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JANUARY. 1946
TWO ROADS WE FACE —- Wiliiam Kenneth Christian
FRUIT IN ABUNDANCE — Mary Marlowe THE MIRROR AND THE DUST, Poem — William M. Sears
A NEW DISPENSATION, Editorial ~— Horace Holley RELIGION AND SCIENCE —— Otto Zmeskal
SONG OF TOMORROW, Poem —- Nell Griffith Wilson BLACK BOY, Book Review — Arthur Dahl
‘ABDU’L-BAHA IN AMERICA —— Mariam Haney THE DAY OF GOD — Bahá’u’lláh
WITH OUR READERS 15::
THE BAHA’I’ MACSAZINE
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W orld Order was founded March 21, 1910 9: Bahá’í News, the first
organ of the American Bahá’ís. In March, 1911, its title was changed
to Star of the West. Beginning November, 1922 the magazine appeared
under the name of The Bahá’í Magazine. The issue of April, 1935
carried the present title of_ World Order, combining The Bahá’í Magazine and W orld Unity, which had been founded October, 1927. The
present number represents Volume XXXVI ,of the continuous Bahal publication.
WORLD ORDER is phhlished monthly in Wilmette, 111., by the Publishing Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís o! the United States and Canada. EDITORS: Garreta Busey, William Kenneth Christian, .Gertrude K. Henning, Horace Holley, Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick.
Editorial Office Mrs. Gertrude K. Henning, Secretary 69 ABBOTTSFORD ROAD, WINNETKA, ILL.
Publication Office 110 LINDEN AVENUE, WILMETI'E, 11.1..
C. R. Wood, Business Manager Printed in U.S.A.
JANUARY, 1946, VOLUME XI, NUMBER 10
SUBSCRIPTIONS: $1.50 per year, for United States, its territories and possessions; for Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Central and South America. Single copies, 150. Foreign subscriptions, $1.75. Make checks and money orders payable to World ‘ Order Magazine, 110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois. Entered as second class matter April 1, 1940, at the post ofice at Wilmette. 111., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Contents copyrighted 1945 by Bahá’í Publishing Committee. Title
registered at U. S. Patent Office.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS SHOULD BE REPORTED ‘ ONE MONTH IN ADVANCE
WIDBLD ORDER
The Bahá’í Magazine
VOLUME XI
J ANUARY, 1946
NUMBER 10
Two Roads We Face
WILLIAM KENNETH CHRISTIAN
E STAND in the day of
opportunity. We say that peace has come. We mean that a titanic war has ended. That is about all we can say. Essentially the world has again entered a period of armistice. The armed might of the victorious United Nations is temporarily the guarantee of peace. But the causes of war, the hatreds, the fears, and the injustices from which wars spring, have not yet been removed; and their elimination is the task of this century.
We have seen two major steps this year toward a political peace -—the arrangements for the military control of Germany and of Japan, and the forging of the United Nations Charter at San Francisco. Reinforcing these have been the beginnings of world arrangements in agriculture and finance.
The difference between a creative peace and an armistice may be stated negatively in terms of fear, and positively in terms of security and social purpose. An
armistice may have the outer appearance of peace for a number of decades, but if, during that period, common sense requires the development and maintenance of defense forces, then we may know that peace has not been achieved. The world will maintain an armistice as long as any one group, race, or nation fears a near or distant neighbor.
A creative peace, on the other hand, would be a world without fear. The defeat of Germany and J apan has not produced such a world, but it has given men and women the world over their last opportunity to transform an armistice into a creative peace. For peace in its true sense means that all people would share a certain basic security regardless of color, or religion, or geographic location. The phrase “winning the victory” will take on meaning in relation to the basic security gained by all the two billions of people on this planet.
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But if we are to consider how to achieve a creative peace, we should look for a moment at the principle of ends and means. We must realize clearly and completely that the desired end does not justify the means. On the contrary, the means used must be in harmony with the desired end.
The American people wanted peace after World War I. Peace Was the desired end. The general means used has been called isolation. It was a policy of: “We’ll let you live, so you let us live.” In such a spirit of selfish benevolence, Weak-kneed tolerance, and false high-mindedness, we shrugged off any world responsibility and worshipped our own golden calf of prosperity. As a nation, we were like a child refusing to grow up. The result: Years of tragedy have given us another opportunity.
And the present opportunity is wondrous and perilous because of the awesome harnessing of atomic power in the atomic bomb. There is now no postponement of our rendezvous with God and with destiny. “The time foreordained unto the peoples and kindreds of the earth is now come,” declared Bahá’u’lláh. “Bestir yourselves, O people, in anticipation of the days of Divine justice, for the promised hour is now come. Beware lest
ye fail to apprehend its import and be accounted among the erring.”
If there is any evil nation or any large group of evil men in the world, you and I will not be safe in the years ahead. The armistice this time provides no geographic barricades for protection and no security in time. The dropping of two atomic bombs has profoundly changed the history of the world. Our concepts of military security, spheres of influence, economic rights, political sovereignty, and international law are all radically altered by this catastrophic event.
Our future, then, is between a creative peace or the haunting fear of armistice. At this hour of choice, we face two roads. F irst, we may try to create peace solely by the old methods of science, politics, economics, and sectarian religion. This would mean trying to achieve the desired end of peace by means which have already miserably failed. Or, second, we may take the road of the World Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.
Let’s look at the means on this first road.
Science has brought unprecedented comfort and cleanliness to the world; it has conquered many a disease and helped greatly to clarify the mind of
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man. It has presented us with multitudinous machines as vehicles of power. All these things have been great blessings to millions of people, and science will continue to extend its beneficence. But science cannot create moral value. Science is amoral; it is a method; the knowledge it produces is a tool; it reflects the morality of those who possess it.
Science cannot remove cancerous prejudices from the mind. Anthropology has proven that there is no basic difi'erence in capacity between the races of man. But these carefully assembled and well verified facts cannot solve the race question in the Southern States, cannot remove social hatred anywhere in the world. Science cannot cause men to love each other; it cannot create mutual trust or discipline; it cannot cause men to serve justice The atomic bomb is a final answer that science cannot create peace. Science can present men with awesome power. And that is all.
We have heard it said that the right economic conditions will he an absolute guarantee of peace. But we have had such a recent experience of the economic gospel in the United States that we all should remember it vividly, and keep recalling it to mind as
a lesson. The economic scriptures of the 1920’s told us that
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to be decent Americans we must own two automobiles, have a radio in every room, and never fry less than two chickens. We whittled God down to the size of a crumpled dollar hill—or thought we did.
An economic panacea is a delusion and a mirage. It reduces men to dollars and cents. We might well ask: what shall we have money and goods for? If we shall have material things for their own sake, then we shall build an unending spiral of greed. Never in history has the gospel of materialism provided a sound morality. Materialism has always hred disunity and division.
Modern world economies makes all peoples and nations closely interdependent, but this clear fact does not automatically show men how to live creatively together as a closely-knit, mutually interdependent world. Men make economics. Economics is as good as men are. Economics, like science, cannot wave a wand and create a moral purpose adequate to the atomic age.
And economics is the whipping-boy of politics. Modern world politics is based upon the principle of national sovereignty. This principle was developed for an agricultural society, without the radio, the airplane, or the atomic bomb. When the modem
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states of western Europe took form, men tilled the soil in the same way that men had farmed for thousands of years. The average individual never traveled. Life was localized to an extreme degree.
But the rush of inventions in the last century and the development of modern industry and world economics have destroyed the agricultural societies under which a national sovereignty developed. We cannot turn back the tide of industrial development. We have reached the point where the economic boundaries of any large nation interpene trate the political boundaries of other nations in all the five continents. This process of economic interpenetration and interdependence we cannot change. Yet there has been no political development based upon this inescapable fact. The charter of the United Nations, like the old League, considers each member state as a sovereign and independent power.
The morality of the nationstate, directly in some cases and indirectly in all cases, determines the educational objectives in each particular nation. Children in the early grades especially are usually indoctrinated with a localized view of human life and human loyalty.
What good will independence
do the people of any one nation when we realize that the secret of the atomic bomb is open to discovery and development by scientists everywhere? National sovereignty, if adhered to in the future, can only, like the Maginot Line in the past, serve to divide and entrap millions of people. The independent sovereignty of a nation is based upon the assumption of the superior race. The limited and divisive principle of national sovereignty can now destroy civilization.
