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WORLD ORDER
THE UNITY OF THE WORLD
GUGLIELMO FERRERO
•
AWAKENING ALBANIA
MARCELLUS D. A. R. VON REDLICH
•
SPLENDOR AT THE CORE
ANGELA MORGAN
•
THE FOUNDATIONS OF WORLD PEACE
BAHÁ’U’LLÁH
•
(Contents continued on inside cover)
•
JUNE 1935
Price 20c
VIEWING THE WORLD AS AN ORGANISM
CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE
(Continued)
THE EBBING TIDE OF LOYALTY
BOLLING SOMERVILLE
•
EQUATIONS IN CIVILIZATION
BENOY KUMAR SARKAR
•
NAVAL PROCESSION
A Poem
STANTON A. COBLENTZ
•
THEY PRAY WHILE DANCING
NORRIS MILLINGTON
•
SOCIAL TRENDS IN AMERICAN LIFE
BERTHA HYDE KIRKPATRICK
•
ESSENTIALS FOR ORDER
EDGAR J. FISHER
•
THE CAUSE OF HUMAN DIFFERENCE
‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ
•
REDIRECTING EDUCATION
JOSEPH S. ROUCEK
•
THE SCIENCE OF MAN
Editorial
•
World Order is published monthly in New
York, N. Y. by the Publishing Committee of
the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís
of the United States and Canada.
Editors, Stanwood Cobb and Horace Holley.
Business Manager, C. R. Wood.
Editorial Office—
- 119 Waverly Place, New York, N. Y.
Publication Office—
- 135 East 50th Street, New York, N. Y.
Subscriptions: $2.00 per year, $1.75 to Public Libraries. Rate to addresses outside the United States, $2.25, foreign Library rate, $2.00, Single copies, 20 cents. Checks and money orders should be made payable to World Order Magazine, 135 East 50th Street, New York, N. Y. Entered as second class matter, May 1, 1935, at the post office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Contents copyrighted 1935 by Bahá’í Publishing Committee June, 1935. Vol. 1, No. 3
WORLD ORDER
JUNE 1935
NUMBER 3 VOLUME 1
•
THE SCIENCE OF MAN
EDITORIAL
IT was inevitable that a generation become conscious of its responsibility for assuming the overwhelming task of transforming society from strife to order should first make use of the scientific knowledge attained during the long ages when man’s task was the conquest of his natural environment. The social philosophies on which plans of progress and improvement have been based were consequently derived directly or indirectly from conceptions developed under the influence of scientific thought.
The connecting link between science and sociology during the latter half of the nineteenth century was biology, the interpretation of which made possible a rational sanction for political equivalents of the biological “struggle for existence.” Nations, it was felt, were each but a larger organism committed to the same desperate law of the survival of the fittest which operates upon the animal and vegetable worlds.
WHEN psychology began to replace biology as the connecting link between science and the problem of civilization, a new point of view arose from which the naive simplicities of the preceding sociology could be discerned. Moreover, the actual results of the doctrine of the struggle for existence as applied to powerful societies had become truly appalling. The European War, and the subsequent economic disasters, served to multiply the very problems which the sanctions offered by science had promised to solve. The penetrating fire of agony has consumed many of the veils in which modern spiritual ignorance had sought to disguise itself in the panoply of cosmic truth.
The reason why the methods and
principles of material science cannot
be employed to form a science of man
is because material science deals with
the relationships between elements
[Page 82]
none of which has free will. Those
relationships remain constant, and
that constancy is the very foundation
of scientific truth. Unchangeable categories
can be formulated for every
element and substance in nature, since
no element or substance can alter
the conditions in which it is given its
essential function.
But unlike the stone and the plant, man lives in two worlds. He lives in the same world of nature as the stone, the plant and the animal, but he lives also in another world, the world of human reality. He is subject not to one law but to two laws. The significance of free will is that by it man can elect whether he shall live by the law of nature or by the law of that reality which is unique for man and which the lower orders cannot attain.
What is the world of human reality, that world which exists simultaneously with the world of nature, and has been so urgently sought by the soul, even though for proof it could offer little more than the existence of aspiration and rational intellect?
The world of human reality is nothing else than the realm revealed by the Prophets and Messengers. In its primal purity, every revealed religion is the world of the soul. By faith man is enabled to live under laws which God has progressively made manifest as the reality of the kingdom of mankind. When a Moses, a Jesus or a Zoroaster declares that love is the true condition of man, the principle of love becomes a law which for men has equal validity with any law controlling the life of the animal.
Herein lies the only true reconciliation of science and religion: the fundamental teachings and precepts of religion, renewed and re-applied by successive Prophets, constitute the laws of human existence. They are the science of the soul, as biology is the science of animal life or geology is the science of the mineral kingdom. It is only because men remain immersed in the semi-darkness of passion and strife that they accept the science of nature but reject the science of the soul.
THERE will be no sociology until men consciously recognize the mission of the Prophets as the educators of the human kingdom, and attain the station of obedience to the laws which have been revealed for that kingdom.
The real issue before humanity today is the need of a spiritual Educator, a new and compelling religious expression accessible to all peoples upon equal terms, raised high above the limiting factors of national or racial experience—world wide, universal, essentially divine. For that the world is spiritually starved, morally anemic, ethically perverted, socially ignorant and blind. No one knows how to live the true life of a being created by God to know Him, to love Him, to obey His merciful laws. Ignorant of ourselves, we know not how to live with our fellow men. Torn between the sterility of outworn creeds and the brutality of public policies reflecting the unconscious life of the jungle, humanity seems to be desperately gambling with destiny for an undeserved chance to survive.
H. H.
Through the courtesy of the publisher, A. and C. Boni, the following excerpt is reprinted from a recent work on world unity by the historian, Guglielmo Ferrero.
•
THE UNITY OF THE WORLD
By GUGLIELMO FERRERO
•
MANKIND labors, from generation to generation, in obscurity. It rests in ignorance of the work of its hands. Only when a history is complete, when men can turn and regard it from the outside, does its meaning begin to be understood. Ignorant of what it has been doing, for four centuries the human race has been laboring at the most gigantic of its tasks: the conquest and unification of the earth.
This conquest commenced towards the end of the Fifteenth Century when a great Italian set out with a few ships on the ocean and discovered America. Until then the human race had been unaware of itself, unaware also of the planet which had been assigned to it as dwelling place; it knew neither the true shape of the earth nor by how many races and peoples it was inhabited. The members of the human family dwelt apart from one another in mutual aloofness, separated from each other by the wild solitude of mountains and deserts and oceans.
Following the discovery of America humanity commenced to take possession of the earth and to find its own way by various methods: exploration, colonization, emigration, conquest, commerce, treaties, diplomacy, evangelism. Gradually peoples, races, continents, learned to know themselves. The earth, during the past four centuries, has slowly been evolving into a single and immense body.
Slow for three centuries, the conquest
and unification of the earth became
swifter during the Nineteenth,
when Europe and America seized
control of the realms of iron and
heat, when they were able to command
steam and electricity, railroads
and the telegraph. Towards the end
of the Nineteenth Century it could
be said that at last man knew and
possessed virtually the entire globe.
Railways and telegraphic cables were
the nerve-system of the earth, which
was now a single body. This unification,
nevertheless, was not accomplished
without a curious contradiction.
The more unified did the world
grow in knowledge of itself, the
more apparent became the differentiation
of its parts as regards language,
religion, conception of life,
morality and interests. As long as
peoples and the various branches
of the human family lived in isolation,
[Page 84]
assembled in tiny groups, they
remained unaware of the differences
which kept them separate and consequently
neither liked nor disliked
one another. Remoteness and ignorance
shut up the different human
groups in water-tight compartments,
inaccessible either to hatred or affection.
The situation changed the moment the scattered branches of the human family commenced to intermingle. They then perceived that they differed, and these differences attracted them in the same measure that they inspired a reciprocal dislike. Out of diversity hatred and love simultaneously were born: the unification of the world was thus accomplished equally by the gospel and by the sword, by comity and extermination, by exchange of treaties and gunshots. At the same time that unification was making headway, the world was becoming a volcano of war and revolution. It was laid waste, during the past four centuries, by wars and revolutions of constantly increasing importance and violence until at last the human race discovered that it possessed but a single body and a single soul, and discovered it in the midst of the worst war in history.
How many men, how much wealth, how many states perished in the world war! What sorrow, what insanity, what hatred, what a spirit of rebellion was sown among millions! What a fearful outburst of ferocity and madness it provoked on three continents! But on the other hand what tremendous impulse it gave to the slow advance of world unification! When Germany invaded Belgium, the entire world, America and Australia as well as Holland and Denmark, felt the menacing effect of the crushing of a tiny state by a gigantic force. When the Russian Empire fell the wealth of the world, from Wall Street bankers to Indian rajahs, trembled in fear; every existing state, republic or monarchy, democracy or aristocracy, shook on its foundations.
Every nation followed the terrible struggle which had broken out in the heart of Europe, hoping from it some good or fearing from it some evil. Every nation had cause to rejoice and to suffer from its illusions and disillusions, both in the war and in the peace that followed. Every nation, even those left richer, suffers today from the enormous destruction of wealth and the widespread havoc wrought to personal fortunes by the war.
The world today is troubled by insomnia because both Europe and Asia are sick. The instability of Europe, the muffled ferment of Asia, threaten the mechanism of the rest of the world. If the various races are a prey to reciprocal hatreds, reciprocal feats, never were they more in need of each other than now. All of them are unhappy; they fear and despise each other and play each other false when they are most in need of their neighbors. Particularly is this true in Europe, which has never been so rent in pieces, nor so much in need of unity.
The contradiction is tragic, terrible,
monstrous. We should not,
however, too violently decry it: fate
has willed that humankind should
[Page 85]
rely for foundations not only upon
mutual trust and assistance but also
upon mutual hatred and injury. For
four centuries the outcome of every
war, unless one of the combatants
has been annihilated, has been coalition.
This tragic contradiction is
the preparation for universal civilization,
which tomorrow will dominate
the earth.
The unification of the world, accomplished by colonization, by exploration, by emigration, by universal religions, by wars, by commerce, diplomacy, railroads and telegraphic communication must lead to a civilization of a universal character. A single body cannot go on living under the guidance of several discordant and inimical consciences. The world body, which is now almost a physical entity, requires a single conscience in which there will be room for all that is best of the civilizations already existing to reside in harmony: Christian morality, occidental industry and science, the ancient wisdom of the East, the flower of European and Asiatic art.
Used as the stage for the militarism of Europe for a long period, Albania nevertheless kept pace with the rise of learning and today has a distinctive position among the nations. The author of this article visited Albania again a year ago and was impressed by the evidences of constructive activity.
