The Great Peace -- The Promise of All Ages Past

     "Our world has entered the dark heart of an age of fundamental change beyond anything in all of its tumultuous history.  Its peoples, of whatever race, nation, or religion, are being challenged to subordinate all lesser loyalties and limiting identities to their oneness as citizens of a single planetary homeland.  In Baha'u'llah's words:  'The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established.'"
(Commentary section of Aqdas, Page: 11)

"O ye rulers of the earth!  Wherefore have ye clouded the radiance of the Sun, and caused it to cease from shining?  Hearken unto the counsel given you by the Pen of the Most High, that haply both ye and the poor may attain unto tranquillity and peace. We beseech God to assist the kings of the earth to establish peace on earth.  He, verily, doth what He willeth.
     O kings of the earth!  We see you increasing every year your expenditures, and laying the burden thereof on your subjects.  This, verily, is wholly and grossly unjust.  Fear the sighs and tears of this wronged One, and lay not excessive burdens on your peoples.  Do not rob them to rear palaces for yourselves; nay rather choose for them that which ye choose for yourselves.  Thus We unfold to your eyes that which profiteth you, if ye but perceive.  Your people are your treasures.  Beware lest your rule violate the commandments of God, and ye deliver your wards to the hands of the robber.  By them ye rule, by their means ye subsist, by their aid ye conquer. Yet, how disdainfully ye look upon them!  How strange, how very strange!
     Now that ye have refused the Most Great Peace, hold ye fast unto this, the Lesser Peace, that haply ye may in some degree better your own condition and that of your dependents.
     O rulers of the earth!  Be reconciled among yourselves, that ye may need no more armaments save in a measure to safeguard your territories and dominions. Beware lest ye disregard the counsel of the All-Knowing, the Faithful.
     Be united, O kings of the earth, for thereby will the tempest of discord be stilled amongst you, and your peoples find rest, if ye be of them that comprehend. Should any one among you take up arms against another, rise ye all against him, for this is naught but manifest justice."
 (Baha'u'llah:  Gleanings, Pages: 253-254)

"...All the members of the human family.. have become increasingly interdependent. For none is self-sufficiency any longer possible, inasmuch as political ties unite all peoples.. and the bonds of trade and industry, of agriculture and education, are being strengthened every day.  Hence the unity of all mankind can in this day be achieved.." ('Abdul-Baha quoted in Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, by John Esslemont  249:4)

     "As we view the world around us, we are compelled to observe the manifold evidences of that universal fermentation which, in every continent of the globe and in every department of human life, be it religious, social, economic or political, is purging and reshaping humanity in anticipation of the Day when the wholeness of the human race will have been recognized and its unity established.  A twofold process, however, can be distinguished, each tending, in its own way and with an accelerated momentum, to bring to a climax the forces that are transforming the face of our planet.  The first is essentially an integrating process, while the second is fundamentally disruptive.  The former, as it steadily evolves, unfolds a System which may well serve as a pattern for that world polity towards which a strangely-disordered world is continually advancing; while the latter, as its disintegrating influence deepens, tends to tear down, with increasing violence, the antiquated barriers that seek to block humanity's progress towards its destined goal.  The constructive process stands associated with the nascent Faith of Baha'u'llah, and is the harbinger of the New World Order that Faith must erelong establish.  The destructive forces that characterize the other should be identified with a civilization that has refused to answer to the expectation of a new age, and is consequently falling into chaos and decline."
 (Shoghi Effendi:  World Order of Baha'u'llah, Page: 170)

The Bahá'í Peace Letter to the Peoples of the World
Tributes from political leaders and leaders of thought
(Encouragements to read and study the Bahá'í Peace Statement)

The Promise of World Peace
A Statement by
The Universal House of Justice
(click here to see photo of presentation of this document to the UN Secretary-General)
(click here for a printer friendly version in html )
 

Seat of the Universal House of Justice
Haifa, Israel

        The Great Peace towards which
  people of good will throughout the
  centuries have inclined their hearts, of
  which seers and poets for countless
  generations have expressed their
  vision, and for which from age to age
  the sacred scriptures of mankind have
  constantly held the promise, is now at
  long last within the reach of the
  nations. For the first time in history it
  is possible for everyone to view the
  entire planet, with its myriad
  diversified peoples, in one perspective.
  World peace is not only possible but
  inevitable. It is the next stage in the
  evolution of this planet-- in the words
  of one great thinker, "the planetization
  of mankind."

       Whether peace is to be reached
  only after unimaginable horrors
  precipitated by humanity's stubborn
  clinging to old patterns of behavior, or
  is to be embraced now by an act of
  consultative will, is the choice before
  all who inhabit the earth. At this critical
  juncture when the intractable problems
  confronting nations have been fused
  into one common concern for the whole
  world, failure to stem the tide of
  conflict and disorder would be
  unconscionably irresponsible.

