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Spring/Summer 1990
World order
Emancipating the Iranian
Bahá’í Community
Editorial
A Concurrent Resolution
Supporting an Oppressed Minority
House Debate
Condemning Continued Persecution
Senate Debate
Eliminating Religious Intolerance from
the World
Freedom’s Age
Kurt Hein
On Morals and Material Things
Holly E. Hanson
World Order
VOLUME 24, NUMBERS 2 & 3
WORLD ORDER IS INTENDED TO STIMULATE, INSPIRE, AND SERVE THINKING PEOPLE IN
THEIR SEARCH TO FIND RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CONTEMPORARY LIFE AND CONTEMPORARY
RELIGIOUS TEACHINGS AND PHILOSOPHY
- Editorial Board:
- FIRUZ KAZEMZADEH
- BETTY J. FISHER
- HOWARD GAREY
- ROBERT H. STOCKMAN
- JAMES D. STOKES
- Consultant in Poetry:
- HERBERT WOODWARD MARTIN
- Subscriber Service:
- JENIFER HALLOCK
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ISSN 0043-8804
IN THIS ISSUE
- 2 Emancipating the Iranian Bahá’í Community
- Editorial
- 3 About This Issue
- 4 A Concurrent Resolution: Supporting an
- Oppressed Minority
- 7 House Debate: Condemning Continued
- Persecution
- 19 Senate Debate: Eliminating Religious Intolerance
- from the World
- 27 Freedom’s Age
- Kurt Hein
- 35 Burial Mounds, Poisel’s Pasture
- poem by Terry Ofner
- 35 A weed
- poem by Terry Ofner
- 37 On Morals and Material Things
- Holly E. Hanson
- Inside back cover: Authors & Artists in This Issue
Emancipating the Iranian
Bahá’í Community
EDITORIAL
A DECADE after the establishment of the Islamic regime in Iran the
situation of the Bahá’ís in the land where their religion was born
remains precarious. True, the early fury of the clerical fanatics has somewhat
abated, executions of innocent people have decreased, hundreds of
prisoners have been released, some private properties have been returned,
and children have been permitted to go back to primary and secondary
schools. Yet persecutions continue.
Every form of pressure is still applied to demoralize and ultimately to destroy the Bahá’í community. Bahá’í youth are still barred from universities, and Bahá’ís are not permitted to teach in any educational institution or be employed in any government jobs. Bahá’ís may not gather for worship, print sacred literature, freely travel abroad, or elect their governing bodies, Spiritual Assemblies, which, in a religion that has no clergy, perform the functions of guides, preceptors, and administrators of the community of the faithful.
The heroic resolve of the Iranian Bahá’ís not to bow to brute force and psychological intimidation, the intervention of the world community through the United Nations, the protests of individuals and governments throughout the world have had their limited effect. The struggle for human rights and justice for the Bahá’ís in Iran must continue, for the treatment they have received represents a quintessential case of religious oppression and a clear violation of all norms of behavior enshrined in a number of declarations and charters to which Iran is a signatory. The struggle must continue until the full emancipation of the Iranian Bahá’í community has been achieved.
About This Issue
FOUR TIMES during the last eight years—in 1982, 1984, 1988, and 1990—
the U.S. Congress has adopted bipartisan concurrent resolutions condemning
the persecution of Iranian Bahá’ís by the government of Iran. Four times during
those same years WORLD ORDER has published the Congressional resolutions
to raise another voice in support of our beleaguered family in Iran. Since the
beginning of the Islamic Revolution WORLD ORDER has also published many
editorials about the plight of the Iranian Bahá’ís as well as the 1984 testimony
about torture before the United States Senate’s Committee on Foreign Relations.
The 1990 Congressional resolution and testimony contain themes present in earlier resolutions—some improvements in the plight of the Bahá’ís and the importance of such resolutions by governments and other agencies in prompting the Iranian government to relent. But realism about the situation prevails. “The Bahá’ís remain,” in the words of one senator, “an oppressed minority.”
The severity of the oppression became apparent on the eleventh anniversary of the Islamic Revolution when amnesty was granted to many categories of criminals. But a few were excluded: armed robbers, rapists, drug dealers, those committing multiple burglaries, armed opponents of the government—and Bahá’ís.
The Congressional testimony recognizes that the persecution of the Bahá’ís “is unfortunately symbolic of the general and pervasive atmosphere of repression and persecution that permeate the very social fabric of the Iranian society.” At the same time the concern for the Bahá’ís is seen as “a small step in trying to restrain and eliminate religious intolerance from this world.”
There is optimism as the congressmen “look forward to a day . . . when the members of the Bahá’í faith will have their full religious rights restored to them and they will be accepted as fully equal members of Iranian society.” There is also hope for the government of Iran, which is called on “to take a giant step toward reentering the international mainstream, to rebuilding Iran’s rightfully prominent international position, by adopting a civilized and tolerant attitude toward all of its religious minorities, including the Bahá’ís.”
At the same time there is determination: “We are sending word to the government in Iran that we will not go away. We will continue to raise the Bahá’í issue year after year after year. . . .”
To highlight the Bahá’í issue and to emphasize the overwhelming support of the Congress, House Speaker Thomas S. Foley ordered a record vote to emphasize the fact that the House Concurrent Resolution passed 404-0. He then issued a press release in which he noted that “The action of the House today reflects the deeply felt concern of the U.S. Congress and the American people with the situation of the Bahá’í community in Iran today. All Americans share the hope that the Bahá’í community will enjoy the freedoms that all of us consider basic to human dignity and progress.”
THE EDITORS
A Concurrent Resolution:
Supporting an Oppressed
Minority
A concurrent resolution expressing the support
of the U.S. Congress for the Iranian
Bahá’ís, who remain an oppressed minority,
was introduced on the floor of the U.S. Senate
on June 23, 1989. The following is the text
of the resolution and the comments by Senator
Rudy Boschwitz as they appear in the
Senate Congressional Record on June 23, 1989,
pages S 7547-48.—ED.
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
53—RELATING TO IRANIAN PERSECUTION
OF THE BAHA’IS
MR. DODD (for himself, MR. BOSCHWITZ, MR. HEINZ, MR. DIXON, MR. MITCHELL, MR. DOLE, MR. DURENBERGER, MR. LIEBERMAN, MR. DASCHLE, MR. LUGAR, MR. GORTON, MR. PELL, MR. GRAHAM, MR. SIMON, MR. INOUYE, MR. CHAFEE, MR. JEFFORDS, MR. PRESSLER, MR. KENNEDY, MR. BURDICK, MR. KERRY, MR. SARBANES, MR. COHEN, MR. GLENN, MR. EXON, MR. BIDEN, MR. DECONCINI, MR. STEVENS, MR. D’AMATO, MR. BUMPERS, MR. HOLLINGS, MR. CONRAD, MR. MATSUNAGA, MR. MURKOWSKI, MR. MCCAIN, MR. DOMENICI, MR. CRANSTON, MR. RIEGLE, MR. SIMPSON, MR. MACK, MR. GORE, MR. WIRTH, MR. BRADLEY, MR. MOYNIHAN, MR. HATFIELD, MR. WILSON, MR. PACKWOOD, MR. HUMPHREY, and MRS. KASSEBAUM) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:
S. CON. RES. 53
Whereas in 1982, 1984, and 1988, the Congress, by concurrent resolution, declared that it holds the Government of Iran responsible for upholding the rights of all its nationals, including members of the Baha’i Faith, Iran’s largest religious minority;
Whereas in such resolutions and in numerous other appeals, the Congress condemned the Iranian Government’s persecution of Baha’is, including the execution of more than 200 Baha’is and the imprisonment of additional thousands on account of their religious beliefs;
Whereas the Congress has urged the President to work with other governments and with the United Nations in support of the rights of Iranian Baha’is;
Whereas recent reports indicate a decline in the numbers of Baha’is executed or imprisoned in Iran and the restoration of some confiscated business and personal properties; and
Whereas, despite such actions affecting individual Baha’is, the Government of Iran continues to deny the Baha’i community the right to organize, select its leaders, acquire and maintain places of worship or assembly, operate religious schools, and conduct other religious activities: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That the Congress— (1) continues to hold the Government of Iran responsible for upholding the rights of all its nationals, including Baha’is, in a manner consistent with that Government’s obligations under international law which guarantee the civil and political rights of its citizens;
(2) acknowledges reports of recent improvements
in the treatment of individual
Baha’is, including a decline in the number of
executions and the release of many Baha’is
[Page 5] imprisoned on religious charges;
(3) expresses concern that the Baha’i community as a whole remains an oppressed minority which is denied legal recognition and internationally recognized rights which would permit Baha’is to organize, hold property, operate religious schools, and conduct the normal activities of a peaceful law-abiding religious community;
(4) urges the Government of Iran to extend to the Baha’i community the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other relevant human rights accords, including freedom of thought, conscience and religion, education, and equal protection of the law; and
(5) calls upon the President—
(A) to emphasize the need for improvements in the Government of Iran’s human rights practices, particularly Iran’s treatment of Baha’is and other religious minorities, as an important factor in the development of the United States Government’s relations with the Government of Iran;
(B) to encourage other governments to continue to appeal to the Government of Iran concerning the situation of the Baha’is;
(C) to cooperate with other governments and international organizations in joint appeals and to initiate and support actions by the United Nations and its agencies to promote the protection of the religious rights of Baha’is; and
(D) to provide, and to urge others to provide, for refugee and humanitarian assistance for those Baha’is who flee their homelands on account of religious repression.
SEC. 2. The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit a copy of this concurrent resolution to the President with the request that he further transmit such copy to the European Parliament and to the Commission of the European Community for distribution to the member States of the European Community.
• Mr. BOSCHWITZ. Mr. President, it is an honor for me to introduce, along with my colleague Senator DODD, this resolution once again bringing attention to Iran’s persecution of the Baha’is. This will be the fourth such resolution considered by Congress in this decade. I wish it were otherwise, that there was no need for such resolutions. But there is, and I believe that they have had a positive impact on the treatment of the Baha’is in Iran.
Indeed, the situation of the Baha’is has shown some improvement recently. The number of Baha’is executed and imprisoned has been reduced, and some of their property has been returned.
At the same time, however, as this resolution states, the Baha’is remain an oppressed minority. Among other restrictions placed on them by the Government of Iran, they are barred from organizing themselves as they see fit, from operating religious schools, and from enjoying the human rights which Iran committed itself to extend to all of its people when it signed the universal declaration of human rights.
The world is carefully watching the evolution of events in Iran in the wake of Ayatollah Khomeini’s death. Many are hoping for a less oppressive regime to emerge, one exhibiting greater moderation and tolerance toward all religious minorities, including the Baha’is. This resolution keeps these hopes in the spotlight of international concern.
In calling upon the President to emphasize to Iran the need for it to improve its human rights practices if bilateral relations are to improve, this resolution remains true to our own heritage of supporting human rights on a worldwide basis. And by asking the President to use multilateral efforts to promote the protection of the Baha’is’ religious rights, this resolution sends a clear signal to Iran that the world will closely watch its actions in regard to its own citizens.
Mr. President, many tragedies in the 20th century could have been avoided if people and nations had spoken up and taken action earlier than they did. By passing this resolution, the Senate will speak up once again in expressing its concern over the treatment of the Baha’is and other religious minorities in Iran. We have had an impact in the past. I am committed to making every effort to ensuring that we have one now and in the future. •
House Debate: Condemning
Continued Persecution
The concurrent resolution expressing the sense
of the U.S. Congress about the continued persecution
of the Bahá’ís in Iran and the violation
of their human rights by the Iranian
government went before the U.S. House of
Representatives on February 27, 1990. The
following is the text of the debate as it appears
in the House Congressional Record on
February 27, 1990, pages H 460-65.—ED.
CONCERNING IRANIAN PERSECUTION OF THE BAHA’IS
Mr. DYMALLY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. CON. RES. 87) concerning Iranian persecution of the Baha’is.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. CON. RES. 87
Whereas in 1982, 1984, and 1988, the Congress, by concurrent resolution, declared that it holds the Government of Iran responsible for upholding the rights of all its nationals, including members of the Baha’i Faith, Iran’s largest religious minority;
Whereas in such resolutions and in numerous other appeals, the Congress condemned the Iranian Government’s persecution of Baha’is, including the execution of more than 200 Baha’is and the imprisonment of additional thousands on account of their religious beliefs;
Whereas the Congress has urged the President to work with other governments and with the United Nations in support of the rights of Iranian Baha’is;
Whereas recent reports indicate a decline in the numbers of Baha’is executed or imprisoned in Iran and the restoration of some confiscated business and personal properties; and
Whereas despite such actions affecting individual Baha’is, the Government of Iran continues to deny the Baha’i community the right to organize, select its leaders, acquire and maintain places of worship or assembly, operate religious schools, and conduct other religious activities: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That the Congress— (1) continues to hold the Government of Iran responsible for upholding the rights of all its nationals, including Baha’is, in a manner consistent with that Government’s obligations under international law which guarantee the civil and political rights of its citizens;
(2) acknowledges reports of recent improvements in the treatment of individual Baha’is, including a decline in the number of executions and the release of many Baha’is imprisoned on religious charges;
(3) expresses concern that the Baha’i community as a whole remains an oppressed minority which is denied legal recognition and internationally recognized rights which would permit Baha’is to organize, hold property, operate religious schools, and conduct the normal activities of a peaceful law-abiding religious community;
(4) urges the Government of Iran to extend to the Baha’i community the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other relevant human rights accords, including freedom of thought, conscience and religion, education, and equal protection of the law; and
(5) calls upon the President to continue—
(A) to emphasize the need for improvements
in the Government of Iran’s human
rights practices, particularly Iran’s treatment
of Baha’is and other religious minorities, as
[Page 8] an important factor in the development of
the United States Government’s relations with
the Government of Iran;
(B) to encourage other governments to continue to appeal to the Government of Iran concerning the situation of the Baha’is;
(C) to cooperate with other governments and international organizations in joint appeals and to initiate and support actions by the United Nations and its agencies to promote the protection of the religious rights of Baha’is; and
(D) to provide, and to urge others to provide, for refugee and humanitarian assistance for those Baha’is who flee their homelands on account of religious repression.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the rule, a second is not required on this motion.
The gentleman from California [Mr. DYMALLY] will be recognized for 20 minutes and the gentleman from New York [Mr. GILMAN] will be recognized for 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California [Mr. DYMALLY].
Mr. DYMALLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
(Mr. DYMALLY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. DYMALLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to give my wholehearted support to House Concurrent Resolution 87 which timely concerns itself with the continued persecution of the Baha’is by the present regime in Iran.
It is important to note that the persecution of this group is unfortunately symbolic of the general and pervasive atmosphere of repression and persecution that permeates the very social fabric of the Iranian society.
During the latter part of January of this year, a special representative of the United Nations visited Iran for the first time, to investigate human rights violations which it had collectively condemned by numerous resolutions and unsuccessful requests for U.N. team visits over the past 8 years. The November 1989 U.N. report to the General Assembly was particularly catalytic in dramatizing with vivid cases, the nature and extent of human rights violations in Iran. These included summary arrests and imprisonment without charges, of thousands of Iranians with particular emphasis on the repressive, dehumanizing and inhumane treatment of women.
