began in 1776. It stands, then, as a token of the highest hope of the peoples of the United States and the entire world—the hope for universal peace and unity.”

Keeping in mind one of the Five Year Plan goals of reaching people in minority races, the Bahá’í National Information Committee had the advertisement translated into Spanish, appearing September 26 in the national edition of El Diario. It was also translated into Chinese, appearing September 23 in the national edition of Sing Pao Jih Tao, and is now being translated into Estonian to appear in Vaba Eesti Sona in October.

Supporting this proclamation at the national level, a United Press International news story was published by many newspapers.

At the same time that newspaper proclamation has grown, more opportunities are occurring for radio and television mention of the Faith. In the Chicago area, a number of programs featuring material about the House of Worship have been broadcast in the past two months.

Plans are under way by the Bahá’í National Information Committee to produce special radio tapes and spot announcements, featuring Bahá’í attitudes on topics relevant to the Bicentennial year.

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A black and white version of the Life magazine proclamation ad was translated into Chinese (left) and appeared in the national edition of Sing Pao Jih Tao. At right is a model of displays which will appear in February at Pennsylvania Station in New York City and at National Airport in Washington, D.C.

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New York, Washington displays planned

Work has begun at the National Information Office on Bahá’í displays to be exhibited in New York City and Washington, D.C., during February 1976, and on airport dioramas that will appear in terminals around the country during the same period.

This display material, a continuation of the National Spiritual Assembly’s effort to observe the American Bicentennial, will complement and reinforce the Life magazine ad which appeared on newsstands Labor Day and will remain on sale through December.

The display for New York City will be on view in the upper level of Pennsylvania Station, at 32nd Street and 7th Avenue. In Washington, D.C., it will be on view in the main lobby of National Airport.

Dioramas, which are 42 x 60 inch backlit transparencies hung in cases on airport walls, have been purchased for February in Dallas, Atlanta, New York, and Washington, D.C. Spiritual Assemblies in and around other major American cities are being invited to purchase dioramas in their localities during the same period, in an effort to extend the range of this proclamation effort.

The cities for the displays were suggested by The Universal House of Justice in a recent request to the National Spiritual Assembly that the American community befittingly observe the U.S. Bicentennial.

Airport and other transportation terminals were selected for this proclamation because of the high visibility the display materials would achieve, and the large volume of travellers passing through each of them. It is estimated, for example, that more than five million people will pass by the Bahá’í exhibit in Pennsylvania Station. More than two million will see the Bahá’í display in the capital’s major domestic airport.

Additional millions will see the dioramas in the numerous other airports. It is probable that many travellers will see the same displays and dioramas more than once in their movement around the country.

The displays will consist of eight two-foot by two-foot modules, which range in height from five feet to three feet, and are constructed of plywood with a gloss finish. The viewing surfaces will be at 45 degree angles. They will contain backlit transparencies with information about the Bahá’í Faith. One of the modules will be fitted with a pamphlet rack. The pamphlets will duplicate the information in the displays.

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Bicentennial edition of World Order magazine to be used in proclamation campaign

The winter issue of World Order magazine will be a special Bicentennial edition designed for wide proclamation of the Faith.

On a national level, the issue will be sent to President Gerald Ford, to community, civic, and business leaders.

Local Spiritual Assemblies who wish to participate in the proclamation on a local level may order the winter issue of World Order magazine through the Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 415 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091. The issue is scheduled for publication in January.

The special Bicentennial edition will include an editorial on the meaning of America; an article on religion and the American ‎idenity identity‎: 1609–1776; interviews with five Americans: a Mexican-Indian artist, a Japanese architect, a black poet, a woman of European background, and a woman professor; a book review; poetry; and special artwork.

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Bahá’í communities take advantage of Bicentennial celebrations

“Confirm this revered nation to upraise the standard of the oneness of humanity, to promulgate the Most Great Peace, to become thereby most glorious and praiseworthy among all the nations of the world ...” — From the Prayer for America, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

Bicentennial celebrations in America provide an unusual opportunity for the Bahá’í community to make its presence felt, an opportunity already stimulating varied projects at the Local Spiritual Assembly level. A survey conducted in June shows that special events, such as participation in Bicentennial parades, display booths in public places or at state fairs; increased advertising in local news media; and direct mailings of the special Bicentennial issue of World Order magazine are some of the ways Bahá’í communities will show their support of the nation’s Bicentennial.

The confidence felt by Bahá’ís about the spiritual destiny of America is significant in the midst of general concern about the difficulties being faced by this country. It is hoped that consultation by Local Spiritual Assemblies will lead to increased ways of proclaiming to the public the hope sustained by Bahá’ís regarding the future of the United States.

The tenor of the advertisement placed in Life magazine is an example of public expression of this hope, and is an example of the constructive approach taken by the Bahá’í community, as opposed to the attacks made by the nation’s critics.

Since only 236 of the nearly 1,000 Local Spiritual Assemblies in the country responded to the request of the National Spiritual Assembly for information about their Bicentennial plans, it is believed final results of the Bicentennial observance by the American Bahá’í community will be much more extensive than this initial report indicates.

As well as the official plans of local Bahá’í communities, some novel ideas have been offered by individual Bahá’ís, including a suggestion that all National Spiritual Assemblies send cablegrams to the United States government congratulating it on its 200th birthday. Other community suggestions included presentation of a prayer in ornamental calligraphy to the city hall; participation in the special greeting for the Freedom Train; take part in the dedication of a “World Park” planned by a local civic Bicentennial committee; plan special Holy Day events for the March–May period next year that would include a Bicentennial statement; present copies of the special booklet on the National Spiritual Assembly to local civic dignitaries; and prepare a public display giving information on the Bahá’í view of the destiny of America.

Some very novel ideas have also been suggested. One community is now preparing a “Unity Quilt,” with each member preparing one square. “In the fall, the entire community, children and adults, will come together to join these quilt squares into a ‘Unity Quilt’ which will then be mailed to some pioneering couple residing in a cold area,” according to the report from that community.

Another community is preparing a history of the Bahá’í Faith in its state and plans to devise ways of presenting this in varied forms as its Bicentennial effort.

For many communities, the theme of “unity in diversity” is the central focus for their planning. Suppression of religious freedom as one of the reasons for the founding of the United States of America is also a point of interest in planning projects, for the Bahá’í concept of the oneness of religion upholds that founding concept.

Widespread use of the Prayer for America is already under way, with some communities using this prayer daily in their individual devotions and others gathering for prayer beginning with this one.

A speaker’s bureau, with speakers offered to address groups on “The Destiny of America,” is contemplated by several communities.

Another community has already presented “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” as its Bicentennial gift to the public.

Programs based on the topics suggested by the American Issues Forum are also planned by many communities. Earlier this year, the National Endowment for the Humanities explored an idea suggested by Walter Cronkite that a national dialogue take place during America’s Bicentennial Year, through which all citizens could discuss, week by week, fundamental issues that embodied our past and could determine our future.

The general topics for each month are: “The Land of Plenty,” October; “Certain Unalienable Rights,” November; “A More Perfect Union,” December; “Working in America,” January; “The Business of America,” February; “America in the World,” March; “Growing Up in America,” April; and “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness,” May. Special material for each week, under subheadings of these topics, has been prepared and is available free from: The National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington, D.C. 20506.

The ad hoc Bicentennial committee appointed by the National Spiritual Assembly is now considering this series as a possible basis for seminar-type meetings at the local community level.

Close cooperation with civic Bicentennial committees at the local level may provide an opportunity for increasing awareness of the Bahá’í community in the minds of civic and business leaders in each area.

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Project chairman greets Bahá’ís

Dr. R.H. Edwin Espy, chairman of Project Forward ’76 and a former president of the National Council of Churches, recently sent a note of acknowledgement and greetings to the American Bahá’í community for its participation in U.S. Bicentennial observances.

Project Forward ’76, a program of the Interchurch Center of New York City, was the sponsor, with the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration, the government’s own planning agency, of a two-day conference in Washington, D.C., in May, at which 200 representatives of religions in America met “to learn from one another” and explore solutions to the problems facing the nation. Two Bahá’í delegates attended this meeting.

Dr. Espy was cited by many participants at this gathering for his lifelong efforts to bring religions into closer dialogue, as well as his vision in helping to plan Project Forward ’76.

The text of Dr. Espy’s statement:

“It is an honor and pleasure to extend heartfelt greetings to the American Bahá’í community, as you join with millions of fellow-citizens in celebrating the 200th birthday of our nation.

“We all should be grateful to God for our precious heritage of religious freedom, which has been the touchstone of all our freedoms. It is in the atmosphere of tolerance and mutual respect made possible by this heritage that people of faith, with widely differing creeds, have been able to worship the Supreme Being as their experience and conscience have guided them.