       Among the favorable signs are
  the steadily growing strength of the
  steps towards world order taken
  initially near the beginning of this
  century in the creation of the League
  of Nations, succeeded by the more
  broadly based United Nations
  Organization; the achievement since
  the Second World War of
  independence by the majority of all the
  nations on earth, indicating the
  completion of the process of nation
  building, and the involvement of these
  fledgling nations with the older ones in
  matters of mutual concern; the
  consequent vast increase in the
  co-operation among hitherto isolated
  and antagonistic peoples and groups in
  international undertakings in the
  scientific, educational, legal, economic
  and cultural fields; the rise in recent
  decades of an unprecedented number
  of international humanitarian
  organizations; the spread of women's
  and youth movements calling for an
  end to war; and the spontaneous
  spawning of widening networks of
  ordinary people seeking understanding
  through personal communication.

        The scientific and technological
  advances occurring in this unusually
  blessed century portend a great surge
  forward in the social evolution of the
  planet, and indicate the means by
  which the practical problems of
  humanity may be solved. They provide,
  indeed, the very means for the
  administration of the complex life of a
  united world. Yet barriers persist.
  Doubts, misconceptions, prejudices,
  suspicions and narrow self-interest
  beset nations and peoples in their
  relations one to another.

         It is out of a deep sense of
  spiritual and moral duty that we are
  impelled at this opportune moment to
  invite your attention to the penetrating
  insights first communicated to the
  rulers of mankind more than a century
  ago by Baha'u'llah, Founder of the
  Baha'i Faith, of which we are the
  Trustees.

       "The winds of despair,"
  Baha'u'llah wrote, "are, alas, blowing
  from every direction, and the strife that
  divides and afflicts the human race is
  daily increasing. The signs of
  impending convulsions and chaos can
  now be discerned, inasmuch as the
  prevailing order appears to be
  lamentably defective." This prophetic
  judgment has been amply confirmed by
  the common experience of humanity.
  Flaws in the prevailing order are
  conspicuous in the inability of
  sovereign states organized as United
  Nations to exorcize the spectre of war,
  the threatened collapse of the
  international economic order, the
  spread of anarchy and terrorism, and
  the intense suffering which these and
  other afflictions are causing to
  increasing millions. Indeed, so much
  have aggression and conflict come to
  characterize our social, economic and
  religious systems, that many have
  succumbed to the view that such
  behavior is intrinsic to human nature
  and therefore ineradicable.

       With the entrenchment of this
  view, a paralyzing contradiction has
  developed in human affairs. On the one
  hand, people of all nations proclaim not
  only their readiness but their longing
  for peace and harmony, for an end to
  the harrowing apprehensions
  tormenting their daily lives. On the
  other, uncritical assent is given to the
  propostion that human beings are
  incorrigibly selfish and aggressive and
  thus incapable of erecting a social
  system at once progressive and
  peaceful, dynamic and harmonious, a
  system giving free play to individual
  creativity and initiative but based on
  co-operation and reciprocity.

       As the need for peace becomes
  more urgent, this fundamental
  contradiction, which hinders its
  realization, demands a reassessment of
  the assumptions upon which the
  commonly held view of mankind's
  historical predicament is based.
  Dispassionately examined, the
  evidence reveals that such conduct, far
  from expressing man's true self,
  represents a distortion of the human
  spirit. Satisfaction on this point will
  enable all people to set in motion
  constructive social forces which,
  because they are consistent with
  human nature, will encourage harmony
  and co-operation instead of war and
  conflict.

       To choose such a course is not to
  deny humanity's past but to understand
  it. The Baha'i Faith regards the current
  world confusion and calamitous
  condition in human affairs as a natural
  phase in an organic process leading
  ultimately and irresistibly to the
  unification of the human race in a
  single social order whose boundaries
  are those of the planet. The human
  race, as a distinct, organic unit, has
  passed through evolutionary stages
  analogous to the stages of infancy and
  childhood in the lives of its individual
  members, and is now in the culminating
  period of its turbulent adolescence
  approaching its long-awaited coming of
  age.

       A candid acknowledgement that
  prejudice, war and exploitation have
  been the expression of immature
  stages in a vast historical process and
  that the human race is today
  experiencing the unavoidable tumult
  which marks its collective coming of
  age is not a reason for despair but a
  prerequisite to undertaking the
  stupendous enterprise of building a
  peaceful world. That such an enterprise
  is possible, that the necessary
  constructive forces do exist, that
  unifying social structures can be
  erected, is the theme we urge you to
  examine.