In the world of the atomic bomb men must be united, not divided. Fear can’t serve as an enduring basis of unity. Men must be united in trust. Millions and millions of men must have a clear and firm basis for trusting each other. Only religion can provide this basis for trust.
But the sectarian religions of the past cannot meet this challenge for the world. In the course of these last few years, the very term Christianity has been more and more replaced in the newspapers by the more accurate terms “the Roman Catholic and Protestant Faiths.” We read of conferences of Catholics, Protestants, and Jews, the tolerant meeting together of three faiths. These conferences represent the tolerance of armistice, a kind of balance of power between theological systems. They do not
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represent the uniting of the children of one God in one common spiritual allegiance. Sectarian religion in the western world is divided by the same antagonistic philosophy which is represented in world politics by the principle of national sovereignty. And this same condition of conflict is found in the sectarianism of the older faiths of the Eastern world. The traditional sectarian faiths indoctrinate their followers with a limited, local view of truth similar to the primitive worship of the tribal gods.
The traditional religions are in competition, each seeking the triumph of its own theology and its own particular rituals. The sectarian religions function on the principle of the superior moral race. While religion in the past has provided dynamic moral values for the basis of society, we cannot turn to the older faiths since they suffer from the localisms and the divisions typical of the individualistic agricultural societies in which they were born.
We now face a new condition. We need, most desperately, to have a faith that will unite men literally anywhere in the world. We have seen in our time an attempt to deify every form of materialism. We have seen men crucified in order to preserve in wholeness and sanctity varied
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types of economic systems. We have seen human beings reduced to terms of dollars and cents. We have seen science exalted as the automatic saviour of humanity; and science, unable to create moral value, has given us the atomic bomb. We have fallen pitiful victims to the machines of our own creation. We have repeatedly placed our highest trust in political arrangements, and, forgetting that political arrangements are no better than the men who carry them out, we have been repeatedly betrayed. We have ignored the great political fact of our time—that national sovereignty can no longer serve the best interest of all the people. In the great moral crisis of these years, the old sectarian faiths have given the world’s peoples the polished stones of moral separation when they cried out for the living bread of unity and mutual faith.
If we wish an enduring, creative peace, we cannot place our reliance upon the first road of economics, science, politics, and sectarian religion. Economics and science are amoral, and we need moral purpose. Politics and sectarian religion are dedicated to the proposition that men are by nature divided into competitive political and religious states. These methods will fail us because they depend upon and
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emphasize: materialism, the power and the mere mechanism of the machine, the continued political separation of people, and the moral division of peoples in denial of the fact that there is but one God.
A prominent university president, discussing the future, now that atomic power is within reach, has suggested that fear of the consequences will force us to keep the peace. But when did fear ever prevent two nations from fighting a war? When did fear ever keep two races at peace? When did fear ever create cooperation that endured?
The atomic bomb demands an answer based upon the nature of man. Not a negative answer of fear, but a positive answer of unity and justice. A moral and divisive means are not in harmony with the desired end of an enduring peace for all people. The answer lies on the alternate
road, the road of the World Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. The price of world peace is world faith.
The teachings of Bahá’u’lláh give purpose to the fruits of science. Bahá’u’lláh has likened science and religion to the two wings of humanity. Both are needed if man is to rise in this age in fulfillment of the potential greatness of civilization which is his deserved destiny. Bahá’u’lláh has declared that unity is the
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monarch of all ambitions. This is the time of the coming of age of the entire human race.
Religion, in the Bahá’í view, would sink into the morass of superstition and prejudice without the aid of science and reason. Science, without the moral purpose and social direction of religion, becomes entangled in materialism and begets irresponsible and undirected power. By the restatement of the purpose of human life in our time, Bahá’u’lláh gives moral purpose to science. Individuals are born to know and love God, to live creatively together in unity throughout the whole earth.
In no uncertain terms, Bahá’u’lláh has condemned the barriers of racial, nationalistic, social, and religious prejudices which keep men apart. He advocates the adoption of a world auxiliary language to facilitate commerce and human understanding. He urges adoption of a basic world curriculum of education. He upholds high standards of cleanliness and health. He emphasizes the necessity for a minimum economic level for all people. When we survey the world’s misery and ignorance, here is a challenge of infinite human worth for the energy and creative skill of science. The principles of Bahá’u’lláh outline the basic foundation for a world
TWO ROADS
civilization. But science cannot achieve these things until it is dedicated to the uniting of the world’s peoples. The Faith of Bahá’u’lláh gives moral purpose to all scientific ability.
“The earth is but one country; and mankind its citizens.” And again Bahá’u’lláh has said: “Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country, let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind.” Here is the spiritual answer of Bahá’u’lláh to the economic and political antagonisms of the modern world.
God, through Whose unspeakable majesty and power all of the seen and unseen universe was created, calls you and me, today, to the realization of the oneness of humankind. The pattern of the world society which Bahá’u’lláh advocates in His teachings may he described briefly thus:
“Some form of a world SuperState must needs be evolved, in whose favor all the nations of the world will have willingly ceded every claim to make war, certain rights to impose taxation and all rights to maintain armaments, except for purposes of maintaining internal order within their respective dominions. Such a state will have to include within its orbit an International Executive adequate to enforce supreme and unchallengeable authority
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on every recalcitrant member of the commonwealth; a World Parliament whose members shall be elected by the people in their respective countries and whose election shall be confirmed by their respective governments; and a Supreme Tribunal whose judgment will have a binding effect even in such cases where the parties concerned did not voluntarily agree to submit their case to its consideration. A world community in which all economic barriers will have been permanently demolished and the interdependence of Capital and Labor definitely recognized; in which the clamor of religious fanaticism and strife will have been forever stilled; in which the flame of racial animosity will have been finally extinguished; in which a single code of international law—the product of the considered judgment of the world’s federated representatives — shall have as its sanction the instant and coercive intervention of the combined forces of the federated units; and finally a world community in which the fury of a capricious and militant nationalism will have been transmuted into an abiding consciousness of world citizenship —— such indeed, appears, in its broadest outline, the Order anticipated by Bahá’u’lláh, an Order that shall
come to be regarded as the fair
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est fruit of a slowly maturing age.”
Here is not limited nationalism, but a secure and creative internationalism. Here the good of men and women—all men and women regardless of their color or place—is made the measuring rod of rightness and justice, of high social purpose. God calls us to dedicate ourselves, our time, our money, our talents of any kind, to the creation of a world order, durable, decent, and founded upon divine principle and law.
Where men and women are now organized against each other, Bahá’u’lláh commands unity. Where men and women now use the individualism of the localized agricultural era to justify many an unkindness, many an unsocial act, many an injustice, Bahá’u’lláh commands a new standard of maturity.
In the Bahá’í view, any individual who evades social responsibility is immature and childish. Any individual who withdraws in a huff from others, nursing his pitiful ego, is like a child who, stubbing his toe, in rage blames not himself but some inanimate object. Any man or woman who tries to organize people against others is the enemy of mankind, is a potential tyrant, is setting himself up as a god dividing mankind, is functioning by the
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vicious principle of the superior race.
As Bahá’u’lláh condemns the murderer and the thief as despoilers of human happiness, so also He condemns the injustice of men who enforce the division and separation of peoples in order to maintain personal power. Therefore, any leader or party, wishing to continue the separation of people, merely continues the day of armistice and delays the merging of people in a universal and creative peace.
The oneness of mankind is the
sole political motive great
enough, clear enough to create
a world society under the conditions of modern industry and
world economics. “The principle of the Oneness of Mankind
(is) the point around which all
the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh revolve. . . . It represents the consummation of human evolution
—an evolution that has had its
earliest beginnings in the birth
of family life, its subsequent development in the achievement of
tribal solidarity, leading in turn
to the constitution of the citystate, and expanding later into
the institution of independent
and sovereign states.” It calls
for the canalizing of human energy in the creation of a world
federal state. For such an
achievement of human solidarity, there can be no lesser politi
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cal morality than is expressed by Bahá’u’lláh —- “The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.”