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Dr. R.H. Edwin Espy (right foreground), chairman of Project Forward 76. greets Dorothy Height, president of the National Council of Negro Women, at a conference in Washington. In the background, Secretary of the Navy John Warner, left, greets Dr. Robert Handy of the Onion Theological Seminary in New York.

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“In my present capacity as national chairman of Project Forward ’76, I am pleased to share with you the meaning of our name. Forward is the acronym for our slogan: ‘Freedom of Religion Will Advance Real Democracy.’ We pray that this truth of our national history may become increasingly manifest as we face the critical issues confronting America today and tomorrow.

“May the Lord of us all guide us and keep us, and make His face to shine upon the faithful people of the Bahá’í community, as we seek together to find and to follow the divine truth.

With every best wish, sincerely,

(signed) Dr. R. H. Edwin Espy”

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Reaching the hearts of Americans

How can we make our nation aware of its spiritual destiny?

Almost every city and town in the country is planning Bicentennial events where people will gather, seeking unity in their common homeland and meaning in their history. How can we use this spirit of search and cooperation to successfully reach the hearts with the Message of Bahá’u’lláh? How can we infuse Bicentennial events with the Bahá’í spirit?

What ideals in United States history reflect Bahá’í standards? How can these historic values be strengthened and maintained in the future?

What is America’s spiritual destiny?

Is America really a “melting-pot?” Bahá’ís of Miami report that, “as the Cubans say, America is no longer so much a ‘melting-pot’ as it is a ‘salad bowl,’” reflecting unity in diversity.

Many Bahá’í books, such as The Advent of Divine Justice, God Passes By, The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, and The Tablets of the Divine Plan contain exciting passages about America. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s travels in America are extremely important and are well-described in the book, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, by H. M. Balyuzi.

The pamphlet, The Destiny of America, is perfect for the occasion and may be supplemented by others, such as Universal and Lasting Peace, From Alienation to World Peace, Environment and Human Values, Pattern for Future Society, all available from the Bahá’í Publishing Trust.

The following are specific ideas already used or planned by Local Spiritual Assemblies:

—The Spiritual Assembly of Fort Collins, Col., is sponsoring an essay contest on “America’s Spiritual Heritage.” Awards will be presented at a gathering on George Washington’s Birthday when winning essays will be read and refreshments served.

—The Spiritual Assembly of New Britain, Conn., had a booth in a local “International Festival.” Bahá’ís of diverse heritage manned the booth. Slides were shown continuously and pamphlets were available in 10 languages.

—Bahá’ís of Delafield, Wis., are uniting with sister Bahá’í communities to build a float which they will enter in parades in each of their respective communities.

—In addition to having a float in their local Fourth of July parade, the Urbana, Ill., Bahá’ís went through the crowd dispensing ice water. Since it was typically hot, the water was much appreciated.

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—On July 24, National Prayer Day, Bahá’ís in Dallas, Texas, sponsored a dawn prayer service and proclamation in downtown Dallas. The theme, “America’s Spiritual Destiny,” was presented through prayers, readings, and music. The meeting was publicized through newspaper and radio releases.

—Many communities plan displays in libraries, businesses, etc.

Proclamation events are best received by people who are familiar with the name Bahá’í, and with some of the principles of the Faith. This aim can be achieved through news ads and articles, radio and TV ads and interviews, etc.

Bahá’ís in Burlingame, Cal., sent a letter to every household in Burlingame. The letter invites people to investigate the Bahá’í Faith, and involves 11,000 households.

In planning your proclamation, set goals. Plan to talk to a certain number of people, distribute a certain number of pamphlets, reach specific types (age-groups, races, etc.) of people, and have a certain number of people attending the event.

When we set goals, we expect results, and we achieve results: inquiries, increased attendance at firesides, declarations. Be prepared to serve the newly awakened seekers and the new Bahá’ís. Publicize firesides. Perhaps plan more proclamations. Keep up consistent newspaper, radio, and TV coverage. And let each Bahá’í be sure that each of his friends and acquaintances knows that he is a Bahá’í.

To learn about your town’s Bicentennial plans, contact the Chamber of Commerce and ask how to reach the local Bicentennial commission.

Don’t wait for them to call you. The Local Spiritual Assembly of Dallas discovered that the Dallas Committee for Religious Observance of the Bicentennial was not aware of their existence. When the Assembly representative contacted them and gave them a compilation of quotes on America’s destiny, they requested Bahá’í participation in their planning sessions and events.

The Bahá’ís of Brookline, Mass., learned that Brookline had no Bicentennial plans. So they are organizing a week-long program of activities “in honor of the Bicentennial of the United States, as sponsored by the Bahá’ís of Brookline.”

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Some suggestions for participation

With Bahá’í communities consulting to find suitable ways to observe the Bicentennial, ways compatible with Bahá’í principles, it is interesting to note some of the suggestions made in The Bicentennial Book: 1975–76, by Robert Lawlor. (Dell pocketbook, $1.50).

• Foremost in the government program is the American Freedom Train, scheduled to pass within one hour’s driving distance of 90 per cent of the nation’s population. The train, pulled by a 400-ton locomotive and filled with precious artifacts, has been called by President Gerald Ford “a unifying symbol of the heritage that has made America great.”
• Bicentennial ’76, planned by a nonprofit organization, is planning adventurous tours in 1976, lasting from one to twelve weeks and planned to be minimal in cost. Overnight riders will have the options of camping or staying in “home hostels” or commercial lodging. Educational materials have been prepared to help riders appreciate different regions of the United States and know what special events are happening in each area. Once each week a community dinner is planned to allow bicyclists and local residents to get together for an evening. Information is available from Bikecentennial ’76, P.O. Box 1034, Missoula, Montana 59801.
• Bicentennial Tree-Planting Kits are available from American Forest Institute, 1619 Massachusetts Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036, for $1.25 per kit. Minimum order of 24 kits is $30, and larger orders must be in multiples of 24. Seeds from four trees associated with American history, the eastern white pine, the apple tree, the Douglas fir, and the loblolly pine, are included in each kit.
• The Festival of American Folklife, Washington, D.C., was held this summer between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, and will be held next summer from June 15 through early August. It brings together widely-varied folk groups in an attractive program cosponsored by the Smithsonian Institution, the National Park Service, and the Festival of American Folklife. Across 50 acres of the Mall, this celebration is divided into four major themes: Regional Americans, Working Americans, Old Ways in the New World, and Native Americans. In a special children’s area, emphasis is on participation, with experts on hand to teach traditional dances, games, and songs to children, as well as tell folk stories.
• State Days and the Bicentennial Parade of American Music, Washington, D.C., on the west steps of the Capitol and in the Concert Hall at the Kennedy Center, features special programs honoring each state on the anniversary of the day it entered the Union. Between March 1975 and December 1976, each state is to be honored in this way, with the governor participating, and special music in the evening featuring composers from the state being honored.
• National Food Festival, New Orleans, Louisiana, was held this summer, with Creole and Latin cuisine featured. More than 40 types of dishes were served, at nominal cost, with plans for the 1976 festival including culinary specialties from each of the 50 states.
• Victoria Community commemorative celebration, Victoria, Maine, will be the site of an old-fashioned ice cream social on the first Sunday in August, 1976. Visitors are urged to wear Revolutionary era costumes as they enjoy fresh ice cream, made using the same methods that were used in 1776. A baseball game will close the festivities. There will be no admission charge, but ice cream will be sold.

Check at your city hall for the nearest office of the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration (ARBA), where additional information will be available.

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American Issues Forum offers possibilities for Bahá’í participation

The American Bahá’í community has an opportunity to make its presence felt nationally through uniting in observance of the Bicentennial. Seminars at the local level, based on topics drawn from the American Issues Forum, could be a means of bringing together non-Bahá’í and Bahá’í participants in meaningful discussion of significant issues facing the nation.

Since our non-participation in politics must be strictly upheld, it is important that skillful chairmen be selected for such seminars and that participants be chosen with a view to meaningful backgrounds and seasoned attitudes.

“American Issues Forum” is a calendar of topics, chosen to stimulate discussion on major issues from this nation’s 200-year history. Many of the topics have particular meaning for Bahá’ís and could easily be the springboard for discussion of Bahá’í principles. Some, however, may not be suitable.

Free copies of the “American Issues Forum” calendar and explanatory material may be obtained by writing to the National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington, D.C. 20506.

The American Library Association is developing two reading lists—one for adults and one for young readers—to support the weekly Forum topics. Contact Donald E. Stewart, American Library Association, 50 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611.

The American Issues Forum has scheduled specific topics for each week through May 29, 1976.

The complete schedule:

Oct. 26–Nov. 1: Freedom of Speech, Assembly, and Religion.