       Whatever suffering and turmoil
  the years immediately ahead may hold,
  however dark the immediate
  circumstances, the Baha'i community
  believes that humanity can confront
  this supreme trial with confidence in its
  ultimate outcome. Far from signalizing
  the end of civilization, the convulsive
  changes towards which humanity is
  being ever more rapidly impelled will
  serve to release the "potentialities
  inherent in the station of man" and
  reveal "the full measure of his destiny
  on earth, the innate excellence of his
  reality."

The Promise of World Peace To the Peoples of the World  A Statement by  The Universal House of Justice        (continuing)

I         The endowments which   distinguish the human race from all   other forms of life are summed up in   what is known as the human spirit; the   mind is its essential quality. These   endowments have enabled humanity to   build civilizations and to prosper   materially. But such accomplishments   alone have never satisfied the human   spirit, whose mysterious nature inclines   it towards transcendence, a reaching   towards the ultimate reality, that   unknowable essences of essences called God. The religions brought to   mankind by a succession of spiritual   luminaries have been the primary link   between humanity and that ultimate   reality, and have galvanized and   refined mankind's capacity to achieve   spiritual success together with social   progress.   No serious attempt to set human   affairs aright, to achieve world peace,   can ignore religion. Man's perception   and practice of it are largely the stuff   of history. An eminent historian   described religion as "a faculty of   human nature." That the perversion of   this faculty has contributed to much of   the confusion in society and the   conflicts in and between individuals can   hardly be denied. But neither can any   fair-minded observer discount the   preponderating influence exerted by   religion on the vital expressions of   civilization. Furthermore, its   indispensability to social order has   repeatedly been demonstrated by its   direct effect on laws and morality.

        Writing of religion as a social
  force, Baha'u'llah said: "Religion is
  the greatest of all means for the
  establishment of order in the world and
  for the peaceful contentment of all that
  dwell therein." Referring to the eclipse
  or corruption of religion, he wrote:
  "Should the lamp of religion be
  obscured, chaos and confusion will
  ensue, and the lights of fairness, of
  justice, of tranquillity and peace cease
  to shine." In an enumeration of such
  consequences the Baha'i writings point
  out that the "perversion of human
  nature, the degradation of human
  conduct, the corruption and dissolution
  of human institutions, reveal
  themselves, under such circumstances,
  in their worst and most revolting
  aspects. Human character is debased,
  confidence is shaken, the nerves of
  discipline are relaxed, the voice of
  human conscience is stilled, the sense
  of decency and shame is obscured,
  conceptions of duty, of solidarity, of
  reciprocity and loyalty are distorted,
  and the very feeling of peacefulness, of
  joy and of hope is gradually
  extinguished."

       If, therefore, humanity has come
  to a point of paralyzing conflict it must
  look to itself, to its own negligence, to
  the siren voices to which it has
  listened, for the source of the
  misunderstandings and confusion
  perpetrated in the name of religion.
  Those who have held blindly and
  selfishly to their particular orthodoxies,
  who have imposed on their votaries
  erroneous and conflicting
  interpretations of the pronouncements
  of the Prophets of God, bear heavy
  responsibility for this confusion-- a
  confusion compounded by the artificial
  barriers erected between faith and
  reason, science and religion. For from
  a fair-minded examination of the actual
  utterances of the Founders of the great
  religions, and of the social milieus in
  which they were obliged to carry out
  their missions, there is nothing to
  support the contentions and prejudices
  deranging the religious communities of
  mankind and therefore all human
  affairs.

       The teaching that we should treat
  others as we ourselves would wish to
  be treated, an ethic variously repeated
  in all the great religions, lends force to
  this latter observation in two particular
  aspects: it sums up the moral attitude,
  the peace-inducing aspect, extending
  through these religions irrespective of
  their place or time of origin; it also
  signifies an aspect of unity which is
  their essential virtue, a virtue mankind
  in its disjointed view of history has
  failed to appreciate.

       Had humanity seen the Educators
  of its collective childhood in their true
  character, as agents of one civilizing
  process, it would no doubt have reaped
  incalculably greater benefits from the
  cumulative effects of their successive
  missions. This, alas, it failed to do.

       The resurgence of fanatical
  religious fervor occurring in many
  lands cannot be regarded as more than
  a dying convulsion. The very nature of
  the violent and disruptive phenomena
  associated with it testifies to the
  spiritual bankruptcy it represents.
  Indeed, one of the strangest and
  saddest features of the current
  outbreak of religious fanaticism is the
  extent to which, in each case, it is
  undermining not only the spiritual
  values which are conducive to the unity
  of mankind but also those unique moral
  victories won by the particular religion
  it purports to serve.