How will men move into this new world? What will stir their hearts and fire their minds? What vision will be clear and strong enough to sustain in discouragement and setback? Only the force of religion. But not the sectarianism which constitutes the pitiful inheritance from the past. The leaders of religion do not measure up to the new standard of world morality. What greater spiritual tyranny could there be than to divide men and women into sectarian groups, fostering the delusion that they possess the prize of personal salvation? The dark glasses of theological difference blind men to the worth of their fellows and cannot provide the required insight into the spiritual needs of our time.
But Bahá’u’lláh brings us the clean breath of unity. He restores the simple fundamentals of religion and gives them practical, universal purpose. He points out that one God, unknown and unknowable, has created all human life and the infinite wonders of the universe. This God, the God of all men regardless of the name by which He has been known, has showered His bounties upon all people. In giving
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men freedom of choice, He gave them responsibility and the power of creative response to divine will.
God is the creative force behind the development of life onthis planet. He has never ignored or excluded the children of His creation. Repeatedly He has focused His knowledge and power upon one Chosen Man and enabled that Person to enunciate His Will in terms of human understanding. Each age has seen the expression of God’s choice. Thus in every period of history a High Prophet has stated and restated the one religion of God. At one time it was Abraham, at another Moses, at another Zoroaster, and Buddha, and Jesus, and Muhammad. Others in distant times and places have been lost to the memory of man. But all these manifestations of God’s love and knowledge have served one great, continuous purpose the spiritual education of the world’s peoples. Beneath the thick crusts of tradition and selfish theologies, we see the clear and progressive divine purpose.
All the traditional faiths of the world, now reduced by sectarianism to disunity and harmful competition, are expressions of the one unfolding divine Faith. And in our time Bahá’u’lláh is the chosen Manifestation of
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God’s will. He it is Who has restated religion in terms of modern life. Of the Bahá’í Faith, He has written: “This is the eternal Faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future.” The people in various parts of the world who become Bahá’ís, do not deny the basic truths of their particular inheritance. Instead, they enlarge upon the truths they already know. They enter a larger arena of salvation. They step from division into unity. They leave the localisms of childhood and enter the universal arena of maturity. The Bahá’í, catching the vision of God’s will in our time, struggles against the limitations of current public opinion that he may achieve for himself and for all men the blessings of a world civilization.
Bahá’u’lláh has declared: “The best beloved of all things in My sight is justice.” All the forces of life must be harnessed to this majestic ethical purpose for the world. The road of the World Faith of Bahá’u’lláh provides the means for attaining this universal goal. The teachings of Bahá’u’lláh give a just and universal moral purpose to science and economics. The teachings of Bahá’u’lláh outline the institutions of a world federal government and present the principles for the equitable administration
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of the world’s peoples. Here are the means adequate to the desired end of an enduring and creative peace.
Trust is the answer to the atomic bomb. A common world citizenship will remove the necessity for war preparation. But only through the uniting of men in one common faith can such an adequate trust be achieved, for men are trustworthy according to the moral purposes to which they are dedicated.
The price of world peace is world faith. The Bahá’í Faith is dedicated to the uniting of men and women everywhere in one common faith and one world order. This is the instrument raised by God in this day for the saving of humanity. It is for the achievement of world civilization that all the Prophets of God taught and lived. It is for this consummation that Jesus lived and died. While men may divide, God unites. This challenge of God is to you and to me. This opportunity from God is for you and for me. In proportion as we have moral courage, in proportion as we dedicate ourselves to God’s will for our age, will the strengthening confirmations of God sustain us as we move forward to the deliverance of men from the evils of division and toward the founding of the promised Kingdom.
Fruit in Abundance MARY MARLOWE
WHEN we travel from city to
city the vision of future civilization is brought close to our attention. The countryside of vineyard and farm, orchard and hayfield, deep evergreen wood and birch grove, stretches between the cities like arms that go forth to embrace and unite; while the city, the body of many souls, sends forth the fruit of minds in abundance, and high walls of clustered dwellings encase the ceaseless energy of man’s toiling mind.
The vision is one of constant interchange of life. Corn helts, cotton fields and fruit orchards pour their wealth into the streets of great cities. The machinery of the body is quickened by golden oranges, grains and leafy greens; and man’s mind by this quickening health reaches out into the unknown to bring forth a gem of science with which to ease the burden of all men.
God has ordained that brick and fruit and brain shall all play their part in the maturing of the human family. God has ordained that soul and body shall serve each other, until the flow of interchange is so regulated that the whole world vibrates, as to
the harmonious music of a well tuned instrument.
But how? In these houses of darkness, so far from the melodious harmony that has been ordained, a voice from behind the dusty walls of the city cries out, “Where is the plan of God? Where can it be found? Who will tell us of His mighty plan?” And the man with his face bent to the earth, his plow in the soil and his tears upon the earth moans out, “Where is the mighty plan of interchange that will bring the goods of the earth to the
people of the earth, to fulfill their desperate need?”
The man who leaves city and country to be carried over water, into battle, not knowing whether he goes to destroy or be destroyed, he asks his question; and the mother who has no more food turns her face to the wall with her question still sealed in her heart.
“The equilibrium of the world hath been upset”——but, people of questions, the answer has been given: not from the wind, not from the sides of mountains, not from the roar of wind in the forest, not from the swell of the ocean, nor from the stone that
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lies at the top of the mountains, in caves, or at the bottom of the sea—not from any questionless, soulless object of earth—but from the voice, from the lips, from the intelligence, from the spirit, of One created by God to deliver His great Message to the understanding, yearning heart of man! For man can only understand the voice of man, and God has spoken through a human voice. He has chosen one mighty Voice for all humanity to hear, one supreme Voice that from age to age has uttered the command of God for the governing of human action, for the coordination of human enterprise. It is the voice of the Prophet of God. Many times has the Prophet of God spoken—and now the whole world is stunned by the greatest utterance God has ever given to His chosen Messenger. Bahá ’u’llah, the Manifestation of God’s will for this day, stands, as on
the peak of the loftiest mountain and speaks to the groaning world those words which are destined to transform the hearts of men, bringing all people of all nations under one bannercapturing heart after heart with His utterance until every living being is linked to the command of God and every creature moves through this connection with His utterance; until every joy is the joy of nearness to Him, and every sorrow the failure to obey His law. Bahá’u’lláh is the Name of the Messenger of God for this age. When the people of sorrow have taken His word into their hearts then shall the spiritual plan unfold and the fruit of the mind, and the fruit of the soil yield unending benefits for the people of every nation. Then the nations, like brothers and sisters,
shall ioin hands to give praise to the Glory of God!
THE MIRROR AND THE DUST
WILLIAM M. SEARS
God’s boundless love falls equally Upon the mirror and the dust.
But men reflect it differently:
As star, as earth, as steel, as rust.
The tarnished heart can mirror none, While polished hearts reflect the sun.
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ga/itoria/
A New Dispensation
HERE is an interval between
two successive civilizations when chaos and anarchy seem to reign supreme. Individuals become lawless, institutions seek survival without regard to the needs and rights of their society as a whole. Predatory interests arise, pressures are exerted by economic, racial and political groups; the denominations substitute social programs to be carried out by the state for the spiritual ideals originally entrusted to faith by the Manifestao tion of God.
The social order becomes overburdened by the weight of regulations; the family unit loses its integrity and power of union; education divides into numerous unrelated branches of knowledge; industry produces goods but does not establish security as the balance between costs, prices, wages and living is overthrown.
At such times men seek to repair the political ills with the fabric of ethics; they attempt to mend the economic machine with philosophy; they endeavor to salvage the creeds by a closer identification of church and state. Each type of social engine and
machine comes to the breaking point; and the material used for repair is itself outworn.
More and more desperately the people of vision and disCernment realize that the condition of disorder is general throughout society and throughout men’s inner world of desire, knowledge and will. They perceive that the accelerated movement is not progress; it is not even a resolute attack upon the true ‘source of the disorder; it is like a mob fleeing in time of earthquake from a burning building to a building shaken until it falls. ‘
When political institutions become prey to conflicting interests; when unity cannot be preserved by justice and the constitutional order is made subject to schemes and experiments; when human beings refuse to admit that disorder is first of all a disease of the soul but would heal it by violence and social revolution —— at such a time the foundations of an entirely new order are being laid.