It was apparent during the visit of the U.N. delegation to Iran that, because of the enormity of human rights violations and the willingness of thousands of Iranians to risk reprisals and to brave the inclement weather to be a witness to these atrocities, a week’s time frame was most inadequate. For example, more than 1,000 families who were victims of the Iranian regime, staged a sit-in in front of the U.N. Office to describe their sufferings and ordeals to the U.N. delegation, in spite of a total news blackout on the U.N. delegation’s visit, but with the help of the widely listened to resistance radio and foreign broadcasts.
As a consequence, in a day and a half, 30 of my colleagues joined me in requesting an extension of the time frame from the U.N. Secretary General. The delegation, for reasons of logistics, had to return after a week but plans a followup visit in the very near future after it has presented its findings to the current session of the U.N. Human Rights Commission to be followed by a joint resolution.
State sponsored terrorism, reaffirmed by the continued call for the death of British author Rushdie 1 year after Khomeini’s death, is still the order of the day in Iran.
It is, therefore, not surprising that there is growing opposition, internally and externally, to the present Iranian regime and its inhumane atrocities. For example, the 23-nation parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe has called for the expulsion of the present Iranian regime from the United Nations and the immediate recognition of the Iranian resistance led by Massoud Rajavi. This movement is gaining more and more adherents and increasing as the legitimate representative of the Iranian people. A resolution by the European Parliament and a memorandum signed by me and 185 of you, my colleagues, takes the same position.
The winds of change taking place in the
Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and the
growing support for the Mojahedin resistance
[Page 9] indicate that the time has come for the international
community to further the isolation
and eventual fall of the present Iranian
regime with, among other actions, an effective
international arms and oil boycott. The
move toward democracy and the justice and
human rights in Iran will, thereby, be greatly
facilitated.
Broad support of this resolution will, without question, convey this important message to the world community.
□ 1330
Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. YATRON], the chairman of the Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
(Mr. YATRON asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. YATRON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Concurrent Resolution 87, which has 145 cosponsors. This initiative was approved by the Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations on January 31, and the Foreign Affairs Committee on February 6. To facilitate the passage of this resolution, which has the support of the administration, Chairman HAMILTON and Congressman GILMAN of the Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East waived their jurisdiction. I thank them for their support in this effort.
I want to commend the ranking minority member of the subcommittee, Congressman BEREUTER, for joining me in authoring this resolution. I want to also commend Chairman FASCELL and Congressman BROOMFIELD for their leadership in bringing this legislation to the floor.
Mr. Speaker, House Concurrent Resolution 87 calls upon the President to continue to emphasize the need for improvement in the Government of Iran’s human rights record, particularly its treatment of Baha’is and other religious minorities. It asks the President to cooperate with other governments at the United Nations and in other joint efforts to protect the religious rights of the Baha’is, and to provide for humanitarian assistance for those Baha’is who flee their homeland.
The Subcommittee on Human Rights has held extensive hearings on the Baha’is and the Congress has passed several resolutions concerning Iranian persecution of this religious minority. The Baha’is are a gentle and peace-loving people, who espouse equality and education. Yet they have been the victims of the most severe kinds of repression. They have been imprisoned, tortured and killed for their religious beliefs. Although they constitute the largest religious minority in Iran, their religion is not recognized and their places of worship destroyed. Their marriages are not sanctioned and their children are denied college education. All opportunities to seek redress are closed, and due process rights are not provided.
The State Department’s just-released human rights report documents ongoing human rights violations against the Baha’is which underscores the fact that despite the change in leadership in Tehran, Iran’s human rights record continues to be one of the worst in the world.
The resolution is most timely in light of the recent U.N. special rapporteur’s visit to Iran. Due largely to the leadership of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’i community of the United States, the world community, including the United Nations, has focused considerable attention on the plight of the Baha’is. Although they are still subjected to government-sponsored repression, recent efforts by the international community, including congressional resolutions, have resulted in a reduction of killing of Baha’is. However, much more needs to be done if the Baha’is are to live free of persecution.
Mr. Speaker, it is my hope that the passage of the resolution, the recent U.N. investigation, and the consideration of a human rights resolution at the current session of the Human Rights Commission at Geneva will continue to effectively pressure the Iranian Government.
Mr. Speaker, at this point, I would like to
insert into the RECORD an excerpt of an exchange
of views between Chairman FASCELL
[Page 10] and Congressman LAGOMARSINO from a recent
hearing. In this colloquy, both our colleagues
spoke to the importance of congressional
human rights resolutions and the positive
impact that they have on countries to
which they are directed.
I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
EXCERPT OF EXCHANGE OF VIEWS BETWEEN CHAIRMAN FASCELL AND CONGRESSMAN LAGOMARSINO
Chairman FASCELL. Let the Chair express his appreciation to the Chairman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, the ranking member and the gentleman from California for taking this action.
Expressing the opinion of the Congress with regard to the situation in Haiti is absolutely essential, as it is with the other actions that we have taken.
Some people, unfortunately, still think that there is no weight in what we say in these resolutions or that in some way it is a useless exercise. When the Congress through this committee takes action and speaks, especially in a unified voice, with regard to an action in any country in the world, it has great impact, and considerable power. It is important for us, as representatives of the people of this country, to take positions after due deliberation and debate. People are entitled to know Where we stand and where this country stands.
People still argue about sanctions. I do not know that history will ever support the idea that sanctions are helpful in bringing about social or political change. I think they do. But one thing is certainly very clear: that we need to speak, whether it is by resolution or legislation, with respect to a position which we know is morally right. It has tremendous strength and power in the world, even more so than steel.
So, I am happy to join the gentleman in sponsorship of this resolution.
Mr. LAGOMARSINO. Mr. Chairman, would you yield?
Chairman FASCELL. Mr. Lagomarsino, of course.
Mr. LAGOMARSINO. I wanted to just commend you for the statement you have made and to say that I think you are absolutely right. Every time that I go to a foreign country I am absolutely amazed at how much the people in that country know about what is going on here, whether they hear about it on the CNN or it is read.
Chairman FASCELL. They have read these resolutions. That is for sure.
Mr. LAGOMARSINO. They sure have.
Chairman FASCELL. Yes.
Mr. LAGOMARSINO. And maybe if the governments are not paying attention, the people sure are.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume
(Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have been an original cosponsor of this House Concurrent Resolution 87, which now has 145 cosponsors. For far too long, the Baha’i community in Iran has been oppressed by the Government of Iran.
We take note of recent progress with respect to Iran’s treatment of individual members of the Baha’i faith, but we call upon the Iranian Government to institutionalize human rights and religious rights for their largest religious minority group.
It is my sincere hope that this congressional action will inspire the U.N. Human Rights Commission, now meeting in Geneva, to press the Iranian Government to abandon, once and for all, its persecution of these peaceful people.
I noted in today’s newspapers that the U.N.
Human Rights Commission Rapporteur assigned
to examine the human rights situation
in Iran submitted what has been called a
mildly critical report as allegedly part of a
deal to help secure the release of 17 Western
hostages in Lebanon—including 8 Americans.
While I do not take a back seat to anyone
desiring to obtain the release of those
hostages, we still must not turn a deaf ear to
the human rights plight of an entire nation.
The international community must continue
in its position of holding Iran accountable for
[Page 11] its human rights violations, and to continue
to urge that it make progress in this important
area.
Permit me to thank American Baha’i spokesman, Prof. Firuz Kazemzadeh, for his outstanding articulation of the plight of the Baha’is. Let me also thank the distinguished chairman, the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. YATRON] of the Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations, as well as his ranking minority member, the gentleman from Nebraska [Mr. BEREUTER], for their outstanding work on this critical issue.
Mr. Speaker, I urge our colleagues to support House Concurrent Resolution 87 and to once again send a strong message to Iran and the Baha’i people that we continue to care about the human rights situation in Iran, and the suffering of the Baha’i people.
Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. PORTER], the cochairman of the Human Rights Caucus and an initial cosponsor of this measure and a longtime fighter for human rights in this House.
Mr. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York for yielding this time to me and for his leadership in the Congress on all matters concerning human rights, as I do also thank the gentlemen from Pennsylvania, New York, and California, for their leadership.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Concurrent Resolution 87, concerning the continued persecution of the Baha’is in Iran.
As in years past, we are here today to send a message to the Government of Iran that the fundamental rights of the 300,000 members of the Baha’i community must be respected. Despite the death of Ayatollah Khomeini and reports in the Western media that overall conditions for human rights in Iran have improved recently, the Baha’i community continues to be oppressed for being a heresy under Islamic fundamentalist law.
Members of the Baha’i faith are a peaceful, law-abiding community, not a misguided sect seeking to subvert the Iranian Government as they have been portrayed. Today, they constitute the largest religious minority in Iran. Yet for many long, dark years, they have been denied their religious rights. They have been denied their legal rights as citizens of Iran. They have been denied their human rights. And in some cases, they have been denied their right to life itself.
Under Ayatollah Khomeini’s rule, thousands of Iranian Baha’is were imprisoned and many of them were tortured. Hundreds of thousands were denied employment and education. And more than 200 Baha’is, including women and children, were executed solely for their religious beliefs.
The recently released State Department Report on Human Rights states that no Baha’is were executed last year, and that the number of Baha’is held in prison fell to fewer than 15. This is very encouraging news and is a testament to the effect that international condemnations have had on the Iranian regime. However, Baha’is are still not a legally recognized religion in Iran and are still imprisoned for their religious beliefs, denied the right to organize, select their leaders, acquire and maintain places of worship, operate religious schools or conduct religious activities.
Clearly, this is an intolerable situation, and we must not allow this suppression to continue. Instead, we must speak out, as we are today, and appeal to the nations of the world to condemn this continuing persecution. I urge the United Nations Human Rights Commission, currently meeting in Geneva, to adopt a resolution on the condition of human rights in Iran, with specific focus on the treatment of the Baha’i community.
The concept of religious freedom is a principle that all Americans hold dear, as do many other nations around the world. Unfortunately, Iran does not yet adhere to this concept. Only through actions by the U.S. Congress, the United Nations and others can we hope to help end the continuing persecution of the Baha’i people and secure their right to freedom of worship as guaranteed in international law.
□ 1340
Mr. YATRON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California [Mr. LANTOS], a leader on human rights issues in the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
(Mr. LANTOS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, first, I would like to pay tribute to the distinguished chairman of the Human Rights Subcommittee, the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. YATRON], for his outstanding leadership on all human rights issues, and to the ranking minority member, the gentleman from Nebraska [Mr. BEREUTER], and to my friend, the cochairman of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. PORTER], who has been the leader in this fight for human rights for Baha’is.
Mr. Speaker, at a time when there are human rights improvements throughout the globe, with a few notable exceptions, the tragic case of the Baha’is stands out as a disgraceful spectacle of a peaceful, gentle people being persecuted purely for their religious faith.
Although the number of Baha’is under active persecution has been somewhat reduced during the course of 1989, the fact remains that men, women, and children of the Baha’i faith—for no reason whatever except their religious faith—are continuously under persecution, discrimination, harassment, and worse in Iran.
Mr. Speaker, I was particularly shocked a few days ago when, in honor of the 11th anniversary of the Iranian revolution, amnesty was announced for all kinds of criminals, but a few groups were excluded. Let me tell my colleagues who those groups are who were excluded. Those groups are armed robbers, rapists, drug dealers, those guilty of multiple burglaries, armed opponents of the government, and members of the Baha’i sect.
The ultimate arrogance of the Iranian regime to lump together drug dealers, burglars, rapists, with a group of individuals whose sole crime it is to worship the Almighty in their own way tells us volumes about the values of the Iranian regime
Mr. Speaker, for over a decade we have pleaded for equal rights in the religious arena for members of the Baha’i faith. We are sending word to the government in Iran that we will not go away. We will continue to raise the Baha’i issue year after year after year, just as we raised the issue of the Soviet dissidents and refuseniks, just as we raised the issue of Lech Walesa in Poland, just as we raised the issue of the distinguished President of Czechoslovakia who addressed us assembled in joint session just a few days ago, President Vaclav Havel. just as President Havel got out of jail, just as his persecution came to an end because of his own courage and because men and women in free societies spoke out on his behalf, just as Lech Walesa stopped being the persecuted trade union leader and became the acknowledged leader of the Polish people who was received by the President of the United States and addressed a joint session of Congress, I look forward to the day—not far in the future—when the members of the Baha’i faith will have their full religious rights restored to them and they will be accepted as fully equal members of Iranian society.
Mr. MFUME. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the measure House Concurrent Resolution 87, which expresses the sense of the Congress that we are concerned that the Baha’i community as a whole remains an oppressed minority in Iran, and urges the Government of Iran to extend considerable human rights to members of the Baha’i community.
The Bahá’í people are the largest religious minority group in Iran and yet the plight of the Baha’is and the atrocities that they have suffered have gone unrecognized by the Iranian Government. Additionally, many Members of the House of Representatives have written to the Iranian Government asking them to provide an account of the Baha’is’ allegations of human rights abuses. Unfortunately, these queries have also fallen upon deaf ears since I, at least, have yet to receive a substantive explanation as to why the Baha’i people have had to endure such gruesome hardships.
[Page 13]
The Baha’is are known to be very friendly
people who stress the importance of not only
education and equality, but many Baha’is have
committed themselves to eradicating slavery.
It has been reported by the special representative
to the United Nations Commission on
Human Rights that between 1979 and 1985
there were 7,000 reported executions in Iran.
I say reported because only God knows how
many innocent people died at the hands of
the secret executions that did not receive coverage
from the Iranian media.
In closing, Mr. Speaker, we should not ease the pressure on Iran’s international isolation until the latest revolutionary government comes clean and accounts for its human rights violations against the Baha’is and other individuals who may not have agreed with the Ayatollah, nor his regime’s totalitarian rhetoric.
Mrs. MEYERS of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Concurrent Resolution 87. The Government of Iran’s treatment of the Baha’is ranks among the worst repressions directed at a religious minority in history.
Iran has stripped from the Baha’i faith even recognition as a religion. Because the Baha’i faith developed as an offshoot of Islam, the mullahs declare it to be a heresy and adherents to be infidels, deprived of any protection under the law. Baha’is are barred from public employment and their organizations are banned. This pacific, law-abiding religious community has suffered unspeakable persecution from the government, in blatant violation of religious rights guaranteed by international law.
Congress has passed resolutions such as this three times previously, and they have had a positive effect on Iran’s behavior. In 1989, no Baha’is were executed, and the number of Baha’is in prison has dropped to 15. Yet this is not nearly enough. The Baha’is should have all of their rights restored to them, and I believe Congress should continue to speak out until this occurs.
Mr. LEHMAN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I have been aware of and involved in congressional appeals on behalf of religious minorities in Iran since the hostage crisis several years ago. I would like to express my support again today for the Baha’i community in Iran who continue to be an oppressed minority. Two hundred Baha’is were executed for their religious beliefs since the Islamic regime took over in 1979. That no Baha’is have been killed since 1987 attests to the effect that international pressure and publicity critical of Iranian human rights practices have had.
Nevertheless, those who practice the Baha’i faith in Iran must do so in secrecy; they are denied the right to organize or conduct religious schools; they are still repressed. I believe that passage of House Concurrent Resolution 87, expressing concern about the Baha’is in Iran and urging the Government of Iran to extend relevant human rights to members of the Baha’i community will send an important message to Iran. If Iran is to return to the community of civilized nations, it must be willing to respect its own citizens.
Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Concurrent Resolution 87, a resolution that once again will reaffirm our support for the Baha’i community in its struggle to secure basic human rights from the Iranian Government.
Since the Iranian revolution of 1979, hundreds of Baha’is have been executed or imprisoned because of their faith. The recently released State Department human rights report documents that this repression continues. The Iranian Government, in the past year has systematically and ruthlessly attempted to expunge the practice of the Baha’i faith and repress its adherents.
However, one thing is clear, the Iranian Government does respond when the civilized world records its outrage at their actions.
There were no executions of Baha’is last year and the number of those imprisoned has dropped to below 15. I have no doubt that previous condemnations of Iranian actions by this House have contributed significantly to that decline.
The United Nations Commission on Human
Rights will vote on Iran during the coming
month. It is imperative that we send a
[Page 14] signal loud and clear that we unreservedly
condemn Iranian repression of Baha’is and
demand that the community be granted its
basic rights to practice freely as guaranteed
by international law.
Mr. Speaker, I therefore ask my colleagues to join with me in supporting this resolution.
Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support House Concurrent Resolution 87, expressing our outrage for the continued mistreatment of people of the Baha’i faith in Iran.
People of the Baha’i faith in Iran, that country’s largest religious minority, are law-abiding citizens in Iran as well as the 144 other countries and territories in which they live. The Baha’is raise their children on principles which instill discipline, respect, education, and freedom. They do not engage in public demonstrations or in subversive activities against any group or government. Iranian Baha’is, in keeping with Baha’i teachings, do not engage in political activity and are committed to obey their country’s civil law.
Although the conditions in Iran for the Baha’is have improved from extreme persecution, they continue to face significant harassment. For example, the Baha’i faith is still not recognized by the Iranian Government; no organized Baha’i activity is allowed; no right of access to holy places is permitted; and community property is confiscated.
In light of these examples, the Iranian Government is far from recognizing the fundamental principle of religious freedom. This is the third resolution the House of Representatives has considered on the human rights violations of the Baha’is in the past 10 years. I hope that passage of this resolution will send a message to the leaders of Iran about the importance of human rights. The House of Representatives should continue to denounce the actions of the Iranian Government for their gross mistreatment of the Baha’is by passing this resolution.
Until the persecution of the Baha’is ends, I will oppose any normalization of trade and economic relations between Iran and the United States. We should treat their pistachios, rugs, and oil the same way they treat the peace-loving Baha’is.
Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be a cosponsor of this important resolution, which refocuses our attention on Iranian human rights violations committed against the embattled Baha’i religious minority. More than 200 Iranian Baha’is have been executed since the Iranian revolution in 1979, and there has been little change in official attitudes toward the Baha’i community since the death of Ayatollah Khomeini. Baha’is continue to be persecuted solely on the basis of their religious beliefs.
We are here today to put Tehran on notice that the U.S. Congress, as it has in previous years, continues to hold the Iranian Government responsible for assuring the basic human, civil, and political rights of all of its citizens. I welcome some recent reports that show some improvement in the treatment of Baha’is, including a decline in executions and the release of some Baha’is who had been imprisoned for religious reasons.
Yet there can be no doubt that the Baha’i community as a whole remains a brutally repressed minority. The Iranian regime denies Baha’is legal recognition and internationally recognized rights. By virtue of this repression, Baha’is are restricted from organizing, holding property, operating religious schools, or engaging in other activities normally conducted by such peaceful and law-abiding religious groups.
Iranian repression of the Baha’is constitutes a gross violation of the universal declaration of human rights. Iranians should be guaranteed freedom of thought, conscience and religion, education, and equal protection of the law. The United States Government should regard Iran’s human rights record as a principal factor in our relations with that country, and we should work with other governments and international organizations in support of the human rights of Baha’is and other Iranian minorities. In the meantime, we and others should continue to provide necessary assistance to Baha’is fleeing their homeland because of religious repression.
[Page 15]
Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I rise in
support of House Concurrent Resolution 87,
a resolution introduced by my colleague,
Representative YATRON, which condemns the
continued Iranian persecution of members of
the Baha’i faith. As an original cosponsor of
the resolution and a member of the Congressional
Human Rights Caucus, I strongly support
this public condemnation of Iranian
abuse of human rights.
In the past 8 years, the Iranian Government has executed more than 200 Baha’is and imprisoned thousands. It has refused to allow the Baha’is, Iran’s largest religious minority, such basic rights as the election of its leaders, the operation of its schools, and the acquisition and maintenance of its places of worship.
International pressure on the Iranian Government may be working. In 1982, 1984, and 1988, Congress passed resolutions similar to the measure we are considering today urging the Iranian Government to end the harassment of the Baha’is. During this same time period the Iranian Government has scaled down its attacks on the peaceful Baha’i community. Last year no Baha’is were killed and fewer than 15 were imprisoned.
House Concurrent Resolution 87 declares that Iran is responsible for maintaining and protecting the human rights of all its citizens regardless of their race or religion. Although Iran has improved its record of human rights abuses, this resolution expresses concern that Iran continues to deny the Baha’i community many of the legal rights required under international law. The resolution urges the President to continue to support and emphasize the need for further improvements in Iran’s human rights record. Finally, the resolution expresses the sense of Congress that the U.S. Government should continue to provide assistance for Baha’is who leave Iran because of religious persecution.
I have met with members of the Baha’i faith of the Miami Valley in my district who have expressed to me their concern for the Baha’is of Iran. It is tragic that a group of people should be forced to suffer the kinds of human rights denials that the Baha’is have had to endure. That is why I urge you to support House Concurrent Resolution 87 and vote to send a clear message to the Iranian Government that we do not approve of their treatment of the Baha’is.
Mr. FASCELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the resolution.
The gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. YATRON] is to be commended for again calling to the attention of the Congress the cruel persecution of adherents to the Baha’i faith by the Government of Iran.
Given the sorry record of United States-Iran relations over the last decade I suspect that many in Iran may be tempted to dismiss American concerns over the Baha’is as part of some nefarious scheme to discredit Iran. That is simply not true. I and other Members of Congress are here representing the commitment of the American people to a fundamental proposition on which our own country is based: freedom of conscience. We are committed deeply and irrevocably to the idea that each human being has the inherent right to judge for himself his own relation to the Almighty by any name. And we believe with that individual human right comes the right to those activities of worship and education common to all religions. This is not some American notion about human rights; it is a human right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and recognized by most nations, including the Soviet Union.
The Baha’i community in the United States is small. Of a population of 250 million there are only 110,000 Baha’is here. When I first heard of the plight of the Baha’is in Iran I knew nothing of their religion but study revealed that theirs is a gentle and sincere religion asking only to be left alone at peace. The widespread support they have gotten in Congress stems not from their political strength but from the instant response all Americans feel for those who suffer simply because they have a different religious belief.
The Government of Iran has done despicable
things to adherents of the Baha’i faith,
killing even small children. The Government
[Page 16] has tried to stamp out a religion using every
kind of trumped up charge imaginable from
treason to petty crimes. I know that such horror
perpetrated in the name of the Iranian
people does not represent their wishes or the
tenets of Islam. Yet ultimately it is the Iranian
people whose silence allows these horrors
to continue.
Recently the United Nations Human Rights Commission was allowed to have a representative visit Iran. At its current meeting in Geneva the Commission is scheduled to consider the human rights situation in Iran. The Commission must speak up strongly in condemnation of the Iranian Government’s treatment of the Baha’is.
I hope that the Iranian authorities will reconsider the case of the Baha’i community in Iran and find as I have that they are a peaceful people seeking only to follow their own conscience. Iran must stop killing innocent people if it is to regain the respect of the world community.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, as cosponsor of the resolution, House Concurrent Resolution 87, introduced by my good friends, GUS YATRON and DOUG BEREUTER, I rise today calling for its unanimous approval by the House. Mr. Speaker, this resolution urges the Government of Iran to guarantee the rights of conscience and religion, and equal protection of the law, for its Baha’i community.
While more than 200 Baha’is were executed and many thousands imprisoned during the cruel rule of Ayatollah Khomeini, I am encouraged by the report that no executions have been recorded since his death. Nonetheless, the Baha’is continue to face discrimination, restrictions, and denials, such as the right to select their own leaders, operate religious schools, or conduct religious activities.
Mr. Speaker, the United States Government highlighted the lack of religious tolerance in Iran at the United Nations Human Rights Commission on February 13. During the debate on religious intolerance, as congressional representative of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations, I had the honor of presenting the U.S. statement on religious intolerance. As noted at that time, the Iranian officials maintain their policy of restrictions on the Baha’i community. The United Nations Human Rights Commission, I believe, has a real responsibility to maintain the level of concern internationally and promote a genuine respect for religious tolerance.
Iran stands in stark contrast to the positive developments which have been seen in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. While the economic and political structural changes have not been codified in these countries, the religious communities have begun to experience much greater freedom. Mr. Speaker, I commend the sponsors of this resolution today for having introduced this measure so that the level of concern is maintained in the United States Congress and emphasis is given to improvements in human rights practices in Iran, such as religious freedom, in United States relations with the Government of Iran.
Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, according to the State Department human rights report that was released last week, Iran continues to be a major violator of human rights. The report notes that the Islamic government’s hold on power is achieved through “arrests, summary trials and executions, and other forms of intimidation implemented by an extensive internal security system.”
It is hard to draw an accurate picture because Iran has no procedural safeguards to guarantee basic human rights, and because the fundamentalist regime has very tight control on the flow of information. It is clear, however, that tens of thousands have suffered at the hands of Iran’s revolutionary tribunals.
Earlier this month, Mr. Speaker, an investigating team from the United Nations Human Rights Commission conducted a brief investigation of conditions in Iran. It is altogether fitting, therefore, that this body choose this time to consider House Concurrent Resolution 87, concerning Iran’s systematic persecution of the Baha’i religious sect.
The Baha’i religion is an offshoot of Islam,
and is not officially recognized by the Iranian
[Page 17] Government. Instead, they consider the
Baha’is to be a misguided and heretical sect—
something to be stamped out. And over the
years, the fundamentalist regime in Iran has
done its very best to do just that.
Since the 1979 revolution when Khomeini came to power, hundreds of Baha’is have been executed or imprisoned because of their faith. Baha’is have systematically been denied the normal benefits of society, such as access to education, the right to travel, the ability to inherit property, and even—on occasion—the right to purchase food.
This resolution demonstrates the continuing commitment of the United States Congress to press for respect of religious minorities in Iran. Resolutions concerning the Baha’is have been passed by both Houses of the Congress in 1982, 1986, and again in 1988. The resolution we are considering today has 139 cosponsors, demonstrating the overwhelming support of this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, this Member would bring to your attention the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. YATRON] whose tireless efforts on the behalf of the Baha’is have made this resolution possible. I also would like to voice my appreciation to Chairman HAMILTON of the Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East, and ranking member GILMAN of that subcommittee, for acting in a timely and expeditious manner on this important resolution, and to the chairman and ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. FASCELL and Mr. BROOMFIELD. Truly, Mr. Speaker, this is a bipartisan effort that enjoys overwhelming support.
As an original cosponsor of this resolution— along with Chairman YATRON—this Member would urge adoption of this resolution.
Mr. BROOMFIELD. Mr. Speaker, for the past several years, the Congress has expressed its support of the rights of the followers of the Baha’i faith. We have condemned the persecution that has been inflicted upon the Baha’is, and stated that we hold the Government of Iran responsible for upholding the rights of all its nationals, including members of the Baha’i faith, Iran’s largest religious minority.
There has been limited progress by Iran in respecting the rights of individual Baha’is. The number of executions and imprisonments of Baha’is and the confiscation of their property has decreased.
Yet despite these steps, the persecution of Baha’is as a group has not ceased. Through House Concurrent Resolution 87, before us today, we continue to express our concern regarding the persecution of these people. The resolution recognizes the progress that has been made. However, it also points to the need for continued work in support of the universally recognized human rights of the Baha’is and all people. The resolution urges further progress by Iran that would allow the Baha’is to organize, hold property, operate religious schools, and conduct the normal activities of a peaceful law-abiding religious community.
Mn Speaker, I wish to congratulate Congressmen YATRON and BEREUTER for their leadership in this matter. Their persistence has helped make possible progress that has been made so far. I also wish to congratulate our chairman, Congressman FASCELL, for bringing this resolution before us today.
As a cosponsor of this resolution, I urge our colleagues to support House Concurrent Resolution 87 and to continue to send an important dual message of support to the people of the Baha’i faith, and accountability to the Government of Iran.
Mr. YATRON. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GILMAN, Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. MAZZOLI). The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from California [Mr. DYMALLY] that the House suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 87).
The question was taken.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
[Page 18]
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 5 of rule I and the Chair’s prior announcement, further proceedings on this question will be postponed.
GENERAL LEAVE
Mr. YATRON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on House Concurrent Resolution 87, the concurrent resolution just considered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Pennsylvania?
There was no objection.
Senate Debate: Eliminating
Religious Intolerance from
the World
The concurrent resolution expressing the sense
of the U.S. Congress about the Iranian government’s
continued denial to the Bahá’ís of
their basic freedoms and rights went before
the U.S. Senate on May 15, 1990. The following
is the text of the debate in the Senate
as it appears in the Senate Congressional
Record on May 15, 1990, pages S 6272-74.—ED.
IRANIAN PERSECUTION OF THE BAHA’IS
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 467, House Concurrent Resolution 87, regarding the Baha’is.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The concurrent resolution will be stated by title.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 87) concerning Iranian persecution of the Baha’is.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the immediate consideration of the concurrent resolution?
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to the consideration of the concurrent resolution.
Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I would like to make a statement in support of House Concurrent Resolution 87. The Senate version of that Concurrent resolution is one that I submitted last June with the cosponsorship of many of our colleagues to call continuing attention to the plight of the Baha’i religious minority in Iran. With Senators who joined us later this concurrent resolution now has 60 cosponsors.
Most of my colleagues are painfully aware of the tragedy that befell the peace-loving Baha’i community as a result of the takeover of Iran by the fanatically intolerant regime that continues to rule it. The only crime of the Baha’is has been to profess belief in their faith and the divine authority of its peace-loving founder.
More than 200 Baha’is have been executed in Iran since the Khomeini takeover. Today his successors continue to torment the small law-abiding Baha’i community which is still outlawed. Therefore, it is time again to call the attention of the Government of Iran to the international norms of civilized behavior.
I want my colleagues to be aware that our resolutions, our protests are not without results. Due to persistent international pressure the repression of the Baha’is has been eased somewhat in recent years, and our concurrent resolution takes note of that. On the other hand, this year’s human rights report by our State Department reiterates the fact that widespread discrimination against and persecution of the Baha’i community continues. To quote the report:
The Government continues to attack the Baha’i community as a front for political and espionage activities, and prohibits the community from electing leaders or conducting religious activities.
Mr. President, the oppressed Baha’is continue to need our help. By agreeing to this concurrent resolution, our colleagues can take a small step in trying to restrain and eliminate religious intolerance from this world.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I am a cosponsor
of Senate Concurrent Resolution 53,
[Page 20] a concurrent resolution concerning Iranian
persecution of the Baha’is. I am saddened and
angered that there is a need for such a resolution.