       However vital a force religion has
  been in the history of mankind, and
  however dramatic the current
  resurgence of militant religious
  fanaticism, religion and religious
  institutions have, for many decades,
  been viewed by increasing numbers of
  people as irrelevant to the major
  concerns of the modern world. In its
  place they have turned either to the
  hedonistic pursuit of material
  satisfactions or to the following of
  man-made ideologies designed to
  rescue society from the evident evils
  under which it groans. All too many of
  these ideologies, alas, instead of
  embracing the concept of the oneness
  of mankind and promoting the increase
  of concord among different peoples,
  have tended to deify the state, to
  subordinate the rest of mankind to one
  nation, race or class, to attempt to
  suppress all discussion and interchange
  of ideas, or to callously abandon
  starving millions to the operations of a
  market system that all too clearly is
  aggravating the plight of the majority
  of mankind, while enabling small
  sections to live in a condition of
  affluence scarcely dreamed of by our
  forebears.

       How tragic is the record of the
  substitute faiths that the worldly-wise
  of our age have created. In the
  massive disillusionment of entire
  populations who have been taught to
  worship at their altars can be read
  history's irreversible verdict on their
  value. The fruits these doctrines have
  produced, after decades of an
  increasingly unrestrained exercise of
  power by those who owe their
  ascendancy in human affairs to them,
  are the social and economic ills that
  blight every region of our world in the
  closing years of the twentieth century.
  Underlying all these outward afflictions
  is the spiritual damage reflected in the
  apathy that has gripped the mass of the
  peoples of all nations and by the
  extinction of hope in the hearts of
  deprived and anguished millions.

       The time has come when those
  who preach the dogmas of materialism,
  whether of the east or the west,
  whether of capitalism or socialism,
  must give account of the moral
  stewardship they have presumed to
  exercise. Where is the "new world"
  promised by these ideologies? Where
  is the international peace to whose
  ideals they proclaim their devotion?
  Where are the breakthroughs into new
  realms of cultural achievement
  produced by the aggrandizement of this
  race, of that nation or of a particular
  class? Why is the vast majority of the
  world's peoples sinking ever deeper
  into hunger and wretchedness when
  wealth on a scale undreamed of by the
  Pharaohs, the Caesars, or even the
  imperialist powers of the nineteenth
  century is at the disposal of the present
  arbiters of human affairs?

       Most particularly, it is in the
  glorification of material pursuits, at
  once the progenitor and common
  feature of all such ideologies, that we
  find the roots which nourish the
  falsehood that human beings are
  incorrigibly selfish and aggressive. It is
  here that the ground must be cleared
  for the building of a new world fit for
  our descendants.

       That materialistic ideals have, in
  the light of experience, failed to satisfy
  the needs of mankind calls for an
  honest acknowledgement that a fresh
  effort must now be made to find the
  solutions to the agonizing problems of
  the planet. The intolerable conditions
  pervading society bespeak a common
  failure of all, a circumstance which
  tends to incite rather than relieve the
  entrenchment on every side. Clearly, a
  common remedial effort is urgently
  required. It is primarily a matter of
  attitude. Will humanity continue in its
  waywardness, holding to outworn
  concepts and unworkable assumptions?
  Or will its leaders, regardless of
  ideology, step forth and, with a resolute
  will, consult together in a united search
  for appropriate solutions?

       Those who care for the future of
  the human race may well ponder this
  advice. "If long-cherished ideals and
  time-honored institutions, if certain
  social assumptions and religious
  formulae have ceased to promote the
  welfare of the generality of mankind, if
  they no longer minister to the needs of
  a continually evolving humanity, let
  them be swept away and relegated to
  the limbo of obsolescent and forgotten
  doctrines. Why should these, in a world
  subject to the immutable law of change
  and decay, be exempt from the
  deterioration that must needs overtake
  every human institution? For legal
  standards, political and economic
  theories are solely designed to
  safeguard the interests of humanity as
  a whole, and not humanity to be
  crucified for the preservation of the
  integrity of any particular law or
  doctrine."
                II
       Banning nuclear weapons,
  prohibiting the use of poison gases, or
  outlawing germ warfare will not remove
  the root causes of war. However
  important such practical measures
  obviously are as elements of the peace
  process, they are in themselves too
  superficial to exert enduring influence.
  Peoples are ingenious enough to invent
  yet other forms of warfare, and to use
  food, raw materials, finance, industrial
  power, ideology, and terrorism to
  subvert one another in an endless
  quest for supremacy and dominion. Nor
  can the present massive dislocation in
  the affairs of humanity be resolved
  through the settlement of specific
  conflicts or disagreements among
  nations. A genuine universal
  framework must be adopted.

