Ceasing to designate to itself a movement, a fellowship and the
like--designations that did grave injustice to its ever-unfolding
system--dissociating itself from such appellations as Babi sect, Asiatic
cult, and offshoot of _Sh_i'ih Islam, with which the ignorant and the
malicious were wont to describe it, refusing to be labeled as a mere
philosophy of life, or as an eclectic code of ethical conduct, or even as
a new religion, the Faith of Baha'u'llah is now visibly succeeding in
demonstrating its claim and title to be regarded as a World Religion,
destined to attain, in the fullness of time, the status of a
world-embracing Commonwealth, which would be at once the instrument and
the guardian of the Most Great Peace announced by its Author. Far from
wishing to add to the number of the religious systems, whose conflicting
loyalties have for so many generations disturbed the peace of mankind,
this Faith is instilling into each of its adherents a new love for, and a
genuine appreciation of the unity underlying, the various religions
represented within its pale.
"It is like a wide embrace," such is the testimony of Royalty to its claim
and position, "gathering together all those who have long searched for
words of hope. It accepts all great Prophets gone before it, destroys no
other creeds, and leaves all doors open." "The Baha'i teaching," she has
further written, "brings peace to the soul and hope to the heart. To those
in search of assurance the words of the Father are as a fountain in the
desert after long wandering." "Their writings," she, in another statement
referring to Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha, has testified, "are a great cry
toward peace, reaching beyond all limits of frontiers, above all
dissension about rites and dogmas... It is a wondrous message that
Baha'u'llah and His son 'Abdu'l-Baha have given us. They have not set it
up aggressively knowing that the germ of eternal truth which lies at its
core cannot but take root and spread." "If ever the name of Baha'u'llah or
'Abdu'l-Baha," is her concluding plea, "comes to your attention, do not
put their writings from you. Search out their Books, and let their
glorious, peace-bringing, love-creating words and lessons sink into your
hearts as they have into mine."
The Faith of Baha'u'llah has assimilated, by virtue of its creative, its
regulative and ennobling energies, the varied races, nationalities, creeds
and classes that have sought its shadow, and have pledged unswerving
fealty to its cause. It has changed the hearts of its adherents, burned
away their prejudices, stilled their passions, exalted their conceptions,
ennobled their motives, coeordinated their efforts, and transformed their
outlook. While preserving their patriotism and safeguarding their lesser
loyalties, it has made them lovers of mankind, and the determined
upholders of its best and truest interests. While maintaining intact their
belief in the Divine origin of their respective religions, it has enabled
them to visualize the underlying purpose of these religions, to discover
their merits, to recognize their sequence, their interdependence, their
wholeness and unity, and to acknowledge the bond that vitally links them
to itself. This universal, this transcending love which the followers of
the Baha'i Faith feel for their fellow-men, of whatever race, creed, class
or nation, is neither mysterious nor can it be said to have been
artificially stimulated. It is both spontaneous and genuine. They whose
hearts are warmed by the energizing influence of God's creative love
cherish His creatures for His sake, and recognize in every human face a
sign of His reflected glory.
Of such men and women it may be truly said that to them "every foreign
land is a fatherland, and every fatherland a foreign land." For their
citizenship, it must be remembered, is in the Kingdom of Baha'u'llah.
Though willing to share to the utmost the temporal benefits and the
fleeting joys which this earthly life can confer, though eager to
participate in whatever activity that conduces to the richness, the
happiness and peace of that life, they can, at no time, forget that it
constitutes no more than a transient, a very brief stage of their
existence, that they who live it are but pilgrims and wayfarers whose goal
is the Celestial City, and whose home the Country of never-failing joy and
brightness.
Though loyal to their respective governments, though profoundly interested
in anything that affects their security and welfare, though anxious to
share in whatever promotes their best interests, the Faith with which the
followers of Baha'u'llah stand identified is one which they firmly believe
God has raised high above the storms, the divisions, and controversies of
the political arena. Their Faith they conceive to be essentially
non-political, supra-national in character, rigidly non-partisan, and
entirely dissociated from nationalistic ambitions, pursuits, and purposes.
Such a Faith knows no division of class or of party. It subordinates,
without hesitation or equivocation, every particularistic interest, be it
personal, regional, or national, to the paramount interests of humanity,
firmly convinced that in a world of inter-dependent peoples and nations
the advantage of the part is best to be reached by the advantage of the
whole, and that no abiding benefit can be conferred upon the component
parts if the general interests of the entity itself are ignored or
neglected.
Small wonder if by the Pen of Baha'u'llah these pregnant words, written in
anticipation of the present state of mankind, should have been revealed:
"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." And again, "That one indeed is a man who today
dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race." "Through the
power released by these exalted words," He explains, "He hath lent a fresh
impulse, and set a new direction, to the birds of men's hearts, and hath
obliterated every trace of restriction and limitation from God's Holy
Book."