Nov. 2–8: Freedom of the Press.

Nov. 9–15: Freedom from Search and Seizure.

Nov. 16–22: Equal Protection Under the Law.

Nov. 23–29: “In Congress Assembled” ... A Representative Legislature.

Nov. 30–Dec. 6: A President: An Elected Executive.

Dec. 7–13: “The Government”: The Growth of Bureaucracy.

Dec. 14–20: “By Consent of the States.”

Jan. 11–17: The American Work Ethic.

Jan. 18–24: Organization of the Labor Force.

Jan. 25–31: The Welfare State: Providing a Livelihood.

Feb. 1–7: Enjoying the Fruits of Labor.

Feb. 8–14: Private Enterprise in the Marketplace.

Feb. 15–21: Empire Building: Cornering the Market.

Feb. 22–28: Subsidizing and Regulating: Controlling the Economy.

Feb. 29–March 6: Selling the Consumer.

March 7–13: The American Dream Among Nations.

March 14–20: The Economic Dimension.

March 21–27: A Power in the World.

March 28–April 3: A Nation Among Nations.

April 4–10: The American Family.

April 11–17: Education for Work and for Life.

April 18–24: “In God We Trust.”

April 25–May 1: A Sense of Belonging.

May 2–8: The Rugged Individual.

May 9–15: The Dream of Success.

May 16–22: The Pursuit of Pleasure.

May 23–29: The Fruits of Wisdom.

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Day of prayer Nov. 12 part of vigorous campaign to win goals of Five Year Plan A special day of intensive prayer will be held throughout the Bahá’í world on the anniversary of the birth of Bahá’u’lláh, November 12. It is part of a vigorous campaign to step up the teaching work necessary to achieve the goals of the Five Year Plan. The International Teaching Center at the World Center, in a message to all the Continental Boards of Counsellors, called for the campaign to inspire the believers to respond quickly to the call of The Universal House of Justice. The Continental Board of Counsellors for North America wrote to the National Spiritual Assemblies of the United States, of Canada, and of Alaska asking for “a veritable wave of prayer on November 12.” The National Spiritual Assembly of the United States immediately expanded the observance of the anniversary of the birth of Bahá’u’lláh to include a special 7 a.m. devotional program at the House of Worship. Local Spiritual Assemblies have been asked to arrange special prayer meetings. The messages from the International Teaching Center and the Continental Board of Counsellors reinforce the urgency for an increased teaching effort. In addition to the November 12 devotional program, the National Spiritual Assembly will sponsor Teaching Conferences in Illinois and New York on Nov. 1–2 and in California Dec. 27–28. Strengthening of Local Spiritual Assemblies, without which teaching work cannot be effectively carried out, continues through the Local Spiritual Assembly Development Program. This Bicentennial issue of The American Bahá’í is designed to aid the believers in proclaiming the Faith through Bicentennial observances around the country. The following are the texts of the messages from the International Teaching Center and the Continental Board of Counsellors: Calling on Counsellors throughout world seconded by Auxiliary Boards inaugurate vigorous campaign between now and Riḍván aimed inspiring individual believers with greater spiritual consecration sacred responsibilities. Progressive development master design ‘Abdu’l-Bahá requires immediate unflagging response divinely inspired directives of God’s Universal House of Justice. Achievement remaining goals now limited to brief three and half year period requiring worldwide intensification teaching the Faith. Urge extend invitation all Auxiliary Board members and assistants join our body yourselves in special day intense prayer forthcoming anniversary birth Blessed Perfection for purpose attracting even fuller measure divine confirmations to sacred task assisting quicken spirit sacrificial service each and every follower Cause. Deepest love. International Teaching Center To All the Believers of North America Beloved Co-workers: May we humbly beseech the prayerful assistance of the three National Spiritual Assemblies in North America, all Local Spiritual Assemblies and, indeed, every believer to reinforce us as we plan the vigorous campaign requested by the International Teaching Center. Many of us will be able to rise at dawn for personal prayers on the anniversary of the birth of the Blessed Perfection, November 12. Others will meet together in community prayer meetings arranged by their Local Spiritual Assemblies. May we have a veritable wave of prayer on November 12. With much love, Continental Board of Counsellors for North America

Two members of Universal House of Justice visit at National Center

Two members of The Universal House of Justice visited with Bahá’ís at the National Center in September. Hugh Chance and David Ruhe and their wives spoke to capacity audiences in Foundation Hall on both occasions. Mr. Chance spoke of the excavation work at the site of The Universal House of Justice Building and of the teaching and consolidation work throughout the world. Mr. and Mrs. Chance were at Foundation Hall on Sept. 21. On Sept. 28, Dr. and Mrs. Ruhe spoke. Dr. Ruhe narrated a slide presentation of Pilgrimages to Iran and Israel and discussed progress in acquiring Bahá’í holy places.

Hugh Chance

Dr. David Ruhe

Mildred Chance

Margaret Ruhe

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Teaching

Teaching Programs for Teaching Conferences

“There is no substitute for the teaching work of the individual,” said the beloved Guardian, in a letter written on his behalf.

“Each One Teach One” conferences will be held in Joliet, Illinois, and Brockport, New York on November 1 and 2.

The Hand of the Cause of God Zikrullah Khadem, Counsellor Edna True of the Continental Board of Counsellors for North America, and Glenford Mitchell and Charlotte Linfoot of the National Spiritual Assembly, will participate in and address the Illinois conference.

Counsellor Sarah Pereira, Auxiliary Board member Peter Kahn, and Firuz Kazemzadeh and Magdalene Carney of the National Spiritual Assembly will attend the New York conference. Agendas for the conferences also include workshops on successful teaching, fellowship, and music.

Follow-up conferences will be held at 10 localities in Illinois: Chicago, Park Forest, Elgin, Edwardsville, Urbana, and Peoria on November 15, and Wilmette, Evanston, Rockford, and Springfield on November 16, and simultaneously at 10 localities in New York. Purpose is to plan specific action to achieve the goals of opening new localities, forming Local Spiritual Assemblies, incorporating Local Spiritual Assemblies, and consolidating the community.

“Each One Teach One” conferences will be held in California on December 27 and 28, with 30 follow-up conferences throughout the state on January 10 and 11.

Teaching efforts in Illinois, New York, and California, the three states chosen from those visited by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as goal areas for the United States Bahá’ís during the Five Year Plan, are expected to attract “great numbers to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, thereby initiating a process leading to the entry into the Faith by troops alluded to by the Master.”

“My hope for you,” the Master addresses the American believers in the Tablets of The Divine Plan, “is that each one may shine forth like unto the morning star from the horizon of the world and in this Garden of God become a blessed tree, producing everlasting fruits and results.”

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Watsonville: A new Army of Bahá’u’lláh emerges from migrant workers

Until August of this year, there were no Bahá’ís in Watsonville. Now there are 69, and the number is rapidly growing.

The Watsonville Summer Project was sponsored by the Local Spiritual Assembly of Santa Cruz County North and the California Regional Teaching Committee.

One weekend in August, Bahá’ís from all over California gathered for a preparatory institute conducted by Auxiliary Board member Paul Pettit and by the coordinator of the project, David Hall. The teachers explored teaching materials and methods. Skits, prayers, and practice united the group in their teaching goals.

Then, for two weeks, the teachers worked in Watsonville, an agricultural community in Northern California, bringing the Bahá’í message to the people. They taught in crowded migrant worker camps, in residential areas, in downtown shopping malls, reaching out to all strata of society. Some taught children through songs and stories. The children brought their parents to nightly meetings. After the project began, meetings were announced on radio and TV. But of course, the major attraction for the seekers was the love and unity manifested by the teaching teams.

The meetings were brief, with a movie, songs, and a five-minute talk on the basics of the Faith, followed by a time of informal fellowship, which, reported the coordinator of the project, is “the most important time, when the Bahá’ís can teach on a one-to-one level, as it is more relaxing and people will ask more questions in this atmosphere than in front of a large crowd.”

The first declaration in Watsonville came from a young Guatemalan man who spoke no English. He grabbed the declaration card and signed his name. A Spanish-speaking Bahá’í asked him if he understood what he had done. He replied that he would do anything for Bahá’u’lláh and rushed off to join the teaching teams.

The effort in Watsonville is now an ongoing process, for the teaching and deepening of so many ardent seekers must continue year-round. Eight bilingual Bahá’ís travel to Watsonville on weekends or weeknights, whenever they have free time, to teach and deepen. Bahá’ís meet for deepening classes every Sunday in the park. The new Bahá’ís bring their friends to these sessions, and many declarations have resulted.

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Intensive teaching work is in progress at Watsonville, an agricultural community in Northern California. Eight bilingual Bahá’ís travel often to Watsonville to teach and deepen the growing new believers.

