Online Reporter
Flora Teckie
Bahá’í Perspective
WE often reflect on features of an ideal, ever-advancing society and on how such a society can be built, and whether we can each play a role in creating it.
A few thoughts come to mind, regarding features of such a society. Individuals would treat each other with love, respect, and understanding.
There would be a high regard for the rights and dignity of all individuals and groups in such society. The welfare and well-being of everyone would be considered a priority.
Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Bahá’í Faith, says that all people “have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilisation”.
In an ever-advancing civilisation, we all work towards building a peaceful and prosperous world, rather than building for many years and destroying, through conflicts and wars, in what seems no time at all.
The Bahá’í International Community, in its statement titled “The Prosperity of Humankind”, says: “Everywhere the signs multiply that the earth’s peoples yearn for an end to conflict and to the suffering and ruin from which no land is any longer immune.
“These rising impulses for change must be seized upon and channelled into overcoming the remaining barriers that block realisation of the age-old dream of global peace”.
Carrying forward an ever-advancing civilisation requires that we progress spiritually and materially, together and simultaneously, since the two are complementary.
It requires the participation of every one, with the aim of building a better world, where peace, prosperity, and unity prevail.
“It must be galvanised by a vision of human prosperity in the fullest sense of the term-an awakening to the possibilities of the spiritual and material well-being now brought within grasp. Its beneficiaries must be all of the planet’s inhabitants, without distinction”, says the Bahá’í International Community.
Building a peaceful and prosperous world, in which the spiritual and material wellbeing of all inhabitants of the planet are priorities, will require the belief in, and implementation of, the principle of oneness of humanity. It will require that the differences in the human family are considered as beautifying factors and not used to pit groups against one another.
In an ever-advancing civilisation, everyone would be treated with dignity and respect, with fairness and justice from whatever background they may be. Only through the belief in the oneness of humanity will people be enabled to turn away from the patterns of conflict that have been dominating social organisation, and begin to learn the ways of collaboration and conciliation.
Civilisation, Bahá’u’lláh says, has evolved to the point where unity of humanity has become of paramount necessity. To lay the groundwork for a united world there will be need for laws and institutions that are universal in both character and authority.
In an ever-advancing civilisation, individuals see themselves as members of one human family, and would serve its best interests. Since humanity has now reached a new level of maturity, it is now possible to create societies founded upon cooperation, trust, and genuine concern for others.
Spiritual and social development are both essential elements of a more mature civilisation. In order to create a united and peaceful world civilisation, based on principles of justice, prosperity, and continuing advancement, individuals need to be empowered to express their God-given talents and capacities in service to humanity.
According to the Bahá’í Writings, “That one indeed is a man who, today, dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race”, and that “God is the helper of those souls whose aim is to serve humanity and whose efforts and endeavours are devoted to the good and betterment of all mankind”.
Through serving others, the essential principles of social integration, including compassion, understanding, sacrifice, humility, and commitment to justice — are manifested in society. Serving others, in addition to providing benefits to our families and community, also creates bonds of solidarity and common purpose among those involved.
The Bahá’í Writings assert: “… is there any deed in the world that would be nobler than service to the common good? Is there any greater blessing conceivable for a man, than that he should become the cause of the education, the development, the prosperity and honour of his fellow-creatures?
“The highest righteousness of all is for blessed souls to take hold of the hands of the helpless … and with pure motives, and only for the sake of God, to arise and energetically devote themselves to the service of the masses, forgetting their own worldly advantage and working only to serve the general good”.
Bahá’u’lláh’s statement, that all people “have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilisation”, implies that we all have both the right and the responsibility to contribute to this important enterprise, whose goal is nothing less than the peace, prosperity, and unity of our human family.
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