Once again, as in 1982, 1984, and
1988, the people of the United States, through
their elected Representatives in the Congress
of the United States, are declaring that they
hold the Government of Iran responsible for
respecting the basic and fundamental human
rights of all its citizens, including those people
who are members of the Baha’i faith.
The Government of Iran continues to deny the members of the Baha’i faith the fundamental rights to which they are entitled under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of which Iran is a signatory. These rights which have and are being denied Baha’is and members of other religious minorities in Iran include the right to practice their religion, the right to life, liberty, conscience, and security of person, the freedom from torture, and the right to education and gainful employment.
Mr. President, while there have been reports of some relative improvements in the treatment of Baha’is in Iran, their treatment is still far short of all standards of acceptable conduct by the Iranian Government. This resolution calls on our Government, other governments, and international bodies to continue to appeal to the Government of Iran to cease its persecution of Baha’is. Additionally, this resolution states that Iran’s human rights practices, particularly Iran’s treatment of Baha’is and other religious minorities, is and should be an important factor in any development of future United States-Iranian relations.
Mr. President, individuals in the Baha’i community in Iran have suffered torture and execution. The Iranian regime considers them infidels guilty of heresy, and thus excludes them from the protections of basic human rights. We should do what we can to correct this affront to human decency. I am pleased to be a cosponsor of this concurrent resolution, and I urge its immediate adoption.
Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I rise today in support of House Concurrent Resolution 87 and Senate Concurrent Resolution 53, regarding the Government of Iran’s repression of the Baha’is.
The Baha’is, Iran’s largest religious minority and a community of nearly 350,000 members, have suffered cruelly for more than a decade of brutal rule under the Islamic Republic of Iran, living in constant fear of execution, imprisonment, torture, and other vicious forms of persecution. In keeping with our own Nation’s best principles, the United States must continue to condemn such acts and the concurrent resolution before us is a forceful means to address the bitter experience of this vulnerable people and call for international cooperation on behalf of the Baha’is.
In recent years there has been an encouraging decline in the number of executions, and cases of torture and imprisonment. Prisoners have been released and seized properties have been partially returned to their rightful owners. Nonetheless, the Iranian Government continues to deny to the Baha’is the basic freedoms and rights recognized by the international community and expressed in the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, thus denying to them the fundamental protection needed against a resurgence of arrest, imprisonment, torture, and the death sentence.
Because the Government of Iran has consistently denied to the Baha’is the legal status of a recognized religious minority and equal protection of the laws, they have been unable to practice their faith. The right of peaceful assembly has been outlawed and places of worship have been desecrated. Flagrant discrimination has been waged against the Baha’is in education and employment.
Indeed the State Department, in the “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1989,” has carefully looked at the treatment of the Baha’is in Iran and I ask unanimous consent that the relevant section of this document be printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
The Government continues to discriminate
[Page 21] against the Baha’i community, Iran’s largest
non-Muslim minority (300,000 to 350,000
members). The Special Representative [United
Nations Special Rapporteur Reynaldo Galindo
Pohl] stated in his 1989 Report that information
he received indicated that Baha’is
are still being harassed for their faith. The
Baha’i religion, an offshoot of Islam, is considered
a “misguided sect” by the authorities
and is not officially recognized. Between 1979
and 1988 the Baha’is suffered severe persecution,
mainly government directed and
aimed at the religious leadership.
In 1983 the Prosecutor General issued an order that effectively banned all Baha’i religious activity and provided the legal foundation on which virtually all members of the faith can be charged with crimes. Baha’i property was confiscated, shrines demolished, businesses disbanded or confiscated, and known Baha’is denied public sector employment and social services. Baha’i marriages are still not recognized. Baha’is are forbidden to participate in social welfare organizations, their businesses are outlawed, and they may not teach their faith. Baha’i national leaders dissolved the community’s organizations in obedience to the Prosecutor General’s edict, but they subsequently were arrested, and at least some were executed. Many ordinary Baha’is were also arrested on vague charges.
In some important respects, the Government has ameliorated its treatment of the Baha’is. No Baha’is were reported to have been arrested or executed in 1989; the number of Baha’is held in prison fell to fewer than 15. A small number of Baha’is have been issued visas to leave the country. Some Baha’i property confiscated by the Government was returned, although the amount represents a fraction of the total seized. Baha’i children are now permitted to attend grade school and high school (although Baha’is cannot attend college or be employed on college faculties). Some Baha’is were allowed quietly to reopen their businesses.
The Government has not officially abandoned its anti-Baha’i policies; widespread discrimination against, and persecution of, the community persists. The Government continues to attack the Baha’i community as a front for political and espionage activities, and prohibits the community from electing leaders or conducting religious activities.
Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, this matter has been held high on the congressional agenda for some time. The Congress has repeatedly expressed its concern in the past with similar resolutions in 1982, 1984, and 1988. These efforts have successfully addressed the plight of the Baha’is by generating international pressure to bear on the Iranian Government. Therefore I would strongly urge that my colleagues take another small but important step and support Senate Concurrent Resolution 53 which condemns a continuing and intolerable situation.
Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President, despite a change in its leadership, Iran continues to deny fundamental human rights to its largest religious minority, the Baha’is.
The State Department’s 1989 human rights report states that Iran continues to be a major violator of human rights, citing the “continuing repression of the Baha’i religious community” as a particularly egregious example of religious intolerance. In late January, a special representative of the United Nations visited Iran for the first time to investigate numerous charges of human rights violations. His report fully confirmed that the Baha’is of Iran are systematically deprived of their fundamental religious rights. On February 27, our colleagues in the House of Representatives called for an end to the Iranian persecution of the Baha’is with a vote of 404-0 in support of House Concurrent Resolution 87. This sent a strong signal to Iran and timely support for the U.N. Human Rights Commission which voted in early March to condemn violations of human rights in Iran, expressing particular concern about the repression of the Baha’i religious minority.
Since 1979, more than 200 Baha’is have
been executed in Iran, including women and
teenage girls, by the Islamic regime. Evidence
indicates that recent improvements in the situation
of individual Baha’is, which include
[Page 22] no executions since December 1988, result
from the continuing demonstration of concern
by the international community in which
the U.S. Government has played an instrumental
role. However, we are not content with
only the cessation of state-sponsored violence
against the Iranian Baha’i leadership. Iranian
Baha’is are still not permitted to meet as a
religious community, to have places of worship
or to maintain the institutions of their
faith. In short, Iranian Baha’is are still considered
“unprotected infidels” with no rights
under law to practice their religion.
I have supported previous congressional appeals for the religious rights of Iranian Baha’is, and am pleased to cosponsor Senate Concurrent Resolution 53, which calls for the emancipation of the Baha’i community in Iran. Broad support of this resolution will, without question, send another strong signal to Iran and support the U.N. Economic and Social Council when it considers the resolution on Iran in the next weeks.
Thus, I urge my colleagues to support Senate Concurrent Resolution 53 and vote to send Iran the message that the United States will continue to speak out against human rights violations until the Baha’is and other minority groups in Iran have secured their basic human rights guaranteed under international law.
Mr. HEINZ. Mr. President, the past year has witnessed a remarkable series of positive developments for human liberty and political freedom around the world. But one country long under the dark cloud of religious extremism, the Islamic Republic of Iran, has not yet decided to join the community of nations that guarantees its own citizens’ fundamental human rights.
Today the Senate will adopt House Concurrent Resolution 87, a companion to Senate Concurrent Resolution 53, a bipartisan expression of concern with the continuing injustices inflicted on Iran’s Baha’is. The House vote was unanimous, and I am confident the Senate tally will be the same.
The message of this concurrent resolution is clear: Americans still care about human rights, and particularly about the odious practice of religious oppression.
As our concurrent resolution points out, things have improved inside Iran. Most importantly, no Iranian Baha’is have been executed for 2 years. Perhaps as few as three Baha’is remain in jail for their beliefs. This is much better than before, and Americans take note of this change, but the fact that systematic discrimination continues only underlines the horror of the Baha’is’ experience since the Islamic revolution of 1979.
The Baha’is of Iran still suffer comprehensive persecution as so-called unprotected infidels. This persecution can include arbitrary imprisonment, inability to educate their children, and prohibitions against normal business and personal activities—even the right to a legally recognized marriage.
In a world where the Berlin Wall has crumbled, where people power has toppled a dictator in the Philippines, where Latin American countries have reclaimed their democratic heritage, the Iranian mistreatment of its own citizens is impossible to ignore and impossible to tolerate.
We call on the Government of Iran today to take a giant step toward reentering the international mainstream, to rebuilding Iran’s rightfully prominent international position, by adopting a civilized and tolerant attitude toward all of its religious minorities, including the Baha’is. Foreign activities, including the continued support of those holding American hostages in Lebanon, are important areas where Iran must prove it is deserving of improved international stature. But fundamental internal issues, such as official oppression of a religious minority, cannot be ignored in the world of the 1990’s.
Iran’s mistreatment of the Baha’is is a moral outrage, but is also a concrete obstacle to further progress in Iran’s efforts to assume its place in global affairs. It is time this obstacle was eliminated.
Mr. BOSCHWITZ. Mr. President, the
Senate’s action today on Senate Concurrent
Resolution 53, dealing with the Baha’is in
Iran, is both timely and warranted. As we
[Page 23] once again express our continuing determination
to help the Baha’is we can take pride
in the fact that, true to our own traditions
and heritage, we are acting on behalf of those
whose rights are being unfairly limited. The
right to practice freely one’s religion is a basic
human right, and the repression of the Baha’is
is the leading example in the world today of
purely religious persecution.
The Iranian Baha’is are denied the right to carry on the normal activities of a law-abiding community. They are denied the right to organize, hold property, operate religious schools, and carry out the numerous other activities that are allowed the overwhelming majority of Iranians. While the repression directed against individual Baha’is has recently become less severe, a development which I applaud, they still, unfortunately, face many unwarranted restrictions as a group.
I call upon the Iranian Government to recognize the Baha’is as a legitimate community, and to guarantee to them all of the rights available to Iran’s other citizens. The Baha’is should be the equal of any other group within Iranian society both in terms of the obligations they assume and the rights they enjoy.
I have long supported the Baha’i cause and am honored to be an original cosponsor of this concurrent resolution. The widespread support for such legislation in both the Senate and the House demonstrates the ongoing concern with which Congress views the plight of the Baha’is.
I note that the U.N. Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution earlier this year requesting that the U.N. Special Representative for Iran present an interim report on the human rights situation in Iran, “including the situation of minority groups, such as the Baha’is” at the 45th session of the U.N. General Assembly. Later this week the U.N.’s Economic and Social Council is scheduled to vote on the UNCHR resolution. I strongly encourage that the resolution be approved. Such U.N. actions show most clearly that concern for the Baha’is is an issue of international interest. I urge Iran to take proper note of this, and to cooperate fully with the U.N.’s representative when he returns to Iran.
Mr. President, it is altogether fitting to note at this time that there are also other peaceable groups within Iran which are being repressed. At the same time as we call on the Iranian Government to eliminate its restrictions against the Baha’is, we must also ask that it extend the full range of human rights to all sectors of Iranian society. Iran should be encouraged to extend to all of its citizens the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international covenants to which Iran has acceded.
Mr. MCCAIN. Mr. President, I rise in support of Senate Concurrent Resolution 53, the Baha’i resolution. Concerted and consistent international public opinion can affect even the most hardened, inhumane political regimes. One measure of its effect is the slow but certain progress of the Baha’is in their desperate struggle for physical and spiritual survival in the Iran of the ayatollahs.
Official persecution of the Baha’i community in Iran persists, but the imprisonment, torture, and executions have, thank God, ceased for the moment. Seven Baha’is currently endure imprisonment for their faith, compared to an average of 750 during the middle years of the last decade. Since 1988, Iran no longer executes Baha’is—including teenage girls—for their religious devotion. This present cessation of the most horrible acts of official persecution is, of course, very welcome. But it is not sufficient cause for a dulling of international sensitivity to the plight of Iranian Baha’is. On the contrary, it should encourage us to persist in condemning every instance when a Baha’i cannot practice his faith without confronting the theocratic imperialism of the Government of Iran.
International opposition to Iranian persecution
of Baha’is has been successful up to a
point. An important component of that opposition
has been the vocal support for Iranian
Baha’is that the United States Congress
has provided in three concurrent resolutions.
We should not underestimate the impact these
resolutions, as well as repeated appeals by the
President for just and humane treatment for
[Page 24] Baha’is, have had on Iran’s official disposition
toward the community. We need to sustain
our vocal support for Baha’is in order to consolidate
their recent advances in securing the
most basic of rights in Iran.
What we seek for the Baha’i community is more than toleration of their right to life. We must urge Iran to respect the Baha’is’ right to practice their faith as a community. They must be allowed to meet as a community, in a place of worship, to profess their faith and to instruct their children in the principles of their devotion. They must be allowed to elect the leaders and maintain administrative offices of their faith. They must have access to institutes of higher education like any other Iranian.
We must communicate to the Government of Iran that Americans and, indeed, all of the ever-expanding free world, consider religious tolerance to be one of the cornerstones of a free society. If Iran is ever to enjoy truly normal relations with most of the free world, she will need to exhibit a far greater acceptance of religious freedom than has ever been the case in revolutionary Iran. A Baha’i, no less than any other human being, is entitled to the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. For Baha’is, as for many people, happiness is pursued through religious devotion. If the theocracy that rules Iran cannot find it in their hearts to recognize that faith, at least let them remove legal impediments and disincentives to its practice.
Mr. President, I support this resolution because I feel it necessary to repeatedly make clear to Iran that the United States takes very seriously religious intolerance wherever it is in evidence and cannot help but condition relations with any government on its treatment of religious minorities.
We seek no special treatment of Baha’is in Iran, only the protection under Iranian law of their right to worship God as their hearts command. While we are relieved that Baha’is need no longer sacrifice their lives for their faith, clearly, Iran has not permitted them this most basic right. Until they do, Mr. President, Congress must take every opportunity to make clear our solidarity with the Baha’i community of Iran.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the concurrent resolution.
The concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 87) was agreed to.
The preamble was agreed to.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
Mr. HELMS. I move to lay that motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Calendar No. 335, Senate Concurrent Resolution 53, the Senate companion, be indefinitely postponed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Freedom’s Age
BY KURT HEIN
Copyright © 1992 by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States.
DURING the past few years unexpected and unprecedented social convulsions
have shaken the world.[1] A profusion of dramatic events has irreversibly
altered the course of human history.
Two aspects of the recent events seem particularly noteworthy. First, they are occurring simultaneously: the radical and swift transformations of seemingly entrenched political systems; the politicization of sexual and reproductive issues; the dismantling of apartheid; civil wars and separatist movements; the plight of the forests, deserts, and seas; famines and natural disasters; the global spread of virulent disease. The events are not limited to one particular continent or region, to one particular people or ethnic group, to one political or economic system.
Second, the upheavals have captured the attention, concern, and interest of people all over the world; their impact is felt by all. Never before have human beings been so aware of and so intimately involved in the activities of their fellow citizens.
The taunt of protesters at the Democratic convention in Chicago in 1968 has become a reality in 1990: “The whole world is watching!” The question is, what exactly is humankind watching?