These foundations are those attitudes and convictions and loyalties which the Manifestation of the new day evokes in the souls
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of all who recognize and obey Him. The humble one who prays to God in the spirit of a quickened hope, the martyr whose blood stains the block —these and their fellows, no matter how frustrated and suppressed in the world of human thought and action, are the first, the essential and all-important evidence that one age has passed and a new age dawned.
The basis of human life and society is divine law. Divine law gives to all emotions their integrity, to all ideas their valid authority, to individual plans and actions their sanction, to the community its power to unite and establish the agencies of civilization.
The ultimate cause of confusion is not that too many persons consciously deny the significance of divine law but that they deny the progressive character of revelation. They refuse to understand that the ancient dispensation can he annulled, and therefore the very foundation of moral and social life is removed and a new foundation laid. The anarchy which marks certain
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stages of history proceeds from the destruction of every form of imitation and substitution men have adopted in order to evade the real purpose of divine law. The annulment of the dispensation brings down their artificial society, and only sincere acceptance of the new revelation can terminate the chaos in which they have become immersed. Widespread anarchy proves that men cannot create civilization by artificial devices in order to transform life itself into selfworship and glorified exploitation. There is a fixed time for the end of concealment and falsity and the beginning of sacrifice and truth. At the heart of the world today lies the mystery of the coming of Bahá’u’lláh, a pulsation of new life on which all affairs depend. “Tear asunder, in My Name, the veils that have grievously blinded your vision, and, through the power of your belief in the unity of God, scatter the idols of vain imitation. Enter then, the holy para dise of the good-pleasure of the Merciful.”
—H. H.
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Religion and Science
OTTO ZMESKAL
THE world is rapidly coming
to the realization that science can be applied to the destruction of civilization as well as to its development. Little imagination is needed, with the scarred horror of Europe brought to our eyes in the magazines and motion pictures, to visualize the devastating power of the weapons of destruction that the scientists could devise in the future.
The peoples of the nations of the earth, “as yet unconscious of His Revelation (The Bahá’í Faith) and yet unwittingly enforcing the general principles which He has enunciated,” are demanding that man be prevented from misusing science. The material progress of the world produced by the triumphs of science is evident to all men, but it is also becoming increasingly clear that science is not capable of being the source of guidance to the correct use of its discoveries and inventions. Religion is the only power great enough to direct science, but religion cannot assume that re sponsibility and progress in violation of the dictates of reason any more than science can pro gress without the guidance of the love of God.
The rigid oppression and tyranny of the church and its taboo on self-expression and personal investigation caused the separation of science and religion that has lasted to this day. The unreasonable authority of the church precipitated the battle between mind and heart that is only now slowly being terminated. Science could not possibly have contributed so much to the world’s welfare if it had been shackled by ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The insistence on the literal truth of the first chapter of Genesis would have prohibited the growth of geological science. Adherence to the views of Plato and of Aristotle and to the scholasticism of Thomas Aquinas would have prevented the development of the experimental sciences. As Sir William Dampier, of Cambridge University, has written, “It is unfortunate that
theology opposes each change when first it comes.”
True religion (that is, the direct teachings of the prophets of God), was always in accord with reason and science, but it was the
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“débris 0/ imaginations and the superstitions of men . . . the débris of strife and misunderstanding” that produced the discord. Science, on the other hand, has helped to bring the basic principles of the fundamental teachings of the. Manifestations of God to an increasingly widespread acceptance. “Religion will not regain its old power,” writes A._ N. Whitehead, of Cambridge University, '“until it can face change in the same spirit as does science. Its principles may be eternal but the expression of those principles requires continual development.” ' ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, greatest Apostle and Exemplar of the Faith given to the world by his Father, Bahá’u’lláh, in a discourse delivered at Stanford University in 1912 stated that, “The scientist through his beneficent achievements invades the regions of ignorance, conquering the realm of minds and hearts.” ' Through science and its applications man has advanced from the state of being dependent on nature to the state of being able to control nature. The floods need no longer wipe out his farms. He can dam the rivers to regulate the flow of water for when it is needed and to supply electric power for better living. The harnessing of energy and matter in the most efficient ways
to useful ends, the improvement of the physical welfare of man, the great developments in the sciences allied with communication and transportation which have drawn the world together into one great community, the knowledge of the means to promote and maintain good health, the removal of the veils caused by blindness and deafness, the sharpening of the human brain by widespread training and education, the elevation of the economic condition through the devising of more efficient machinery to allow greater production of goods and of their distribution at lower cost, have advanced man to the stage where he has become ready for the great universal Manifestation of God. The very proof by science of the continuity of energy and of the evolutionary processes has made man ripe to accept the continuity and the evolution of religious revelation. This thought is expressed by Sir William Dampier: “The real lesson which
evolutionary biology teaches to
general thought is that continuous change must be expected in all things.”
The search for truth of the scientist has enabled him to carry the same attitude of the quest for right into religion, and he is fortified to sweep aside the veils of vain imaginings and tear
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from his mind the bindings of dogma, creed, and doctrine. His knowledge is not accepted from axioms and upon authority, but it is derived from observation and experiment.
Kirtley F. Mather, of Harvard University, maintains, “The geologist in his study of forces operative in recent epochs concludes that they have been favorable to man’s progress. Science prepares man to accept the promise of God of a great future in store for him.”
Ernest Nagel, of Columbia University, writes, “There is now an experimental attitude towards problems of conduct . . . a widespread conviction that policies both public and private must be evaluated not in terms of conformity with the pronouncements of uncriticizable authority, but in terms of rational methods of weighing evidence employed in science.”
“The scientist is eager that his science shall work for human welfare,” insists Arthur H. Compton, of the University of Chicago. “He sees vast new possibilities for the betterment of life and he is impatient to see these possibilities become realities.”
Sir William Bragg, of Oxford University, has written that, “Science was not merely a collection of inventions to be applied by
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the rich for the comfort of the poor. It was a glorious purpose to be shared by all mankind.”
In the history of science there has been the growth from determinism to uncertainty. The early scientists, exemplified by Rene Descartes, “attempted to reduce the whole secret of creation to a few mathematical formulas.” “Newton contemplated the possibility of explaining all natural phenomena in mathematical terms of matter and motion,” writes Sir William Dampier. For a time, scientists thought that it was merely a matter of time until all of the facts of the universe were collected and cataloged, and from them the basic laws underlying all phenomena were established. All that seemed to be left to do was but to measure more accurately the physical constants. The spirit of man seemed to be bound in “the fetters of Law”.
In the latter part of the nineteenth century a new era in science began. Radio-activity and X-rays lead to the quantum theory, which in turn led to relativity, and relativity yielded a new view of the universe. The old classical mechanics had man as a machine—he could not have free will; “His acts were determined, and could be predicted by applying the laws of physics to the atoms in his brain.” The
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new quantum mechanics made it impossible to predict the precise behavior of a system. It has become increasingly apparent that “Science can only disclose certain aspects of reality.”
R. C. Tolman, of the California Institute of Technology, writes, “The Heisenberg principle of uncertainty has sometimes been praised as bringing moral responsibility back into the world.”
As more and more has become known it has become more and more apparent that we know very little about the great complex mystery that is nature. The more science ponders, discovers, and observes, the more completely it realizes the great remoteness of the answer to the question, “Why?” The scientist was always the first to acknowledge the immeasurably exalted character of the great Law-Maker, but his intellectual arrogance in his ability to precisely describe these laws has given way to an intellectual humbleness in the knowledge of his inability to ever precisely describe them. As Kirtley F. Mather writes, “Who more than the scientist is filled with awe and wonder as he observes the incomprehensive workings of nature? The deeper we penetrate into the why and wherefore of any reaction, the more wonderful and mysterious do we discover the reaction to be.”'
But, as Ernest Nagel writes, “Science as a body of knowledge has no control of the use to which it is put.” Karl T. Compton, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, writes, “It is a grim and discouraging contrast to see the scientists of the world engaged today in developing new instrumentalities for protection against the destruction which would be wrought upon us by the engines of war of our enemies. The fact that this is so is a grim reminder that our skill in statesmanship and our art and ethics of Christian living have not kept pace with our ideals.”