•
AWAKENING ALBANIA
By MARCELLUS D. A. R. VON REDLICH
•
POETS, journalists, masters of finance, and lords of war have all had their fling at that nation which we know today as the Kingdom of Albania. Each, in his turn, has zealously tried to bend the thought of the world to his own conception of the situation and, without the slightest doubt, has had no small degree of success. The writer, after attempting to assimilate that mountain of literature written on the question of the Balkans and Albania, feels that he has succeeded in bringing out of the maze something fair and just in its representation of existent facts.
Always interested in Southeastern
Europe, we have found no place
quite so romantic as Albania. No
country has successively, from century
to century, furnished the battleground
for the Balkans, as has Albania.
We have writers who tell us
there is absolutely no form of culture
or education in Albania; they would
have us believe the ancient Shkypetars
are today savages, in approximately
the same state of civilization
[Page 86]
as were the American Indians at the
time when Christopher Columbus
first touched the sands of San Salvador,
more than four hundred years
ago. And still another group of
writers, deeply obsessed by the influence
of nationalism, has tried to
prove why this or that nation should
have control of Albania. It endeavors
to put every other force in its worst
light and convince us a world has
banded together to drag Albania
down to the very depths.
In this article, ours shall be the middle course. We wish to call the attention of the reader to the fact that Albania has kept pace with the rise of learning and culture in continental and central Europe and that she gave to the world men who were able not only to make a record for themselves, but likewise to take their place in the world of affairs, as recognized leaders of thought along with men of other nations of the earth.
DOWN through the centuries Albania’s greatest scourge has been the fact that she was constantly used as the stage for the war-play of Southeastern Europe. One other factor which retarded the modern development of Albania, and Which we will deal with later, was the domination of the country by the Turks.
It is hardly necessary for us to say that no one who has lived through the last quarter of a century and kept abreast of the world of affairs needs to be told of the treacheries, frauds as well as the cold-blooded cruelty and brutality, which, in Europe, ruler has used against ruler in order to gain possession of Albania.
At the outset, however, we think it well to impress upon the mind of the reader the thought that Albanians are the only “Condottieri” left in Europe at the present time. They have been known and denoted by various names down through the ages, but, perhaps, the one term best descriptive of their life and tradition is “Shkypetar,” or “son of the eagle”. Also, it is most important to remember these people have behind them a glorious history of national development and a rather enviable heritage of folklore yet unknown to the civilized world.
It is a strange paradox, therefore, that their nation should have been the object of the inveterate greed of other rulers of Europe. It is most unfortunate, indeed, that their history, their customs, and their traditions should have been lost to the world in the din of battle and the spilling of blood.
The records of Albania, the ancient Epirus and Illyria, have all been too incomplete. The history of no government, no race, no people has been so filled with vicissitudes and trials as has that of this struggling nation in the western part of the Balkan peninsula.
The Albanians, or Shkypetars, as
they call themselves, inhabit the territory
covered by ancient Epirus and
the country of the Illyrians in western
Macedonia, a territory extending
from the old Montenegro on the
north to the Gulf of Arta, or Ambracia,
on the south, and from the
coast of the Adriatic on the west to
the central chain of the Pindus Mountains
[Page 87]
on the east. Epirus is wild,
mountainous, and scenic; in fact, is
the veritable Switzerland of the Balkans,
abounding in valleys of exceptional
beauty and fertility. The
ancient Epirots were as distinct from
the Hellenes as the Albanians are
from the modern Greeks. The Greek
writers of ancient times referred to
them as a Pelasgic race, or, in other
words, the descendants of the aboriginal
inhabitants of the country.
The Pelasgian Zeus has his memory honored, even today, in their language, for we find the Albanian word for God is “Zot”. A minute’s examination of the terms “Gheg” and “Tosk” reveals that they are identical with “Truscus”, or “Etruscus”; while the form “Tyrrhenus” perhaps survives in Tirana, the principal city of central Albania, as no other explanation for the derivation of the name of the city can be found.
These Pelasgians formed a cluster of rude, rough, highland clans, very similar to those of the Highlanders of Scotland a hundred and fifty years ago, brave, illiterate, and essentially barbarian in character. Oftimes these clans were banded together in an independent government of a tribal sort. They even went farther and coalesced into little kingdoms of greater or lesser extent. In the times of the successors of Alexander the Great, Epirus made considerable progress in civilization, and its kings exerted no small degree of influence in the affairs of state of eastern Europe. Pyrrhus, one of the last of these kings, was a man of the greatest ability and made an illustrious name for himself because of his learning and his statescraft, and, moreover, augmented the glory of his nation by reason of his executive ability. Among the bravest of the brave, he did not hesitate to cross the Adriatic to aid in the defense of the Greek colonies of southern Italy, Magna Graecia; neither did he hesitate to grapple with the rising power of Rome, as a result winning an honorable place for himself among the great commanders of the world.
In the year 167 B. C. the Romans wreaked a terrible vengeance on Epirus, destroying seven towns and reducing one hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants to slavery. This was the only time in the entire history of the race that the Epirots were ever thoroughly subdued. But even the Roman conquest wrought little change in their social customs. They still retained their own language and national customs and usages, and withal remained a distinct and peculiar people.
The question as to whether the
Albanians are genuine Epirots and
Illyrians or a new people formed by
large and repeated infusions of barbarians
from the North has been very
much discussed. It was finally decided,
upon evidence furnished by
their language, which has been definitely
determined a true representative
of the ancient Illyrians, that the
Albanians are the direct descendants
of these ancient tribes, the Epirots
and the Illyrians, who were neighbors
and kindred tribes speaking different
dialects of the same language;
though, perhaps through the course
of the ages the Albanians may have
become mingled, especially in the
[Page 88]
north, with other foreign elements.
Some ethnologists and students of the race and language declare with certainty that the Illyrian is one of the aboriginal races of Europe and that, if the term “Pelasgi” was ever used to designate a particular people, this must have been the race to which it referred. There is every reason to believe that their numerous clans extended far into the north, even beyond the Danube, and this would lead us to surmise that the Illyrians must have been the first branch of the Indo-European race to settle in Europe and were there long before the time of the Celts.
The old division between the Epirots and the Illyrians has its modern counterpart in the marked distinction between the northern and southern Albanians. For, as is brought to the attention of the traveler through Albania, there is a most evident dissimilarity between these two peoples, even to the extent of its manifestation in an ardent dislike of one for the other. Yannina, or, more correctly speaking, Ioannina, is the capital of Epirus, while Scutari is the seat of the northern province. Until the fall of the ever-famous Mustapha Pasha in 1833, Albania had been held for several centuries under Turkish rule.
In the course of her long history, Albania has been invaded by numerous civilized, half-civilized, and barbaric peoples. The Gauls, the Goths, the Romans, the Slavs, the Venetians, and finally the Turks successively invaded and obtained, for a time at least, a mastery over Albanian territory. But, watching the parade of centuries down the corridor of time, we note with admiration that always Albania drove out or assimilated her invaders; although conquered, invincible in her national individuality. So powerful the characteristics, so indelible the traditions, so adamant the customs, so appreciated the language of the Albanians that no remnant, not even the slightest trace, of the numerous invasions can be found in Albanian life today. What the Roman and Greek historians recorded centuries ago concerning Albania so singularly applies to the actual conditions in the present time that the reader is almost led to believe he is reading a modern history of Albania, that these ancient records are but contemporary records. The great historical events, as great and important as they were, served but to confine the Albanian to his mountain fastness, far from contact with higher degrees of civilization and apart from his immediate enemies and neighbors, and to constrain him to cling with tenacity to his national customs, language, and traditions.
THE Albanian people, then, present the unique and impressive phenomenon of a continuous national existence, which had its beginning many centuries before the coming of Christ and which has its integral life even at the present time.
Of the history of the Albanians
from the decline of the Roman power
to the Turkish conquest not much is
known. They adopted Christianity
and tendered an obedience, more or
less complete, to Constantinople and
Rome. They were afterwards partially
subjected to the Bulgarians and
[Page 89]
Serbians. But, defended by their impenetrable
mountains and their indomitable
spirit, they seem to have
remained, age after age, the same
unconquerable race, the same infusible
mountaineers, they had been from
the beginning. When Constantinople
was taken by the crusaders in
1204, Michael Angelos Commenus,
a member of the imperial family,
retired to Epirus and there created a
kingdom embracing almost the whole
of Greece. The despots of Epirus, as
they are known in history, retained
their power in its entirety for one
hundred and fifty years, up until the
time when their territory was united
with the Greek Empire.
After the Turkish conquest, the Epirotic kingdom was revived for a time by that renowned hero, George Castriot Scanderbeg, whose father, John Castriot, was the hereditary prince of a small district lying between the mountains of Epirus and the Adriatic. Under the pressure of Bajazet I, in about the year 1494, John Castriot was forced to submit to the Turks, to pay tribute, and to surrender his four sons as hostages, the youngest of the four being George, who was given the name of Iskanderbeg, or Lord Alexander, by the Turks, and under this very name became one of the most redoubtable champions of the Christian faith.
Scanderbeg’s first act as Albania's leader was to renounce Islam and proclaim himself champion of the Christian faith. During this period of their history, the Albanians were all Christians. Scanderbeg withstood the efforts of the Turks to regain possession of Albania for a period of twenty-three years. Scanderbeg was, beyond all question, one of the greatest men of his time and deserving of a high place among the foremost of the brave soldiers who finally checked the seemingly ever-victorious career of the Turks. But, finally, in the fullness of years and honors, the old hero yielded up his life, with a last request that his youthful sons be assured the friendly guardianship of the Venetians. The Albanians have never ceased to mourn their leader and king.
Albania was able to withstand the rule of the Turks until 1501. Near the close of the eighteenth century, under the leadership of the famous Ali Pasha of Yannina, Albania became again, for many years duration, the seat of a really independent power, in fact of sufficient importance to exert considerable weight in and influence upon foreign affairs.
After the fall of Ali Pasha and the decay of the independent governorship of Scutari, the Porte undertook another campaign in Albania. A period of comparative calm ensued, extending from this time to outbreaks of a revolutionary character in northern and southern Albania in 1835 and in 1847, respectively.
ABOUT 1870 the attention of the world was directed towards Albania and her part in the world of affairs. Great Britain proposed the institution of an administrative autonomy.
At the Congress of Berlin, Albania,
as one of the oppressed nations,
brought before that Congress a petition
for the full recognition of Albanian
[Page 90]
nationality and political autonomy.
It was this petition that
caused the Iron Chancellor, Prince
von Bismarck, when Lord Salisbury
proposed some attention be given the
Albanian question, to cry out, “there
is no Albanian Nationality.” As a
result of the Congress of Berlin, Albania
was divided quite generously
amongst her neighbors, with little
regard for national groups or local
sentiment. The Albanians registered
a strong and vigorous protest, which
received very little attention due to
Bismarck’s statement that there was
no such thing as an Albanian nationality.