It is witnessing what may well be the most paradoxical period in human history. Humanity is benefiting from revolutionary advances in science and technology, in global cooperation and communication. At the same time, large segments of humanity are being victimized by despots, crimes, wars, and genocides, as well as economic depressions, political turmoil, and environmental disasters, on a scale unprecedented in human history. The crises created by this paradox touch everyone.
An Age of Transition
BAHÁ’Ís understand the current cataclysmic events to be the most visible symptoms
of a new stage in the evolution of humanity’s collective life on this planet.
The Bahá’í writings assert that humanity is in the “darkest phase” of an “Age
[Page 28] of Transition.”[2] It is living in days of tumultuous change as the varied elements
of the human family move from a condition of isolation and antagonism to
an age of interdependence and mutual cooperation. From the Bahá’í perspective
of social evolution, humanity has emerged from its collective childhood:
- The long ages of infancy and childhood, through which the human race had to pass, have receded into the background. Humanity is now experiencing the commotions invariably associated with the most turbulent stage of its evolution, the stage of adolescence, when the impetuosity of youth and its vehemence reach their climax. . . .[3]
Accordingly, humanity is now in its adolescence, on the threshold of maturity:
- What we witness at the present time, during “this gravest crisis in the history of civilization,” recalling such times in which “religions have perished and are born,” is the adolescent stage in the slow and painful evolution of humanity, preparatory to the attainment of the stage of manhood, the stage of maturity, the promise of which is embedded in the teachings, and enshrined in the prophecies, of Bahá’u’lláh. The tumult of this age of transition is characteristic of the impetuosity and irrational instincts of youth, its follies, its prodigality, its pride, its self-assurance, its rebelliousness, and contempt of discipline.[4]
Psychologists characterize adolescence as a time of identity crises, rebellion, erratic behavior, and confusion over beliefs and values. The dilemma of adolescents is their immaturity; often they do not realize that they are enduring a difficult but necessary period of change. From a totally dependent period of childhood, they are struggling to become independent adults. But in the eyes of adolescents, now is forever; the painful, confusing, inexorable process of growth seems permanently beyond their control. They may want to return to the security of total dependency, but they are compelled to advance toward autonomy. Faced with such conflicts, adolescents experiment; they begin to explore the boundaries of their new, emerging sense of freedom.
Two Extremes
PARENTS of teenagers are familiar with two behavioral extremes characteristic of the movement toward autonomy. One is skepticism toward authority, expressed most commonly as cynicism and rebellion. The other is self-assertion to establish one’s individuality, often characterized by selfish, self-centered behavior.
Conversely, parents of adolescents may also exhibit extreme behavior. Some become authoritarian, imposing rigid demands enforced by the threat of swift punishments. Others become indulgent, permitting the youth to follow whatever impulses and inclinations they may have.
The extremes of adolescence are evident in society as well. In the human
[Page 29] family skepticism regarding authority may be at an all-time high. Regrettably,
it is well earned; all over the world, authoritarian social systems are denying
people fundamental rights necessary to their self-sufficiency and self-reliance.
Consequently, oppositional movements dominate the political landscape. Conflict
and contention have become institutionalized. Adversarial behavior is accepted
and expected in virtually all social relationships: in government, in business,
in marriages, in families. Opportunism and aggressive competition mark
the spirit of the council chamber, the marketplace, the school, and the playing
field.
In many societies individualism has been indulged to the point of self-worship. Self-interest is an accepted norm. For example, the indulgence in corruption is a global epidemic, affecting both institutions and individuals. The public trust, so vaunted in the world’s dominant ideologies, is being betrayed at every level in every society on the planet. Governments, public agencies, educational and religious institutions, and corporations are being rocked or toppled daily due to scandals of every conceivable nature, involving everyone from ministers (both secular and religious) to their constituents.
All manner of addictive behavior, crime, sexual exploitation, substance abuse, verbal and physical violence are openly acknowledged risks in people’s daily lives, regardless of ethnicity, age, sex, race, class, or religion.
During the tumultuous time of transition, humankind, like an adolescent, has been exploring the limits of its own freedom. The mature patent understands that adolescents need a combination of consistent standards and unconditional love to guide their development and to assist them to assume the rights and responsibilities of adulthood. However, humanity is currently devoid of any consistent internal or external controls. It also lacks any clear sense of its fundamental unity and its inherent dignity and nobility. As a consequence, it suffers the frequently fatal excesses of rigid authoritarianism and wanton self-indulgence.
A Universal Convulsion
CONFUSED by a medley of contradictory and seemingly irreconcilable beliefs and practices, the entire world watches its political and social institutions, its time-honored religious systems and moral standards disintegrate.
Bahá’u’lláh, the Prophet-Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, anticipated these events
more than a century ago: “‘The winds of despair’ . . . ‘are, alas, blowing from
every direction, and the strife that divides and afflicts the human race is daily
increasing. The signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now be discerned,
inasmuch as the prevailing order appears to be lamentably defective.’”[5] According
to Bahá’u’lláh, humanity experiences turmoil because it desperately needs both
a universal moral standard and the mechanism, or system, through which such
a standard can be realized. He asserted that the present-day order would be
“‘rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead.’”[6] He prophesied that all
[Page 30] the world’s governments would change, that oppression would encompass the
earth, and that, following a “‘universal convulsion, the sun of justice will rise
from the horizon of the unseen realm.’”[7] This is an allusion to the ascendancy
of the divine plan He revealed: “‘The world’s equilibrium’ . . . ‘hath been upset
through the vibrating influence of this Most Great, this new World Order. Mankind’s
ordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this
wondrous System, the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed.’”[8]
Humanity’s Coming of Age
ADOLESCENTS learn that they must abandon the rules and behaviors appropriate to childhood; they learn to adopt new standards and develop new behaviors commensurate with their new self-awareness, capacities, opportunities, and responsibilities. Humankind is now faced with the same imperative:
- “That which was applicable to human needs during the early history of the race can neither meet nor satisfy the demands of this day, this period of newness and consummation. Humanity has emerged from its former state of limitation and preliminary training. Man must now become imbued with new virtues and powers, new moral standards, new capacities. New bounties, perfect bestowals, are awaiting and already descending upon him. The gifts and blessings of the period of youth, although timely and sufficient during the adolescence of mankind, are now incapable of meeting the requirements of its maturity.”[9]
Attaining the age of maturity means that one’s potential can begin to be realized:
- the stage of adolescence . . . must gradually be superseded by the calmness, the wisdom, and the maturity that characterize the stage of manhood. Then will the human race reach that stature of ripeness which will enable it to acquire all the powers and capacities upon which its ultimate development must depend.[10]
According to Bahá’u’lláh, the process of human social evolution follows a divine plan. In every age God sends a Prophet or Messenger, a Manifestation of God, to provide people with the spiritual principles, the moral laws, and the framework of social institutions necessary to human unity and development. Historically, these revealed religions have formed the bases of society, the cornerstones for human civilization. Religion, too, is evolutionary, for each religion in this progressive series of divine revelations is linked to an ultimate purpose: the establishment of universal peace and the ultimate unification of the diverse elements that constitute human society.
- Unification of the whole of mankind is the hall-mark of the stage which human society is now approaching. Unity of family, of tribe, of city-state, and nation have been successively attempted and fully established. World unity is the goal towards which a harassed humanity is striving. Nation-building [Page 31]
has come to an end. The anarchy inherent in state sovereignty is moving towards a climax. A world, growing to maturity, must abandon this fetish, recognize the oneness and wholeness of human relationships, and establish once for all the machinery that can best incarnate this fundamental principle of its life.[11]
Humankind’s coming of age is consummated by the establishment of a global civilization, the pivotal principle of which is the oneness of humanity. It is in this context and for this purpose that Bahá’u’lláh provides new understandings of the fundamental principles of freedom.
The Context of Freedom
THE BAHÁ’Í TEACHINGS confirm that freedom is a fundamental principle of human life. “essential” to all its expressions.[12] Freedom is essential because it is necessary to the fulfillment of human potential. The more freedoms individuals enjoy, the more opportunities they have to determine their own destiny.
The future world commonwealth must guarantee that the “personal freedom and initiative of the individuals . . . are definitely and completely safeguarded.”[13] This fundamental principle is explicitly upheld in the constitution of the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing and legislative body of the worldwide Bahá’í community:
- Among the powers and duties with which the Universal House of Justice has been invested are:
- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
- . . . to safeguard the personal rights, freedom and initiative of individuals; and to give attention to the preservation of human honour. . . .[14]
There is a wide diversity of freedoms: Freedom from fear, oppression, want, hunger, disease, exploitation. Freedom to live, believe, think, learn, grow, progress, express, disagree. Freedom of association, worship, participation. Freedom in happiness, joy, peace, and security.
One popular ideal of freedom is complete autonomy, absence of constraint. In North America many sustain romantic images of rugged individualism; of the bravery and heroism of the European explorers, pioneers, and early settlers; and of the courage of the Loyalists and the Revolutionaries. But such images are unsuited as symbols of humanity’s highest ideals. At best, they are idealized snapshots from a culture’s childhood. At their worst, they fail to portray honestly the human suffering that attends such exploits (most notably in this instance, the systematic genocide and enslavement of formerly free Indian and African peoples).
From the Bahá’í point of view, the context of freedom is the dynamic relationship
between individuality and interdependence. Freedom is fundamentally
[Page 32] a social principle, enacted in a social matrix; it describes social relationships.
Each individual and every society is like the cells and parts of one body:
- In the human body, every cell, every organ, every nerve has its part to play. When all do so the body is healthy, vigorous, radiant, ready for every call made upon it. No cell, however humble, lives apart from the body, whether in serving it or receiving from it.[15]
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’u’lláh’s son and the appointed interpreter of His writings and leader of the Bahá’í community, explains that the most elementary social application of this principle is found in the family, from which it is extended through all levels of society.
- The integrity of the family bond must be constantly considered, and the rights of the individual members must not be transgressed. . . . All these rights and prerogatives must be conserved, yet the unity of the family must be sustained. The injury of one shall be considered the injury of all; the comfort of each, the comfort of all; the honor of one, the honor of all.[16]
He states further that these rights must be harmonized with the demands of an increasingly interdependent world:
- In like manner all the members of the human family, whether peoples or governments, cities or villages, have become increasingly interdependent. For none is self-sufficiency any longer possible, inasmuch as political ties unite all peoples and nations, and the bonds of trade and industry, of agriculture and education, are being strengthened every day. Hence the unity of all mankind can in this day he achieved. Verily this is none other but one of the wonders of this wondrous age, this glorious century.[17]
The idealized notion of freedom unconstrained is a chimera, an adolescent fantasy. Absolute autonomy is impossible. Bahá’u’lláh makes it clear that such an ideal is most nearly fulfilled at the level of an animal: “Know ye that the embodiment of liberty and its symbol is the animal.”[18] In its natural state an animal is virtually without care: All its material needs are provided; it enjoys freedom of movement; it exerts no great labor to partake of food and shelter; it has no commitments; it makes no plans; it faces no moral dilemmas; it is free of guilt and responsibility. But it is a complete and total prisoner of nature.
Attaining True Liberty
BAHÁ’ÍS believe that the most fundamental of all freedoms is one that is bestowed
by God to human beings alone: free will. It is in the exercise of a free
will that the human being realizes its greatest power and autonomy. Paradoxically,
[Page 33] Bahá’u’lláh says that the highest expression of free will is the individual’s
submission to the Will of God:
- True liberty consisteth in man’s submission unto My commandments, little as ye know it. Were men to observe that which We have sent down unto them from the Heaven of Revelation, they would, of a certainty, attain unto perfect liberty. . . . The liberty that profiteth you is to be found nowhere except in complete servitude unto God, the Eternal Truth.[19]
It is with the understanding and the faith that God’s laws are humankind’s greatest guide and protection that the individual submits to God’s Will. But it is not a blind submission to an authoritarian rule that is required. Rather, Bahá’u’lláh enjoins all to use their reason, to question, to study, and to determine for themselves the validity of His claim.
A sign of maturity in individuals is their understanding, acceptance, and practice of social responsibility. It implies their recognition of the dignity and capacities of all people, including themselves. Maturity also is reflected when individuals understand peoples’ organic interdependence and contribute freely to the well-being of all, “inasmuch as in a world of interdependent nations and peoples the advantage of the part is best to be reached by the advantage of the whole.”[20]
The Manifestation of God awakens in human beings the awareness of their latent power and inspires them to realize their inherent nobility and their fullest potential. In this way, according to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, God frees the spirit “so that blessed individuals, who have freed themselves from the murk of the animal world, shall rise up with those qualities which are the adornings of the reality of man.”[21] Having acquired these uniquely human qualities the individual is set free, “emancipated from the captivity of the world of nature.”[22]
Unlike an animal, human beings have the unique capacity to transcend the limitations of material existence. This is the basis for their artistic and scientific achievements. In their social affairs, it encourages them to subordinate their self-interest to a higher, collective good. Self-sacrifice, freely chosen, is the noblest of human virtues. It is also the foundation of true heroism, exemplified by people such as Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Ṭáhirih, Chief Joseph, Harriet Tubman, and Raoul Wallenberg. By sacrificing themselves for the well-being of others, they transcend worldly limitations and attain a timeless distinction:
- And the honor and distinction of the individual consist in this, that he among all the world’s multitudes should become a source of social good. Is any larger bounty conceivable than this, that an individual, looking within himself, should find that by the confirming grace of God he has become the cause of peace and well-being, of happiness and advantage to his fellow [Page 34]
men? No, by the one true God, there is no greater bliss, no more complete delight.[23]
True liberty is attained through an awareness of the godliness of each individual, recognition of the universal authority of the Manifestation of God for this day and freely choosing to obey His will, both individually and collectively.
Thereby are people awakened to their inherent nobility, dignity, and honor and provided the mechanisms for attaining their fundamental interdependence and unity. Thereby is humanity liberated from the oppression of ignorance and error, released from the twin tyrannies of authoritarianism and anarchy, freed from the fetters of gross materialism and self-indulgence. Thereby does the human family at long last achieve the coming of age of the entire human race.
- ↑ This essay is a reflection on themes and concepts presented in a letter of the Universal House of Justice, published as Individual Rights and Freedoms in the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh: To the Followers of Bahá’u’lláh in the United States of America (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1989).
- ↑ Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh: Selected Letters, 2d ed. (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1974) 171.
- ↑ Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá’u’lláh 202.
- ↑ Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day Is Come, 3d ed. (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1980) 117.
- ↑ Bahá’u’lláh, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day Is Come 116.
- ↑ Bahá’u’lláh, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day Is Come 116.
- ↑ Bahá’u’lláh, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day Is Come 117.
- ↑ Bahá’u’lláh, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá’u’lláh 162.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá’u’lláh 165.
- ↑ Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá’u’lláh 202.
- ↑ Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá’u’lláh 202.
- ↑ The Universal House of Justice, Individual Rights 7.
- ↑ Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá’u’lláh 203.
- ↑ [The Universal House of Justice], The Constitution of the Universal House of Justice (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1972) 5.
- ↑ The Universal House of Justice, Wellspring of Guidance: Messages, 1963-1968, 2d ed. (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1976) 37-38.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by '‘Abdu’l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912, comp. Howard MacNutt, 2d ed. (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1982) 168.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day Is Come 120.
- ↑ Bahá’u’lláh, A Synopsis and Codification of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas: The Most Holy Book of Bahá’u’lláh, [comp. the Universal House of Justice] (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1973) 24.