We have seen that the freedom of scientists to carry on their untrammeled search for knowledge has been destroyed by militant nationalism. “Progress in science,” wrote Karl K. Darrow, director of the Bell Telephone Research Laboratories, “Depends on the spirit of the brilliant man; and in this case above all the spirit bloweth where it listeth, heedless of national boundaries and heedless of racial groups.” But we have seen men like Einstein banished because of racial prejudice. Applied science has been used to further secret military preparation and then open warfare.
It is plain that science itself has no will as to how or in what
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direction it shall be used. Science revealed the law and order within nature, but man has taken advantage of this knowledge to devise ways to subjugate his fellow man. Emotion and the heart have left experimentation in some national laboratories.
Michael F araday held noble ideals for science which “can light our lives for us as the sunshine lights the earth.” However, today we see inventions misused and diverted from their original purpose of lighting the earth. Arthur Nobel meant that his dynamite be used to help farmers clean away stumps from the land, but its explosions now “light the earth,” and in their brilliant flashes reveal the carnage of man pitted against man.
Each new discovery has been exploited for its destructive power to permit man to dominate man, until we see all of the tremendous faculties of science concentrated on the problem of finding more efficient methods of killing and destroying.
Religion must determine the objective to which science will help civilization attain. It must set the goal and science will help to reach it. Arthur H. Compton questions, “When peace comes what will be the objective that will unite our efforts? Will we be inspired by the new possibilities presented by science for
making the world suitable for the highest needs of man? Here is a challenge of a millennium that science presents to religion. For is it not the great task of religion to show us the goals for which we should strive?” Dr. Isaiah Bowman, past president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, has written, “The scientist must make use of the qualities of mind that science fosters in dealing rationally with the terrible waste in vital resources that war imposes upon the human species.”
Whether the aeroplane is to help to carry mail, passengers, and freight, to fight fires, to destroy insect pests in large forest tracts, or to destroy cities, is the task assigned to religion. Whether jet power will be used to lift aeroplanes heavily laden with supplies, medicines, and machinery into the skys to come to the help of an expedition opening up a remote corner of the earth, or to propel robot engines of chaos, is part of this task. Whether steel will be used as a plowshare to break the ground to provide food to adequately strengthen and nourish the world’s population, or whether it will be used as a shell casing to help in the propulsion of a death-dealing rocket, is up to religion. Whether the knowledge of how to harness and use atomic
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energy will be applied by man to improve his life or to send himself into oblivion will be solely determined by religion. The Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, Shoghi Effendi, answers for true religion. “In the future World Commonwealth . . . the enormous energy dissipated and wasted on war, whether economic or political, will be consecrated to such ends as will extend the range of human inventions and technical development, to the increase of the productivity of mankind, to the extermination of disease, to the extension of scientific research, to the raising of the standard of physical health,
to the sharpening and refinement of the human brain, to the exploitation of the unused and unsuspected resources of the planet, to the prolongation of human life, and to the furtherance of any other agency that can stimulate the intellectual, the moral, and spiritual life of the entire human race.”
“Who can doubt,” further writes the Guardian, “that such a consummation —- the coming of age of the human race — must signalize, in its turn, the inauguration of a world civilization such as no mortal eye hath ever beheld or human mind conceived?”
SONG OF TOMORROW NELL GRIFFITH WILSON
Peace enters like a whisper in the heart, Then swells across the waiting world in song; Peace, mindful of war’s sufferings, must be firm; Remembering injustice, must be strong; 50 that a New World, wiser for its sorrow, Shall build the promised, happier Tomorrow.
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BLACK BOY
Book Review
ARTHUR DAHL
Black Boy is the story of Richard Wright’s childhood in the deep South. It is also a bitter, vivid, painfully moving analysis of the essence of the race problem in its most human form.
Richard Wright has already pushed to the forefront of the younger American novelists. He has a clean, incisive style which lends vigor and punch to his narrative. But more than that, when writing on the experiences of the Negro in a hostile land he transfers to the reader his intense sense of injustice and shame and his urgent determination that something must and‘will be done to correct this situation at its deepest level, that an understanding must be achieved so that all Americans can live side by side as human beings.
He is the ideal writer to bring to the white race some comprehension of the Negro’s point of view, for he has personally undergone the worst sort of degradation at the hands of the whites, and as an artist, with highly sensitive perceptions, he is able to convey with vivid clarity his feelings and reactions during the course of his gradual awakening to the full implication of the society in which he had to live. The psychological make-up of the Negro is far from simple, in spite of the twodimensional colored characters encountered most frequently in contemporary movies and novels, and Wright has explored all the nuances of character involved in the emo
Black Boy, by Richard Wright. Harper
& Bros, 1945.
tional conflict he underwent during his bitter, often violent clashes with his social environment.
Wright’s childhood was not typical simply because Wright was not a typical child. He did not react the way he was expected to react. He did not see why the Negro in twentieth century America should be looked upon as chattel property, as some higher form of animal, rather than as a human being. He could not bring himself to read the valedictorian speech written for him by the school principal to be sure he expressed the “right” sentiments, even though it meant killing his chances for teaching in the city schools. He could not look on unmoved while his employer slashed a Negro woman for failing to pay her bill, right under the eye of an unconcerned white policeman. He felt insulted when urged by his white co~workers to fight a “grudge” fight against an other colored boy for pay, just like fighting cocks. He could not bear the ultimate degradation of being allowed, when running errands, free access to the rooms of the white prostitutes at the hotel in which he worked, as if he were not a man with normal instincts, and subject to the human social code.
Wright seems cold to organized religion because his two experiences with it in childhood were both unhappy. He finally joined the Methodist church simply because, at a wildly emotional revival meeting, which is beautifully described, he was maneuvered into a position where not
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to join would have brought a profound public humiliation upon his mother. But his spirit was not touched, and he deeply resented the pressure methods used to force opinions
which the individual should be free to determine for himself.
In his earlier years, Richard Wright’s rebellion against the Negro’s way of life was instinctive and forceful, but he did not know why he felt that way, nor had he begun to understand the broader implications of the problem. It was not until he reached Memphis and through forged notes on a loaned library card was able to borrow books from the library, that he began to know something of the world around him. He immersed himself in the critical, realistic works of Mencken, Dreiser, Lewis, Anderson, who nourished his rebellious spirit and fortified his determination to go North and better himself to an extent impossible in the South at that time.
Black Boy contains a variety of riches. As sheer melodramatic narrative, told with extraordinary skill and vividness, it is fascinating. It offers a panorama of sharply drawn, highly varied, and consistently interesting characterizations, dominated by the commanding character of
Wright himself. But best of all, it develops a marvelously clear, subtle,
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analysis of the Negro’s feelings about his life in America, his case against the whites, his ultimate aims and ohjectives. As such it should help greatly in bringing the two races together, and its wide circulation at this time is a blessing.
Bahá’ís will find one further treasure in Black Boy. They will gain a heightened conviction that the Bahá’í teachings and the society envisioned by the Bahá’í Administrative Order offer the only complete and permanent solution to the problems created by racial prejudice. Richard Wright’s deep-seated yearnings were for a society in which all men looked on each other as men, regardless of their color, and judged each other by individual merits, capabilities, and virtues, where all men had an equal opportunity to take part in the creative process, to enjoy the fruits of their labors, and to earn the love and respect of other men. Wright shows that the feelings against such a society are deeprooted and violent. An intellectual approach, no matter how reasonable nor how emhued with good will, can do little more than achieve an armed truce. A reconstructed, reinspired society, stemming from the power and wisdom of the renewed Word of God, is needed to reach the heart of this problem.
The unity which is productive of unlimited results is first a unity of mankind which recognizes that all are sheltered beneath the overshadowing glory of the All-Glorious; that all are servants of one God; for all breathe the same atmosphere, live upon the same earth, move beneath the same heavens, receive effulgence from the same sun and are under the protection of one God. This is the most great unity, and its results are lasting if humanity adheres to it; but mankind has hitherto violated it, adhering to sectarian or other limited unities such as racial, patriotic or unity of self-interests; there fore no great results have been forthcoming.