Thus, to promote the cause of
the Albanians as a nationality and to
sound to the world the clarion call
of the desire of the Albanians, the
Albanian League for the Defense of
the Rights of the Albanian Nationality
was organized with its headquarters
at Elbaesan. By reason of the
irresistable force of the League the
European powers who were signatories
to the Berlin treaty found it advisable,
as well as necessary, to modify
their original decision.
Space forbids us to go into more details concerning the dealings between the Albanian League and “the Young Turks” which led up to the winning of Albanian autonomy. November 28, 1912, was destined to be hailed as an independence day in Albania, for on that day the national emblem, symbolized in a flag bearing the black double-headed eagle of Scanderbeg, was flown above the city amid the loud hurras of patriotism.
Under the able and beneficial guidance of King Zog I, Albania is now being restored to all of those things which were hers from the days of antiquity. It must be realized that a nation that could retain all of its native customs, its folklore, and its nationalistic trend, even under oppression and cruel domination from without, must live on through the centuries to see her wrongs righted and her grievances redressed. The avowed desire of the many tribal units to be united in one great mother country is so self-evident that there is no need for any plebiscite. The Albanian loves his forests, his farm land and, after many centuries of warfare, has settled down into the occupations of peace. He has beaten the proverbial sword of warfare into the plowshare and begun to build constructively for his descendants that they may enjoy the blessings of peace and happiness, the heaven-sent attributes of every law-abiding citizen and nation on the face of the earth.
•
There are still wider issues involved in this contact of races throughout the world which some writers have discussed under the superficial and forbidding titles of the “Clash of Color” or the “Yellow Peril,” and so on. “Color” is not the danger, but low standards of living and thinking on the one side and selfishness on the other. They can only he met by humane and scientific education in the first case and the sincere acceptance of the ideal of a united humanity in the second.
—F. S. MARVIN, in “The New World Order”
This article is taken from a chapter in a book by Angela Morgan to be published in the autumn of 1935. The author turns a vision nurtured on poetry to the problems of current spriritual culture, giving voice to the valiant affirmation of the generation of youth.
•
SPLENDOR AT THE CORE
By ANGELA MORGAN
•
IN the world of religion, what do the times disclose? An even more exciting and significant chapter than that describing the amazing progress of science, could we only interpret it aright! An identity of effort so marked, that I am sure it is not blasphemy to declare that the scientist and the mystic, if they but knew it, are aiming at the same goal. Yes, and the iconoclast is close cousin, if not brother, to both of them!
How else shall we interpret the cry, which grows in strength with every year: “We want life, not empty ceremonials! Life itself is sacred, human beings in themselves are important and their demands for justice must be heard! Give us a religion linked with life and the human cause. Take God out of the church and let Him become active in the affairs of men!”
This healthy revolt of modern youth, seemingly against religion, is at bottom not revolt against religion but the trappings and dogma that conceal the true God. If the inner substance of religion were to be presented to these same dissenters, I venture to predict we should find hearty agreement from all thoughtful people the world over.
The terrible, yawning gap between religion and actual life is what all thinking people resent. The emphasis placed upon ritual and creed, leaving the vast problems of life to take care of themselves, creates lack of balance and breeds rebels everywhere. This agonizing divorce of the spiritual world from the actual everyday world has fostered the modern spirit known as anti-Christ, and until we have bridged the formidable divide which separates the two domains of matter and spirit I fail to see how we can convince the doubter.
How can life be secular at
one pole and divine at the other?
“All life is sacred!” cry the dissenters.
And they are right. “We are tired
of this eternal prating of sin and
sinners!” declare the great body of
resentful youngsters — and oldsters,
too — brimming with zeal for bold
and flaming adventure. They know
instinctively that life itself is more
important than any theory about life,
and they are on their way to discover
the secret of happiness and
achievement. They dare the seas,
ride the air, blast mountains, rear
[Page 92]
skyscrapers, build bridges, dig tunnels,
and perform other amazing
feats of engineering. Rivers of molten
metal rush forth at their bidding;
steel rails multiply and miracles of
transportation unite peoples hitherto
separated; excavations in ancient
lands reveal treasures of cities buried
thousands of years ago. No wonder
our modern age stands rubbing its
eyes in the presence of such wizardry!
But there is no end to the story of
adventure. No sooner does man conquer
the air than he challenges the
stratosphere. Then, in a supreme
reach of divine enterprise, he plucks
a beam from Arcturus to light the
Century of Progress opening in
Chicago!
Hendrik Van Loon has written a book called: “Man the Miracle Maker” in which the history of human achievement is fascinatingly told, with the prediction of still greater triumphs in the future. The author declares that this volume is “really a confession of faith”, and shows us “Man, not as a victim of fate, but as a creature endowed with practically unlimited powers for the development of his brain . . . Man still at the beginning of his career as a reasonable being, but rapidly discovering by which road he may eventually hope to escape from those difficulties which make his present existence such a torture.”
It is revealing to note the author’s use of a capital M in the spelling of the word “man”. I am glad of it. What a change from the old and damning concept of “man, the worm”, and how refreshing thus to expand one’s faith in humankind!
IN a nutshell, men are so busy with their own struggle against environment, so on fire with the will to tame the heretofore ungovernable powers of nature, that they fiercely resent interference from whatever source and fight off every seemingly inimical influence. Religion, as they understand it, is alien to their cause. They are in love with life! Dead issues do not interest them, and religion as taught in their childhood appears now an outmoded and useless superstition.
Everywhere we hear their protest, everywhere we discover this revolt among human beings so deeply concerned with matter that the very word “spirit” offends them. “What has God to do with it?” they cry. “We are interested in this phenomenal world; in the things we can see, touch and handle. It is all-sufficing.”
Dear innocents, little do they suspect that God has everything to do with it and that they, all unconsciously, are acting as agents of the Creator in the very enterprises they so ardently espouse! Nor do they suspect that the forces with which they deal, the mysterious elements they handle, are in themselves divine. To quote Sir Oliver Lodge, these challenging radioactive substances we label with such assurance may some day prove to be “the very garment of God.”
Even when our most recent revered
scientists — Eddington, Jeans, Millikan
and their fellow physicists — come
forward with the admission that there
is something beyond; a mystery
which science may not solve, the
materialist remains unconvinced. But
he cannot remain so forever; sooner
[Page 93]
or later he is bound to acknowledge
the truth; because, whether he knows
it or not, that is the direction in
which he is going.
Why do we not see this passionate process of growth for what it is— the terrific effort of Life to throw off all impedimenta; to strip away the husk in order that the flaming reality shall appear? Life is impatient of non-essentials, and the more alive one is, the more vigorously does he insist upon reality and fight its opposite. Oh, why don’t we, why can’t we understand? No matter what form it takes, whether scientific or religious, the urge is primarily the same. We are, all of us, fleeing from the surface to the core, and only the core will satisfy. Out on the circumference — termed by certain mystics “the remove”, as indeed it is, being “removed” incalculable degrees from the inner reality—one confronts every conceivable form of division; wars, hatreds, prejudices, injustice, misunderstanding, disease and death. Only at the center can we ever find unity.
ONE reason I hail with thanksgiving the interpretation of religion known as the Bahá’í Faith and feel so deep a kinship with its followers is that I recognize in its Revelation an outreach of the Divine to stumbling humanity; a veritable thrust from the radiant Center of Life.
Every follower of this faith that I have ever met impressed me as a living witness to the glory at the heart of this universe. Each one seemed filled with a splendor of spirit so great that it overflowed all boundaries and poured itself out upon the world here in this moment of time, by some concentrated act of love toward another human being.
The prediction of physicists: “The world is on the threshold of a new power era” finds justification today in the realm of religion, which at last is placing the emphasis where it belongs, shedding the husk to make way for the blossom and the fruit. Just as our men of science are flinging themselves into this terrific “war against the atom” in order to strip matter of its surface and compel it to reveal its inner potency, so in the churches one finds everywhere the thrust of minds bent upon preserving the fiery “core” of religion even at the expense of ritual and dogma. Discarding formula for truth, the letter for the spirit!
•
The human spirit, unless assisted by the spirit of faith, does not become acquainted with the divine secrets and the heavenly realities. It is like a mirror which, although clear, polished and brilliant, is still in need of light. —‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ, in “Some Answered Questions”
The following excerpts from Writing: of Bahá’u’lláh on the subject of Universal Peace make peace attainable not by political action alone, nor by moral improvement alone, but by a union of spiritual effort and a social ideal of world order.
•
THE FOUNDATIONS OF WORLD PEACE
Words of BAHÁ’U’LLÁH
•
O KAMÁL! The heights which through the most gracious favor of God, mortal man can attain in this Day are as yet unrevealed to his sight. The world of being hath never had, nor doth it yet possess the capacity for, such a revelation. The day, however, is fast approaching when the potentialities of so great a favor will, by virtue of His behest, be manifested unto men. Though the forces of the nations be arrayed against Him, though the kings of the earth be leagued to undermine His Cause, the Power of His might shall stand unshaken. He, verily, speaketh the truth, and summoneth all mankind to the way of Him who is the Incomparable, the All-Knowing.
All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization. The Almighty beareth Me Witness: To act like the beasts of the field is unworthy of man. Those virtues that befit his dignity are forbearence, mercy, compassion and lovingkindness towards all the peoples and kindreds of the earth. Say: O friends! Drink your fill from this crystal stream that floweth through the heavenly grace of Him who is the Lord of Names. Let others partake of its waters in My name, that the leaders of men in every land may fully recognize the purpose for which the Eternal Truth hath been revealed, and the reason for which they themselves have been created.
THE vitality of men's belief
in God is dying out in every land;
nothing short of His wholesome
medicine can ever restore it. The
corrosion of ungodliness is eating into
the vitals of human society; what
else but the Elixir of His potent
Revelation can cleanse and revive it?
Is it within human power, O Ḥakím,
to effect in the constituent elements
of any of the minute and indivisible
particles of matter so complete a
transformation as to transmute it into
purest gold? Perplexing and difficult
as this may appear, the still
greater task of converting satanic
strength into heavenly power is one
that We have been empowered to
accomplish. The Force capable of
such a transformation transcendeth
the potency of the Elixir itself. The
[Page 95]
Word of God, alone, can claim the
distinction of being endowed with
the capacity required for so great and
far-reaching a change.
