SPECIAL FEATURE
A copy of the article entitled "The Earth is but one Country" which is reproduced below was sent with a letter from the NSA of Germany to the Nineteen-Day Feast of Sultan, 19 January 1997, to every Local Assembly and group in Germany. The letter to the Nineteen Day Feast says the following about this article and its author: "A clear sign of the growing open-mindedness of the people for the Message of Bahá’u’lláh is a full-page article which appeared at the end of December in the Deutsches Allgemeines Sonntagsblatt with the heading The Earth is but one Country'. We enclose a copy of this article. The Deutsches Allgemeines Sonntagsblatt is an independent Christian weekly paper with a large distribution thr~oughout Germany~" The author is a journalist who lives in Munich.
"The Earth is but one Country" by Dr Susanne Schaup
When, in the years of 1979 to 1985, terrible news about the cruel persecution of the Baha'is during the regime of Ayatollah Khomeini went through the international press, the public heard hardly anything about the teachings of this youngest of the world's religions~ Current events stood in the foreground: More than two hundred people had been murdered, a considerable number had been abducted, dispossessed and expelled~ As late as 1983 ten women were executed, because they would not recant their Faith~ According to the Islamic view the Baha'is are apostates from the true Faith and therefore do not have the same protection under the law of Iran as have other religious minorities, such as Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians (followers of Zoroaster)~ This despite the fact that the Baha'is, with 300,000 members in Iran, are by far the largest minority, a group of people who, in accordance with the rules of their Faith, have never interfered in politics and who, because of their high level of education, their ethical principles and their ability, have done outstanding service to their country.
When the world community started to exert pressure on the Iranian government, some of the worst excesses ceased, but below the surface persecution continues~ The Baha'i Faith is officially proscribed~ Its adherents are excluded from higher education, from jobs in the public service, from workplaces as a whole and from receiving any kind of social security~ From a secret paper of the Iranian government which was published by the UN at the beginning of 1993 it became evident that the Baha'is are being discriminated against at all levels in order to prevent any progress or development of their community~ Even for Baha'is abroad, the paper says that "a plan must be devised to confront and destroy their cultural roots outside the country".
The curse of persecution has oppressed this peaceful religion since its inception~ But for every martyr a hundred new believers arise to take their place, as happened with the early Christians~ The Baha'is are today among the most dynamically growing religious communities in the world~ After Christianity it is the religion which is geographically most widely spread~ In 1963 there were 400,000 Baha'is world-wide, in the year 1985 already three and a half million, and in the year 1993 more than five million, spread over all the continents and more than two hundred nations and tribes~ Of the 4,500 Baha'is who live in Germany more than half are Germans and naturalized Persians, 25 percent are Persians, and the rest is composed of persons from fifty to sixty other nations~ This international picture is typical for the Baha'is.
Their most important principle is the unity of mankind, which also comprises the unity of God and the unity of the religions.
The Baha'is acknowledge the truth in all religions~ In all religions a divine message was revealed, in which one has to distinguish between an eternal core and the historically conditioned outer form~ Thus Baha'is welcome people of all religions, cultures and races into their Faith. By promotion of the concept of "diversity in unity" the Baha'is make a very important contribution to a future world society.
God's Revelation according to the needs of the new age
The call for unity is today loud and clear~ All religions proclaim peace, but to this day they have remained the cause of bloodshed and conflict. They have been unable so far to overcome racial hatred or cultural arrogance~ The Baha'is, who have translated into reality Christ's radical commandment of love more convincingly than nominal Christendom, have set an example~ Wherever one sees them, at large congresses, at work, in conversation, at small celebrations in the family circle, in their carefully edited brochures, from faces of every colour everywhere there radiates a joy and heart-warming benevolence, for which I have no other word than love. I had never before noticed how alike black and white faces can be, except in such Baha'i groups.
When Bahá’u’lláh, the Founder of the Religion., proclaimed the new message about one hundred and fifty years ago, more chasms seemed to separate men from each other than in previous centuries. Science was challenging religion, nationalism was shaking large alliances of peoples, colonialism was setting up insurmountable racial barriers, differences between the sexes divided men and women. In the Islamic world too the unrest and the longing for reforms were great at that time. Then Bahá’u’lláh appeared and with His teachings turned the law of the Qur’án upside down. He proclaimed progressive revelation from God according to the needs of a new age. He still considered the Qur’án to be a source of divine truth., just like all the other holy writings of the world, but the relationship of man to man.. of the world to God, which He derived from the eternal truths, was revolutionary. He proclaimed the full equality of women and demanded for them the same rights and the same education as for men, an unheard-of demand in the world of that day, whether Islamic or Christian. He declared that science can never be in opposition to true religion, as both are but different aspects of the one truth. When religion is not in accord with scientific knowledge, this religion is superstition., He said. He wanted no "opium for the people", no religion accepted in blind faith., but He demanded of each human being that he should independently search for the truth with all the faculties which had been given to him by God, including reason. One is not born a Baha'i., rather one becomes one in a me decision. The precondition for a true and responsible belief is knowledge of self. Whoever knows himself also encounters God in this process of spiritualization.