- ↑ Bahá’u’lláh, Synopsis and Codification 25.
- ↑ Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day Is Come 122.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, comp. Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, trans. Committee at the Bahá’í World Centre and Marzieh Gail (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1978) 10.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections 302.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Secret of Divine Civilization, trans. Marzieh Gail and Ali-Kuli Khan, 3d ed. (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1975) 2-3.
A weed
- in the autumn wind
- leans from the stone
- foundation of the old
- stucco house and wags
- its flowers at the moon.
- The moon, in its own way,
- wags and blooms.
- I am sorry.
- There is no more.
- It is an autumn wind
- that blows, and the weed
- (I don’t know its name)
- knows it.
—Terry Ofner
Copyright © 1992 by Terry Ofner
Burial Mounds, Poisel’s Pasture
- The wind in a pasture
- With cattle in the corner
- Facing north.
- The wind keeps the pasture
- Underfoot like a cow.
- The cow knows what time it is
- By the curve of her shadow.
- Her shadow cups the mound
- Like a hand on a breast.
- The wind. The sound
- Tribes make when they lie down
- For a long time.
—Terry Ofner
Copyright © 1992 by Terry Ofner
On Morals and Material Things
BY HOLLY E. HANSON
Copyright © 1992 by Holly E. Hanson.
EVERY aspect of reality is an instrument
that humanity can use to approach God
and to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization.
The Bahá’í revelation infuses a divine
purpose into work, wealth, and all the
ordinary activities of daily life and of society.
Material things as well as moral qualities make
the world what God wants it to be. The spiritualization
of human affairs and the practical
realization of the Christ-promised Kingdom
of God on earth is the mission of Bahá’u’lláh,
the Prophet-Founder of the Bahá’í Faith. The
attainment of a new level of human maturity
in which spiritual aspirations dominate the
material ambitions of humankind is a prerequisite
to peace and the growth of a world
civilization. Human unity and contentment
will increase as more and more individuals
decide to share their wealth to benefit society,
and when governments choose to spend their
resources improving the lives of their people
rather than preparing for war. Material resources
are essential to the process of spiritualizing
civilization—not only in providing
the physical means of social harmony and
well-being but also in forming the context in
which individuals and nations are encouraged
to develop virtues.
For Bahá’ís, who are committed to the regeneration of human society, detachment from worldly things does not mean rejection of the world but the utilization of every available means that can help to create the conditions and qualities of a mature society. Bahá’u’lláh thus describes the spiritual strengths His followers must achieve and the effect they will have on the material world: “A race of men, incomparable in character, shall be raised up which, with the feet of detachment, will tread under all who are in heaven and on earth, and will cast the sleeve of holiness over all that hath been created from water and clay.”[1] The controlled and purposeful attitude toward material things that must characterize a Bahá’í is evident in the explanation of the purpose of the Manifestations of God given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, appointed by Bahá’u’lláh as the interpreter of the Bahá’í writings and leader of the Bahá’í community:
- In the school of realities they [the Manifestations] educate these sons and daughters . . . so that they may develop along every line, show forth the excellent gifts and blessings of the Lord, and combine human perfections; that they may advance in all aspects of human endeavour, whether outward or inward, hidden or visible, material or spiritual, until they may make of this mortal world a widespread mirror, to reflect that other world which dieth not.[2]
Advancement of human life, according to the Bahá’í teachings, is a gradual process of individual and social change that causes the physical world to reflect the divine world.
Morals and material things interact to create
[Page 38] social progress. Finding positive, productive
connections between the spiritual and the
material aspects of life directs human potential
toward social improvement and provides
the energy for building a new world order.
Defining a Positive Interaction
of Morals and Material Things
Bahá’í Writings Conserning the Interactian of Spiritual and Material Forces. The need for a balanced, harmonious interaction of spiritual and material aspects of civilization is a recurring theme in the Bahá’í writings. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá offers a particularly clear analogy illustrating the interaction:
- Material civilization is like unto the lamp, while spiritual civilization is the light in that lamp. If the material and spiritual civilization become united, then we will have the light and the lamp together, and the outcome will be perfect. For material civilization is like unto a beautiful body, and spiritual civilization is like unto the spirit of life. If that wondrous spirit of life enters this beautiful body, the body will become a channel for the distribution and development of the perfections of humanity.[3]
Furthermore, the spiritual and material aspects of reality are complementary and must work together:
- For man two wings are necessary. One wing is physical power and material civilization; the other is spiritual power and divine civilization. With one wing only, flight is impossible. Two wings are essential. Therefore, no matter how much material civilization advances, it cannot attain to perfection except through the uplift of spiritual civilization.[4]
In another passage ‘Abdu’l-Bahá notes that the connection of the spiritual and material forces generates a unique power for the advancement of society:
- Only when material and spiritual civilization are linked and coordinated will happiness be assured. . . .
- . . . If the moral precepts and foundations of divine civilization become united with the material advancement of man, there is no doubt that the happiness of the human world will be attained. . . . Then humankind will achieve extraordinary progress, the sphere of human intelligence will be immeasurably enlarged, wonderful inventions will appear. . . .[5]
The potential latent in spiritual and material forces when they work in consonance is succinctly expressed by the Universal House of Justice in a letter on development: “The oneness of mankind, which is at once the operating principle and ultimate goal of His [Bahá’u’lláh’s] Revelation, implies the achievement of a dynamic coherence between the spiritual and practical requirements of life on earth.”[6] Dynamic coherence means a systematic connection, full of force and energy. It can be visualized as a spiral. Spiritual values motivate and enhance economic wellbeing, and material resources provide the means for greater spiritual endeavor and expression. For example, the spiritual qualities of human intellect, trustworthiness, dignity, dedication, and a spirit of service lead to economic justice, invention, and productive working conditions. The spiral takes another loop upward through the positive contributions of material resources: Education enables a person to understand the Word of God; a sufficient means of livelihood allows time for prayer, study, and service; and the technologies of mass communication and transportation physically unite the world, facilitating the growth of a world civilization.
Two examples illustrate the concept of the
material and the spiritual working together.
[Page 39] In a village in southern Africa women do hard
physical labor sixteen hours a day, growing
and harvesting crops, carrying water, searching
for fuel, and cooking, while carrying their
youngest children with them. They have a
deep and vital faith in God, but their poverty
enslaves them. Just prices for their crops, a
regeneration of the productive capacities of
their land, a water supply system, improved
cooking and farming technology, and leisure
time in which to become literate would enable
them to develop their potential and experience
the blessings God has ordained for
them.
In a North American suburb an imbalance between spiritual and material resources also inhibits human growth. Drug and alcohol abuse, the dissolution of the family, and the prevalence of violent crime prove that large homes and expensive possessions cannot replace the purposefulness and essential wellbeing that comes from love of God and the actions it involves.
In present-day societies spiritual civilization and material civilization are hopelessly disunited. The prosperity of the North American suburban household could be used to advance humankind’s dignity, unity, and social welfare. But without a spiritual center the wealth is worse than useless, for it veils people from their true purpose. The faith of the African women is a light shining without an appropriate setting. With justice and with resources their spiritual strengths might influence their whole society. Bahá’ís believe that human and community development requires both the “light” of spiritual susceptibilities and the “lamp” of material resources; the combination of these forces creates a dynamic energy that enables people to promote social progress.[7]
The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár: A Model of Inner and Outer Unity. The Bahá’í aspiration to create a society that is inwardly and outwardly united—one in which spiritual and material components are balanced and science and religion are harmonized—is a very difficult task. Development of such a society will require humanity to overcome centuries of intellectual endeavor that has systematically separated religion from other spheres of life. Bahá’í belief requires people to be involved in the world but never absorbed by it. Fortunately, Bahá’u’lláh has provided an institution that balances the spiritual and material aspects of society: the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, the Dawning Place of the Mention of God.
The basic need to focus one’s thoughts on the transcendent is met in the House of Worship, the focal point of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, where the members of a community will gather at the beginning of every day to pray and listen to the Word of God. The social needs of the community for education, health care, community administration, scientific research, and so on will be met in the surrounding dependencies, which are an equally vital part of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár complex. The union of universities, centers for scientific research, and other academic and social institutions with the spiritual heart of the community will help to overcome the harmful conceptual divisions that have hindered social progress: science will not oppose religion; faith will not contradict reason; religious values will inform governmental decisions. As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explains, “The edifice of the House of Worship hath a powerful influence on every phase of life.”[8] In another passage He explains the long-term effect of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár: “Thus for the first time religion will become harmonized with science and science will be the handmaid of religion, both showering their material and spiritual gifts on all humanity. In this way the people will be lifted out of the quagmires of slothfulness and bigotry.”[9]
It is fascinating to try to imagine the social
impact of the House of Worship complex.
Each morning physicists and chemists will
[Page 40] pray in the domed central House of Worship,
then walk to their nearby laboratories to continue
their investigation of reality. Families
will arrive together for morning prayers, then
disperse—the children to school and the parents
to their employment in the university,
medical center, or other dependencies. Businessmen
will come in the morning to worship,
then leave the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár complex
—the physical, intellectual, and spiritual
heart of the community—to work in the less
central and less significant financial district.
The House of Worship, as it becomes a habit
in people’s daily life, and as it expresses the
priorities of the society, will help to teach new
values to humanity.
The significance of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, however, is not merely the union of institutions that cater to the spiritual, intellectual, and social needs of humankind and their prominence in the community. Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith and the authorized interpreter, after ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, of the Bahá’í writings, has written that the creative power of the House of Worship comes from the dynamic interaction of its worship and service components; neither can be effective without the other. Bahá’í worship has no lasting value unless it is expressed as service:
- . . . Bahá’í worship, however exalted in its conception, however passionate in fervor, can never hope to achieve beyond the meagre and often transitory results produced by the contemplations of the ascetic or the communion of the passive worshiper. It cannot afford lasting satisfaction and benefit to the worshiper himself, much less to humanity in general, unless and until translated and transfused into that dynamic and disinterested service to the cause of humanity which it is the supreme privilege of the Dependencies of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár to facilitate and promote.[10]
No effort to improve the life of humankind can succeed without the spiritual forces released by the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár:
- Nor will the exertions, no matter how disinterested and strenuous, of those who within the precincts of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár will be engaged in administering the affairs of the future Bahá’í Commonwealth, fructify and prosper unless they are brought into close and daily communion with those spiritual agencies centering in and radiating from the central Shrine of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár. Nothing short of direct and constant interaction between the spiritual forces emanating from this House of Worship centering in the heart of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, and the energies consciously displayed by those who administer its affairs in their service to humanity can possibly provide the necessary agency capable of removing the ills that have so long and so grievously afflicted humanity.[11]
The role of the House of Worship in channeling spiritual energies into service to humanity was evident in the Bahá’í community of Ashkhabad, in Turkmenistan. Between 1880 and 1920 a Bahá’í community of several thousand developed there, because of the religious freedom the city offered. A large and beautiful House of Worship was built where community members gathered for prayers early every morning. Two elementary schools, a medical clinic, and a pilgrim’s hospice were built on the grounds.[12]
The Bahá’í community also established
schools in two nearby towns, Merv and Qah
Qahih, and opened kindergartens in Ashkhabad.[13]
1t published a magazine and
opened a library and public reading room.
[Page 41] The influence of the House of Worship was
apparent even to the Soviet authorities when
they sought to secularize the Bahá’í schools.
When Bahá’í children defended their faith to
the atheist teachers who had been imposed
by the central government, the Soviet authorities
decided that proximity to the House
of Worship gave the Bahá’í children courage.
The Bahá’í children were moved to the Armenian
school in another part of the city,
while the Armenian children received their
lessons in the school building on the grounds
of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár. The Bahá’ís still
refused to renounce their faith. The government
eventually closed the Bahá’í schools, and
the community was dispersed.[14]
The combination of forces inherent in the House of Worship complex, which gave such dynamism to the Bahá’ís of Ashkhabad, are also the forces that Bahá’ís are seeking to utilize in their efforts to build dynamic communities, to promote peace, and to uplift their societies. As they grow in their understanding and capacity to use the forces of worship and service, their actions will foreshadow the powerful transforming effect Shoghi Effendi identifies for the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár:
- For it is assuredly upon the consciousness of the efficacy of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, reinforced on one hand by spiritual communion with His Spirit, and on the other by the intelligent application and the faithful execution of the principles and laws He revealed, that the salvation of a world in travail must ultimately depend. And of all the institutions that stand associated with His Holy Name, surely none save the institution of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár can most adequately provide the essentials of Bahá’í worship and service, both so vital to the regeneration of the world.[15]
Although Bahá’í Houses of Worship are in their earliest stages of growth and few dependencies have been established, it is already clear that the capacity of the Bahá’í community to engender social advancement comes from the dynamic interaction of service and worship. Young Latin American Bahá’ís donate a year of their lives to service, running nursery schools and organizing clubs for pre-youth that allow them to develop a sense of their own capacity. Bahá’í youth in a European country, wanting to be of service, join together, work for a season as agricultural laborers, and send their wages to a health project organized by Bahá’ís in rural West Africa. A spiritual assembly, the local Bahá’í governing body, plants crops on the Bahá’í Center land, but one person dominates the effort, and the spiritual commitment and tolerance of every Bahá’í is necessary to solve the problem and keep the community united. A personal quarrel divides the members of the governing committee of a Bahá’í school; some members would probably give up and let the school carry on without them; but each one, in his or her own spiritual life, resolves to overcome the differences for the sake of the Faith. Bahá’í teachers from a large city volunteer to assist in rural development and consolidation. They are supposed to visit rural Bahá’í communities, and the villagers are welcoming and forgiving, but they find it hard to leave the city because in the village they are always hot, sticky, and overwhelmed by mud, thatch, strange smells, and chickens everywhere. It is only the spiritual force of prayer that gives them courage to devote themselves to activities in the village, to discover a true unity with their rural co-workers, and to share their love and understanding of the Faith, comfortably, happily, and without condescension.
The small triumphs of spirit over self are
the fundamentals of social progress. The
[Page 42] power humanity needs to change itself and
its communities is the power of spiritual
communion channeled into practical action.
Spiritual Laws and the Economic
Productivity of Individuals
THE POSITIVE dynamic created by integrating the moral and material aspects of life is apparent in Bahá’í laws regarding individual economic status. These laws direct the individual to actions that make the material world reflect divine reality. The essential needs to work and to acquire the physical necessities of life become an opportunity to develop and express spiritual qualities. “Economic man,” who inhabits current social theories, earning income and making consumption decisions for his own benefit, becomes the spiritually mature person, who works in order to worship God and serve humanity. In obedience to the law of God, mature Bahá’ís spend their income on themselves and their own families but also give to the Bahá’í Fund, concern themselves with the welfare of society, and pay the Ḥuqúqu’lláh (the “Right of God,” the spiritually obligatory tax on the increase in one’s wealth, payable to the Universal House of Justice, the international governing and legislative body of the Bahá’í Faith). The economic activity of spiritually mature men and women has transcendent results. It creates social well-being and enhances spiritual strengths while simultaneously promoting economic prosperity.