       Certainly, there is no lack of
  recognition by national leaders of the
  world-wide character of the problem,
  which is self-evident in the mounting
  issues that confront them daily. And
  there are the accumulating studies and
  solutions proposed by many concerned
  and enlightened groups as well as by
  agencies of the United Nations, to
  remove any possibility of ignorance as
  to the challenging requirements to be
  met. There is, however, a paralysis of
  will; and it is this that must be carefully
  examined and resolutely dealt with.
  This paralysis is rooted, as we have
  stated, in a deep-seated conviction of
  the inevitable quarrelsomeness of
  mankind, which has led to the
  reluctance to entertain the possibility
  of subordinating national self-interest
  to the requirements of world order, and
  in an unwillingness to face
  courageously the far-reaching
  implications of establishing a united
  world authority. It is also traceable to
  the incapacity of largely ignorant and
  subjugated masses to articulate their
  desire for a new order in which they
  can live in peace, harmony and
  prosperity with all humanity.

       The tentative steps towards world
  order, especially since World War Ii,
  give hopeful signs. The increasing
  tendency of groups of nations to
  formalize relationships which enable
  them to co-operate in matters of
  mutual interest suggests that
  eventually all nations could overcome
  this paralysis. The Association of
  South East Asian Nations, the
  Caribbean Community and Common
  Market, the Central American
  Common Market, the Council for
  Mutual Economic Assistance, the
  European Communities, the League of
  Arab States, the Organization of
  African Unity, the Organization of
  American States, the South Pacific
  Forum-- all the joint endeavors
  represented by such organizations
  prepare the path to world order.

       The increasing attention being
  focused on some of the most
  deep-rooted problems of the planet is
  yet another hopeful sign. Despite the
  obvious shortcomings of the United
  Nations, the more that two score
  declarations and conventions adopted
  by that organization, even where
  governments have not been
  enthusiastic in their commitment, have
  given ordinary people a sense of a new
  lease on life. The Universal
  Declaration of Human Rights, the
  Convention on the Prevention and
  Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,
  and the similar measures concerned
  with eliminating all forms of
  discrimination based on race, sex or
  religious belief; upholding the rights of
  the child; protecting all persons against
  being subjected to torture; eradicating
  hunger and malnutrition; using
  scientific and technological progress in
  the interest of peace and for the
  benefit of mankind- all such measures,
  if courageously enforced and
  expanded, will advance the day when
  the spectre of war will have lost its
  power to dominate international
  relations. There is no need to stress
  the significance of the issues
  addressed by these declarations and
  conventions. However, a few such
  issues, because of their immediate
  relevance to establishing world peace,
  deserve additional comment.

       Racism, one of the most baneful
  and persistent evils, is a major barrier
  to peace. Its practice perpetrates too
  outrageous a violation of the dignity of
  human beings to be countenanced
  under any pretext. Racism retards the
  unfoldment of the boundless
  potentialities of its victims, corrupts its
  perpetrators, and blights human
  progress. Recognition of the oneness
  of mankind, implemented by
  appropriate legal measures, must be
  universally upheld if this problem is to
  be overcome.

       The inordinate disparity between
  rich and poor, a source of acute
  suffering, keeps the world in a state of
  instability, virtually on the brink of war.
  Few societies have dealt effectively
  with this situation. The solution calls
  for the combined application of
  spiritual, moral and practical
  approaches. A fresh look at the
  problem is required, entailing
  consultation with experts from a wide
  spectrum of disciplines, devoid of
  economic and ideological polemics, and
  involving the people directly affected in
  the decisions that must urgently be
  made. It is an issue that is bound up
  not only with the necessity for
  eliminating extremes of wealth and
  poverty but also with those spiritual
  verities the understanding of which can
  produce a new universal attitude.
  Fostering such an attitude is itself a
  major part of the solution.

       Unbridled nationalism, as
  distinguished from a sane and
  legitimate patriotism, must give way to
  a wider loyalty, to the love of humanity
  as a whole. Baha'u'llah's statement is:
  "The earth is but one country, and
  mankind its citizens." The concept of
  world citizenship is a direct result of
  the contraction of the world into a
  neighborhood through scientific
  advances and of the indisputable
  interdependence of nations. Love of all
  the world's peoples does not exclude
  love of one's country. The advantage
  of the part in a world society is best
  served by promoting the advantage of
  the whole. Current international
  activities in various fields which
  nurture mutual affection and a sense of
  solidarity among peoples need greatly
  to be increased.

       Religious strife, throughout
  history, has been the cause of
  innumerable wars and conflicts, a
  major blight to progress, and is
  increasingly abhorrent to the people of
  all faiths and no faith. Followers of all
  religions must be willing to face the
  basic questions which this strife raises,
  and to arrive at clear answers. How are
  the differences between them to be
  resolved, both in theory and in
  practice? The challenge facing the
  religious leaders of mankind is to
  contemplate, with hearts filled with the
  spirit of compassion and a desire for
  truth, the plight of humanity, and to ask
  themselves whether they cannot, in
  humility before their Almighty Creator,
  submerge their theological differences
  in a great spirit of mutual forbearance
  that will enable them to work together
  for the advancement of human
  understanding and peace.