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The Watsonville Summer Project, aimed at all the people of the area, has initially resulted in Spanish-speaking new Bahá’ís, seven or eight of whom are permanent residents of Watsonville. Others are nomadic migrant workers. Three speak only English, two are bilingual, and the rest speak only Spanish.

The new Bahá’ís who are migrant workers are being prepared to teach the Faith throughout the country. They are a precious core of travel-teachers. The residents of Watsonville will continue teaching and consolidation efforts in that community.

“We so often judge success by the number of declarations,” said the coordinator of the project. “However, when I see the hearts of the Bahá’ís themselves have been conquered by Bahá’u’lláh, then I feel we have been successful.”

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Spiritual Assembly of Chicago unveils teaching plan for Five Year Plan

The Spiritual Assembly of Chicago shared its teaching plan for the Five Year Plan with hundreds of persons from Bahá’í communities throughout Illinois in a special program at the Chicago Bahá’í Center on September 13.

The guest speakers for the occasion were the Hand of the Cause of God Zikrullah Khadem and Counsellor Edna True of the Continental Board of Counsellors for North America.

The Chicago plan calls for, among other things, a doubling of the size of the present community; the sending of six pioneers to international posts; the teaching of American Indian, Spanish-speaking, and Greek minorities. It calls on the friends to increase contributions to the Fund by 35 per cent; to establish 10 college clubs, with a special emphasis on teaching the Faith to foreign students; and to increase the use of press and radio for proclamation, seeking particularly coverage in foreign-language news outlets.

The Spiritual Assembly reported progress with many of the goals adopted. For example, the Spiritual Assembly announced that two pioneers had settled at their posts to date; an ambitious summer youth project was conducted in Greek and Spanish-speaking neighborhoods, with interesting results; the Spanish-speaking community had increased by 19 believers; and $5,000 was reportedly contributed toward construction of a new Bahá’í center.

The Hand of the Cause of God Zikrullah Khadem (bottom picture) talks with Bahá’ís at the Chicago Center where the Local Spiritual Assembly of Chicago unveiled its special Five Year Plan. Above, Dr. Sirus Niraqi, chairman of the Assembly, talks about some of the goals.

In addition, it was said that an improvement had been made in the quality of the 19-day Feast; that six weekly fireside meetings were regularly held in different parts of Chicago; that teaching in the Greek community had gotten under way; and that imaginative plans to deepen individual believers have been devised and are being implemented.

Mr. Khadem, in his presentation, encouraged the friends to strive to achieve the goals assigned them by their institutions. He said the world would soon be fully aware of the Bahá’í teachings; that the accomplishments of science had all been made to make easier the advancement of the Cause of God.

He said he would send a copy of the Five Year Plan for Chicago to the Bahá’ís of Tehran to encourage them and to show them what Bahá’ís in other places can do.

In the East, he said, the Bahá’ís are sad because they cannot teach. During his travels there, he said their message to the West was that the friends should teach and win the goals of the Plan for them.

Miss True, who grew up in Chicago, recalled the importance of the city in the development of the Faith in America.

As a child, she remembered hearing many messages sent to the community—the most important in the country—by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. In one of those cables, He likened the community to a heart and said, “Thank God Chicago is a strong heart.”

The first national convention, the Bahá’í Temple Unity Convention, called to lay plans for the construction of the House of Worship, was held in Chicago in 1909. National Conventions are dated from that first one. In April 1976, the 68th National Bahá’í Convention will be held, and it will elect the National Spiritual Assembly.

Miss True’s mother, Corinne True, was instrumental in organizing the construction of the House of Worship. Many of the anecdotes recounted by Miss True were of her mother’s work for the Faith.

“Your heritage is indeed a rich one,” she told the Bahá’ís of Chicago in closing, “and I hope you may be imbued with that same spirit of utter devotion and that you may receive from on high that assistance which has been promised by the Master to those who serve.”

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Youth

Progress made in Two-Year Youth Program

The National Youth Committee is very optimistic about the Two-Year Youth Program and expects that the Bahá’í youth will win the goals by next September.

Some of the youth goals, announced by the National Spiritual Assembly on August 29, 1974, are already won.

1. Circuit teaching trips

The goal: 500 completed trips, at least 10 of which last two or more months.

Action: 500 teaching trips are completed. Three of the trips lasted two or more months. Seven more long-term trips will win this goal.

2. International Pioneering

The goal: 25 international pioneers, at least five settled in Five-Year Plan goal areas.

Action: Five youth settled in Five-Year Plan goal areas and six youth at other posts. Fourteen more youth pioneers will win this goal.

3. Youth Conferences

The goal: One youth conference in every state or district during 1975.

Action: 51 youth conferences in June 1975.

The youth conferences brought out this important point: that goals can be answers to prayers for guidance. Studying the goals given by God through The Universal House of Justice can help people plan their lives.

4. International teaching trips

The goal: 75 international teaching trips.

Action: 44 completed trips.

5. Local youth clubs

The goal: 100 local youth clubs.

Action: 30 local youth clubs are formed.

That “spiritual energy, zeal and idealism” which, in the eyes of The Universal House of Justice, is special to youth, will, when channelled through prayerful, consistent action, win these goals by next September.

6. Expansion

The goal: A dramatic increase in the number of Bahá’í youth.

Action: Sustained, personal teaching efforts, such as small firesides among friends, will win this goal.

7. College Clubs

The goal: 350 college clubs.

Action: 255 clubs by summer 1975. From September 1975 to June 1976, 100 new clubs must be formed and the existing 255 maintained.

Two Bahá’í youth on one campus can form a club. Since most Bahá’í students are already settled on campus for the year, individual, personal teaching is again necessary to find the waiting souls on each campus and win the goal.

Some campuses already have Bahá’í groups of two or more who have not organized a club.

For information on forming college clubs, write to the National Youth Office, 112 Linden Ave., Wilmette, IL 60091.

8. Homefront pioneering

The goal: 100 homefront pioneers: 40 to open new localities, including at least 10 counties; 55 to Bahá’í communities requesting help from Bahá’í youth; five to Indian Reservations.

Action: 33 homefront pioneers: six to new localities, four to counties, none to Indian Reservations.

9. Regular, sacrificial contributions to the Bahá’í Fund

—Through study of the Teachings.

—Through practicing the Teachings.

‎11. 10.‎ Working closely with the administration

—learning how the administration works.

—serving the Local Spiritual Assembly.

Writing of Local Spiritual Assemblies, The Universal House of Justice says, “This great prize, this gift of God within each community must be cherished, nurtured, loved, assisted, obeyed and prayed for.”

‎12. 11.‎ Planning a life of service

—Some skills needed by developing countries: doctors, nurses, lab technicians, agriculturalists, licensed mechanics, plumbers, electricians, refrigeration specialists, tri- and bi-lingual secretaries, specialists in educational technology and developmental education.

—Some skills needed by growing local and national Bahá’í Centers: carpenters and other artisans, stenographers, secretaries, people trained in business administration.

“Winning the specific goals of the Two-Year Youth Program will help win the specific goals of the Five-Year Plan,” explains Philip Christensen, secretary of the National Youth Committee. “And, winning the other goals will help win the goals of future plans. When we win these goals, we lay the foundation for future victories.”

The beloved Guardian observed that the “intelligent, persistent, and effective participation of the Bahá’í youth, of every race, nationality, and class, in both the teaching and administrative spheres of Bahá’í activity” will convince a watching world that the Cause is “intensely alive, is sound to its very core, and its destinies in safe keeping.”

Bahá’í youth clubs provide outlets for devotional, recreational, and social activities. Some members of the youth club at ‎Gaitersburg Gaithersburg‎, Md., are pictured bottom left. The other photos show activities at the youth club at Hawthorne, Calif. The club has just three members and it generates weekly projects such as bowling, beach parties, or chatting with friends at a restaurant.

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30 youth clubs active in U.S.

Thirty local Bahá’í youth clubs now exist in the United States and others are being formed. Seventy more will win a goal of the Two-Year Youth Program: 100 local Bahá’í youth clubs by September 1976.

What are these clubs like? What do they do?

The National Youth Committee explains that local Bahá’í youth clubs offer, through devotional, recreational, and social activities, “a refuge” for youth “from the corrupting influence of their society.”

Devotional activities can be service projects. Bahá’í youth in Middletown, Pa., publish their community newsletter; in Barnstable, Mass., they do volunteer work at nursing homes and with retarded people.

Social activities help the youth meet seekers in a spirit of fun and fellowship. Youth in Hawthorne, Calif., often go bowling and participate in activities at a local coffee house.

