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The International Day of Peace is observed globally on September 21 in recognition of the urgent need to promote a peaceful social order, based on principles of oneness of humanity and justice for all.
It is the Bahá’í view that any new thinking about peace must begin with the belief in the oneness of humanity. We need to accept that we are one human species.
We all belong to one human family, created by one Almighty God. Physical differences such as skin colour or hair texture are superficial. These have nothing to do with any supposed superiority of one ethnic group or another.
The Universal House of Justice, the governing council of the Bahá’í International Community states that “World order can be founded only on an unshakeable consciousness of the oneness of mankind, a spiritual truth which all the human sciences confirm . . . recognition of this truth requires abandonment of prejudice — prejudice of every kind-race, class, colour, creed, nation, sex, degree of material civilisation, everything which enables people to consider themselves superior to others”.
We now have more than ever before, conditions for the establishment of lasting peace on earth. We have become more and more interdependent.
The scientific and technological advances of our times offer practical ways by which the problems of humanity may be solved.
They also provide the means for the administration of the complex life of a united world. Despite all this, there are still persistent barriers to peace. The most common barriers are various kinds of prejudice and self-interest.
World peace can only be achieved when we accept the oneness of humanity and by embracing human diversity.
There is a need for complete harmony of many diversely functioning parts in all living organisms. No advanced living organism can consist of, and function with, only identical cells and organs.
A diversity of form and function is absolutely necessary for the life of any complex, well-developed organic entity.
For example, the perfect functioning of the human body is due to the unity of diverse cells and organs. In the same way, the well-being and proper functioning of the body of mankind is dependent on unity of its diverse elements — of all races, nationalities, religions and ethnic groups.
The Bahá’í Writings state: “Love ye all religions and all races with a love that is true and sincere and show that love through deeds and not through the tongue; for the latter hath no importance, as the majority of men are, in speech, well-wishers, while action is the best” and that “God maketh no distinction between the white and the black. If the hearts are pure both are acceptable unto Him”.
Peace and justice are closely linked.
In order to be just we need to be fair-minded in our judgments, to ensure equity in our treatment of others; and to apply justice every day, in everything we do and towards all our fellow human beings.
Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Bahá’í Faith says: “No light can compare with the light of justice. The establishment of order in the world and the tranquillity of the nations depend upon it”.
The current interrelated global challenges — including the health pandemic — cannot be addressed without a higher level of co-operation at all levels of society.
“The required higher level of co-operation” in the Bahá’í view, “can only be motivated by a sincere appreciation for the unity of all human beings”.
And justice is vital to the establishment of unity at all levels — at family and community levels, as well as at national and international ones. This provides the standard by which individual conduct and collective efforts must be judged.
Creating a just social order, in the Bahá’í view, also “requires, a “just legislation in accord with the Divine laws which guarantee the happiness of society and protect the rights of all mankind . . . laws ensuring the integrity of the members of society and their equality before the law”.
Global peace and collective security
Of course, the recognition of the oneness of humanity and the abandonment of all types of prejudice by individuals are the first requirements towards establishment of peace and justice.
But in addition, the Bahá’í Faith envisions a system of collective security within a framework of a global federation.
It foresees the creation of a global commonwealth of nations to uphold world peace, in which all races, creeds and classes are united and the autonomy of its state members and the personal freedom and initiative of the individuals are safeguarded.
The principle of collective security enunciated by Bahá’u’lláh prescribes “a system in which Force is made the servant of Justice”, and which provides for the existence of an international peace-keeping force that “will safeguard the organic unity of the whole commonwealth”.
A world federal system, guided by universally agreed upon and enforceable laws, allows nations to manage cooperatively an increasingly interdependent and rapidly changing world, thereby ensuring peace and social and economic justice for all it peoples.
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