THE Great Being saith: O ye children of men! The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men. Suffer it not to become a source of dissension and discord, of hate and enmity. This is the straight path, the fixed and immovable foundation. Whatsoever is raised on this foundation, the changes and chances of the world can never impair its strength, nor will the revolution of countless centuries undermine its structure. Our hope is that the world’s religious leaders and the rulers thereof will undoubtedly arise for the reformation of this age and the rehabilitation of its fortunes. Let them, after meditating on its needs, take counsel together and, through anxious and full deliberation, administer to a diseased and sorely-afflicted world the remedy it requires . . . It is incumbent upon them who are in authority to exercise moderation in all things. Whatsoever passeth upon the limits of moderation will cease to exert a beneficial influence. Consider for instance such things as liberty, civilization and the like. However much men of understanding may favorably regard them, they will, if carried to excess, exercise a pernicious influence upon men . . . Please God, the peoples of the world may be led, as the result of the high endeavors exerted by their rulers and the wise and learned amongst men, to recognize their best interests. How long will humanity persist in its waywardness? How long will injustice continue? How long is chaos and confusion to reign amongst men? How long will discord agitate the face of society? The winds of despair are, alas, blowing from every direction, and the strife that divideth and afflicteth the human race is daily increasing. The signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now be discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing order appeareth to be lamentably defective. I beseech God, exalted be His glory, that He may graciously awaken the peoples of the earth, may grant that the end of their conduct may be profitable unto them, and aid them to accomplish that which beseemeth their station.
O CONTENDING peoples and
kindreds of the earth! Set your faces
towards unity, and let the radiance of
its light shine upon you. Gather ye
together and, for the sake of God,
resolve to root out whatever is the
source of contention amongst you.
Then will the effulgence of the
world’s great Luminary envelop the
whole earth, and its inhabitants become
the citizens of one city, and the
occupants of one and the same
throne. This wronged One hath, ever
since the early days of His life, cherished
none other desire but this, and
will continue to entertain no wish
except this wish. There can be no
doubt whatever that the peoples of
the world, of whatever race or religion,
[Page 96]
derive their inspiration from one
heavenly source, and are the subjects
of one God. The difference between
the ordinances under which they abide
should be attributed to the varying
requisites and exigencies of the
age in which they were revealed.
All of them, except a few which are
the outcome of human perversity,
were ordained of God, and are a reflection
of His Will and Purpose.
Arise and, armed with the power of
faith, shatter to pieces the gods of
your vain imaginings, the sowers of
dissension amongst you. Cleave unto
that which draweth you together and
uniteth you. This, verily, is the most
exalted Word which the Mother
Book hath sent down and revealed
unto you. To this beareth witness
the Tongue of Grandeur from His
habitation of glory.
BEHOLD the disturbances which, for many a long year, have afflicted the earth, and the perturbation that hath seized its peoples. It hath either been ravaged by war, or tormented by sudden and unforeseen calamities. Though the world is encompassed with misery and distress, yet no man hath paused to reflect what the cause or source of that may be. Whenever the True Counsellor uttered a word in admonishment, lo, they all denounced Him as a mover of mischief and rejected His claim. How bewildering, how confusing is such behavior! No two men can be found who may be said to be outwardly and inwardly united. The evidences of discord and malice are apparent everywhere, though all were made for harmony and union. The Great Being saith: O well-beloved ones! The tabernacle of unity hath been raised; regard ye not one another as strangers. Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch. We cherish the hope that the light of justice may shine upon the world and sanctify it from tyranny. If the rulers and kings of the earth, the symbols of the power of God, exalted be His glory, arise and resolve to dedicate themselves to whatever will promote the highest interests of the whole of humanity, the reign of justice will assuredly be established amongst the children of men, and the effulgence of its light will envelop the whole earth. The Great Being saith: The structure of world stability and order hath been reared upon, and will continue to be sustained by, the twin pillars of reward and punishment. In another passage He hath written: Take heed, O concourse of the rulers of the world! There is no force on earth that can equal in its conquering power the force of justice and wisdom . . . Blessed is the king who marcheth with the ensign of wisdom unfurled before him, and the battalions of justice massed in his rear. He verily is the ornament that adorneth the brow of peace and the countenance of security. There can be no doubt whatever that if the day-star Of justice, which the clouds of tyranny have obscured, were to shed its light upon men, the face of the earth would be completely transformed.
O YE the elected representatives
of the people in every land!
Take ye counsel together, and let
[Page 97]
your concern be only for that which
profiteth mankind, and bettereth the
condition thereof, if ye be of them
that scan heedfully. Regard the world
as the human body which, though at
its creation whole and perfect, hath
been afflicted, through various
causes, with grave disorders and
maladies. Not for one day did it
gain ease, nay its sickness waxed more
severe, as it fell under the treatment
of ignorant physicians who gave full
rein to their personal desires, and
have erred grievously. And if, at
one time, through the care of an able
physician, a member of that body
was healed, the rest remained afflicted
as before. Thus informeth you
the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
We behold it, in this day, at the mercy of rulers so drunk with pride that they cannot discern clearly their own best advantage, much less recognize a Revelation so bewildering and challenging as this. And whenever any one of them hath striven to improve its condition, his motive hath been his own gain, whether confessedly so or not; and the unworthiness of this motive hath limited his power to heal or cure.
That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of all the world is the union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith. This can in no wise be achieved except through the power of a skilled, an all-powerful and inspired Physician. This, verily, is the truth, and all else naught but error.
THE purpose underlying the revelation of every heavenly Book, nay of every divinely revealed verse, is to endue all men with righteousness and understanding, so that peace and tranquillity may be firmly established amongst them. Whatsoever instilleth assurance into the hearts of men, whatsover exalteth their station or promoteth their contentment, is acceptable in the sight of God. How lofty is the station which man, if he but chooseth to fulfil his high destiny, can attain! To what depths of degradation he can sink, depths which the meanest of creatures have never reached! Seize, O friends, the chance which this Day offereth you, and deprive not yourselves of the liberal effusion of His grace. I beseech God that He may graciously enable every one of you to adorn himself, in this blessed Day, with the ornament of pure and holy deeds. He, verily, doeth whatsoever He willeth.
The confused welter of human relationships out of which social disaster comes has been analyzed by this author, with the result that he calls attention to the need of a new sense of loyalty on the part of those concerned with the larger human interests.
•
THE EBBING TIDE OF LOYALTY
By BOLLING SOMERVILLE
•
CONTROVERSY over whether the world is becoming decadent seems to increase, no appreciable progress being made by either side. The very heat and smoke of the controversy, however, lets us know unmistakeably that there is something worthwhile at stake; something very real lies beneath it all. It seems unnecessary, in a way, for us to join the verbal argument. Certainly it is unnecessary to prove beyond question that the world is growing decadent; it is sufficient to know that the world is in any real danger of growing decadent. If we take no thought for the world when it is in real danger, neither will we do so when it is clearly decadent and half doomed.
Let us, then, consider something which obviously can do the world no harm, and which, more than anything else, would seem likely to do it very greatest good. That thing is the loyalty of the more loyal toward one another—toward their own peculiar brotherhood. Who even thinks, today, of the more loyal having such a thing as their own peculiar brotherhood? In so far as we can bring the more broadly loyal, the dutiful, or whatever we choose to call them, to “stick together,” to become group-conscious, to act in behalf of their own peculiar group-interest, we are bound to see the world improve in the deeper ways which matter most. We are bound to see improvement in all things which depend upon the peculiar efforts of these people. It is necessary to bear in mind that human progress is a decidedly correlated process, a process in which no group with its interest stands isolated, least of all the more loyal, conscientious and enlightened.
To consider these people as a
group—as a “key group”—seems so
new, so strange at present that it is
perhaps well to note that they are no
less definite a group than are the
healthy or the wealthy or the educated.
Who is “healthy”? Who is
“wealthy”? Who is “educated”?
Nobody can set limits to any of
these groups without somebody else
disagreeing. Yet this practical world
finds it very necessary to deal with
all such groups, and to deal with
them in fairly definite ways. For instance,
life insurance companies deal
with “the healthy” in many ways.
[Page 99]
They have their statistical grouping
for one thing, and their graduated
scale of charges. The income tax
represents one of the definite ways
in which “the wealthy” are dealt
with. Diplomas represent one of the
definite ways in which “the educated”
are dealt with.
On the whole, the life insurance companies would seem to offer us the best pattern, when we come to dealing with the more loyal (or call them by any other name) as a group. That is, we must learn to think of people as being loyal in varying degrees rather than as being of a piece. We must learn to think in terms of “statistical groupings” rather than in terms of rigid classes. We must adept the scientific method.
“It is true,” one may say, “that insurance companies deal with whole groups of people of every age and degree of health. But how is anyone to see into the heart of another and measure his loyalty, his enlightened dutifulness?” And how are the loyal ever to unite, if they can find no modus operandi for discovering one another? Thinking of this, many feel discouraged, and fall by the way. Yet all we really need to do when in doubt here is to apply the simple business method. We need simply to judge by “results,” which is to say by deeds, by behavior—which is to say by “service rendered.” Service, behavior, Stands out as the basic thing, in business and in all things else. Business rewards men according to service rendered, or at least claims to do so, and to some extent makes good its claim. All capitalism is built upon that basic principle. And what is workable in the realm of every-day business is surely quite as workable in the realm of that greatest, most majestic business of all, the bettering of humanity as a whole.
In other words, we need not worry about discovering hearts that are good, as long as we can discover service that is good. What we need do is to bring all people whose services are of the more broadly loyal, more social sort, into greatest possible group solidarity. What we need do is to work for greatest possible cooperation, mutual aid, among those who serve their fellows in any way which is high and difficult, broad, inclusive. What we need is to work for some sort of organic unity among those who serve their fellows, to any considerable extent, in ways which business fails to recognize in the matter of profits, ways which are far from self-rewarding. What we need is to work toward the formation of some “machinery,” especially in this Age of the Machine, whereby the more socially valuable can sustain one another in business (where competition forces out of business all who hold on to scruples much above the lukewarm average), and in all other walks of life.
EXACTLY in line with this
whole thought is the modern study
of crime. We know that restraint
for those whose behavior is anti-social
is after all but a way of benefiting
those whose behavior is social. The
point is that it does not go far
enough; it is entirely too negative to
represent the whole of justice. Shall
[Page 100]
it always be true that, as Mr. Walter
Lippmann says, the public is always
against somebody, never really for
anybody? If we would influence
human behavior in a broad way, and
influence it for the good, we must
have not only machinery for prosecuting
the extremely anti-social, but
also machinery for sustaining the
extremely social, for “throwing things
their way.” If the comparatively
small amount of punishment which
is administered by our prosecuting
machinery prevents our society from
growing corrupt any faster than it
is, then perhaps an equal amount of
reward for extra good behavior—
reward in the form of cooperation
from other people of extra good behavior
—will completely check our
society from growing more corrupt at
all!
WE can probably all agree, that just as there is no such thing as automatic, inevitable progress on the whole, even so there is no such thing as automatic, inevitable support for those who perform the greatest services in any field, from politics to preaching. Neither nature at large nor human nature automatically supports the good man. Progress, and reward for the more humane—these things come only of the most real and most carefully directed efforts, only of the most proper organization of life. The more loyal, more socially valuable, then, can become self-sufficient as a group only according as they become self-protective, self-concerned.