Recreational projects stretch physical limbs as well as spiritual ones. For instance, the Ventura, Calif., youth sponsored a snow hunt. They found no snow, but enjoyed a great hike. Sparks, Nev., youth added physical food to their spiritual fare: they had an ice-cream making party.

Local Bahá’í youth clubs also help win two other important goals of both the Five-Year Plan and the Two-Year Youth Program. By their unifying effect, through the real friendships generated within them, they are an invaluable aid in developing the distinctive character of Bahá’í life. And, because they are sponsored by Local Spiritual Assemblies, they strengthen the Assemblies and increase the community’s love for the administration.

Further explanation of the clubs, and guidelines for their formation, are available from the National Youth Committee, 112 Linden Ave., Wilmette, IL 60091. The guidelines are flexible, encouraging experimentation, so that these clubs, new to our community, can become as effective as possible.

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Pathways to service

The Bahá’í principles concerning work

By the National Youth Committee

This is the fifth and final article in a special series on career planning for Bahá’í youth. Having examined general career planning facts (in the June issue of The American Bahá’í), vocational self-assessment (July), job trends (August), and educational opportunities (September), we conclude by exploring the Bahá’í principles concerning work.

Offering guidance to Bahá’í youth who are planning lives of utmost service to the Cause is one goal of the Five Year Plan. The Two Year Youth Program is even more specific:

Let them (Bahá’í youth) seriously consider their own and the Bahá’í community’s practical future needs and determine to acquire, in response to Bahá’u’lláh’s injunction, knowledge of the arts and sciences and to learn a trade or profession whereby they can earn their living and support their families.

One reason for planning a career, therefore, is to help win these goals. But a more important principle is also involved. One of Bahá’u’lláh’s specific laws is that His followers must work:

It is made incumbent on every one of you to engage in some one occupation, such as arts, trades, and the like. We have made this—your occupation—identical with the worship of God, the True One.... Waste not your time in idleness and indolence, and occupy yourselves with that which will profit yourselves and others besides yourself. (Bahá’í World Faith, Page 195)

It is in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, His Most Holy Book, that Bahá’u’lláh makes it obligatory to engage in some profession; exalts work to the rank of worship; prohibits mendicancy (both begging and giving to beggars), idleness and sloth; and calls on His followers to study such arts and sciences as benefit mankind.

Without an understanding of this law, it is easy for Bahá’ís to be seduced away from their work by wealth or dissatisfaction. Someone may feel, for example, that his job does not make the best use of his talents. Perhaps he has been unable to find employment in his chosen field because of a poor job market. Maybe he is independently wealthy with no need for a salary. Non-Bahá’ís might respond to these situations by leaving the work force until the “right” opportunity arises, until certain material or professional rewards appear, or until the money runs out. But these courses of action are not open to Bahá’ís. We are required to work, even if that work fails to satisfy or fulfill us.

The significance of this law, so different from prevailing social trends, is reflected in a powerful letter written by Shoghi Effendi on March 22, 1937, and first printed in Bahá’í News (No. 108, June 1937):

“With reference to Bahá’u’lláh’s command concerning the engagement of the believers in some sort of profession: the Teachings are most emphatic on this matter, particularly the statement in the ‘Aqdas to this effect which makes it quite clear that idle people who lack the desire to work can have no place in the new World Order. As a corollary of this principle, Bahá’u’lláh further states that mendicity should not only be discouraged but entirely wiped out from the face of society. It is the duty of those who are in charge of the organization of society to give every individual the opportunity of acquiring the ‎ncessary necessary‎ talent, both for its own sake and for the sake of earning the means of his livelihood. Every individual, no matter how handicapped and limited he may be, is under the obligation of engaging in some work or profession, for work, especially when performed in the spirit of service, is, according to Bahá’u’lláh, a form of worship. It has not only a utilitarian purpose, but has a value in itself, because it draws us nearer to God, and enables us to better grasp His purpose for us in this world. It is obvious, therefore, that the inheritance of wealth cannot make anyone immune from daily work.

“As to the question of retirement from work for individuals who have reached a certain age, this is a matter on which the International House of Justice will have to legislate as there are no provisions in the ‘Aqdas concerning it.”

It should be noted that Bahá’u’lláh does not require that one’s occupation be materially rewarded, only that one’s obligations to one’s family, to society, and to God be met. Thus, the student preparing for a career, the mother who devotes herself totally to child rearing, the full-time housekeeper, and the person with independent means who works without pay can all satisfy this injunction.

It is also true that a person, through no fault of his own, may be unable to find work, in spite of great effort and desire. But the Bahá’í who chooses not to work (or to prepare for work) because nothing suits him, or because he wishes to be as unrestrained as the wind, or because he does not wish to become corrupted by the old world order, or for any one of a hundred similar excuses, is breaking God’s law.

Of course there are other important reasons to engage in a trade or profession. For example, the goals of the Five Year Plan and the Two Year Youth Program link careers and career preparation to future Bahá’í service. Bahá’ís must help carry forward an ever-advancing civilization and serve humanity. They should strive to release their own potential, to mine the rich gems which God has stored in their souls, through education and professional service.

This is why career planning is so important.

As the old world order disintegrates, it becomes increasingly difficult to find outstanding professional opportunities, to obtain proper training, and even to go pioneering. The Bahá’í youth who ignores these trends may find himself with the wrong training for his chosen work, or with a degree in an overcrowded field, or without the skills necessary to fill a pioneering goal. In the end, he or she may be forced to take any job that presents itself.

Those youth who begin to plan lives of service as early as possible have a much better chance of finding the right career. They can also look for ways to combine education and immediate Bahá’í service. They will have plenty of time to answer questions such as:

—What are my aptitudes and my interests?

—What are my skills and achievements?

—What types of careers are open to people with these capacities? Which of these careers will best serve the Faith? Which will best serve humanity? Which will be most rewarding to me?

—What kind of workers will be needed in these careers? What kind of training will be necessary? How many jobs will be available?

—Which careers will be particularly useful for international pioneering? Which will allow me to support the Fund? To serve the Faith in other ways?

—How can I best prepare for such careers? How can I combine my education with Bahá’í service?

Report your news to American Bahá’í Publication of The American Bahá’í was started in 1970 to report local, regional, and national news of significance to the Bahá’í community of the United States. As new localities are opened, and Groups and Local Spiritual Assemblies are formed in pursuit of the goals of the Five Year Plan, things happen. There are teaching activities, proclamations, conferences, firesides, deepenings and other consolidation activities. What one community is doing may be of particular interest to another community many miles distant. Share your victories. If your Group or Assembly has not already done so, appoint a public information representative or correspondent to supply the editors of The American Bahá’í with current news and photographs of unusual events. Address materials to: American Bahá’í Editorial Offices 112 Linden Avenue Wilmette, IL 60091

The articles in this series have suggested some general approaches to these questions. In the final analysis, however, it is the responsibility of individual Bahá’í youth to seek out the specific answers. They should draw on both the old and the new world orders by combining the advice obtained from professional counsellors and reference books with prayer and meditation on the Teachings and the advice of a Local Spiritual Assembly.

So important is this planning that The Universal House of Justice listed it as one of the three special fields of service open before Bahá’í youth (Wellspring of Guidance, page 95). Their challenge to all young Bahá’ís provides a fitting conclusion to this series:

“The third field of service is the preparation by youth for their later years. It is the obligation of a Bahá’í to educate his children; likewise it is the duty of the children to acquire knowledge of the arts and sciences and to learn a trade or a profession whereby they, in turn, can earn their living and support their families. This, for a Bahá’í youth, is in itself a service to God, a service, moreover, which can be combined with teaching the Faith and often with pioneering. The Bahá’í community will need men and women of many skills and qualifications; for, as it grows in size the sphere of its activities in the life of society will increase and diversify. Let Bahá’í youth, therefore, consider the best ways in which they can use and develop their native abilities for the service of mankind and the Cause of God, whether this be as farmers, teachers, doctors, artisans, musicians or any one of the multitude of livelihoods that are open to them.”

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Dates to remember

November 1-2 Teaching Conference, Joliet, Illinois. Sponsored by the National Spiritual Assembly.

November 1-2 Teaching Conference, Brockport, New York. Sponsored by the National Spiritual Assembly.

November 1 Deadline for receipt of materials for December issue of The American Bahá’í.

November 1-14 Proclamation, University of Colorado Boulder Campus, Boulder, Colorado. Sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of Boulder.

November 4 Feast of Qudrat (Power).

November 6-9 Pioneer Training Institute. (By invitation only.)

November 6-12 Week-long Proclamation, Emporia, Kansas. Sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of Emporia.

November 12 Anniversary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh, Holy Day on which work should be suspended.

November 14 Proclamation, West Hollywood, Calif. Sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of West Hollywood.