~‘ABDU’L-BAHA
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‘Abdu’l-Bahá in America
MARIAM HANEY
IN REVIEWING the period between 1912 and 1921, it is amazing to note how gradually but very definitely the Truths proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh al. most a century ago, and publicly and widely spread by ‘Abdu’L Bahá during His European and American tours in 1911 and 1912 (as well as stated in many written documents year after year before that time) have been in a limited way put into effect. A substantial beginning has been made foreshadowing the fulfillment of every statement and every prophecy of this New Dispensation, for the Creative Word does not return unto Him void, and God the Almighty is able to raise up instruments and endow them with capacity to put into efiect His Laws and Remedies. For instance we see various signs which denote progress: representative government; limitation of the extremes of wealth and poverty; abolition of chattel and economic slavery; equality of men and women; discussion concerning the adoption of a universal auxiliary language; formation of a League of Nations; an international court of arbitration; compulsory universal education, etc. Progress has been
made along all of these lines, and such subjects are no longer new, but are now widely discussed.
With every Word He uttered, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was laying the foundation of the unity of the world, for a genuine world-wide brotherhood that will last for hundreds of years to come. Nothing but the unalterable power of the Revealed Word of God can change the hearts of humanity and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said, “Hearts must be changed.” There will never be heaven on earth as willed by the Prophet of God until man turns to and accepts the Law of God.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s voice, so beautiful and so distinctly different, sounded a note of warning to the apathetic and proclaimed mightily the call to world unity in churches, synagogues, in universities, in halls, and other public places. A few of these places are here mentioned:
Church of the Ascension, Grace M.E. Church, Church of the Divine Paternity, Metropolitan Temple, Mount Morris Baptist Church, All-Souls Unitarian Church, also the Bowery Mission, all in New York City; Central Congregational Church in Brook 311
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lyn; Unity Church, Montclair, N. J .; Brotherhood Church, Jersey City; Unitarian Conference, Boston; Baptist Temple, and the Unitarian Church, in Philadelphia; Church of the Messiah and St. James Methodist Church in Montreal; Universalist Church, Metropolitan A. M. E. Church, Eighth Street Temple (Synagogue), in Washington, D.C.; and the Temple Emmanu-El in San Francisco.
He also spoke in Columbia University, New York; in Leland Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif.; Northwestern University, Evanston, 111.; and in Howard
University, Washington, DC.
' Other important places where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke to the people
in accordance with their needs,
might also be mentioned, such as Hull House and Handel Hall in Chicago; Peace Conference at Lake Mohonk; meetings in large hotels from coast to coast; Federation of Women’s Clubs in many diflerent cities; Theosophical Societies; Esperantist gatherings; in the Public Library Hall and in Neighborhood Settlement House in Washington, D.C.; Masonic Temples; Carnegie Lyceum, New York; Green Acre Conferences, Eliot, Maine; New Thought Forums; meetings for children in several cities; Town Halls, etc. Another group He addressed was the Socialist group in Montreal
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to whom He explained the difierence between equality and solidarity. He spoke at the dedication of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár and laid the cornerstone of this now famous Bahá’í House of Worship. He gave talks also in the mansions and homes of the rich and poor and all classes and types of humanity.
Special mention should be made of a Unity Feast at the home of Mr. Roy C. Wilhelm, in West Englewood, N. J ., arranged by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself. He was the Divine Host to a large group gathered from New York and vicinity, from Philadelphia, Buffalo, Green Acre, Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Portland, and other centers. Christians, Jews, Muhammadans, and the white and colored races were represented. A great significance attached to this spiritual and material Feast. One quotation from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s talk at that time is sufficient:
“This is a New Day and this hour is a New Hour wherein we have come together here. . . . This gathering has no peer or likeness upon the surface of the earth. . . . This assembly has a name which will last forever and ever. Hundreds of thousands of meetings shall be held to commemorate such an assembly as this, and the very words I utter to you on this occasion shall be
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reiterated by them in the ages to come. . . . How many blessed souls have longed for this blessed century and their utmost hopes and desires were centered upon the enjoyment of one such day. . . . They yearned to realize even an hour of this time.” And on the last Saturday in June in every succeeding year since that time 3 Unity Feast has been held in this same place commemorating the great event of 1912.
Down through succeeding generations ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Feast will be commemorated and it will ever and ever continue to be a great teacher, indicating to Bahá’ís and non-Bahá’ís the Way of Life. Probably thousands have been spiritually refreshed, strengthened and illumined, as the Bahá’í teachings were spread from this center in West Englewood, N. J. -— a sacred place indeed.
Another event of utmost importance during this visit of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, was a meeting on November 9, 1912, held in Rauscher’s Banquet Hall, in Washington, DC. To understand the miracle of this dinner-meeting, one has to know and fully realize existing conditions among the white and colored people at that time; they must also realize that this Banquet Hall was used only by the socially prominent, and for very special official gath 313
erings. That a dinner was given in such a place for white and colored Bahá’ís was almost unbelievable. Of course it was accomplished through the power of God and naught else. For the first time in the history of Washington the colored and white friends dined together in this prominent place under the protection of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Those fortunate enough to be present on this supremely spiritual occasion could not possibly forget the beautiful picture of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá standing in the midst of this group serving all alike with such tenderness. He spoke such words as these in His talk at that time:
“May you consider all religions the instruments of God and regard all races as channels of divine manifestation. May you view mankind as the sheep of God and know for a certainty that He is the real Shepherd. Consider how this kind and tender Shepherd cares for all His flock; how He leads them in green pastures and beside the still waters. How well He protects them! Verily this Shepherd makes no distinctions whatsoever; to all the sheep He is equally kind. Therefore we must follow the example of God and strive in pathways of good-will toward all humanity.”
So the Divine Servant of God
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spoke to all races, religions and peoples, not favoring any particular group. He was no “respecter of persons,” for the Message of the New Age is universal.
On His way to California ‘Abdu’l-Bahá called at the home of Honorable William Jennings Bryan, in Lincoln, Nebraska, and was received by Mrs. Bryan and her daughter. It is recorded that Mr. Bryan, on his return trip from India many, many years ago, had called on ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the Most Great Prison in ‘Akká, Palestine; He even tried to see ‘Abdu’l-Bahá a second time but was prevented by the soldiers and guards of the old Turkish regime. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, while traveling in this country therefore, graciously called to see Mr. Bryan, but when he was away from home on a lecture tour, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá left a message for him with Mrs. Bryan. A short excerpt from that message will be of interest:
“I shall never forget our meeting in ‘Akká, and ever pray that you may become assisted in the accomplishment of such service as to cause you to shine like a brilliant star from the horizon of everlasting glory forever and ever. Your aims and intentions are honorable, and their full realization conducive to the public weal.”
Many were the important per WORLD ORDER
sonalities in all circles of life who had the privilege of association with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during His American visit. Among these might be mentioned that great worker for peace, Dr. David Starr Jordan, who was at the time President of Leland Stanford University. It was Dr. Jordan who said that “ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá walks the mystical path with practical feet.”
At the Grand Hotel in Cincinnati, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá addressed a large group, and from this talk the following is quoted:
“As we are in Cincinnati, the home of President Taft who has rendered such noble service in the cause of peace, I will dictate a statement for the people of Cincinnati and America generally: “America is a noble nation, the standard bearer of peace throughout the world, shedding light to all regions. . . . I am most grateful to President Taft for giving his influence to the movement for international peace, and what he has done toward establishing peace treaties is good; but when we have the interparliamentary body, composed of delegates from all the nations of the world, devoted to maintaining universal peace and good-will, then we will have the Parliament of Man of which the poets have dreamed.”
To Mr. C. C. Philips, Secretary of the Mohonk Conference on
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International Arbitration, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: “This brilliant century has no likeness and similitude in the history of man. From every standpoint it is distinguished above all other centuries. It is specialized with such excellencies that the shining star of the heavenly confirmations shall gleam from the horizon of this century upon all the future cycles and periods. One of the most extraordinary events of this time, which indeed is a miracle, is the founding of the oneness of this realm of humanity and its essential branches such as universal peace and the unity of the different nations.”
