In the Tablet of the World, Bahá'u'lláh has laid down other foundations for the peace and security of the world. Among them are these:
"First: The ministers of the House of Justice must promote the Most Great Peace, in order that the world may be freed from onerous expenditures. This matter is obligatory and indispensable; for warfare and conflict are the foundation of trouble and distress.
Second: Languages must be reduced to one, and that one language must be taught in all the schools of the world.
Third: All must adhere to the means
which is conducive to love and unity.
Fourth: Men and women must place
a part of what they earn by trade, agriculture or other business, in charge
of a trustworthy person, to be spent in the education and instruction of
the children. That deposit must be invested in the education of children,
under the advice of the trustees of the House of Justice.
Fifth: Complete regard should be had [given] to the matter of agriculture (see three paragraphs hence). Although this matter is mentioned in the fifth [as the fifth item], yet in reality it is endowed with the first station..."
Elsewhere in the tablet He expresses prohibitions against the destroying of men's lives, the burning of books, the shunning of other nations, and the exterminating of other communities (genocide)--all of which have had some basis in previous dispensations , and to which some still hold.
Also unique to this religion is Bahá'u'lláh's provision to safeguard the unity of the Faith. That is to say He has eliminated the possibility of the division into sects and denominations. This is explained elsewhere in connection with the matter of "interpretation of the text." Bahá'u'lláh appointed His son as the authorized "Interpreter" of His Word, and thereby the "Center of His Covenant" with mankind. After 30 years of written revelation from the Pen of Bahá'u'lláh, mankind has received another 30 years of authoritative interpretation through the ministry of Abdu'l-Bahá (a title meaning "Servant of the Glory"). At the same time, Bahá'u'lláh has abolished the institution of the clergy and vested authority to decide on the affairs of the community into the hands of local assemblies, whose elected representatives are selected by secret plurality vote, without nominations or electioneering, every year.
Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'u'lláh's son, and appointed "Interpreter" of His Word, has explained the "Foundations of World Unity" in a talk (1912) on cooperation and the economy:
". . .First and foremost is the principle that to all the members of the body politic shall be given the greatest achievements of the world of humanity. Each one shall have the utmost welfare and well-being. To solve this problem we must begin with the farmer; there will we lay a foundation for system and order because the peasant class and the agricultural class exceed all other classes in the importance of their service. In every village there must be established a general storehouse which will have a number of revenues.
The first revenue
will be that of a tenth or tithes.
The second revenue (will be derived) from
the animals.
The third revenue, from the minerals,
that is to say, every mine prospected or discovered, a third thereof will
go to this vast storehouse.
The fourth is this:
whosoever dies without leaving any heirs all his heritage will go
to the general storehouse.
Fifth, if any treasures shall be found
on the land they should be devoted to this storehouse. . .
"As to the first, the tenths or tithes: we will consider a farmer, one of the peasants. We will look into his income. We will find out, for instance, what is his annual revenue and also what are his expenditures. Now, if his income be equal to his expenditures, from such a farmer nothing whatever will be taken. That is, he will not be subjected to taxation of any sort, needing as he does all his income. Another farmer may have expenses running up to one thousand dollars we will say, and his income is two thousand dollars. From such an one a tenth will be required, because he has a surplus. But if his income be ten thousand dollars and his expenses one thousand dollars or his income twenty thousand dollars, he will have to pay as taxes, one-fourth. If his income be one hundred thousand dollars and his expenses five thousand, one-third will he have to pay because he has still a surplus since his expenses are five thousand and his income one hundred thousand. If he pays, say, thirty-five thousand dollars, in addition to the expenditure of five thousand he still has sixty thousand left. But if his expenses be ten thousand and his income two hundred thousand then he must give an even half because ninety thousand will be in that case the sum remaining. Such a scale as this will determine allotment of taxes. All the income from such revenues will go to this general storehouse. [These fractions are for illustration and instruction and not laws.]
"There must be considered such emergencies as follows: a certain farmer whose expenses run up to ten thousand dollars and whose income is only five thousand, he will receive necessary expenses from the storehouse. Five thousand dollars will be allotted to him so he will not be in need.
"Then the orphans will be looked after, all of whose expenses will be taken care of. The cripples in the village--all their expenses will be looked after. The poor in the village--their necessary expenses will be defrayed. And other members who for valid reasons are incapacitated--the blind, the old, the deaf--their comfort must be looked after. In the village no one will remain in need or want. All will live in the utmost comfort and welfare. Yet no schism will assail the general order of the body politic. . .
". . .Certain trustees will be elected by the people in a given village to look after these transactions. The farmers will be taken care of and if after all these expenses are defrayed and any surplus is found in the storehouse it must be transferred to the national treasury.