November 14-16 Love and Fellowship Conference, Denver, Colorado. Sponsored by the Continental Board of Counsellors for North America and the Auxiliary Board.

November 15 Proclamation, Corsicana, Texas. Sponsored by the District Teaching Committee of East Texas No. 1.

November 16 Proclamation, Teague, Texas. Sponsored by the District Teaching Committee of East Texas No. 1.

‎Novmeber November‎ 21-23 National Spiritual Assembly meeting.

November 22-23 Family Life Conference, Emporia, Kansas. Sponsored by the National Education Committee.

November 23 Feast of Qawl (Speech).

November 26 Day of the Covenant, Holy Day.

November 28 Anniversary of the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Holy Day, should be commemorated about 1 a.m.

December 1 Deadline for receipt of materials for January issue of The American Bahá’í.

December 10 United Nations Human Rights Day.

December 12 Feast of Masá’il (Questions).

December 12 Proclamation, West Hollywood, Calif. Sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of West Hollywood.

December 13 Proclamation, Hillsboro, Texas. Sponsored by the District Teaching Committee of East Texas No. 1.

December 13-14 Love and Fellowship Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Sponsored by the Continental Board of Counsellors for North America and the Auxiliary Board.

December 14 Proclamation, Mexia, Texas. Sponsored by the District Teaching Committee of East Texas No. 1.

December 19 India project begins. ‎Spsored Sponsored‎ by the International Goals Committee.

December 27-28 Teaching Conferences, California. Sponsored by the National Spiritual Assembly.

December 28-January 9 National Bahá’í Center Work/Study Project. Sponsored by the National Youth Committee.

December 31 Feast of Sharaf (Honor).

[Page 9]

Education

Developing moral consciousness through children’s literature

This is the second in a series of articles prepared by the National Education Committee on child development and the use of children’s materials. The National Education Committee feels that a basic understanding of moral consciousness as it relates to the education of children must be understood before proper selection and use of any materials takes place.

Moral consciousness does not develop automatically in children—that is, the ability to distinguish right from wrong and to make appropriate decisions. Moral training is required, beginning at an early age, and that training can take various forms.

Children’s literature is an excellent training tool for the development of moral awareness. For instance, it is well-known that training should be accompanied by basic ground rules which specify appropriate behavior. Children’s literature can be used to reinforce ground rules and allow children to imagine situations in which decisions must be made regarding behavior. Discussions of moral dilemmas faced by the characters in a story encourage moral thinking in children. It helps them decide justly, on the basis of principle, and knowing the reason for an action helps children to behave in an appropriate manner.

Lawrence Kohlberg, noted for his research in moral development in children, suggests that moral reasoning occurs in stages through which the child develops. Children have their own ways of thinking about morals or values. The teacher or parent needs to understand the child’s thinking and his moral perspective, if he is to help the child develop a means of making constructive and beneficial moral decisions.

First, the child passes through an egocentric stage when he is indifferent to the concerns of others. He respects reward and punishment and his own welfare. Gradually, the child begins to orient himself to the opinions of others and of society. He has the need to conform and feels obligated to do what is socially acceptable. Eventually, the child’s judgment stems from an inner code and he is able to make moral decisions based on principle. Basing decisions and action on principle is an ideal, however, toward which children and adults must constantly strive.

Moral reasoning is essential to moral growth and development. It encourages the child to determine cause and effect relationships which help him to see the consequences of his own actions. Such understanding makes it more likely that the child will act in a proper way. Moral reasoning also enables the child to take more and more points of view into account when faced with a moral decision. A decision based on a broader perspective is likely to be more objective and, therefore, more just.

We can use the moral dilemmas and issues in children’s literature to help children practice moral reasoning. The motives and actions of each of the characters can be identified and discussed. The moral issue also needs to be identified and various points of view discussed. Moral issues which frequently appear in children’s literature are responsibility, blame, promises, respect, welfare of others, obligations, honesty, and justice. (Related books are listed at the end of the article.)

Discussion of these moral issues results in valuable learning. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá states, “... One child must question the other concerning those things and the child must give the answer. In this way they will make great progress ... later the children will of their own accord speak to each other concerning these same subjects.” – Star of the West, Volume III, page 142.

For example, children can discuss the responsibility of George in the story Curious George Rides a Bike. George is an ingenious little monkey who sets off on a new bike against his owner’s instructions. He follows his whims and finds himself in one predicament after another. George is egocentric and his moral development primitive. Doing what he wants is most important. The teacher can ask children the following questions:

1. What was George doing? Who? When? Where? How? (children get out the facts).
2. Why do you think George did those things? (children identify character’s intentions and motives).
3. Was he concerned about how his actions affected others? (children cite cause and effect relationships).
4. How do you describe George’s actions? (children identify moral issue of the story).
5. Do you think George was a responsible individual? In what way was he responsible? Irresponsible? What is responsibility? (children define moral issue of story).
6. What other ways could George have acted? (children find an alternative).
7. Did you ever ...? (own experience) (children relate moral issue to their own experiences).
8. Now, what other ways could you have acted? (children find alternatives to their behavior described in No. 7).

Questions No. 7 and No. 8 are important because they can help the child transfer the things he has learned to his own life.

Encouraging discussions of the moral dilemmas faced by the story characters gives the child practice and interaction with moral issues. Carefully formed questions can stimulate the child to higher levels of moral reasoning. Gradually, the child will begin to make meaningful moral decisions for himself.

As teachers we should not seek to condition, pressure, or indoctrinate our pupils to adopt certain attitudes. Discussions must be gently guided, encouraging the child to openly express his feelings and understandings about the story. Such discussions do not guarantee that the child will always make the right decisions. But they can help him to recognize his responsibility to God, himself, and others.

The following list of books (with the appropriate age groups) is an example of stories which pose a moral dilemma or discuss a moral issue.

Cooperation

Beim, Lorraine, Two is a Team (4-8); Ets, Marie, Mr. T.W. Anthony Woo (4-8); Lipkind, William, Finders-Keepers (4-8); Clark, Ann, In My Mother’s House (5-11); Lanski, Lois, Change of Heart (12-15).

Courage and Confidence

Austin, Margo, Barney’s Adventure (4-8); Beim, Lorraine, Smallest Boy in the Class (4-8); Leaf, Monroe, Boo, Who Used to be Scared of the Dark (4-8); Sperry, Armstrong, Call It Courage (11-15).

Forbearance

Deangli, Margarite, Bright April (7-11).

Gratitude

Grimm, The Shoemaker & the Elves (4-8).

Honesty and Truthfulness

Dr. ‎Suess Seuss‎, And to Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street (8-12); Stuart, Jessie, A Pennies Worth of Character (7-11).

Humility

DeAngeli, Marguerite, The Door in the Wall (7-12).

Kindness

Bulla, Clyde, The Poppy Seeds.

Orderliness

‎Karsilovsky Krasilovsky‎, Phyllis, The Man Who Didn’t Wash His Dishes (4-8).

Responsibility

Dr. ‎Suess Seuss‎, Horton Hatches the Egg (4-8); Beim, Lorraine, Kid Brother (5-8); Rey, Margaret, Curious George Rides a Bike (5-8); Krumgold, Joseph, And Now Miguel (11-15).

Work

Burton, Virginia, Katy & The Big Snow (4-8); Burton, Virginia, Mike Mulligan & His Steam Shovel (4-8); Moody, Ralph, Little ‎Breeches Britches‎ (11-15); Stuart, Jesse, The Beatinest Boy (8-12).