Bahá’u’lláh issued a very strict prohibition against defending one's Faith by force, even in self defence. A truth which has to use violent measures in its defence becomes damaged. This is a radical rejection of the principle that the end sanctifies the means - no less radical than the meekness of Jesus. The martyrs of the Baha'i Faith in their thousands demonstrated their steadfastness and their spirit of sacrifice. They fled from their persecutors and murderers when this was possible, but they did not offer them resistance.
Baha'u11ah also enjoined his followers to abstain from politics and to be loyal to whatever government is in power in the country in which they live. They did not even plot against the unjust regime of the Ayatollah, although they were falsely accused of subversive activities. They were enjoined to use their abilities outside the political arena for the great work of reconciliation and unification and told that they could not be called Baha'is, if their Faith as it is lived does not have the highest priority. They give of their plenty which they earn by their diligence. They devote themselves to development work and educational projects, especially for women in disadvantaged countries. They participate in organizations which work for the unification of mankind.
Thus they actively participated in the establishment of the United Nations from the beginning. They played an essential role in the planning and realization of the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in the summer of 1993. At the bidding of the Founder of the Religion and successors designated by Him., they have developed simple organizational structures which makes possible extremely efficient action.
In each country the Baha'is set different focal points for their work. Thus, for example, in the USA the Baha'is have established a series of institutes for healing race discrimination., the old, unsolved problem of which nobody is willing to speak any more. Around a third of American Baha'is are Black Americans, and a considerable number are descendants of the almost exterminated American Indians. What is practised by these people is true integration at all levels of public and private life. The German Baha'is have devoted themselves for three years to improving relationships with foreign residents. After the attacks in Solingen the small group of Solingen Baha'is initiated the "Project Long Table" and brought together different nationalities for discussions in a festive and amicable atmosphere. Turkish and German Baha'is are jointly continuing the work of reconciliation.
The only visible Baha'i Institution - on every continent there is one - is the "House of Worship", generally a splendid domed building with nine entrances, financed' by private donations. The European Centre is situated in Langenhain near Frankfurt and is open not only to Baha'is, but to all religious communities and other groups with whom the Bahá’ís collaborate. The same is true of the Landegg Academy in Switzerland, a Baha'i Foundation. There is nothing sectarian or parochial about them. They do not make propaganda for their Faith. Every kind of aggressive missionary activity is foreign to them. and despite that fact they become ever more numerous.
The balance is already shifting: force is losing its dominance.
This is not surprising, since the Baha'is from the beginning have tackled all the problems of the world and have created credible models for a solution. In many ways they were far in advance of their time. When the resources of the world still seemed inexhaustible, they adopted a lifestyle which does violence to neither their fellow men nor to nature. Today many people out of concern for the world attempt to live a "gentle lifestyle" which is simple and beneficial to man without being ascetic. The Baha'is anticipated the world-wide women's movement. The longing for unification. for a "synthesis" of the religions, has been fulfilled in their Faith: In their own models for living they have surmounted the hostile differences of races and cultures. The new science "which is open to transcendence" was always a matter of course for them. The spiritual evolution of man which is so much under discussion today had been clearly foreseen by Bahá’u’lláh. The love for which we today ask bashfully and so far unsuccessfully in public life, in the economy and in politics, was always a guiding principle for the Baha'is. Without love nothing works. It is the only eternal law. All others are subject to change. This world too is in the process of change. As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the late son and successor to Bahá’u’lláh, said in 1921: " ... the balance is already shifting; force is losing its dominance, and mental alertness, intuition. and the spiritual qualities of love and service, in which woman is strong. are gaining ascendancy. Hence the new age will be an age less masculine and more permeated with the feminine ideals, or, to speak more exactly, will be an age in which the masculine and feminine elements of civilization will be more evenly balanced." The growing influence of the Baha'is is one of the most hopeful signs that these words may come true.
Translated by Greg Messiah
The Associate is the newsletter of the
Association for Bahá’í Studies (English-Speaking Europe),
27 Rutland Gate, London SW7 1PD, UK.