"This system is all thus ordered so that in the village the very poor will be comfortable, the orphans will live happily and well; in a word, no one will be left destitute... For larger cities, naturally, there will be a system on a larger scale. . .
"The result of this (system) will be that each individual member of the body politic will live most comfortably and happily under obligation to no one. Nevertheless, there will be preservation of degree because in the world of humanity there must needs be degrees. The body politic may well be likened to an army. In this army there must be a general, there must be a sergeant, there must be a marshall, there must be an infantry; but all must enjoy the greatest comfort and welfare.
"God is no respecter of persons. He has made provision for all. The harvest comes forth for everyone. The rain showers upon everybody and the heat of the sun is destined to warm everyone. The verdure of the earth is for everyone. Therefore there should be for all humanity the utmost happiness, the utmost comfort, the utmost well-being. . ."
These divinely ordained principles [along with others, such as the elimination of the vast sums spent on the implements of destruction] serve as a spiritual basis for the economic problems in the world and are unique teachings to this religion. No messenger of God in the past has provided for the divine economy.
Another principle related to the ordering of the economy, and which is unique to this dispensation is the relationships between management and labor. In the same talk, Abdu'l-Bahá continues: "...The question of socialization is very important. It will not be solved by strikes for wages. All the governments of the world must be united and organize an assembly, the members of which should be elected from the parliaments and the nobles of the nations. These must plan with the utmost wisdom and power so that neither the capitalist suffers from enormous losses nor the laborers become needy. In the utmost moderation they should make the law; then announce to the public that the rights of the working people are to be strongly preserved. Also the rights of the capitalists are to be protected. When such a general plan is adopted by the will of both sides, should a strike occur, all the governments of the world collectively should resist it. Otherwise, the labor problem will lead to much destruction, especially in Europe. Terrible things will take place.
"For instance, the owners of properties, mines and factories should share their incomes with their employees and give a fairly certain percentage of their products to their workingmen in order that the employees may receive, beside their wages, some of the general income of the factory so that the employee may strive with his soul in the work.
"No more trusts will remain in the future. The question of trusts will be wiped away entirely. Also, every factory that has ten thousand shares will give two thousand shares of these ten thousand to its employees and will write the shares in their names, so that they may have them, and the rest will belong to the capitalists. Then at the end of every month or year whatever they may earn after the expenses and wages are paid, according to the number of shares, should be divided among both. In reality, so far great injustice has befallen the common people. Laws must be made because it is impossible for the laborers to be satisfied with the present system. They will strike every month and every year. Finally, the capitalists will lose. In ancient times a strike occurred among the Turkish soldiers. They said to the government: 'Our wages are very small and they should be increased.' The government was forced to give them their demands. Shortly afterwards they struck again. Finally all the incomes went to the pockets of the soldiers to the extent that they killed the king, saying: 'Why didst thou not increase the income so that we might have received more?'
"It is impossible for a country to live properly without laws. To solve this problem rigorous laws must be made, so that all the governments of the world will be the protectors thereof.
"In the Bolshevistic principles equality is effected through force. The masses who are opposed to the people of rank and to the wealthy class desire to partake of their advantages.
"But in the divine teachings equality is brought about through a ready willingness to share. It is commanded as regards wealth that the rich among the people, and the aristocrats should, by their own free will and for the sake of their own happiness, concern themselves with and care for the poor. The equality is the result of the lofty characteristics and noble attributes of mankind." (This subject is explained more fully in the section on "Industrial Justice" in the book Bahá'í World Faith, p. 280.) [Emphasis added by editor.]
Another unique teaching of Bahá'u'lláh is, that religious , racial , political, economic and patriotic prejudices destroy the edifice of humanity. Throughout recorded human history war has been waged in one country or another and that war was due to either religious prejudice, political prejudice or patriotic prejudice. For example, in the past love of one's country was made an element of the faith of God. In this day Bahá'u'lláh has written: "It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens."
Abdu'l-Bahá has written: "Regarding economic prejudice, it is apparent that whenever the ties between nations become strengthened and the exchange of commodities accelerated, and any economic principle is established in one country, it will ultimately affect the other countries and universal benefits will result. Then why this economic prejudice?" (Bahá'í World Faith, p. 288 & 240.) Also unique to this dispensation is the command for the standardization of weights, measurements and currencies.
Among the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh, unique to this
religious dispensation is the equality of men and women. The world
of humanity has two wings--one is women and the other men. Not until
both wings are equally developed can the bird fly. Women have been
held back in most countries due mainly to lack of education and opportunities.