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Bahá’í Winter School schedule

School	Location	Dates	Program	Registrar
Arizona	Arizona Church Conference Center, Prescott, Arizona	Jan. 2-Jan. 4	“All Things Made New”	Mrs. Jill L. Hallock P.O. Box 124 Gilbert, AZ. 85324
Bosch	Santa Cruz, California	Dec. 28-Jan. 2	“Dynamics of becoming an effective child or Adult Educator”	Attn: Registrar Bosch Bahá’í School 500 Comstock Lane Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Southern California	Camp Maranatha Idyllwild, Calif.	Dec. 26-Dec. 31	“Destiny of America”	Mr. Robert Almony, Jr. 14351 Yorba Street Tustin, CA 92680
Carolinas	Pfieffer College Misenheimer, N. C.	Dec. 19-Dec. 21	“The Critical Years” Dr. Peter Khan will attend	Mrs. Anne Respess 4310 Romaine Street Greensboro, NC 27407
Colorado East	Bethlehem Center Broomfield, CO	Jan. 2-Jan. 4		Mrs. Sharon Babbitt 2216 Abeyta Court Loveland, CO. 80537
Davison		Dec. 26-Jan. 1	“Enrichment of Bahá’í Community Life”	Mr. David L. Smith 716 Wildes Midland, MI 48460
Florida North	Lake Byrd Conf. Center, 50 Lake Byrd Blvd., Avon Park Florida	Nov. 26-Nov. 30	“Journey into Past, Present, and Future of Faith” Dr. William Tucker will attend	Mrs. Sandra Muro 158 4th Street NW Largo, FL 33540
Georgia/Alabama	Camp Sumatanga Gallant, Alabama	Dec. 26-Dec. 28	“The Distinctive Character of Bahá’í Life—The Family” Dr. Jane Faily will attend	Mrs. Sue Simpson 3200 Deerfield Huntsville, AL 35810
Green Acre	Eliot, Maine	Nov. 1-2 Nov. 15-17 Nov. 27-30 Dec. 25-30 Dec. 31-Jan. 4	“Preparation for Marriage” “Marriage” “Parent Education” “Community Life” “Teacher Training” “Youth Week”	Registrar Green Acre Bahá’í School Eliot, ME 03903
Oklahoma/Texas	Bridgeport Conf. Center Bridgeport, Texas	Dec. 26-Dec. 30	“Paths to Service”	Mr. Firouz Mollaian 7600 NW 20th Bethany, OK 73008
Oregon	Menucha Camp, 20 miles east of Portland, Oregon	Nov. 27-Nov. 30		Mrs. Delane Hein P.O. Box 715 Rainer, OR 97048
Washington West	Fort Flagler Port Townsend, Washington	Dec. 25-Dec. 28	“Destiny of America”	Mrs. Tamara Knight Rt. 1, Box 360 Port Orchard, WA 98366

[Page 10]

Spanish section

Miembros de los instituciones mayores en ‎northeamerica norteamerica‎ reunen en Wilmette

El fin de semana del 4 de julio pasado llegaron a Wilmette Bahá’u’lláhs de todas partes del continente norteamericano con una misión especial.

Miembros de varias instituciones de la fe participaron en una conferencia iniciada por la Mano de la Causa de Dios William Sears, para la Casa Universal de Justicia. Fue ésta una conferencia sin precedentes en la esfera de acción y en sus deliberaciones.

Durante los días 5 y 6 de julio se reunieron en la Casa de Adoración las Manos de la Causa Zikrullah Khadem, John A. Robarts y William Sears; el Consejero ‘Aziz Yazdí, miembro del Centro Internacional de Enseñanza en Haifa, Israel; los miembros del Cuerpo Continental de Consejeros para Norte América y miembros del Cuerpo Auxiliar y de las Asambleas Espirituales Nacionales de Alaska, Canadá y los Estados Unidos.

A pesar de que el tema principal de la conferencia se basó en la protección de la fe contra la oposición, las Asambleas Nacionales y el Cuerpo ‎Auziliar Auxiliar‎ tuvieron la oportunidad de intercambiar ideas sobre la enseñanza de la fey de conocer las metas logradas en otros lugares.

Se han efectuado muchas conferencias Bahá’u’lláhs de índole nacional e internacional, pero ésta ha sido la primera conferencia continental celebrada en Norte América y su efecto se reflejaba en el rostro de los participantes. El hecho de que se trataran graves deliberaciones respecto a la protección de la Fe no disminuyó la alegría y el entusiasmo generado en la histórica conferencia.

“A medida que la Causa va creciendo y sus instituciones se van fortaleciendo, observaremos que la oposición a la Fe aumentará,” exclamó uno de los participantes. Dijo también que la conferencia había sido convocada para ayudar a los Bahá’u’lláhs a comprender este tema, dado que, a medida que el prestigio de la fe se establece, la oposición aumentará. En los meses por venir, las comunidades Bahá’u’lláhs del continente recibirán instrucciones adecuadas de su respectiva Asamblea Nacional respecto a cómo responder a los ataques contra la fe, si se diera el caso.

Se le extendió una calurosa bienvenida al distinguido huésped del Centro Mundial, Sr. Yazdí, quien viniera a Wilmette para tratar asuntos de interés general y asistir a la consulta.

Varios eventos de suma importancia tomaron lugar durante el fin de semana. El viernes las tres Asambleas Espirituales Nacionales consultaron entre ellas. La Asamblea Espiritual Nacional de los Estados Unidos se reunió con los miembros del Cuerpo Continental de Consejeros y el representante del Centro Mundial. Las Asambleas Espirituales Nacionales de Alaska y el Canadá tuvieron sus propias juntas para consultar entre sí. El coordinador de la Asamblea Espiritual Nacional de Hawái, Tracy Hamilton, estuvo también presente durante la consulta entre las Asambleas.

Los días 4 y 7 de julio se reunieron en Evanston los miembros del Cuerpo Continental de Consejeros para Norteamérica con los 25 miembros del Cuerpo Auxiliar.

La presencia de las Manos de la Causa y su cálido saludo elevaron el ambiente espiritual de la reunión.

Además del sentimiento universal respecto a la necesidad de aumentar el esfuerzo de la enseñanza para lograr las metas del Plan de Cinco Años, se consideraron otros temas tales como el nombramiento de asistentes a los miembros del Cuerpo Auxiliar y la forma de utilizar sus servicios al máximo; buscar maneras de despertar la conciencia de las comunidades bahá’ís sobre el mérito práctico y espiritual que existe en la colaboración entre las Asambleas y los miembros del Cuerpo Auxiliar; el uso adecuado de los servicios de dichos miembros en las escuelas de verano e institutos Bahá’ú’lláhs: la importancia de la asistencia de miembros del Cuerpo Auxiliar a las convenciones nacionales; y el asunto importante de la protección de la fe.

Algo que nos preocupa mucho a todos es la tibieza con que estamos respondiendo a las tareas indicadas en el Plan de Cinco Años, en particular el aspecto de la enseñanza en el frente doméstico.

“Si no nos encendemos con el amor por la enseñanza,” dijo el Sr. Sears, “sufriremos mucho.”

“El único remedio para superar este obstáculo es la oración constante,” dijo el Sr. Robarts, y relató la historia de un creyente del África, quien llegara a conocer el poder de la oración hecha con fervor y constancia, después de haber sido encarcelado por un tiempo sin ser culpable.

El día lunes, el Sr. Robarts dijo que él percibía un resurgimiento de amor entre los miembros de las instituciones presentes en Wilmette. “Como resultado,” dijo, “creo que Uds. llevarán más amor y ánimo a los creyentes.”

Otro participante dijo: “Algo nuevo ha sucedido en Norte América. Hemos llegado a un punto decisivo.”

Muchos estaban de acuerdo que hemos llegado a un punto culminante en la historia Bahá’u’lláh como resultado de esta conferencia.

La Consejera, Sra. Edna True, dijo que con el transcurso del tiempo la influencia de esta conferencia será manifestada. Todos estaban de acuerdo con que se ha logrado un nuevo entendimiento de unidad (entre los continentes) de parte de los participantes.

El Sr. Yazdí recalcó la necesidad de estrechar el vínculo entre las dos instituciones: la Asamblea Espiritual Nacional y el Cuerpo Continental de Consejeros. A pesar de que cada una de estas instituciones tiene una función particular, deberán obrar como una entidad.

El Sr. Yazdí expresó la necesidad de estimular a todos los creyentes para que lean los escritos Bahá’ú’lláhs noche y día aunque sean breves, para lograr madurez en el desarrollo espiritual.

Durante la sesión final del lunes, se extendió una conmovedora despedida al Sr. Yazdí. Sus consejos, su cariño, el amor, aprecio e interés que demostrara por cada miembro del Cuerpo Auxiliar, fueron como una bendición percibida por todos. “A mi regreso a Tierra Santa oraré por todos ustedes y cuando vaya a los umbrales sagrados, llevaré vuestros rostros clavados en mi mente.” Estas palabras del Sr. Yazdí, perdurarán en la memoria de los participantes.

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La fe Bahá’í da énfasis a la unicidad de la Humanidad

La historia siguienda fue distribuido por todo los Estados Unidos y en muchos paises extraños.

Por George W. Cornell
Prensa Asociada

“La Tierra es una patria, y la Humanidad sus ciudadanos.”

La interdependencia planetaria es un tema que está en boga y es el credo fundamental de una religión fundada en Irán hace 132 años y que ahora se extiende a muchos países, La Fe Bahá’í.

Su ideal en establecer un gobierno internacional se hace más y más aceptable cada día, dice la Dra. Dorothy W. Nelson, decana de la Escuela de Leyes de la Universidad de Southern California y miembro de la Asamblea Espiritual Nacional de los Bahá’ís de los Estados Unidos de América. “Las condiciones del mundo nos están obligando a reconocer esto.”