The task of awakening the group-consciousness of the more loyal, more social, is in great part already accomplished the moment we admit the real need for the thing. To call attention to the fact that “the helping of the dutiful by the dutiful is the sum of duty” (or “the helping of the loyal by the loyal is the sum of loyalty”)—merely to call attention to it—seems at present our greatest chance to forward the vital process.
•
That human nature does not change is at most a half truth only. Human nature does change very slowly, but human perspective sometimes very quick1y. In the short course of recorded history human nature runs in much the same grooves. . . . The rise of civilization is a movement towards the best. It means suppression of the second-best, the substitution of forethought and justice for vacillation and violence. There have been “visionaries,” “peace workers” through all the ages and they have labored consciously or unconsciously for justice, for equality, for the sanctity of life, this, too, long before either peace or democracy had ever been dreamed of. Always the best men have stood for the best attainable, however poor that may have been, and from time to time there came to them visions of that far day when murder as an argument should be no more, and when all fear and violence as persuasive forces in matters political, social, or financial should vanish from the minds of men. —DAVID STARR JORDAN, in “War and the Breed.”
•
From “The Indian Review” is taken this stimulating inquiry into the striking historical parallels between the development of geographically separated peoples. Professor Sarkar finds scientific evidence for his view that all races and nations are subject to the same process of evolution.
•
EQUATIONS IN CIVILIZATION
By BENOY KUMAR SARKAR
•
CONTEMPORARY political and social thought is indeed sicklied o’er with the alleged distinctions between people and people on account of race, region and religion. But an objective approach to the realities of civilization, epoch by epoch and people by people, would not fail to demolish the pseudoscientific notions regarding the much-talked-of diversities in outlook, mentality, achievements, consummations and what not, that have been prevailing in the world of science for some long time. Notwithstanding the divergencies of latitude and longitude, and notwithstanding the differences in the make-up of the blood among the different races, anthropology as well as modern and contemporary history furnish us with what may be described as equations or identities and at any rate similarities in the ideals as well as attainments of the historic nations of the world.
It is the purpose of this paper to invite the attention of scholars to some of these equations in the field of civilization. In the place of the traditional ideas of racial and geographical differences in the types of civilization in its fundamental features, we are presented with differences or distances in time only. The features of civilization, pragmatically considered, are found to be the same. It is only proceeding step by step or rather stage by stage from epoch to epoch. The differences between the peoples are but differences in the stage or epoch. The equations that are being established here reveal but the distinctions between earlier and later, go-ahead and backward peoples. The same features are appearing today in one race or region, tomorrow in a second, and the day after tomorrow in a third.
The “curves” of life in political theory and practice as manifest in the modern East are more or less similar to those in the modern West. If one were to plot out these curves diagrammatically, one would notice that the Asian series ran most parallel to the Eur-American. The “trends” of evolution would appear to be nearly identical in the most significant particulars and incidents of thought and experience.
The “exactnesses” of the mathematical
and “positive” sciences are,
however, not to be expected in the
human and moral disciplines. But
[Page 102]
certain socio-philosophical “equations”
may still be discovered in a
comparative estimate of the East and
the West. By placing the Asian
curves in the perspective of the Eur-American,
one can establish a number
of identities for the modern period,
although, of course, not without
“but’s” and “if’s”.
But in any case, taking Asia as a whole one would come to the conclusion that the political philosophies in the different regions of the Orient are mainly but repetitions of Eur-American developments in their earlier stages. The following socio-philosophical equations may be established:
(1) New Asia (c. 1880-1890) =Modern Euro-America (c. 1776-1832).
(2) Young India (c. 1925-28) =Eur-America (c. 1848-1875).
In the first equation, Asia comprises Turkey and Egypt, indicating that the entire Orient from Tokyo to Cairo was witnessing a transformation roughly corresponding to the remaking of the West during the epoch of the “industrial revolution.”
The second equation has special reference to India, indicating that Japan and Turkey as well as China, Persia and Egypt will have to be comprehended by separate, perhaps five different equations. There are, likewise, to be separate equations not only for Hejaz, Palestine, Syria and Iraq, but also for Afghanistan which has for some time been enjoying limelight as a somewhat serious and sincere youngster attempting the alphabet of modernism in administration, culture, and economic life.
The modern East is about half a century behind the modern West. New Asia is born through (1) contact with and example of modern Western progress (2) industrialization, however slow and halting, and (3) hatred of foreign domination, intervention or concession.
The inspiration derived from the political and cultural achievements of ancient and medieval Asia is another formative force in the New Orient. This “romantic” appreciation of the past is, however, intimately associated with modern historical, archaeological and anthropological scholarship. Nationalism, in so far as it is an aspect of romanticism, is ultimately to be traced, therefore, in the main to Western education such as began to bear fruit among the pioneers of new life and thought in Asia between 1850 and 1886 and has been more or less democratized, filtering down to the masses since then.
The process of Asia’s re-birth may be said to have begun c. 1850 and taken about one generation or so, thus:—
(1) Western Asia (Turkey, Egypt and Persia): 1857 (Crimean War) to 1876, 1882, 1890.
(2) Southern Asia (India): 1857 (Mutiny) to 1886.
(3) Japan: 1853 (Commodore Perry) to 1867-1889.
(4) China. 1842 (Nanking Treaty) to 1898.
Although modernization began to
influence the Asian continent at different
points more or less simultaneously
during the decade from 1880
to 1890, the rate of growth for the
[Page 103]
different regions since then has been
different . . .
THE societal equations discussed here involve two fundamental considerations in the problem of human progress. The first has reference to the fact that during historic periods, the evolution of mankind has been continuous, although not without ups and downs, cuts and breaks. And the second invites us to note that the societal development has been in the main along uniform lines, although not without diversities in regional and racial context.
For earlier periods, the more or less approximate socio-philosophical identities or similarities may be roughly indicated as follows:—
(1) East (down to c. 1300 A.C.) =West (down to c. 1300 A.C.) institutionally as well as ideologically.
(2) Renaissance in the East (c. 1400-1600)=Renaissance in the West (c. 1400-1600).
(3) 1600-1750. The new physical or positive sciences in the West constitute a special feature of the European Renaissance. Asian Renaissance produces fine arts, but no new positive sciences worth mentioning. All the same, no genuine societal differentiations are perceptible as yet. We may then institute the following two equations:
(a) Asia in positive science (c. 1600-1750) = Europe in positive science (c. 1400-1600).
(b) Asia in socio-economic life (c. 1600-1750) = Europe in socio-economic life (c. 1600-1750).
(4) 1750-1850. Industrial revolution in the West creates a new civilization,—the “modern world”. East and West differ substantially for the first time: Thus, Asia (c. 1850)= Europe (c. 1750).
About 1850 the “East” is behind the “West” by nearly a whole century . . .
If these identities and similarities in societal evolution have been ignored by scholars, whether antiquarians or modernists, the causes are to be sought fundamentally in the wrong logic that has been adopted in the study of cultural data from the different parts of the world. The correct logic would expose the fallacies of the comparative method as generally used by anthropologists, culture-historians, criminologists, as well as moral and political philosophers.
A reform of comparative sociology on the lines indicated would lead to a revolution in our ideas about the relations between Asia and Eur-America and serve to establish the race-questions and the theory of world-progress on the proper, objective and scientific foundations. On the Strength of positive achievements in ideology and in institutions (item by item) the leading historical forces, processes and stages are found to have been, in the main, more or less uniform (no matter whether uni-linear, or multi-linear, divergent or convergent) in the East and the West.
NAVAL PROCESSION
by STANTON A. COBLENTZ
•
- AMID a banner-waving throng, I gazed
- Over a bay where steel colossi steamed,
- Each drab and ugly as a shape of sin
- And ominous as a portent, with their decks
- Where I beheld squat turrents leer and grin
- As though, in gloating visions, they foresaw
- Their unborn progeny of shell-blown wrecks.
- Oh, proud and mighty were those kings of war,
- Surrounded by fleet swarms of satellites,
- Tugs, and destroyers, and lithe submarines
- Nosing their way under deep watery screens;
- Cruisers, and colliers; while, in buzzing heights,
- The aircraft swung. Oh, proud and mighty ships,
- Of which each beam and bolt and iron plate
- Is purchased by the sighs of countless lips,
- The pauper’s corn, the prisoner’s plaints and whips,
- And taxes like a thudding leaden weight!
- OH, proud and mighty ships! The gods of steel
- Have forged you well! What genius man pours out
- On armored prow and stern-ribbed prow and keel,
- What skill to make the bulwarks tight and stout,
- What zeal, what knowledge in your scowling mail!
- What sly, ingenious science builds each shell
- That in a scorching and death-scattering gale
- May light great vessels with the fires of hell!
- “Dreadnought!” and “Super-dreadnought!”—stage by stage
- How man throws down his heaven-acquired gifts
- To feed the paunches of a snarling age!
- How evil paves the way, and sifts and sifts
- Among the greatest, until many a mind
- That might have plumbed the light of outmost space
- Is hired by the foemen of the race
- To fashion dragon teeth to crunch mankind!
- GIVE to a child a fuse and dynamite,
- And do not marvel if explosions flare;
- Give to a vengeful Dyack power to snare
- A tribesman in a red, beheading fight,
- Or strengthen a wolf with tiger-claws to smite
- A thousand humans, slumbering unaware,
- And do not clamor in surprise to see
- A sequel not completely terror-free.
- And man, although he swing the wizard rod
- Of science, grim enchantress; though he scoff
- At stoic fate, and deem himself a god—
- What is he when the mask is stricken off?
- A child, a savage, and a wolf in one—
- A saint and angel, too—but wolf and child
- Leap to the throne, and passions jungle-wild
- Throttle the saint, and seize the torch and gun,
- And pluck the fruits that seers and seekers won
- In fuming laboratories; and a league
- Of sage and beast, ruled by a savage king,
- Gives birth to smoke and fury and intrigue,
- And scatters cylinders of poison gas,
- And moulds the shrapnel and the bomber’s wing,
- And puts on every sea blunt men-of-war
- That pass in grave procession, and re-pass
- While millions watch in awe.
The spiritual values retained by minority or subject peoples, not long ago contemptuously overridden in the name of “civilization,” are now being rediscovered by conscientious students in many parts of the world. The author of this article was formerly Secretary to the Commissioner, U.S. Indian Service.
•
THEY PRAY WHILE DANCING
Notes from an Indian Notebook
By NORRIS MILLINGTON
•
IT was apparent, after spending several days alone among the Hopis with only the trader as a reminder of the daily contact that these Indians have with White civilization, that there is a rather senseless futility shown by the various Christian religious forces in trying to convert a naturally deeply religious people. In these villages, on the tops of the mesas in Arizona, the Hopis have held tenaciously to their native ceremonials and dances, and one is inclined to wonder how and why they have been able to withstand nearly five centuries of missionary effort, so that today, with the surrounding Navajos, they remain probably more devout and consistent in their native religious rituals than any other of the Indians in the country.