Interestingly (as mentioned earlier), women receive preference under the
command of this religion, since the mother becomes the first educator of
the child. In intellectual capacity, in the sciences and in the arts,
woman has already demonstrated her equality. In some respects woman
is superior to man. For instance, in general she is more tender-hearted,
more receptive, her intuition is more intense. She has a greater
abundance of mercy and sympathy. Previous religious teachings--from
the previous dispensations--have held women back, or otherwise brought
them only partially forward. (BWF, p. 288, and Paris Talks,
161, 184.) (61)
EDITOR'S FOOTNOTES:
(49) Published in Bahá'í World Faith, (Wilmette, Illinois: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1943), p. 176. Also in Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh (Haifa, Israel: The Universal House of Justice, 1978), p. 81.
(50) Further clarification on this command is found elsewhere in the writings and is determined to mean that out of all the languages in the world, one must either be selected or created to serve as a universal auxiliary language. This all will learn in addition to their mother tongue so that anyone traveling to a city or country, other than his own, will enter without suspicion. No longer will he be regarded as a stranger. It will be as if he has entered his own home. Furthermore, this will increase communication and reduce misunderstandings which lead to conflict and disorder. It is clear that by "reduced" is not meant the elimination of other languages. Consider for instance The Third Glad-Tidings which is "the study of various languages," " . . .the earth will be considered as one." Likewise in The Sixth Ishráq: ". . .so that the whole world may thereby be considered as one native land and one part." (BWF, p. 192, 199.)
(51) Elsewhere Bahá'u'lláh has written: "The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established. This unity can never be achieved so long as the counsels which the Pen of the Most High hath revealed are suffered to pass unheeded." UNITY is considered the prerequisite to peace, and recognition of the ONENESS of mankind is considered prerequisite to unity. Recognition of the Oneness of humankind will eliminate insular forms of prejudice (nationalism, racism, etc.) and lead to the world's peace.
(52) Elsewhere provision has been made for the education and care of orphans.
(53) In The Fifteenth Glad-Tidings we find: "Agreeable to the requirements of former times, the former religions confirmed and commanded religious warfare, prohibited association and intercourse with other peoples, and forbade the reading of certain books. . ."
(54) Witness the prophetic nature of this statement.
(55) Note that the fraction 1/5 is not a law, but an example of profit sharing which is a Bahá'í principle as part of the spiritual solution to the economic problem.
(56) Abdu'l-Bahá, Foundations of World Unity, p. 38-44. (Also see Bahá'í World Faith, p. 280-284.
(57) Considerable discussion has already been given to this subject
within the context of a particular religion. To each and every true
religion the Bahá'ís say "You are right! We embrace
the truth in your religion." What is needed in this day is for all
to recognize and embrace the truth in each other and see the complementarities.
What harm is there in this? Although acknowledgment and acceptance
of the previous dispensation (as Christ acknowledged Moses) it is not unique
to this dispensation, it has never been so clear. Furthermore, they
build on each other as they represent a "progressive revelation" through
history. Only the social teachings change from age to age; the essential
truths are eternal, though they may be complementary rather than the same
by revealing different aspects of the Divinity. For example, the
"fatherhood/motherhood" [not stations or literal anthropomorphic realities,
but rather attributes or qualities] of God, the "brotherhood" man, or similar
concepts are central teachings of all religions, but the matters concerning
diet or various rituals may change with the needs of a particular culture
or historical time.
Also in the past, religious prejudice has
regarded only part of humanity as worthy of safety and salvation.
Most of humanity was banished to perdition and eternal damnation.
Bahá'u'lláh has drawn the circle of unity and invited into
this circle all of humanity. May each portionless one receive a share
of this bounty.
(58) Abdu'l-Bahá told the American Bahá'ís when he visited this country in 1912, that the elimination of racial prejudice was The Most Challenging Issue and that the settlement of the difficulties between the black and white races in this country would lead to the world's peace.
(59) Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 95 & 250.
(60) It is interesting to note that in the Spring of 1988, a rumor in one of the Scandinavian countries about a non-existent nuclear accident in the Soviet Union caused the Japanese yen to rise against the American dollar on the Japanese market.
(61) Since most of the readers will have come from Christian influenced
cultures, we will cite examples from Christianity: "Wives, be subject to
your husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the
wife as Christ is the head of the Church. . . .so let the wives also
be subject in everything to their husbands." Ephesians
5:22-24, Colossians 3:18. "wives be submissive to your husbands."
1 Peter 3:1. Finally, ". . .the women
should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to
speak, but should be subordinate, as even the law
says. If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask
their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in
church." 1 Corinthians 14:34.
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