Siendo la primera mujer Americana que dirije una Escuela de Leyes, y hasta el año pasado la única por siete años, la Dra. Nelson dice que la disciplina que requiere la ley y la justicia no lleva a la necesidad de un orden interdependiente universal. “Inevitablemente nos movemos hacia él,” dijo ella en una entrevista en New York. “No será esto establecido por los Bahá’ís solamente. El plan es de Dios y la humanidad lo lleva a cabo. Así sucederá.”

Con las creciente interconecciones de las comunicaciones y transportes del globo, con los descubrimientos científicos, y con el comercio y la economía mundial, dijo ella, “La gente se está dando cuenta progresivamente que solamente compartiendo podremos alimentar a la humanidad y resolver los problemas de una economía universal. Logrado nuestro reconocimiento de que habitamos en un solo mundo, nos olvidaremos de aranceles y boicotéos.”

“Habría suficiente alimentación para todos si cada país produjera lo que mejor puede producir sin tratar de competir solo para hacerse independiente y auto-suficiente. Algún orden estructural internacional factible es el medio de lograr la paz mundial y la felicidad de toda la humanidad.”

A esta visión de un orden universal cooperativo, le dió luz a mediado del siglo pasado el Fundador de la Fe Bahá’í, Bahá’u’lláh, Sabio del Irán, cuyas voluminosas escrituras, para sus seguidores, son reveladas por Dios.

“La unicidad de la humanidad, la unicidad de la religión, y la unicidad de Dios,” es una de las citas clave.

Una de las unificantes metas destaca la igualdad de derechos y valor entre el hombre y la mujer, igualdad de las razas, fin a los prejuicios nacionales, la educación y la justicia para todo ser humano.

“Lo más amado ante mis hojos es la Justicia,” escribió Bahá’u’lláh. Se le considera como la Manifestación de Dios para ésta época, la más reciente de tales Manifestaciones en una larga cadena de revelación progresiva incluyendo Abraham, Moisés, Krishna, Buda, Zoroastro, Jesucristo y Mahoma. “La misma verdad se refleja en todas las religiones, solo que progresivamente y con más avanzado conocimiento,” dijo la Dra. Nelson. Ella fué anteriormente miembro de la iglesia Episcopal, quien con su esposo, Juez Municipal de Los Ángeles, James F. Nelson, anteriormente de la iglesia Presbiteriana, se hicieron Bahá’ís en el 1954, el año siguiente de haber terminado la escuela de leyes.

Aunque los Bahá’ís no publican estadísticas, se entiende que hay unos 4 millones de creyentes en 320 países y territorios de Europa, Asia, África y América, incluyendo a 70,000 en unas 1,000 Asambleas Espirituales Locales en este país.

Su Oficina Nacional está en Wilmette, Illinois, lugar donde se ubica uno de los cinco nonagonales casas de adoración construidas alrededor del mundo. Su supremo cuerpo administrativo, de nueve miembros electos cada cinco años, es la Casa Universal de Justicia, en Haifa, Israél.

Aunque los Bahá’ís ven que la civilización va progresando constantemente hacia mayor capacidad, entendimiento y justicia, la Dra. Nelson dice que hay períodos cíclicos de retrogreso y avance en el proceso, y añadió ella: “Atestiguamos hoy día una decadencia moral en una escala nunca vista anteriormente, pero esto es el preludio de una edad de oro. Se está derrumbando el viejo orden mundial y abriendo así campo para el nuevo.”

[Page 11]

News briefs

Bahá’ís march in Webster Groves parade

Approximately 1,000 persons saw this entry from the Bahá’ís of Webster Groves, Mo., in the annual Fourth of July parade in Webster Groves.

The theme was the Bicentennial. The Bahá’í entry, designed by John Kavelin, was a “walking sculpture,” nine persons tied together in a circle, surrounded by red, white, and blue bunting, with banners carrying quotations from the Writings.

The same theme was used in four surrounding Bahá’í communities and was a prize winner in Troy, Mo.

Teaching meet held in South Dakota

More than 40 Bahá’ís from South Dakota, Wyoming, and Colorado gathered in Custer State Park, South Dakota, August 16–17 for teaching and fellowship.

A musical presentation by the Brook Sisters of Denver, the South Dakota Bahá’í Road Show of the Sioux Falls area, and David Moore of Vermillion attracted several seekers. A barn dance followed.

The event was sponsored by the Custer County Bahá’í Group.

Kansas City Bahá’ís help at Atchison

The Local Spiritual Assembly of Kansas City, Kan., constructed and manned a booth at the Atchison County Fair recently.

Atchison, a town of about 13,000 persons 60 miles north of Kansas City, is a goal city of the Kansas City Bahá’ís.

Before the fair, the Kansas City community subscribed to the Atchison newspaper; presented press kits to the newspaper, the sheriff, and the police chief; gave World Order magazine to the library; and said prayers in Atchison during each visit.

Women’s Year meeting held in Santa Cruz

Thirty-two persons attended an International Women’s Year public meeting on August 9 at the YWCA in Santa Cruz, Calif.

The event was sponsored by the Local Spiritual Assembly of Santa Cruz. Kathleen Swanegan of San Francisco was the featured speaker and Katherine Saylor of Concord provided music. About one third of the persons attending were non-Bahá’ís.

The event concluded International Women’s Week in Santa Cruz. The week was proclaimed by Mayor Sally DeGirolamo at the request of the Bahá’ís. The mayor was presented with a copy of World Order magazine devoted to women, and several pamphlets on the Faith. The proclamation was given wide publicity.

And on August 24, the Bahá’ís of Santa Cruz manned a display table at San Lorenzo Park as part of a celebration called “Women’s Festival.” The festival featured displays and programs relating to women.

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Fellowship Conference set in Denver Nov. 14–16

A Love and Fellowship Conference sponsored by the Continental Board of Counsellors for North America and the Auxiliary Board will be held in Denver, Colo., Nov. 14–16.

About 300 Bahá’ís from Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska, Arizona, and New Mexico are expected to attend the Conference.

Counsellor Velma Sherrill, Auxiliary Board members Jalil Mahmoudi, Nancy Phillips, and Margaret Gallagher, and Auxiliary Board assistant Chris Cholas are expected to be present.

The Conference will be held at the Albany Hotel where reduced-rate accommodations have been obtained.

A reception for Mrs. Sherrill, Dr. Mahmoudi, Mrs. Phillips, Mrs. Gallagher, and Mr. Cholas will be held Friday night, Nov. 14.

Registration begins at 8 a.m. Nov. 15, and the Conference sessions open at 10 a.m. Special activities are planned for children, including a tour of the Denver Natural History Museum.

The Local Spiritual Assembly of Denver is hosting the Conference. For further information, contact Mrs. Kat Rothfuss, 4416 Xavier, Denver, Colo., 80212.

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Record Green Bay gathering hears Mr. Khan

Developing the Bahá’í community to respond to coming challenges was the theme of a two-day institute conducted in Green Bay, Wis., on Sept. 6–7 by Auxiliary Board member Peter Khan.

The 123 believers attending the institute was the largest gathering of Bahá’ís in Green Bay history.

Dr. Khan spoke about the Covenant, the Administrative Order, Covenant-breaking, and attacks on the Faith.

Dr. Khan discussed the reasons for the inevitability of outbursts of hostility to the Faith and the “intellectual rather than physical” nature of the tests that the Bahá’ís in the United States should expect.

Dr. Khan emphasized that such attacks upon the Faith are impotent if the believers cling to the protection of the Covenant and study the Writings.

Governor proclaims World Peace Day

Gov. Marvin Mandel, center left, issues a World Peace Day proclamation to members of the Bahá’í Faith.

The governor proclaimed Sept. 21 as World Peace Day in the state of Maryland “in the hope that Americans everywhere will ‎redicate rededicate‎ themselves to work to eliminate those barriers to world peace, particularly all forms of prejudice towards people of different races, nationalities or creeds, and to foster a high standard of justice for all.”

Shown receiving the proclamation from Gov. Mandel is Hans Funk, chairman of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Annapolis. Other members of the Faith are also pictured.

Bahá’í booth success at Kennewick, Wash.

A booth proclaiming the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh was presented to the public at the Benton-Franklin County Fair in Kennewick, Wash., Aug. 20–24.

The successful project was sponsored by the Bahá’í Group of Pasco with the cooperation of the Local Spiritual Assemblies of Franklin County and Walla Walla, and of the Bahá’í Group of Kennewick.

Picnic well reported in Rhode Island

Rhode Island Bahá’ís held a picnic in August at a farm in West Greenwich to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the National Spiritual Assembly.

The event was covered by the Providence Journal-Bulletin, circulated throughout Rhode Island, with a story and six pictures. The display filled almost an entire page in the ‎newpaper newspaper‎.

[Page 12]

AMERICAN REVOLUTION BICENTENNIAL

1776-1976