       The emancipation of women, the
  achievement of full equality between
  the sexes, is one of the most important,
  though less acknowledged
  prerequisites of peace. The denial of
  such equality perpetrates an injustice
  against one-half of the world's
  population and promotes in men
  harmful attitudes and habits that are
  carried from the family to the
  workplace, to political life, and
  ultimately to international relations.
  There are no grounds, moral, practical
  or biological, upon which such denial
  can be justified. Only as women are
  welcomed into full partnership in all
  fields of human endeavor will the moral
  and psychological climate be created in
  which international peace can emerge.

       The cause of universal education,
  which has already enlisted in its
  service an army of dedicated people
  from every faith and nation, deserves
  the utmost support that the
  governments of the world can lend it.
  For ignorance is indisputably the
  principal reason for the decline and fall
  of peoples and the perpetuation of
  prejudice. No nation can achieve
  success unless education is accorded
  all its citizens. Lack of resources limits
  the ability of many nations to fulfill this
  necessity, imposing a certain ordering
  of priorities. The decision-making
  agencies involved would do well to
  consider giving first priority to the
  education of women and girls, since it
  is through educated mothers that the
  benefits of knowledge can be most
  effectively and rapidly diffused
  throughout society. In keeping with the
  requirements of the times,
  consideration should also be given to
  teaching the concept of world
  citizenship as part of the standard
  education of every child.

       A fundamental lack of
  communication between peoples
  seriously undermines efforts towards
  world peace. Adopting an international
  auxiliary language would go far to
  resolve this problem and necessitates
  the most urgent attention.

       Two points bear emphasizing in all
  these issues. One is that the abolition
  of war is not simply a matter of signing
  treaties and protocols; it is a complex
  task requiring a new level of
  commitment to resolving issues not
  customarily associated with the pursuit
  of peace. Based on political
  agreements alone, the idea of
  collective security is a chimera. The
  other point is that the primary
  challenge in dealing with issues of
  peace is to raise the context to the
  level of principle, as distinct from pure
  pragmatism. For, in essence, peace
  stems from an inner state supported by
  a spiritual or moral attitude, and it is
  chiefly in evoking this attitude that the
  possibility of enduring solutions can be
  found.

       There are spiritual principles, or
  what some call human values, by which
  solutions can be found for every social
  problem. Any well-intentioned group
  can in a general sense devise practical
  solutions to its problems, but good
  intentions and practical knowledge are
  usually not enough. The essential merit
  of spiritual principle is that it not only
  presents a perspective which
  harmonizes with that which is inherent
  in human nature, it also induces an
  attitude, a dynamic, a will, an
  aspiration, which facilitate the
  discovery and implementation of
  practical measures. Leaders of
  governments and all in authority would
  be well served in their efforts t solve
  problems if they would first seek to
  identify the principles involved and
  then by guided by them.

              III
       The primary question to be
  resolved is how the present world, with
  its entrenched pattern of conflict, can
  change to a world in which harmony
  and co-operation will prevail.

       World order can be founded only
  on an unshakeable consciousness of
  the oneness of mankind, a spiritual
  truth which all the human sciences
  confirm. Anthropology, physiology,
  psychology, recognize only one human
  species, albeit infinitely varied in the
  secondary aspects of life. Recognition
  of this truth requires abandonment of
  prejudice-- prejudice of every kind--
  race, class, color, creed, nation, sex,
  degree of material civilization,
  everything which enables people to
  consider themselves superior to others.

       Acceptance of the oneness of
  mankind is the first fundamental
  prerequisite for reorganization and
  administration of the world as one
  country, the home of humankind.
  Universal acceptance of this spiritual
  principle is essential to any successful
  attempt to establish world peace. It
  should therefore be universally
  proclaimed, taught in schools, and
  constantly asserted in every nation as
  preparation for the organic change in
  the structure of society which it
  implies.

       In the Baha'i view, recognition of
  the oneness of mankind "calls for no
  less than the reconstruction and the
  demilitarization of the whole civilized
  world-- a world organically unified in all
  the essential aspects of its life, its
  political machinery, its spiritual
  aspiration, its trade and finance, its
  script and language, and yet infinite in
  the diversity of the national
  characteristics of its federated units."