This entire subject of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s American visit and His Teachings is so vast, so vital, so full of those great and dynamic seeds of Truth that relate to the transformation and reformation of life on this planet that to record an adequate survey and exposition of such a theme would require volumes, and this is not an exaggerated statement. No mere human being could justly
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and completely evaluate the su preme importance of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s authoritative Teaching, or present an adequate picture of such a Holy Being, as He eamestly called to the people everywhere to turn toward the “Risen Sun of Righteousness” and accept that which God requires of His people in this Day. His living of the life amongst us cannot be measured by any criterion whatsoever; the measureless distance between ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and humanity resulted in a reverence absolutely indescribable; His Presence was an overwhelming Presence, entirely independent of the material universe, manifesting a spiritual grandeur, majesty and sublimity transcending any and all concepts of human ideals, yet at the same time was He so natural and so humble as to bring realization of God’s fathomless love to the most stony heart. But the record remains in His Words
and His Works.
Number eight in a series of notations on Bahá’í activity in North America from 1893 to 1921.
O Son of Man!
Should prosperity befall thee, rejoice not, and should abasement come upon thee, grieve not, for both shall pass away and be no more.
—Bahá’u’lláh
The Day of God
’7 9
WORDS OF BAHA U LLAH II
KINGS OF CHRISTENDOM! Heard ye not the saying of Jaus, the
Spirit of God, “I go away, and come again unto you”? Wherefore, then, did ye fail, when He did come again unto you in the clouds of heaven, to draw nigh unto Him, that ye might behold His face, and be of them that attained His Presence? In another passage He saith: “When He,‘ the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.” And yet, behold how, when He did bring the truth, ye refused to turn your faces towards Him, and persisted in disporting yourselves with your pastimes and fancies. Ye welcomed Him not, neither did ye seek His Presence, that ye might hear the verses of God from His own mouth, and partake of the manifold wisdom of the Almighty, the All-Glorious, the All-Wise. Ye have, by reason of your failure, hindered the breath of God from being waited over you, and have withheld from your souls the sweetness of its fragrance. Ye continue roving with delight in the valley of your corrupt dmires. Ye, and all ye possess, shall pass away. Ye shall, most certainly, return to God, and shall be called
to account for your doings in the presence of Him Who shall gather together the entire creation . . .
Twenty years have passed, 0 kings, during which We have, each day, tasted the agony of a fresh tribulation. No one of them that were before Us hath endured the things We have endured. Would that ye could perceive it! They that rose up against Us have put us to death, have shed our blood, have plundered our property, and violated our honor. Though aware of most of our afflictions, ye, nevertheless, have failed to stay the hand of the aggressor. For is it not your clear duty to restrain the tyranny of the oppressor, and to deal equitably with your subjects, that your high sense of justice may be fully demonstrated to all mankind?
God hath committed into your hands the reins of the government of the people, that ye may rule with justice over them, safeguard the rights of the downtrodden, and punish the wrong-doers. If ye neglect the duty prescribed unto you by God in His Book, your names shall be numbered with those of the unjust in His sight. Grievous, indeed, will be your error. Cleave ye to that which your imaginations have devised, and cast behind your backs the commandments of God, the Most Exalted, the Inaccessible, the AllCompelling, the Almighty? Cast away the things ye possess, and cling to that which God hath hidden you observe. Seek ye His grace, for he that seeketh it treadeth His straight Path.
0 Kings of the earth! Cive ear unto the Voice of God, calling from this sublime, this fruit-laden Tree, that hath sprung out of the Crimson Hill, upon the Holy Plain, intoning the words: “There is none other God but He, the Mighty, the All-Powerful, the All-Wise.” . . . Fear God, O concourse of
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kings, and suffer not yourselves to be deprived of this most sublime grace. Fling away, then, the things ye possess, and take fast hold on the Handle of God, the Exalted, the Great. Set your hearts towards the F ace of God. and abandon that which your desires have bidden you to follow, and be not of those who perish. Relate unto them, 0 servant, the story of ‘Ali (the Báb), when He came unto them with truth, bearing His glorious and weighty Book, and holding in His hands a testimony and proof from God, and holy and blessed tokens from Him. Ye, however, 0 kings, have failed to heed the Remembrance of God in His clays and to be guided by the lights which arose and shone forth above the horizon of a resplendent Heaven. Ye examined not His Cause when so to do would have been better for you than all that the sun shineth upon, could ye hut perceive it. Ye remained careless until the divines of Persia—those cruel ones—pronounced judgment against Him, and unjustly slew Him. His spirit ascended unto God, and the eyes of the inmates of Paradise and the angels that are nigh unto Him wept sore by reason of this cruelty. Beware that ye be not careless henceforth as ye have been careless aforetime. Return, then, unto God, your Maker, and be not of the heedless . . . My face hath come forth from the veils, and shed its radiance upon all that is in heaven and on earth; and yet, ye turned not towards Him, notwithstanding that ye were created for Him, O concourse of kings! Follow, therefore that which I speak unto you, and hearken unto it with your hearts, and be not of such as have turned aside. For your glory consisteth not in your sovereignty, but rather in your nearness unto God and your observance of His command as sent down in His holy and preserved Tablets. Should any one of you rule over the whole earth, and over all that lieth within it and upon it, its seas, its lands, its mountains, and its plains, and yet be not remembered by God, all these would profit him not, could ye but know it . . . Arise, then, and make steadfast your feet, and make ye amends for that which hath escaped you, and set then yourselves towards His holy Court. on the shore of His mighty Ocean, so that the pearls of knowledge and wisdom, which God hath stored up within the shell of His radiant heart, may be revealed unto you . . . Beware lest ye hinder the breeze of God from blowing
over your hearts, the breeze through which the hearts of such as have turned unto Him can be quickened . . .
Arise thou amongst men in the name of this all-compelling Cause, and summon, then, the nations unto God, the Exalted, the Great. Be thou not of them who called upon God by one of His names, but who, when He Who is the Object of all names appeared, denied Him and turned aside from Him, and, in the end, pronounced sentence against Him with manifest injustice. Consider and call thou to mind the days whereon the Spirit of God (Jesus) appeared, and Herod gave judgment against Him. God, however, aided Him with the hosts of the unseen, and protected Him with truth, and sent Him down unto another land, according to His promise. He, verily, ordaineth what He pleaseth. Thy Lord truly preserveth whom He willeth, be he in the
midst of the seas, or in the maw of the serpent, or beneath the sword of the oppressor . . .
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HEN ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote in structions to American Baha 1s about spreading the Bahá’í Faith all over the world He said this about the importance of Panama: “Likewise, ye must give great attention to the Republic of Panama, for in that point the Occident and Orient find each other united through the Panama Canal, and it is also situated between the twa great oceans. That place will become very important in the future. The Teachings once established there, they will unite the East and the West, the North and the South.”
The following, written by a new Bahá’í in Colon, Republic of Panama, assures us that the Bahá’í Faith is established there, is welding together people of different races and bringing happiness to hearts. No thought of publication was in the mind of the writer but it has been sent to us with permission to print in World
Order. This new Bahá’í says:
“Reflecting on my visit to Panama yesterday, I can’t help but express the pleasure of the little visit I paid to C’s home. It was about sunset, the evening was cool and calm and the skies beautiful with the sunset glow. The apartment was quiet and comfortable and a sense of peace, well-being and harmony seemed to pervade the room. We four chatted about the Bahá’í Faith in general and C showed us some pictures of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and some snap-shots of friends in America, telling us little incidents and interesting facts about the different persons.
“What struck me was this—here
were we, one white American, one colored American and two British West Indians sitting together in perfect harmony and accord. For the time it seemed as though there were no trouble in the world, no hate, no prejudice, no sickness, nothing but peace and tranquillity as we sat in that quiet room and enjoyed the companionship of one another. I guess God’s Spirit was there and transformed that room into a little tabernacle, and I think we should always remember that moment, and in fact all moments such as that. Too often the weather is awful, or we are nervous or worried, or the neighbors are noisy, etc., and we don’t get a chance to feel tranquil through and through, so that when, unexpectedly, those moments arrive, we should learn to realize and treasure them.
“What brought this about? Well, the Bahá’í Faith; otherwise we would hardly have been there, and even if we were, thete would not have been that sense of confidence, trust and real friendliness between us. We might have been with Iola, certainly not with C, and even then after some silly shop talk we most likely would have turned to a little local gossip in order to ‘chat.’ Now there is no need for that sort of thing because we‘ have something definite to talk about, something that holds our mutual interest. Let’s try to keep that friendship alive, and our interest in the Faith, 3 real thing.”