In a brief four years with only fleeting contacts with these people, it is impossible to get the true underlying significance of their ceremonials. One can only try to understand and on each successive trip among them attempt to see just why this beautiful and deep religious spirit survives.
Now, however, approaching the subject sympathetically, one of the first things that becomes clear, is that the religion, the ceremonies, the rituals are very practically connected with their economic life and every day existence. These six thousand people, remotely living on the tops of the mesas, in a dry and arid country, brutal in its beauty, have been made aware of the fact that water is their staff of life. The few water holes and springs scattered meagerly about the villages are guarded and revered. Most of their dances and ceremonials are prayers for rain and good harvests.
The one best-known ceremonial
among them, the Snake Dance, has
been semi-commercialized and attracts
many thousands of tourists because
of its spectacular quality and
the element of vicarious excitement
indulged in by the white people in
watching the dancers handle the deadly
rattlesnake. But to the Hopi, it is
not a show. It is a serious prayer for
rain. If the rain does not come, then
there has been some slip-up in
the ceremony, the “gods” have not
been appeased, and the ceremony is
[Page 107]
repeated. But when the rain falls,
each drop serves to further strengthen
the efficacy of their practical prayer,
and shows to them that the snake
dance is not fraught with the evil
preached by the white man, but is
infinitely successful as compared
with the asceticism of “foreign
preachings”.
A few, a very few of the younger Hopi men have been out into the great world beyond the mesas. They have been to the urban centers like New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. A greater number go quite regularly to the larger towns along the Santa Fé Railroad in Arizona and New Mexico, like Flagstaff, Winslow, Gallup and Albuquerque. Some of these young men, and mainly those that have been to the larger centers of population, have had brought into their minds, a doubt, a serious doubt, about their ancient ways. In practically every case, after their sojourn in the cities they have gone back to their people to live and have carried these doubts back with them and have implanted the same doubts, but to a lesser degree, in the minds of some of those who have not gone forth into a strange and wholly foreign world. At first when these unsettled younger men went back to the homeland, a minor crisis between them and the old men was projected. One of the leaders among these confused youths said, after living back among his people for two years, “I realize now that we can’t throw away our religion and our respect for the teachings of our old men. For thousands of years they have brought us through trials and troubles. They have always served the tribe and stuck with them no matter what happened. We can’t disrespect them now.”
Here was an unconscious realization of the vitality of an ancient creed which is linked with the daily life, the troubles, the disasters of nature, the struggle for existence, the will to live. Fortunate are they indeed who can link so closely their living arrangements with their spiritual realizations.
Each separate thing in their belief has its “God” or its “Spirit”: water, rain-drops, the corn, the squash, the winds, the grass. It all seems so personal.
Twice in my life, I have been deeply moved by a religious ceremony. Once, a number of years ago while attending an Easter Eve Midnight Mass at a Russian High Church. The second time was at a Katcina Dance (Rain Ritual) among the Hopis. In both instances I did not know the language, nor was I familiar with the rite.
This particular “Katcina” was one
of the larger and more impressive of
the “Katcina Dances”. As far as I
am still aware, I was the only white
man among two thousand Indian
spectators and about thirty performers.
To describe the ritual would be
but a futile gesture on my part and an
unwonted sop to a bad memory. All
that can be given is a faint impression
of its effect. Only try to imagine a
plaza, surrounded by the squat stone
and plaster dwellings of the Hopi Indians,
two thousand men, women and
children on the roofs, in the doorways,
standing and sitting around the
edges of the square. There was a
[Page 108]
brilliant, burning sun of mid-July.
The dance started at ten in the morning.
The dancers, thirty of them, all
men but some dressed as women in
the traditional Hopi costume; and
three with their bodies painted white,
eyes and mouths blackened, were the
clowns. The “gods” (Katcinas) and
the “women” wore brilliant green,
orange and red masks. The dance
was a measured step done to a constant
repetition of the syllables of the
song, while the “clowns” wove in
and out adding their quaint buffoonery.
The dance itself lasted about
three quarters of an hour, then the
Katcinas went off for a short rest.
After another half an hour they reappeared
to do the same thing again.
This kept up until sun-down with but
one variation.
THE wild brilliance of color, the monotony of the repetition of the dance and the chant, the formal steps in this visitation of the “gods” is brought so close to the spectator because those taking part in the ceremony are not considered by the believers as mere representants of the deities, they are the deities making a visit to their little village.
About three o’clock the next morning, I was awakened by a downpour. The rain was beating a monotonous rhythm on my roof. Once again the faith of these people is strengthened.
A survey of economic conditions forms an important chapter in “Social Foundations of Education” by George S. Counts, the following analysis of which is the second article in the series begun in the May issue.
•
SOCIAL TRENDS IN AMERICAN LIFE
2. THE ECONOMIC DILEMMA
By BERTHA HYDE KIRKPATRICK
•
IN his little book “We are
the Builders of a New World”
Harry H. Moore recounts the incident
of a New York mother who
took to court a complaint that she
was quite unable to “support her
nine-year old daughter on $3000 a
month provided by the will of the
child’s grandfather!” We well know
that in that same city thousands of
women, children and men are grinding
their lives away on starvation
wages and thousands of others sit in
idleness and slowly starve on insufficient
food doled out by government
relief. A look at the condition of
tenant share-croppers reveals a state
of existence so inhuman as to be
[Page 109]
worse than slavery. The Christian
Century tells us that recent investigations
show conditions to be “absolutely
appalling. Appalling! There
is no other word. Compared to conditions
among share-croppers slavery
must have been like Eden.”[1]
How did such shameful conditions come about? In the chapter on economy in his book “Social Foundations of Education” Professor Counts carefully traces the history of our American economy and its quite sudden evolution from the economy of the self-sustaining family to our present, or passing, economy. By knowing how our economy developed, he believes, we can discover the present trends and better understand how to direct the new course of economic events.
Here we can make only a hasty survey of the steps by which modern American economy has evolved out of the pre-industrial household. In that self-sustaining household both agriculture and manufacturing were carried on, but the things produced were, in general, for use and not for sale. Following the application of the steam-engine in the early nineteenth century came cheap transportation giving a more or less distant market. This gave an incentive for production for sale as well as for use. Quite naturally people began to produce a few things in larger quantities; thus specialization in crops developed — corn and hogs here, wheat there, and cotton elsewhere. The distant market made a go-between necessary and the merchant appeared. Home manufacturing meanwhile gave way to centralized manufacturing. With the rise of the merchant and the market came the “money and price system, the rationale of gainseeking, and the institution of private property in land and capital goods.”[2] These Professor Counts tells us make the basis of the laissez-faire theory of economy. The theory “proved to be peculiarly congenial to the conditions of life in the young republic, with its enterprising population, its abundance of natural resources, and its freedom from restraining influences. The result was the development in America of a body of maxims, opinions, ideas, and institutions that persist today under vastly changed circumstances.”[3]
We quote further from Professor Counts as he points out what was inherent in this philosophy of laissez-faire: “The thirst for private profit is made the motive power that drives the wheels of all industry and gives coherence to the system of price relationships. The theory assumes that every man is supremely devoted to his own pecuniary interest, that he knows best what that interest is, that he himself can guard and advance that interest most effectively, and that since the whole is the sum of all its parts, if he will but mind his own business and dutifully think only of what is good for himself, then the greatest good will be achieved.”[4]
Now this theory of every man for
himself seemed to be working well
until within a comparatively few
years. It is only within a few decades
that the theory has been questioned
at all and much more recently, when
our economic system is quite evidently
[Page 110]
breaking down, that it has been
seriously and generally questioned.
Why have we considered that it was
working well? The principal reason,
we may assume, is that under it
America grew to be a great and rich
nation. Within one hundred and
fifty years the American people “have
taken possession of half a continent,
organized a closely knit economic
system, achieved the highest average
standard of consumption ever known
and become the richest nation in the
world.”[5] Until recently this reason
was enough. But now we ate counting
more carefully other results that
have accompanied these riches. This
vast wealth of over 360 billions is so
unevenly distributed that “only the
smallest fraction of the people own
sufficient property to give them a
sense of security. The remainder
would seem to be dependent for the
opportunity of earning their livelihood
on the will of this numerically
insignificant minority.”[6] Besides failing
to provide security for the many
Professor Counts finds the system inefficient
in several other ways. It
does not “keep the economic mechanism
in steady and continuous operation”;
it does not coordinate consumption
and production; it encourages
the irrational use of energy and
material,—that is, much is produced
and used which is useless or harmful
to the consumer; it exploits natural
resources, encourages unethical dealings
and fails to make such a use of
technology and science as is of advantage
to society as a whole.
IN comparison with the simple economy found in the self-sustaining family where all had enough and comparative security against old age and sickness, where the right of others to these things was recognized and allowed it would seem that laissez-faire economy never has worked. In the light of ideals implied or set forth in the constitution of the United States laissez-faire has never worked. It may be fair to ask the question,—why did any or all of us think that it was working? And how was it possible for a system based on greed and selfishness to become so firmly established in a supposedly Christian country? Is it not true that never in the history of the Western world except in a few isolated cases has it been thought necessary to take account of the masses of mankind? An upper layer of prosperous humanity has been sufficient evidence to allow a nation to be called prosperous. And we must not deny that in America a larger proportion of the people have come into the prosperous or comfortable class than in any other country, both because of the great resources and because of the spirit of democracy in which the country was founded and which is still inherent. America has done great things in providing free education, hospitals, libraries, museums, parks, but as in all great material civilizations these have been produced, however indirectly, by the sweat and labor and suffering of the many for the benefit of the more fortunate, although theoretically these things are for the benefit of all.
Man has always had two great
enemies, nature and man, Walter
[Page 111]
Rauschenbusch tells us, but by far
the worst is man. He says, “The
really grinding and destructive enemy
of man is man. The roaming savage
in famine and superstition hunted
and ate his enemy as he hunted
the beast. When men settled down
to till the fields, they captured prisoners
and made them drudge for
them as slaves, just as they domesticated
the horse and ox and made
them work. Strong peoples conquered
the weak and exacted forced
labor or rent for the use of land
which the serf had once owned.
There has always been social misery.
The pyramids of Egypt were built
on it; the Roman roads were cemented
with it.”[7]
It would seem then that laissez-faire was possible because ethical standards in regard to responsibility for our neighbors were low. Real consideration for all of humanity has never been incorporated into any civilization unless it be some that are entirely or almost forgotten. Have not unethical business standards been countenanced in our laissez-faire economy because this economy was at heart unethical? Our economy has built up a remarkable material civilization because this was its real aim. One might state it this way,—that business ethics and social justice have not yet been incorporated into one economic system.