Detachment. The most important of the Bahá’í teachings on economics is the obligation to become detached from worldly desires. Bahá’u’lláh asks humanity, “Who is there among you, O people, who will renounce the world, and draw nigh unto God, the Lord of all names?”[16] To seek happiness and fulfillment in material success and possessions distracts people from their true purpose and wastes human potential. Bahá’u’lláh’s clear and forceful exhortations to be detached form one of the central themes of His writings: “The treasures ye have laid up have drawn you far away from your ultimate objective. This ill beseemeth you, could ye but understand it.”[17]
In another passage He adds: “Better for you is what He possesseth than the things ye yourselves possess and the things ye have sought and are now seeking in this vain and empty life. Forsake the world, and set your faces towards the all-glorious Horizon.”[18]
Bahá’u’lláh defines detachment as the self-sacrificing use of resources for the improvement of human life: “Forget your own selves, and turn your eyes towards your neighbor. Bend your energies to whatever may foster the education of men.”[19] ‘Abdu’l-Bahá expands on this injunction:
- Is there any greater blessing conceivable for a man, than that he should become the cause of the education, the development, the prosperity and honor of his fellow-creatures? No, by the Lord God! The highest righteousness of all is for blessed souls to take hold of the hands of the helpless and deliver them out of their ignorance and abasement and poverty, and with pure motives, and only for the sake of God, to arise and energetically devote themselves to the service of the masses, forgetting their own worldly advantage and working only to serve the general good.[20]
The appropriate focus of human activity is
neither selfish pursuit of status and wealth,
nor pious worship in isolation from society,
but constant and deliberate involvement in
the world to make it a better place: “This
Wronged One testifieth that the purpose for
which mortal men have, from utter nothingness,
stepped into the realm of being, is that
[Page 43] they may work for the betterment of the world
and live together in concord and harmony.”[21]
Material things can be the tools people use to advance the common good or the veils that obscure the meaning of life. Every society contains evidence of the debasing power of materialism; but used with vision, material possessions improve life and have a positive effect on humanity’s spiritual condition. Bahá’u’lláh explains that the “‘world’” human beings must forsake is their “unawareness” of their “Maker,” and “absorption in aught else but him.”[22] Detachment does not require people to reject or to loathe the world. Rather it requires them to have sufficient vision and understanding to make the world useful. The new moral standard for the human race is a strength of devotion, a clarity of purpose, and an ardent attachment to spiritual reality so that every material thing becomes a means to fulfill God’s purpose for the world.
Bahá’í communities provide many examples of people choosing to use their possessions for the well-being of humanity. Bahá’u’lláh’s World Order is assuming a concrete shape through the efforts of hundreds of thousands of His followers. Many hundreds of Bahá’í farmers have offered land for a Bahá’í center or tutorial school. Bahá’í students in some West African Bahá’í communities traditionally use school vacations for service. A spiritual assembly organizes a work party to improve the road to its village. A family uses its car and the basement apartment in its home to help integrate Cambodian refugees into American society. A rural mother does without her daughters’ assistance in the home so that they may attend school. A Bahá’í woman opens a nursery school in her home.
Wealth: A Corollary of Spiritual Progress. According to the Bahá’í teachings, material well-being is a corollary of individual spiritual progress. Spiritual insight motivates a person to do things that require time and resources. An important Bahá’í teaching requires that everyone should know his or her
- own self and recognize that which leadeth unto loftiness or lowliness, glory or abasement, wealth or poverty. Having attained the stage of fulfilment and reached his maturity, man standeth in need of wealth, and such wealth as he acquireth through crafts or professions is commendable and praiseworthy.[23]
A spiritually mature Bahá’í longs to be literate, to have access to the Word of God, to serve humanity, to create a beautiful and orderly environment, and to contribute to the Bahá’í Funds and to the welfare of society. Physical resources are necessary to fulfill these spiritual obligations.
A minimum standard of material comfort is a right guaranteed to every person by Bahá’u’lláh. Poverty is not acceptable because it degrades human honor, forces people to concentrate on material survival, and denies them the opportunity to develop their potential. Tolerance of poverty in another part of the city or in another part of the world harms the spiritual condition of the wealthy. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explains that the local community is obliged to eliminate extreme poverty through a system of progressive taxation. Community members whose income exceeds their needs are taxed; community members whose income is insufficient to meet their needs receive supplemental funds. Differences will remain, but, Abdu’l-Bahá explains,
- As the rich man enjoys his life surrounded by ease and luxuries, so the poor man must, likewise, have a home and be provided with sustenance and comforts commensurate [Page 44]
with his needs. This readjustment of the social economy is of the greatest importance inasmuch as it ensures the stability of the world of humanity; and until it is effected, happiness and prosperity are impossible.[24]
Thus the goal is not equalization of income but the establishment of a material foundation from which individuals can pursue their tasks of growing toward God and perfecting society.
Although poverty, like other kinds of suffering, is recognized as a potential source of spiritual growth, the Bahá’í writings do not exalt poverty as a spiritually superior condition. One of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s companions in His travels recorded that someone asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá whether “the fewer material things a man has, the more spiritual he becomes.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is said to have replied that “‘Severance is not poverty but freedom of the heart. . . . When a man’s heart is free, and on fire with the love of God, every material benefit, every physical advantage, will only serve to develop his spiritual perfections.’”[25]
Work. The concept that work performed in the spirit of service is a form of worship enables Bahá’ís to unite the spiritual and material aspects of their lives. The mundane necessity of earning a living, Bahá’u’lláh explains, becomes a way to develop virtues and to express the divine purpose of human existence:
- Hold ye fast unto the cord of material means, placing your whole trust in God, the Provider of all means. When anyone occupieth himself in a craft or trade, such occupation itself is regarded in the estimation of God as an act of worship; and this is naught but a token of His infinite and all-pervasive bounty.[26]
Everyone is obliged to work not only for sustenance but also to thank God for the capacities with which they have been endowed and to contribute to the advancement of society. “O My Servants!” Bahá’u’lláh exhorts His followers, “Ye are the trees of My garden; ye must give forth goodly and wondrous fruits, that ye yourselves and others may profit therefrom. Thus it is incumbent on every one to engage in crafts and professions, for therein lies the secret of wealth, O men of understanding!”[27]
The concept that work performed in a spirit of service is worship has both economic and spiritual implications for society. Economic prosperity results when people devote themselves to their work with enthusiasm. In Search of Excellence, a study of American management techniques, found caring for people to be a significant factor in the success of the most outstanding companies. Each successful company evoked in its employees a sense of belonging and commitment that enhanced productivity.[28] Furthermore, when the tasks of everyday life are defined as a form of worship, ethical responses cannot be postponed for the times when one attends the temple, church, or mosque. A climate of trust and honesty stimulates economic activity.
Using Wealth. The Bahá’í Faith teaches that
the acquisition of wealth provides an opportunity
to develop spiritual qualities. Wealth
benefits people who use it for the good of
society; it harms those who keep it for themselves.
Spiritually mature persons will exert
effort, manifest trustworthiness, earn a substantial
amount of money, and then give it
away. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá summarized the purpose
of wealth as being “praiseworthy in the highest
degree, if it is acquired by an individual’s
own efforts and the grace of God, in commerce,
[Page 45] agriculture, art and industry, and if it
be expended for philanthropic purposes.”[29]
The Bahá’í concept of voluntary sharing of wealth is different from the “food-hamper” type of charity that assuages the conscience of the rich through superficial handouts to the poor while keeping them in a condition of poverty. The goal of Bahá’í philanthropy is a structural change in the economy by initiating “measures which would universally enrich the masses of the people” so that extreme wealth and extreme poverty are eliminated.[30] Furthermore, pure motives are a precondition of Bahá’í giving. Use of wealth to enrich all has two profound effects: It promotes economic growth and well-being for the impoverished segment of society, contributing to the economic realignment foreseen in the Bahá’í revelation; and it generates the spiritual strengths which are the foundation of a healthy society.
Voluntary giving purifies motives, develops a consciousness of the oneness of mankind, and fosters a spirit of self-sacrifice. It helps people develop the virtues that will preserve and protect mankind. An equitable distribution of wealth is essential for a stable society. The evolution of social standards of selflessness, service to others, and social concern are equally important results. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explains the transcendent social value of choosing to give away one’s wealth for the benefit of society:
- Man reacheth perfection through good deeds, voluntarily performed, not through good deeds the doing of which was forced upon him. And sharing is a personally chosen righteous act. . . . Voluntary sharing, the freely-chosen expending of one’s substance, leadeth to society’s comfort and peace. It lighteth up the world; it bestoweth honour upon humankind.[31]
This principle helps to explain the frustration and disappointment of many attempts to establish societies based on socialism. Sharing resources is one element of the formula, but the catalyst for its success is a love for humankind that is fed by a love for God.
The ujama’a villages that were established in Tanzania in the 1970s are an example. The government could pull people to the villages by providing schools, electricity, water, and social services, or it could push them into the villages through forced evacuation of their homes, but it could not create a sustained desire for voluntary self-sacrifice. The people’s enthusiasm for cooperative nation building eventually waned, and the ujama’a villages did not prosper. The creation of the welfare state in post-war Western Europe also illustrates this principle. Extremely high rates of taxation of the wealthy have led to some income leveling, but welfare income has not eliminated poverty, and class tensions remain.
The Bahá’í concept of a dynamic interaction
between moral and material reality implies
that spiritual strengths are just as important
for progress as money and other tangible
resources. A national government, for
example, may decide to invest in adult education.
It may build buildings, buy books,
and hire teachers. However, to be really successful,
the investment requires a moral
framework. Otherwise, the teachers may look
down on the village students, the villagers
may perceive no value in sitting in a classroom,
and they may have nothing to read once
they have learned how to read. In contrast,
since the earliest days of the Bahá’í Faith illiterate
Bahá’ís have found ways to teach
themselves to read. One person would provide
a place to meet, someone else would donate
materials, and teachers often were volunteers.
Money from another country or from
the government could provide a building or
other supplies that would make these efforts
look more substantial, but no provision of
funds could buy the commitment to education,
the unity of purpose, and the self-reliance
that these simple literacy programs
represent. Bahá’ís believe that an immense
[Page 46] moral force is released when people volunteer
their resources for the benefit of society. It
propels humanity toward a condition of economic
justice.
Ḥuqúqu’lláh—The Right of God. The sacred obligation of the Ḥuqúqu’lláh, the Right of God, is a powerful instrument for channeling the moral force of sacrifice in a Bahá’í society. It also demonstrates the interdependence of spiritual and material goals. Ḥuqúqu’lláh is a gift of 19 percent of a Bahá’í’s surplus material wealth, which is offered to the Center of the Faith “to be expended for the relief of the poor, the disabled, the needy, and the orphans, and for other vital needs of the Cause of God.”[32] To one Bahá’í community Bahá’u’lláh explained that obedience to the law of Ḥuqúqu’lláh would have eliminated hardship among “the friends in that region.”[33] But the decision to pay the Ḥuqúqu’lláh must be made solely by the individual Bahá’í. Donations of Ḥuqúqu’lláh cannot be forced, solicited, or even be accepted unless the donor’s attitude is pure. Bahá’u’lláh declares that “the acceptance of the offerings dependeth on the spirit of joy, fellowship and contentment that the righteous souls who fulfill this injunction will manifest. If such is the attitude acceptance is permissible, and not otherwise.”[34]
The law of Ḥuqúqu’lláh exists to benefit the Bahá’ís, for the spiritual qualities it engenders are more important than the income it provides. It also teaches them how to perceive the material world. Everything they have has been given to them by God. When they give something back, they are blessed and rewarded. Voluntarily deciding to pay the Ḥuqúqu’lláh makes them consider their true priorities and requires them to accept responsibility for the world beyond themselves. It fosters the attitudes and habits that will characterize a spiritually mature civilization. The Ḥuqúqu’lláh, Bahá’u’lláh writes, “is an effective means for the purging, the purification and sanctification of the souls of men and a source of prosperity and blessing.”[35]
Obedience to the law of Ḥuqúqu’lláh creates a continuous interactive force for the advancement of humankind. It provides the funds for social welfare and refines individual morality. It provides “the means for the salvation of mankind.”[36] The resources for development and the spiritual growth generated by contributions lead to greater prosperity and a higher level of spiritual maturity. These in turn lead to more contributions, and the cycle perpetuates itself. The momentum inherent in the law of Ḥuqúqu’lláh is also a part of the Bahá’í perception of social progress. Spiritual convictions should be expressed in material advances, and material resources should reinforce spiritual strengths.
Macro-Economic Consequences of Bahá’í
Laws. The Bahá’í affirmation of the value of
material pursuits—of the principle that individual
wealth can be a lever for spiritual
and economic transformation, that work performed
in the spirit of service is worship, and
that material well-being is helpful for spiritual
development—frees people to make
money for the benefit of humanity. Economic
growth is stimulated by men and women
“willing to share to the utmost the temporal
benefits and the fleeting joys which this earthly
life can confer” and “eager to participate in
whatever activity that conduces to the richness,
the happiness and peace of that
life. . . .”[37] Such people will make good use
of resources and find ways of creating wealth.
On the contrary, religious attitudes that link
[Page 47] wealth with sinfulness and poverty with holiness
can lead to economic stagnation. A strong
religious orientation that emphasizes a passive
acceptance of suffering in anticipation of
rewards in another life can be an obstacle to
economic development.
Bahá’í communities express a positive attitude toward material life through active involvement in the practical concerns of community members; to limit religious life to an appreciation of principles and scripture is a modern-day form of monasticism, forbidden by Bahá’u’lláh. Spiritual assemblies have taken action to eliminate racial tension in local schools; they have consulted about unemployment and ways to create economic opportunity through cooperation. In areas where housing is inadequate, Bahá’ís have met weekly to work on each others’ homes. Where producers are being cheated by unscrupulous middlemen, spiritual assemblies have taken the responsibility of purchasing and distributing goods. Bahá’ís take these actions because they believe that eliminating injustice and improving the quality of life is a spiritual obligation.
The economic consequences of Bahá’í laws and principles were most clearly illustrated in the Bahá’í community of Iran from the turn of the century until the Islamic revolution in 1979. Adherence to Bahá’í principles and standards of conduct caused the Bahá’í community to stand out as manifestly more progressive than the rest of their society, despite official repression and universal prejudice against it. Through their trustworthiness, their concern for education and self-improvement, their willingness to innovate, and their enthusiasm for new opportunities, the Bahá’ís achieved a distinction that included material prosperity.
Iranian Bahá’ís opened their first informal schools in the 1880s and formally established schools in Tehran and elsewhere in 1897. The number of Bahá’í schools continued to grow until the government forced them to close in the 1930s. Around 1906 they established the Nawnahálán savings institution; the original concept, thwarted by persecution, was that only dividends could be withdrawn; the principal would be used to fund development projects. It held the life savings of fifteen thousand Bahá’ís when it was seized during the Islamic revolution.[38] ‘Abdu’l-Bahá encouraged the foundation of the Persian-American Educational Society (later renamed the Orient-Occident Unity); its goals were to link believers in the East and the West in order to promote education, health, and trade.[39]
Although the constant threat of pogroms and organized harassment forced the Bahá’ís to maintain a low profile in most of Iran, there were a few villages where Bahá’ís were the majority of the population, and the habits of community interdependence called for in the Bahá’í writings began to emerge.[40] The material expression of a family’s spiritual efforts are now visible in Bahá’í villages in many parts of the world. The Bahá’í child among a group of children playing can be identified by his or her neatness and manners; the Bahá’í home in a village stands out because of its orderliness, and the Bahá’í farmer finds ways to do well.