Another Panamanian Bahá’í who is superintendent of education in the Republic of Panama, had an opportunity to speak to a group which was
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observing Brotherhood Week. He said:
“As a member of a minority group I consider the observance of Brotherhood Week a timely and significant step in the right direction. The entire world is passing through a very grave crisis. Even in this age of enlightenment, pernicious doctrines
and prejudices destructive to the
foundations of human development have been invented and circulated widely. What therefore is the ideal of brotherhood, and how can it be achieved?
“True religion and science teach that the peoples and races of the earth are all brothers. All are servants of God and members of one family. ‘Ye are all fruits of one tree, the leaves of one branch, the flowers of one garden,’ proclaims a great Bahá’í Prophet. The oneness of the world of humanity is one meaning of brotherhood.
“If unity, peace and justice are to be attained, then prejudices, whether religious, racial, or patriotic, must be dispelled. Prejudices of any kind are the destroyers of human happiness and welfare. F ears, animosities and hatreds should be abandoned and in their stead loving cooperation, mutual respect and sincere understanding fostered. We must become the cause of unity of the human race. Unity in diversity is another meaning of brotherhood.
“The achievement of the ideal of brotherhood is the great challenge for our day. In all our human relationships—in our families, in our neighborhoods, in our schools, and in our communities—there are countless opportunities in which these and other meanings of brotherhood may he exemplified. In addi tion, since many of us believe that
319
organized education as a form of social action and interpretation can be a creative undertaking for inculcating new social values, we therefore look to our educational institutions—the school, the church, the movies, the radio and the pressfor courageous leadership in this relatively unexplored field. Surely for our day this is our great opportunity: F irst, to develop in our boys and girls a recognition of their kinship with the human race as a whole so that their concern in matters pertaining to human needs extends beyond the boundaries of the particular group with which they are primarily identified; and secondly, to instill in these young people, the men and women of tomorrow, a burning desire to cherish human achievement in any group or class or race, as a contribution to present day living.”
Truly the spirit and understanding shown in the words of these two Panamanian Bahá’ís assure us that the seeds are planted for making Panama “very important in the fu ture.” I H’ I
In our leading article, “Two Roads We Face,” Kenneth Christian points out the direction which we must take to solve the world dilemma. Bahá’ís are not boastful when they say that the path and the goal are found only in the Bahá’í teachings. It is Bahá’u’lláh, the Divine Prophet, Who has set the goal. This article was first presented as a public talk in Washington, D.C., and later in Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Christian is a frequent contributor to W orld Order. Our December number carried his
index to the book, The Advent of Divine Justice, hy Shoghi Effendi. Mr. Christian teaches in the department of Written and Spoken English
320 WORLD ORDER
at Michigan State College, East Lansing, Michigan. The editors are glad to announce that the N.S.A. has recently appointed Mr. Christian to the editorial committee of W orld Order.
Spiritual insight and longing for the speedy coming of the time of fruit prompts Mary Marlowe’s contribution, “F ruit in Abundance” and as we read we, too, know that this time of fruit will come. Mrs. Marlowe contributed “Can Your Religion Unite the Nations?” in our October number and previously several poems by the same author have appeared in
these pages under the signature Polly McClellen.
“Religion and Science” is Otto Zmeskal’s first contribution to W orld Order. This article is one in a series which we have been presenting from time to time showing signs of progress in world affairs. Dr. Zmeskal is a metallurgist and chemist who did his graduate work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His work and home are in Pittsburgh,
‘Pennsylvania, where both he and
Mrs. Zmeskal are active in the Bahá’í community.
Those who have already read Black Boy will appreciate Arthur Dahl’s review of it. Others, we think, will be stimulated to read the book which shows as perhaps no other book has how deep rooted in American life is the cancer of racial prejudice. We have printed many previous contributions from Mr. Dahl. The last previous one was in our December number, “Challenge to Liberal Thought.” Mr. Dahl lives in Palo Alto, California, and is chairman of the Geyserville Bahá’í School program committee and active for the Bahá’í Faith in many other ways.
Mariam Haney continues in this
issue her series which we are publishing from time to time telling about Bahá’í activities in the United States from 1893 to 1921. These articles were written at the time of the Bahá’í Centenary celebration, but have been printed only in W orld Order. Mrs. Haney’s home is in Washington, DC.
Again, as in our December number, we print excerpts from the words of Bahá’u’lláh under the title “The Day of God” that our readers may ponder and understand the true meaning of this New Age into which we are entering, the deep significance of the chaos through which we are passing, and the bounty and glory of the New Age which is dawning.
During the war World Order has gone to young Bahá’ís in service in many parts of the world and often, perhaps always, after being eagerly read has been shared with others. One young Bahá’í in England writes of sending a copy to a brother of the late Dr. John Fsslemont whose book, Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era has already been translated into some forty different languages. The young man writes as follows:
“Have just read the September, 1945, World Order magazine. The article by Gayle Woolson on Costa Rica impressed me immensely and especially the reference to Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era. As I read the article I thought to whom I might send the magazine, a pioneer of the Six Year Plan of the British Isle or another friend of the Teachings. It is being addressed to Mr. Peter Esslemont of Aberdeen, Scotland ( the brother of Dr. John Easlemont) , who is interested in the progress of the Faith, especially in America.”
——THE EDITORS
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Bahá’í Literature
Cleaning: from ‘the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, selected and translated by
Shoghi Effendi. The Bahá’í teachings on the nature of religion, the soul,
the basis of civilization and the oneness of mankind. Bound in fabrikoid. - 360 pages. $2.00.
The Kitzib-i-fqa'n, translated by Shoghi Effendi. This work (The Book of Certitude) unifies and coordinates the revealed Religions of the past,
demenstrating their oneness in fulfillment of the purposes of Revelation. Bound in cloth. 262 pages. $2.50.
Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh, selected and translated by Shoghi Effendi. The suprenie expression of devotion to God; a spiritual flame
' which enkindles the heart and illumines the mind. 348 pages. Bound in fabrikoid. $2.00.
Bahá’í Prayers, a selection of Prayers revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb and ‘Abdu’l-Bah'é, each P{ayer translated by Shoghi Effendi. 72 pages. Bound in fabrikoid, $0.75. Paper cover, $0.35.
Some Answered Questions. ‘Abdu’LBahá’s explanation of questions concerning the relation of man to God, the nature of the Manifestation,
human capacities, fulfillment of prophecy, etc. Bound in‘ cloth. 350 pages. 31.50. L
The Promulgation of Universal Peace. In this collection of His American talks, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá laid the basis for a firm understanding of the attitudes, principles and spiritual laws which enter into the establishment of true Peace. 492 pages. Bound in cloth. $52.50.
The W orld Order of Bahá’u’lláh, hy Shoghi Effendi. On the nature of the new social pattern revealed by Bahá’u’lláh for the attainment -of divine justice in civilization. Bound in fabrikoid. 234 pages. $1.50.
God Passes By, by Shoghi Effendi. The authoritative documented historical survey of the Bahá’í Faith through the four periods of its first century: The Ministry of the Báb, the Ministry of Bahá’u’lláh, the Ministry of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and the Inception of the Formative Age ’( 1921 , 1944). In these pages the world’s supreme spiritual drama unfolds. ' - xxiii plus 412 pages. Bound in fabrikoid. $2.50.
Bahá’í PUBLISHING COMMITTEE 110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois
Words of Bahá’u’lláh
Inscribed Over the Nine Entrances of the House of W orship, Wilmette, Illinois
. The earth is but one country; and mankind its citizens. '
2. The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me.
3. My love is My stronghold; he that entereth therein is safe and secure.
4. Breathe not the sins of others so long as thou art thyself a sinner.
5. Thy heart is My home; sanctify it for My descent.
6. I have made death a messenger of joy to thee; wherefore dost thou grieve?
7. Make mention of Me on My earth that in My heaven I may remember thee.
8. 0 rich ones on earth! The poor in your midst are My trust; guard ye My trust.
9. The source of all learning is the knowledge Of God, exalted be His glory.