COULD any such civilization have grown up in a country really practicing Christ’s law of love? Christ certainly taught the value of each individual. He was moved with compassion when He saw the multitude weary and without food and would not send them away hungry. The one lost soul was much more worthy of long and painful seeking than was the lost sheep. But this preciousness of human beings whether of the economically fortunate class or of the masses upon whom fortune has frowned has never, except in theory, been a part of our Western culture. Indeed it is quite the opposite. Exploitation of the great laboring class whose toil furnishes the necessities and luxuries of the rest has been accepted and even legalized. “In the reign of Queen Elizabeth the English poor law required the employment of children of the lower classes ‘to accustom them to labor and to afford a prophylactic against vagabonds and paupers’. In the United States the Colonies enacted similar laws. Child laborers were brought here by the boat load from England, as many as 15,000 in a single year.”[8]
Christ’s gospel has always been
considered as applying to individuals.
It is only in recent years that a few
Christian leaders have interpreted it
in social terms. Some have now discovered
that it is impossible for an
individual to live according to
Christ’s teaching in a world where
the social and economic philosophy
is fundamentally opposed to His
teachings. Our Western civilization
grew out of the ancient Greek and
Roman and Norse civilizations with
Christian and other modifying influences
added. In those cultures slavery,
for example, was basic. Saint
Paul under whose influence Christianity
was crystalized and spread accepted
[Page 112]
slavery. It has always inhered
in Western culture. Chattel slavery
was finally abolished; industrial slavery
still exists. It is certain that it
cannot long continue. We have gone
too far in making people intelligent;
they see too plainly the wealth and
waste around them; they realize bitterly
the injustice of the treatment
they receive.
Moreover modern technology with its mass production makes mass consumption imperative. We have come to the point where none of us can prosper unless all have a share in that prosperity. Slowly it is being forced on our dull brains that if one member suffers all the members suffer. The great law of the oneness of mankind will not be denied. Spiritual laws are in the end just as insistent as natural laws. If we will not obey them because we should, eventually we obey them because we must.
IT is at this crisis that the voice of Bahá’u’lláh is raised. He would have us understand the spititual laws and choose to follow them rather than wait to be forced. “Tell the rich of the midnight sighing of the poor,” He says, “lest heedlessness lead them into the path of destruction.” It can hardly be a mere coincidence that from Palestine, the Holy land, in the middle of the last century, Bahá’u’lláh sent forth a warning to the world. We are just waking up to discover what He said repeatedly at that time,—that this is a sick world. His message was not only a warning, it pointed out the remedy. This message He sent in writing directly to the crowned heads of leading countries in Europe and Asia, for on them rested the responsibility of applying the remedy. They however refused to listen or to act. So His message has come to people of less influence and little by little it is spreading over the entire world. This message tells us how to apply Christ’s law of love to the tremendous needs of the world today. The followers of Christ today are very much divided among themselves, even the most devoted and sincere and wise among them, as to how to apply this law for the benefit of all. It is absolutely necessary that we be united, Bahá’u’lláh tells us, and that we must unite very definitely on the principle of the Oneness of Mankind. He leaves no chance for doubt that this is the age when all mankind must receive justice. His writings reveal in considerable detail how this principle must be applied in the various phases of modern life.
To bring this about is neither
simple nor easy. It requires great
sincerity, sacrifice and devotion. Sir
Philip Gibbs says, “No miracles are
needed to put the world fairly right.
It is a question only of mind, will
power and moral character.” But
one may ask what is the source of
the energy to rightly direct the mind
and will power and to produce the
moral character? We have plenty of
mind and will power at work in the
world today. The moral character
is sadly lacking. This is the inherent
need in the world today. We need
to be freed from the selfish desires
and fears that keep us from doing
what our minds tell us is worse than
[Page 113]
folly. Can man do that of himself
or must he draw upon the higher
spiritual energy?
Hopefully we believe we are at the dawn of a truly new civilization. By what means have great civilizations been ushered in? Does not history show that they have gradually arisen after the establishment of a great and pure religion by an inspired Teacher? Our great Western or Christian civilization followed the spread of Christianity; the remarkable culture of Islam followed the spread of the teachings of Muhammad; farther back was the famed Jewish civilization reaching its zenith in the time of Solomon when people came from all over the then known world to gain wisdom at his court. Can it be that in the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh we have the source of that spiritual energy which will produce the moral character which we need and also give guidance that our minds and will power shall work unitedly in the right direction? Many testify to having found there that power.
In explaining Bahá’u’lláh's teachings ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has said, “The secrets of the whole economic question are divine in nature, and are concerned with the world of the heart and the spirit. In the Bahá’í teachings this is most completely explained, and without consideration of the Bahá’í teachings it is impossible to bring about a better state.”[9] He tells us too that there must be a readjustment of property so that there will not be the abnormally rich and the pitifully poor. This will bring happiness to both, for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says that even the rich are not happy now because they are so overburdened with their riches. He also tells us that the new conditions will not be brought about by strikes and conflict. Cooperation and not competition and conflict is the spirit of the new age. Bahá’u’lláh gave fundamental principles in regard to taxation and inheritance that will when followed make the accumulation of immense fortunes impossible. But there should also be voluntary sharing. Profit sharing in industry is directed. There must be work for all and the unfortunate and needy for other causes must be provided for from a public fund. There must be education for all so that each individual may develop to his fullest capacity.
We see some advance towards these ideals of Bahá’u’lláh already and enlightened groups of increasing size and number that are demanding one or another of these reforms. Professor Counts says that American economy is already “launched on a new course”. But he adds “the way is uncertain and full of pitfalls”. Cannot our leaders be induced to look to the guidance of this great world Teacher before we are hopelessly lost in these pitfalls? For truly as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says, “The disease which afflicts the body politic is lack of love, and absence of altruism. In the hearts of men no real love is found, and the condition is such that unless their susceptibilities are quickened by some power so that unity, love and accord develop within them, there can be no healing, no relief among mankind.”[10]
- ↑ Christian Century, April 17, 1935.
- ↑ Social Foundations of Education, George S. Counts, Charles Scribners’ Sons, p. 135.
- ↑ Ibid, p. 135.
- ↑ Ibid, p. 137.
- ↑ Ibid, p. 140.
- ↑ Ibid, p. 142.
- ↑ We are the Builders of a New World, Harry H. Moore. Association Press. P. 5.
- ↑ Ibid, p. 17.
- ↑ Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 233.
- ↑ Bahá’í Scriptures, p. 445.
A new definition of national sovereignty, abolition of the right of nations to initiate war, and the creation of an organized order responsible for the interests of all nations, are the three essentials laid down by a member of the faculty at American University, Beirut.
•
ESSENTIALS FOR A NEW INTERNATIONAL ORDER
By EDGAR J. FISHER
•
THE Great War was a great failure. It did not usher in a just peace, it certainly has not ended war, and far from saving democracy, its effect upon democracy has not been wholesome.
Mr. H. G. Wells, in declaring that “salvaging civilization is a race between education and catastrophe”, issued a warning which we should earnestly consider. We are now in the midst of a vital struggle between two conflicting conceptions of international life. The tradition from the past struggling to maintain itself may be expressed thus: Nations competitively organized with rival armaments, unlimited in authority, prepared to continue on the basis of international anarchy and the settlement of disputes by violence. Seeking permanent expression the following is the hope of the future: Nations cooperating in an international order, limited so that they respect the rights of others, and settle their conflicts by orderly processes based on law and justice. If we cannot educate ourselves to the new and higher conception, we face catastrophe by clinging to the old and lower methods.
Certain essentials to attain an international system of cooperative States are quite clear and obvious.
FIRST, it is necessary that the
nations adopt a re-defined doctrine
of sovereignty. According to our
present conception of sovereignty, a
State has unlimited power to do as
it desires, regardless of a decent respect
for the rights and privileges
of others. A country is supposed to
exercise its sovereign will unrestricted
by any superior authority, and the
Great Powers act on that assumption.
The small Powers do when they can
get big enough Allies. Nations still
seek to be their own prosecutor,
judge, and jury. A significant reason
why the League of Nations is a weak
and not a strong international organization
is because the nations are unwilling
to relinquish any of their sovereign
[Page 115]
power. The fault is net with
the League, or the principles upon
which the League of Nations is
based, but is in the attitude of its
members or non-members in denying
it the power which it needs. Sovereignty
should be re-defined, so that
in theory and practise nations cannot
legally exercise the right, even
if they have the power, to encroach
upon and violate the rights of other
States.
SECONDLY, it is essential that nations should relinquish the right of private warfare. In a spirit of aggressiveness modern States persist in doing what they deprecate in others. The attempt to obtain security by means of provocative armaments has been a signal failure. The use of huge armaments for the private warfare of States in furthering their selfish national ends means that the supposed security of one results in the insecurity of another. International anarchy necessarily results, just as national anarchy persisted in medieval times as long as the rival barons were able to exercise the right of private warfare. Security and disarmament are impossible of attainment in a system where nations can exercise a right of private warfare without legal restraint. All the States of any consequence have renounced war as an instrument of national policy, and have declared it a crime. This has been done, however, with an excess of limitations and reservations, so that the nations addicted to power politics still feel free to wage war, especially if they do not declare the war they wage. In renouncing war, the nations must make their word fact; they must be as good as their word, or better.
IN the third place it is essential that nations accept an orderly organization of States with power and responsibility for the common interests of all. This does not need to be a super-State with all the world lumped into one cosmopolitan amalgam. It must however be a cooperative organization of States in which the members not only agree to renounce and forsake unilateral employment of force in trying to settle conflicts of policy, but also agree to submit these conflicts for settlement to effective machinery of peace. Such an orderly organization of States is internationalism in its true sense. It does not deny nationality, or seek to destroy nations. It recognizes their individual genius and worth, and would bring the spirit of nationality to a finer fruition than we now know. It would conserve and protect nations from self-destruction. Such an organization of States would not deny disputes among the nations. It would compel their permanent settlement on the basis of reason and law, instead of their temporary non-settlement through the out-worn and discredited methods of force and violence.
ONLY if we educate ourselves to build an international order on the basis of such essentials can we hope to escape catastrophe. Conflicts of policy, and other disputes, will continue as problems among the nations. They must be settled.
The following statement was made in answer to the question, how many kinds of character has man, and what it the cause of the differences and varieties in men?
•
THE CAUSE OF HUMAN DIFFERENCE
By ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ
•
MAN has the innate character, the inherited character and the acquired character which is gained by education.
With regard to the innate character, although the divine creation is purely good, yet the varieties of natural qualities in man come from the difference of degree; all are excellent, but they are more or less so, according to the degree. So all mankind possess intelligence and capacities, but the intelligence, the capacity, and the worthiness of men differ. This is evident.