       Elaborating the implications of
  this pivotal principle, Shoghi Effendi,
  the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith,
  commented in 1931 that: "Far from
  aiming at the subversion of the existing
  foundations of society, it seeks to
  broaden its basis, to remold its
  institutions is a manner consonant with
  the needs of an ever-changing world. It
  can conflict with no legitimate
  allegiances, nor can it undermine
  essential loyalties. Its purpose is
  neither to stifle the flame of a sane and
  intelligent patriotism in men's hearts,
  nor to abolish the system of national
  autonomy so essential if the evils of
  excessive centralization are to be
  avoided. It does not ignore, nor does it
  attempt to suppress, the diversity of
  ethnical origins, of climate, of history,
  of language and tradition, of thought
  and habit, that differentiate the peoples
  and nations of the world. It calls for a
  wider loyalty, for a larger aspiration
  than any that has animated the human
  race. It insists upon the subordination
  of national interests to the imperative
  claims of a unified world. It repudiates
  excessive centralization on one hand,
  and disclaims all attempts at uniformity
  on the other. Its watchword is unity in
  diversity. . . ."

  The achievement of such ends
  requires several stages in the
  adjustment of national political
  attitudes, which now verge on anarchy
  in the absence of clearly defined laws
  or universally accepted and
  enforceable principles regulating the
  relationships between nations. The
  League of Nations, the United Nations,
  and the many organizations and
  agreements produced by them have
  unquestionably been helpful in
  attenuating some of the negative
  effects of international conflicts, but
  they have shown themselves incapable
  of preventing war. Indeed, there have
  been scores of wars since the end of
  the Second World War; many are yet
  raging.

       The predominant aspects of this
  problem had already emerged in the
  nineteenth century when Baha'u'llah
  first advanced his proposals for the
  establishment of world peace. The
  principle of collective security was
  propounded by him in statements
  addressed to the rulers of the world.
  Shoghi Effendi commented on his
  meaning: "What else could these
  mighty words signify," he wrote, "if
  they did not point to the inevitable
  curtailment of unfettered national
  sovereignty as an indispensable
  preliminary to the formation of the
  future Commonwealth of all the nations
  of the world? Some form of a world
  super-state 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 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
  Baha'u'llah, an Order that shall come
  to be regarded as the fairest fruit of a
  slowly maturing age."

       The implementation of these
  far-reaching measures was indicated
  by Baha'u'llah: "The time must come
  when the imperative necessity for the
  holding of a vast, an all-embracing
  assemblage of men will be universally
  realized. The rulers and kings of the
  earth must needs attend it, and,
  participating in its deliberations, must
  consider such ways and means as will
  lay the foundations of the world's
  Great Peace amongst men."

       The courage, the resolution, the
  pure motive, the selfless love of one
  people for another-- all the spiritual
  and moral qualities required for
  effecting this momentous step towards
  peace are focused on the will to act.
  And it is towards arousing the
  necessary volition that earnest
  consideration must be given to the
  reality of man, namely, his thought. To
  understand the relevance of this potent
  reality is also to appreciate the social
  necessity of actualizing its unique value
  through candid, dispasionate and
  cordial consultation, and of acting upon
  the results of this process. Baha'u'llah
  consistently drew attention to the
  virtues and indispensability of
  consultation for ordering human
  affairs. He said: "Consultation bestows
  greater awareness and transmutes
  conjecture into certitude. It is a shining
  light which, in a dark world, leads the
  way and guides. For everything there is
  and will continue to be a station of
  perfection and maturity. The maturity
  of the gift of understanding is made
  manifest through consultation." The
  very attempt to achieve peace through
  the consultative action he proposed can
  release such a salutary spirit among
  the peoples of the earth that no power
  could resist the final, triumphal
  outcome.

       Considering the proceedings for
  this world gathering, 'Abdul-Baha, the
  son of Baha'u'llah and authorized
  interpreter of his teachings, offered
  these insights: "They must make the
  Cause of Peace the object of general
  consultation, and seek by every means
  in their power to establish a Union of
  the nations of the world. They must
  conclude a binding treaty and establish
  a covenant, the provisions of which
  shall be sound, inviolable and definite.
  They must proclaim it to all the world
  and obtain for it the sanction of all the
  human race. This supreme and noble
  undertaking-- the real source of the
  peace and well-being of all the world--
  should be regarded as sacred by all
  that dwell on earth. All the forces of
  humanity must be mobilized to ensure
  the stability and permanence of this
  Most Great Covenant. In this
  all-embracing Pact the limits and
  frontiers of each and every nation
  should be clearly fixed, the principles
  underlying the relations of
  governments towards one another
  definitely laid down, and all
  international agreements and
  obligations ascertained. In like
  manner, the size of all the armaments
  of every government should be strictly
  limited, for if the preparations for war
  and the military forces of any nation
  should be allowed to increase, they will
  arouse the suspicion of others. The
  fundamental principle underlying this
  solemn Pact should be so fixed that if
  any government later violate any one
  of its provisions, all the governments
  on earth should arise to reduce it to
  utter submission, nay the human race
  as a whole should resolve, with every
  power at its disposal, to destroy that
  government. Should this greatest of all
  remedies be applied to the sick body of
  the world, it will assuredly recover
  from its ills and will remain eternally
  safe and secure."