Spiritual Prerequisites of Social
and Economic Justice
ALTHOUGH the Bahá’í principle of a dynamic
interaction of morals and material reality motivates
social progress most immediately
through its influence on individual Bahá’ís
and on the actions of local Bahá’í communities,
it also provides a framework for analyzing
[Page 48] the economic structures of society. It
explains the failure of social welfare programs,
shows the links between poverty and
war, and clarifies the moral ambiguity of
modern technology.
Love—The Essence of Economics. A moral commitment to eliminate extremes of wealth and poverty must form the basis of any development or welfare program because the fundamental injustice of the current distribution of resources will inevitably defeat any less ambitious attempt to improve social conditions. As long as the “affluent world citizen” continues to gain more and more of the gross national product ($14,000 U.S.) while the “developing world citizen” repeatedly gains less and less ($670 U.S.), development efforts can have little lasting effect.[41] People may receive education, but there will be no jobs; new techniques may increase crop yields, but farmers will not receive a fair price for their crops; fluids with the appropriate salts may save babies from dying of diarrhea, but they will then live out their lives as squatters in an urban slum. In some developed countries welfare programs sustain the poor without really eliminating poverty. Many turn to alcoholism and criminal behavior or lose interest in work as a result of their disadvantaged social position.[42]
Bahá’ís believe that the extreme disparity between the wealthy and the poor is ultimately caused by ignorance of the interdependence of humankind. Attitudes of love and responsibility must be created, building human links between the privileged and the oppressed. A mature humanity must overcome the prejudices that poor people are different, that they like the way they live, and that suffering is a distant problem that goes away if one sends a little money. Because interdependence is a fact of economic life, the prosperity of humanity requires a practical response: “cooperation, mutual aid and reciprocity are essential characteristics in the unified body of the world of being, inasmuch as all created things are closely related together and each is influenced by the other or deriveth benefit therefrom, either directly or indirectly.”[43] Thus the wealthy executive driving to work in Chicago or Santiago must learn to care about the people sleeping on the street as if they were his own family and consider what actions he can take to help them. The elegant tourist who is shocked by the Asian dwellings she mistook for doghouses must try to establish a link between her own life and that of the people she observes.
Complex political, economic, and social changes will be necessary to overcome the unequal distribution of wealth in the world, but the impetus for all these changes is the growth of an awareness of the oneness of humanity. The well-being of any member of the human family, North or South, East or West, depends on the well-being of every other member. These changes begin on a small scale. The economic benefits of concern for others, for example, have become a topic of interest in management studies. Businesses that demonstrate a caring attitude toward employees have been shown to be more profitable.[44] A corporation that follows ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s suggestion and remunerates its workers with stock as well as a salary creates a positive dynamic; the company demonstrates its admiration for its workers and its dependence on them, and the employees respond to this affirmation of their value with a greater involvement in their work. The atmosphere of trust and cooperation that is generated improves the quality of human interaction and increases the productivity of the company.
Consideration for the rights and the welfare
of others creates justice, which creates the
conditions for producing wealth. This principle
[Page 49] can be effective in personal interactions,
in commerce, and in international affairs. According
to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the economic forces
that will create full employment and adequate
housing for urban slum dwellers and
the means for a dignified existence for the rural
poor are love and generosity:
- The fundamentals of the whole economic condition are divine in nature and are associated with the world of the heart and spirit. . . . Hearts must be so cemented together, love must become so dominant that the rich shall most willingly extend assistance to the poor and take steps to establish these economic adjustments permanently. If it is accomplished in this way, it will be most praiseworthy because then it will be for the sake of God and in the pathway of His service. . . .
- Strive, therefore, to create love in the hearts in order that they may become glowing and radiant. When that love is shining, it will permeate other hearts even as this electric light illumines its surroundings. When the love of God is established, everything else will be realized. This is the true foundation of all economics.[45]
Social Welfare Systems. The functioning of a national social welfare system is a good example of the dynamic coherence of moral strengths and material resources. Money is necessary, but what makes a welfare system succeed or fail are the spiritual and moral qualities of the participants and the society in which it operates. When the wealthy sector of society is motivated by love and a true feeling of unity, the resources necessary for social improvement become available. Yet an intransigent privileged class can defeat the best-intentioned social programs. Attempts at land reform in many Latin American nations have been defeated by groups of land owners unwilling to share their resources; racism and pervasive discrimination in the United States employment market undermined the eifectiveness of large-scale efforts to train people out of poverty in the 1970s.[46]
The spiritual and moral strengths of those who receive welfare are also important. When recipients of welfare believe in their own capacity and feel themselves responsible for the condition of their community, they will use education, economic support, and other assistance to improve their own lives, and the whole society will benefit. People who believe that they are incompetent and inferior and that poverty is inevitable cannot make good use of the resources they receive. Welfare programs often reinforce attitudes of inferiority, dependency, and alienation. The spiritual principles of human honor and dignity, the importance of self-reliance, and the personal value of work are missing from most welfare programs and are critical to their success.
Poverty and War. The evolution of economic and social justice requires an international climate that manifests unity, trust, and generosity —spiritual qualities that make possible both economic and spiritual progress. When international relations lack such virtues, however, the resources necessary for development are used for war instead, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explains:
- Peace is the pretext, and night and day they are all straining every nerve to pile up more weapons of war, and to pay for this their wretched people must sacrifice most of whatever they are able to earn by their sweat and toil. How many thousands have given up their work in useful industries and are laboring day and night to produce new and deadlier weapons which would spill out the blood of the race more copiously than before.
- . . . The staggering cost of it all must be borne by the hapless masses.
- Be just: can this nominal civilization, unsupported by a genuine civilization of character, bring about the peace and well-being [Page 50]
of the people or win the good pleasure of God?[47]
Guns are substituted for butter and also for schools, health clinics, and jobs in most nations of the world. Throughout the world government spending for defense (up to 30 percent of the gross national product) exceeds spending for education (up to 8 percent of the GNP).[48]
A civilization in which the standard of living of the poor decreases while the supply of armaments grows larger is the “beautiful body” of material civilization lacking the “spirit of life” that spiritual civilization would contribute.[49] Our current civilization is a living organism that cannot control its own actions. Without the vision, guidance, and discipline that would come from the efflorescence of spiritual and moral qualities, the body of humankind cannot coordinate its own movement or reduce its own suffering; it cannot even prevent some parts of itself from destroying the whole.
Technology and Maral Values. The motivating, purifying influence of religion can direct humanity’s scientific capacities toward technological endeavors that will foster human well-being instead of mass destruction. In the Bahá’í view, technology informed by spiritual values is critical to human progress. Shoghi Effendi has described the benefits of technological developments in a society at peace:
- The enormous energy dissipated and wasted on war, whether economic or political, will be consecrated to such ends as will extend the range of human inventions and technical development, to the increase of the productivity of mankind, to the extermination of disease, to the extension of scientific research, to the raising of the standard of physical health, to the sharpening and refinement of the human brain, to the exploitation of the unused and unsuspected resources of the planet, to the prolongation of human life, and to the furtherance of any other agency that can stimulate the intellectual, the moral, and spiritual life of the entire human race.[50]
Technology, like any other resource available to humanity, serves mankind when it is propelled by a spiritual motivation. Fueled by greed, technological developments harm the environment, destroy patterns of social interaction, and reduce people’s ability to control their own lives. Fueled by a desire to uplift the quality of human life, technology can reduce drudgery, expand human capacity, and promote human honor. Technological innovations in social and economic development are useful if they promote the spiritual as well as the material progress of society. The strength of the family unit, the level of social justice, and the unity of a community should be enhanced through the introduction of water supply systems, improved sanitation, or new farming and cooking techniques. The same possibilities exist in the application of technologies in the natural world. Technologies can pollute and despoil the environment, but, guided by a sense of moral responsibility, technologies could make it possible for a growing population to protect and preserve our planet.
Bahá’ís have a unique perception of the
material world, for they believe its farms, rivers,
factories, schools, banks, and businesses
all share a spiritual destiny—to wear a “sleeve
of holiness,” to manifest the spiritual qualities
of a mature civilization.[51] This awareness
of the spiritual utility of material things and
of the practical utility of spiritual things pervades
the Bahá’í teachings; it shapes community
life through the institutions of the
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár; it draws out the capacities
[Page 51] of the individual in the Bahá’í teachings
on detachment, work, and wealth; and it illumines
the forces that will create social order.
Bahá’í activities in social and economic development,
in conservation of the environment,
and in the promotion of peace are propelled
by this principle. It frees people to express
their spiritual beliefs in a concrete way,
it focuses their energy on the essential ingredients
of social progress, and it transforms
their simple efforts into the building blocks
of a world civilization.
- ↑ Bahá’u’lláh, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of Divine Justice, new ed. (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1984) 31.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, comp. Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, trans. Committee at the Bahá’í World Centre and Marzieh Gail (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1978) 128.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912, comp. Howard MacNutt, 2d ed. (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1982) 11.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation 12.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation 109-10.
- ↑ The Universal House of Justice, letter dated 20 October 1983 to the Bahá’ís of the World, Bahá’í News 634 (Jan. 1984): 1.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation 11.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections 96.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, quoted in Star of the West 21 (Apr. 1930): 20.
- ↑ Shoghi Effendi, Bahá’í Administration: Selected Messages 1922-1932, 7th ed, (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1974) 186.
- ↑ Shoghi Effendi, Bahá’í Administration 186.
- ↑ A. A. Lee, “The Rise of the Bahá’í Community of ‘Ishqábád,” Bahá’í Studies 5 (Jan. 1977): 9.
- ↑ Horace Holley, “Survey of Current Bahá’í Activities in the East and West,” The Bahá’í World: A Biennial International Record, Volume V, 1932-1934, comp. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada (New York: Bahá’í Publishing Committee, 1936) 38.
- ↑ See Horace Holley, “Survey of Current Bahá’í Activities 1928-1930,” The Bahá’í World (Formerly: Bahá’í Year Book): A Biennial International Record, Volume III, 1928-1930, comp. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada (New York: Bahá’í Publishing Committee, 1930) 37-39.
- ↑ Shoghi Effendi, Bahá’í Administration 186.
- ↑ Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, trans. Shoghi Effendi, 2d ed. (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1976) 34.
- ↑ Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings 210.
- ↑ Bahá’u’lláh, Prayers and Meditations, trans. Shoghi Effendi (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1938) 188.
- ↑ Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings 9.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Secret of Divine Civilization, trans. Marzieh Gail and Ali-Kuli Khan, 3d ed. (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1975) 103.
- ↑ Bahá’u’lláh, in Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi, Trustworthiness: A Compilatiion of Extracts from the Bahá’í Writings, comp. Research Department of the Universal House of Justice (London: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1987) 5.
- ↑ Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings 276.
- ↑ Bahá’u’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, comp. Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, trans. Habib Taherzadeh et al. (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1988) 34-35.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation 181-82.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, quoted in Marzieh Gail, “A Sampler from Maḥmúd’s Diary,” The Bahá’í World: An International Record, Volume XIII, 1954-1963, comp. the Universal House of Justice (Haifa: The Universal House of Justice, 1970) 1187.
- ↑ Bahá’u’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh 26.
- ↑ Bahá’u’lláh, The Hidden Words, trans. Shoghi Effendi (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1939) No. 80 (Persian).
- ↑ Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr., In Search of Excellence (New York: Harper, 1982) 238.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Secret of Divine Civilization 24.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Secret of Divine Civilization 24.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections 115.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, and The Universal House of Justice, Ḥuqúqu’lláh: Extracts from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, and The Universal House of Justice, comp. Research Department of the Universal House of Justice (Thornhill, Ont.: Bahá’í Canada Publications, 1986) No. 75.
- ↑ Bahá’u’lláh, in Ḥuqúqu’lláh No. 20.
- ↑ Bahá’u’lláh, in Ḥuqúqu’lláh No. 4.
- ↑ Bahá’u’lláh, in Ḥuqúqu’lláh No. 40.
- ↑ Bahá’u’lláh, in Ḥuqúqu’lláh No. 22.
- ↑ Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh: Selected Letters, new ed. (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1974) 198.
- ↑ Some of the activities of the Persian Bahá’í community are described in Holly Vick, “Development: Shining Example in Cradle of Faith,” Bahá’í News 675 (June 1987): 8-11.
- ↑ Joseph H. Hannen, “The Persian-American Educational Society,” Bahá’í News 1.5 (June 5, 1910): 3-5; Joseph H. Hannen, “Persian-American Educational Society,” Star of the West 2.1 (March 21, 1911): 6-7.
- ↑ See, for example. the description of Saysán in Holley, “Survey of Current Bahá’í Activities in the East and West,” Bahá’í World, Vol. V 28.
- ↑ Norman Myers, The Gaia Atlas of Future Worlds (New York: Doubleday, 1990) 42-43.
- ↑ These examples come from a talk given by Counselor Farzam Arbab at the Bahá’í World Center in 1986.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in Ḥuqúqu’lláh 21.
- ↑ Peters and Waterman, In Search of Excellence 246.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation 238-39.
- ↑ June Thomas, “The Poor in America: A Visionary Assessment,” World Order 18.1 (Fall 1983): 45-46.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Secret of Divine Civilization 61-62.
- ↑ The Economist World Atlas and Almanac (New York: Prentice-Hall, 1989) 102-03, 114-15.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation 11.
- ↑ Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá’u’lláh 204.
- ↑ Shoghi Effendi, Advent of Divine Justice 31.
Authors & Artists
HOLLY E. HANSON, an advocate of
community-based social and economic
change, is completing a doctorate in African
studies at the University of Florida
with a concentration on the historical
antecedents of current challenges to
social and economic development in Africa.
She lived in Kenya for two years
and Nigeria for four years and worked
in the Office of Social and Economic
Development at the Bahá’í World Center
in Haifa, Israel, for seven years. Her
book Social and Economic Development:
A Bahá’í Approach was published in
1989. Ms. Hanson makes a second appearance
in World Order, her essay entitled
“The Spiritual Framework of Development”
having appeared in our Fall
1988/Winter 1988-89 issue.
KURT HEIN, who holds a doctorate in
development communication from
Northwestern University, has served as
assistant ditecror of the Rural Radio
Development Project in Otavalo, Ecuador;
general manager of WLGI-FM,
the Bahá’í radio station in Hemingway,
South Carolina; executive producer for
the Radio Language Arts Project in
Nairobi, Kenya; and a member of the
residential staff at the Maxwell International
Bahá’í School in British Columbia.
He has published many monographs
and articles and in 1988 a book entitled
Radio Bahá’í Ecuador: A Bahá’í Development
Project. His article “Radio for
Development” appeared in World Order’s
Spring/Summer 1985 issue.
TERRY OFNER teaches English, creative
writing, and Spanish and also is the food
coordinator and gardener at Scattergood
Friends School in Iowa. He holds
degrees in both English literature and
horticulture.
ART CREDITS: Cover design by John Solarz;
photograph by Mark Sadan; page 2, photograph
by Annette Prosterman; pages 6, 18,
25, 26, 36, 51, 52, photographs by Steve
Garrigues.