For example, take a number of children of one family, of one place, of one school, instructed by one teacher, reared on the same food, in the same climate, with the same clothing, and studying the same lessons—it is evident that among these children some will be clever in the sciences, some will be of average ability, and some dull. Hence it is clear that in the original nature there exists a difference of degree, and varieties of worthiness and capacity. This difference does not imply good or evil, but is simply a difference of degree. So man exists, the animal, the plant, and the mineral exist also—but the degrees of these four existences vary. What a difference between the existence of man and of the animal! Yet both are existences. It is evident that in existence there are differences of degrees.
The variety of inherited character qualities comes from strength and weakness of constitution; that is to say, when the two parents are weak, the children will be weak; if they are strong, the children will be robust. In the same way, purity of blood has a great effect; for the pure germ is like the superior stock which exists in plants and animals. For example, you see that children born from a weak and feeble father and mother will naturally have a feeble constitution and weak nerves; they will be afflicted, and will have neither patience, nor endurance, nor resolution, nor perseverance, and will be hasty; for the children inherit the weakness and debility of their parents. . .
Hence it is evident that inherited
character also exists, and to such a
degree that if the characters are not
[Page 117]
in conformity with their origin, although
they belong physically to that
lineage, spiritually they are not considered
members of the family; like
Canaan, which is not reckoned as being
of the race of Noah.
But the difference of the qualities with regard to culture is very great; for education has great influence. Through education the ignorant become learned, the cowardly become valiant; through cultivation the crooked branch becomes straight, the acid, bitter fruit of the mountains and woods becomes sweet and delicious, and the five-petalled flower becomes hundred-petalled. Through education savage nations become civilized, and even the animals become domesticated. Education must be considered as most important; for as diseases in the world of bodies are extremely contagious, so, in the same way, qualities of spirit and heart are extremely contagious. Education has a universal influence, and the differences caused by it are very great.
Perhaps some will say, that since the capacity and worthiness of men differ, therefore the difference of capacity certainly causes the differences of characters (i.e., that therefore people cannot be held responsible for their character).
But this is not so; for capacity is of two kinds, natural capacity and acquired capacity. The first, which is the creation of God, is purely good —in the creation of God there is no evil; but the acquired capacity has become the cause of the appearance of evil. For example, God has created all men in such a manner, and has given them such a constitution and such capacities, that they are benefited by sugar and honey, and harmed and destroyed by poison. This nature and constitution is innate, and God has given it equally to all mankind. But man begins little by little to accustom himself to poison, by taking a small quantity each day, and gradually increasing it, until he reaches such a point that he cannot live without a gram of opium every day. The natural capacities are thus completely perverted. Observe how much the natural capacity and constitution can be changed, until by different habits and training they become entirely perverted. One does not criticize vicious people because of their innate capacities and nature, but rather for their acquired capacities and nature.
In creation there is no evil; all is good. Certain qualities and natures innate in some men and apparently blameworthy are not so in reality. For example, from the beginning of his life you can see in a nursing child the signs of desire, of anger and of temper. Then, it may be said, good and evil are innate in the reality of man, and this is contrary to the pure goodness of nature and creation. The answer to this is that desire, which is to ask for something more, is a praiseworthy quality provided that it is used suitably. So, if a man has the desire to acquire science and knowledge, or to become compassionate, generous and just, it is most praiseworthy. If he exercises his anger and wrath against the bloodthirsty tyrants who are like ferocious beasts, it is very praiseworthy; but if he does not use these qualities in a right way, they are blameworthy.
[Page 118]
Then it is evident that in creation
and nature evil does not exist at all
but when the natural qualities of man
are used in an unlawful way, they
are blameworthy. So, if a rich and
generous person gives a sum of money
to a poor man for his own necessities,
and if the poor man spends
that sum of money on unlawful
things, that will be blameworthy. It
is the same with all the natural qualities
of man, which constitute the capital
of life; if they be used and displayed
in an unlawful way, they become
blameworthy. Therefore . . . .
creation is purely good.
An important two volume work in which effort is made to reconsider the relation of education to modern life has been carefully analyzed for World Order readers by a student of international affairs.
•
REDIRECTING EDUCATION
By JOSEPH S. ROUCEK
•
MUST education lag? What
should be the methods of college
teachers? What are the social objectives
of American education?
What is the university’s place in
modern society? These and similar
questions are vital problems facing
our society. Dr. Tugwell analyzes
the social objectives in education;
Leon H. Keyserling deals with the
social objectives in the American college;
Thomas C. Blaisdell, Jr. devotes
his attention to economics in college;
Charles Woolsey Cole treats history
in the college; and Joseph McGoldrick
discusses political science in the
college. To the reviewer this is a
very important book,[1] not so much
because of the subject matter, approached
already in various aspects
by Professor James Harvey Robinson
and others, but as a serious attempt
to break down the arbitrary fences
separating the various social sciences.
Thus in this process our American
educational systems and ideas receive
a wholesome rebuke. For instance,
says Dr. McGoldrick: “The political
science is relying upon an outmoded
psychology, outmoded history, outmoded
economics. It may be that
specialization in scholarship has advantages
which cannot be sacrificed,
and that omniscience of the eighteenth
century savant can never be
reached again. But it is certainly
folly for specialists to live in ignorance
of the achievements of their
colleagues. And it is, if anything,
more absurd for them to try to instruct
students without knowing
what others are teaching them.” One
[Page 119]
wishes that the authors had not failed
to turn their criticism to the provincialism
of American scholarship,
which is often characterized by the
utter lack of knowledge of social research
abroad. But we cannot deny
that this is a searching book which
should go a long way in revitalizing
our educational system.
THE second volume, devoted to the survey of the educational systems of Germany, England, France, Russia, Italy, Denmark and Canada seems to the reviewer even more useful than the first. Russia, Germany, France and Italy certainly deserve to be included because they present definite social objectives in education resulting from clearly defined political ideals: Communism, Fascism and laissez-faire. England and Canada are worthy of study because of the similarity between their problems and our own. Just as in America, these countries are finding out that their educational systems reflect nineteenth century society and are losing contact with a changing world. Danish education is an excellent example of what definite social objectives in education may accomplish, at least in a small homogeneous nation with an admirable social organization.
As each chapter on the various countries is written by a different specialist in the field, each chapter shows some unevenness of approach, treatment and emphasis of various phases of the subject. One also wishes that one of the Balkan nations, or Czechoslovakia, had been included, for two reasons. First of all, a study of a Balkan nation would enlighten us, we hope, about the nationalistic educational system producing an excessive quota of intelligentsia; in the case of Czechoslovakia, we might learn about the extent of the influence exerted by a single philosopher on the educational philosophy of his nation. Secondly, much material is available in the nations described in this work. Let us just recall the series, studying civic training, edited by Professor Merriam in Chicago. A volume specialized in Central and South-Eastern Europe would be plowing an untouched ground. But the ideas of the reviewer must not be misconstrued as a criticism of these volumes. In fact, they are the best known treatment of their subject known to the reviewer, because of their tendency to tie up social philosophies with the technical details of the various educational structures. One may agree or, in certain points, disagree with some interpretation or details. One, however, must admit that these volumes are handbooks of information which will be little short of a revelation to those not acquainted with the problem. The topic, as is obvious, is of great importance. In the forthcoming struggles of various of the leading philosophical regimes described here, much of their strength will be derived from youth, and the universal qualities of youth: impatience for action, readiness to break with the past, willingness to make personal sacrifices in the pursuit of the ideal.
- ↑ Redirecting Education, Vol. I. The United States. Edited by Rexford G. Tugwell and Leon H. Keyserling. Vol. II. Europe and Canada. New York: Columbia University Press. $3,00 per Volume.
BOOKS RECEIVED
The State and Economic Life, International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation, Paris.
A volume of reports and discussion as recorded at the sixth annual session of the International Studies Conference, held at London in 1933, under the auspices of a Committee of the League of Nations.
Proceedings of the National Conference of Social Work. University of Chicago Press.
A selection of the papers presented at the sixty-first annual National Conference of Social Work, held at Kansas City in 1934. Among those represented are: Harry L. Hopkins, R. G. Tugwell, Isador Lubin, Paul H. Douglas, Mary Van Kleeck, Edward C. Lindeman.
Europe, War or Peace? By Walter Duranty. World Affairs Pamphlet No. 7. Foreign Policy Association, New York, World Peace Foundation, Boston.
A correspondent of the New York Times describes the fundamental policies pursued by each European Power, and considers the problem of war in relation to such current factors as armaments, war debts and reparations, internationa1 trade.
International Regulation of the Trade in and Manufacture of Arms and Ammunition. By Manley O. Hudson. Government Printing Office, Washington.
Documents collected by Dr. Hudson at the request of Senator Nye, Chairman of the Senate Special Committee Investigating the Munitions Industry.
The Illusions of Immortality. By Corliss Lamont. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York.
An argument against the principle of human immortality based upon assertions of current anthropology, biology, psychology and medicine.
The Russians in Hollywood. By George Martin Day. University of Southern California Press, Los Angeles.
A study of the problems encountered by Russians resident in the United States, taking the Russian group at Hollywood as a typical case.
Social Year Book: 1935. Edited by Fred S. Hall. Russell Sage Foundation, New York.
The third annual volume issued by the Foundation to record current activities in social service, with a directory of 413 nationai and international social agencies, public and private, 526 public state agencies, and 51 statewide private agencies. An encyclopaedia of social service.
THE SPIRIT OF THE AGE
•
FOUNDATIONS OF WORLD UNITY
Public addresses delivered by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during the year 1912 in Universities, Curches and Synagogues, and before members of Peace Societies, to promulgate principles of Universal Peace. 112 pages. Paper covers, $0.75.
•
BAHÁ’U’LLÁH and the NEW ERA, by J. E. Esslemont
An exposition of the teachings and history of the religion established by Bahá’u’lláh for the unification of peoples in one faith and one order. This work has been translated into more than twenty languages within the past decade. 308 pages. Bound in leather, $1.00. Paper covers, $0.50.
•
SOME ANSWERED QUESTIONS
Compiled by Laura Clifford Barney from the recorded explanations given her by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1907 to questions concerned with the significance of the Prophets, the renewal of civilization, the spiritual reality of man, and sociological subjects. 350 pages. Bound in cloth, $2.00.
•
SECURITY FOR A FAILING WORLD, by Stanwood Cobb
The psychological approach to economic and political problems, emphasizing the vital need for a new spirit in humanity as well as a new order for societh. 202 pages. Bound in cloth. $2.00.
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THE PROMISE OF ALL AGES, by Christophil
The spiritual content of religion, with its evolving social implications, traced through the succession of Prophets to its culmination in the Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh. 254 pages. Bound in cloth, $1.50.
BAHÁ’Í PUBLISHING COMMITTEE
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