Their Faith, Baha'is firmly believe, is moreover undenominational,
non-sectarian, and wholly divorced from every ecclesiastical system,
whatever its form, origin, or activities. No ecclesiastical organization,
with its creeds, its traditions, its limitations, and exclusive outlook,
can be said (as is the case with all existing political factions, parties,
systems and programs) to conform, in all its aspects, to the cardinal
tenets of Baha'i belief. To some of the principles and ideals animating
political and ecclesiastical institutions every conscientious follower of
the Faith of Baha'u'llah can, no doubt, readily subscribe. With none of
these institutions, however, can he identify himself, nor can he
unreservedly endorse the creeds, the principles and programs on which they
are based.
How can a Faith, it should moreover be borne in mind, whose
divinely-ordained institutions have been established within the
jurisdiction of no less than forty different countries, the policies and
interests of whose governments are continually clashing and growing more
complex and confused every day--how can such a Faith, by allowing its
adherents, whether individually or through its organized councils, to
meddle in political activities, succeed in preserving the integrity of its
teachings and in safeguarding the unity of its followers? How can it
insure the vigorous, the uninterrupted and peaceful development of its
expanding institutions? How can a Faith, whose ramifications have brought
it into contact with mutually incompatible religious systems, sects and
confessions, be in a position, if it permits its adherents to subscribe to
obsolescent observances and doctrines, to claim the unconditional
allegiance of those whom it is striving to incorporate into its
divinely-appointed system? How can it avoid the constant friction, the
misunderstandings and controversies which formal affiliation, as distinct
from association, must inevitably engender?
These directing and regulating principles of Baha'i belief the upholders
of the Cause of Baha'u'llah feel bound, as their Administrative Order
expands and consolidates itself, to assert and vigilantly apply. The
exigencies of a slowly crystallizing Faith impose upon them a duty which
they cannot shirk, a responsibility they cannot evade.
Nor are they unmindful of the imperative necessity of upholding and of
executing the laws, as distinguished from the principles, ordained by
Baha'u'llah, both of which constitute the warp and woof of the
institutions upon which the structure of His World Order must ultimately
rest. To demonstrate their usefulness and efficacy, to carry out and apply
them, to safeguard their integrity, to grasp their implications, and to
facilitate their propagation Baha'i communities in the East, and recently
in the West, are displaying the utmost effort and are willing, if
necessary, to make whatever sacrifices may be demanded. The day may not be
far distant when in certain countries of the East, in which religious
communities exercise jurisdiction in matters of personal status, Baha'i
Assemblies may be called upon to assume the duties and responsibilities
devolving upon officially constituted Baha'i courts. They will be
empowered, in such matters as marriage, divorce, and inheritance, to
execute and apply, within their respective jurisdictions, and with the
sanction of civil authorities, such laws and ordinances as have been
expressly provided in their Most Holy Book.
The Faith of Baha'u'llah has, in addition to these tendencies and
activities which its evolution is now revealing, demonstrated, in other
spheres, and wherever the illumination of its light has penetrated, the
force of its cohesive strength, of its integrating power, of its
invincible spirit. In the erection and consecration of its House of
Worship in the heart of the North American continent; in the construction
and multiplication of its administrative headquarters in the land of its
birth and in neighboring countries; in the fashioning of the legal
instruments designed to safeguard and regulate the corporate life of its
institutions; in the accumulation of adequate resources, material as well
as cultural, in every continent of the globe; in the endowments which it
has created for itself in the immediate surroundings of its Shrines at its
world center; in the efforts that are being made for the collection, the
verification, and the systematization of the writings of its Founders; in
the measures that are being taken for the acquisition of such historical
sites as are associated with the lives of its Forerunner and its Author,
its heroes and martyrs; in the foundations that are being laid for the
gradual formation and establishment of its educational, its cultural and
humanitarian institutions; in the vigorous efforts that are being exerted
to safeguard the character, stimulate the initiative and coordinate the
world-wide activities of its youth; in the extraordinary vitality with
which its valiant defenders, its elected representatives, its itinerant
teachers and pioneer administrators are pleading its cause, extending its
boundaries, enriching its literature, and strengthening the basis of its
spiritual conquests and triumphs; in the recognition which civil
authorities have, in certain instances, been induced to grant to the body
of its local and national representatives, enabling them to incorporate
their councils, establish their subsidiary institutions, and safeguard
their endowments; in the facilities which these same authorities have
consented to accord to its shrines, its consecrated edifices, and
educational institutions; in the enthusiasm and determination with which
certain communities that had been severely tested and harassed are
resuming their activities; in the spontaneous tributes paid by royalty,
princes, statesmen and scholars to the sublimity of its cause and the
station of its Founders--in these, as in many others, the Faith of
Baha'u'llah is proving beyond doubt its virility and capacity to
counteract the disintegrating influences to which religious systems, moral
standards, and political and social institutions are being subjected.
From Iceland to Tasmania, from Vancouver to the China Sea spreads the
radiance and extend the ramifications of this world-enfolding System, this
many-hued and firmly-knit Fraternity, infusing into every man and woman it
has won to its cause a faith, a hope, and a vigor that a wayward
generation has long lost, and is powerless to recover. They who preside
over the immediate destinies of this troubled world, they who are
responsible for its chaotic state, its fears, its doubts, its miseries
will do well, in their bewilderment, to fix their gaze and ponder in their
hearts upon the evidences of this saving grace of the Almighty that lies
within their reach--a grace that can ease their burden, resolve their
perplexities, and illuminate their path.