       The holding of this mighty
  convocation is long overdue.

       With all the ardor of our hearts,
  we appeal to the leaders of all nations
  to seize this opportune moment and
  take irreversible steps to convoke this
  world meeting. All the forces of history
  impel the human race towards this act
  which will mark for all time the dawn of
  its long-awaited maturity.

       Will not the United Nations, with
  the full support of its membership, rise
  to the high purposes of such a crowning
  event?

       Let men and women, youth and
  children everywhere recognize the
  eternal merit of this imperative action
  for all peoples and lift up their voices in
  willing assent. Indeed, let it be this
  generation that inaugurates this
  glorious stage in the evolution of social
  life on the planet.

                IV
       The source of optimism we feel
  is a vision transcending the cessation
  of war that the creation of agencies of
  international co-operation. Permanent
  peace among nations is an essential
  stage, but not, Baha'u'llah assets, the
  ultimate goal of the social development
  of humanity. Beyond the initial
  armistice forced upon the world by the
  fear of nuclear holocaust, beyond
  political peace reluctantly entered into
  by suspicious rival nations, beyond
  pragmatic arrangements for security
  and coexistence, beyond even the
  many experiments in co-operation
  which these steps will make possible
  lies the crowning goal: the unification
  of all the peoples of the world in one
  universal family.

       Disunity is a danger that the
  nations and peoples of the earth can no
  longer endure: the consequences are
  too terrible to contemplate, too obvious
  to require any demonstration. "The
  well-being of mankind," Baha'u'llah
  wrote more than a century ago, "its
  peace and security, are unattainable
  unless and until its unity is firmly
  established." In observing that
  "mankind is groaning, is dying to be
  led to unity, and to terminate its
  age-long martyrdom," Shoghi Effendi
  further commented that: "Unification
  of the whole of mankind is the
  hall-mark of the stage which human
  society is approaching. Unity of family,
  of tribe, of city-state, and nation have
  been successfully attempted and fully
  established. World unity is the goal
  towards which a harassed humanity is
  striving. Nation-building has come to
  an end. The anarchy inherent in state
  sovereignty is moving towards a
  climax. A world, growing to maturity,
  must abandon this fetish, recognize the
  oneness and wholeness of human
  relationships, and establish once and
  for all the machinery that can best
  incarnate this fundamental principle of
  its life."

       All contemporary forces of
  change validate this view. The proofs
  can be discerned in the many examples
  already cited of the favorable signs
  towards world peace in current
  international movements and
  developments. The army of men and
  women, drawn from virtually every
  culture, race and nation on earth, who
  serve the multifarious agencies of the
  United Nations, represent a planetary
  "civil service" whose impressive
  accomplishments are indicative of the
  degree of co-operation that can be
  attained even under discouraging
  conditions. An urge towards unity, like
  a spiritual springtime, struggles to
  express itself through countless
  international congresses that bring
  together people from a vast array of
  disciplines. It motivates appeals for
  international projects involving
  children and youth. Indeed, it is the
  real source of the remarkable
  movement towards ecumenism by
  which members of historically
  antagonistic religions and sects seem
  irresistibly drawn towards one another.
  Together with the opposing tendency to
  warfare and self-aggrandizement
  against which it ceaselessly struggles,
  the drive towards would unity is one of
  the dominant, pervasive features of life
on the planet during the closing years
  of the twentieth century.

"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in His paths.
" The law will go out from Zion, the word of the
Lord from Jerusalem."
( Isaiah 2:3 )

"The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God."
 ( Isaiah 35:2 )

     "Haste thee, O Carmel!"  Baha'u'llah, significantly addressing that holy mountain, has written, "for lo, the light of the Countenance of God ... hath been lifted upon thee...  Rejoice, for God hath, in this Day, established upon thee His throne, hath made thee the dawning-place of His signs and the dayspring of the evidences of His Revelation.  Well is it with him that circleth around thee, that proclaimeth the revelation of thy glory, and recounteth that which the bounty of the Lord thy God hath showered upon thee."

    "Call out to Zion, O Carmel!"  He, furthermore, has revealed in that same Tablet, "and announce the joyful tidings:  He that was hidden from mortal eyes is come!  His all-conquering sovereignty is manifest; His all-encompassing splendor is revealed.  Beware lest thou hesitate or halt.  Hasten forth and circumambulate the City of God that hath descended from heaven, the celestial Kaaba round which have circled in adoration the favored of God, the pure in heart, and the company of the most exalted angels."

 (Shoghi Effendi:  God Passes By, Pages: 277-278)

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       Tributes from political leaders and leaders of thought
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