Justice is the one power that can translate the dawning consciousness of
humanity's oneness into a collective will through which the necessary
structures of global community life can be confidently erected. An age
that sees the people of the world increasingly gaining access to
information of every kind and to a diversity of ideas will find justice
asserting itself as the ruling principle of successful social
organization. With ever greater frequency, proposals aiming at the
development of the planet will have to submit to the candid light of the
standards it requires.
At the individual level, justice is that faculty of the human soul that
enables each person to distinguish truth from falsehood. In the sight of
God, Baha'u'llah avers, justice is "the best beloved of all things" since
it permits each individual to see with his own eyes rather than the eyes
of others, to know through his own knowledge rather than the knowledge of
his neighbor or his group. It calls for fair-mindedness in one's
judgments, for equity in one's treatment of others, and is thus a constant
if demanding companion in the daily occasions of life.
At the group level, a concern for justice is the indispensable compass in
collective decision making, because it is the only means by which unity of
thought and action can be achieved. Far from encouraging the punitive
spirit that has often masqueraded under its name in past ages, justice is
the practical expression of awareness that, in the achievement of human
progress, the interests of the individual and those of society are
inextricably linked. To the extent that justice becomes a guiding concern
of human interaction, a consultative climate is encouraged that permits
options to be examined dispassionately and appropriate courses of action
selected. In such a climate the perennial tendencies toward manipulation
and partisanship are far less likely to deflect the decision-making
process.
The implications for social and economic development are profound. Concern
for justice protects the task of defining progress from the temptation to
sacrifice the well-being of the generality of humankind--and even of the
planet itself--to the advantages which technological breakthroughs can make
available to privileged minorities. In design and planning, it ensures
that limited resources are not diverted to the pursuit of projects
extraneous to a community's essential social or economic priorities. Above
all, only development programs that are perceived as meeting their needs
and as being just and equitable in objective can hope to engage the
commitment of the masses of humanity, upon whom implementation depends.
The relevant human qualities such as honesty, a willingness to work, and a
spirit of cooperation are successfully harnessed to the accomplishment of
enormously demanding collective goals when every member of society--indeed
every component group within society--can trust that they are protected by
standards and assured of benefits that apply equally to all.
At the heart of the discussion of a strategy of social and economic
development, therefore, lies the issue of human rights. The shaping of
such a strategy calls for the promotion of human rights to be freed from
the grip of the false dichotomies that have for so long held it hostage.
Concern that each human being should enjoy the freedom of thought and
action conducive to his or her personal growth does not justify devotion
to the cult of individualism that so deeply corrupts many areas of
contemporary life. Nor does concern to ensure the welfare of society as a
whole require a deification of the state as the supposed source of
humanity's well-being. Far otherwise: the history of the present century
shows all too clearly that such ideologies and the partisan agendas to
which they give rise have been themselves the principal enemies of the
interests they purport to serve. Only in a consultative framework made
possible by the consciousness of the organic unity of humankind can all
aspects of the concern for human rights find legitimate and creative
expression.
Today, the agency on whom has devolved the task of creating this framework
and of liberating the promotion of human rights from those who would
exploit it is the system of international institutions born out of the
tragedies of two ruinous world wars and the experience of worldwide
economic breakdown. Significantly, the term "human rights" has come into
general use only since the promulgation of the United Nations Charter in
1945 and the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights three
years later. In these history-making documents, formal recognition has
been given to respect for social justice as a correlative of the
establishment of world peace. The fact that the Declaration passed without
a dissenting vote in the General Assembly conferred on it from the outset
an authority that has grown steadily in the intervening years.
The activity most intimately linked to the consciousness that
distinguishes human nature is the individual's exploration of reality for
himself or herself. The freedom to investigate the purpose of existence
and to develop the endowments of human nature that make it achievable
requires protection. Human beings must be free to know. That such freedom
is often abused and such abuse grossly encouraged by features of
contemporary society does not detract in any degree from the validity of
the impulse itself.
It is this distinguishing impulse of human consciousness that provides the
moral imperative for the enunciation of many of the rights enshrined in
the Universal Declaration and the related Covenants. Universal education,
freedom of movement, access to information, and the opportunity to
participate in political life are all aspects of its operation that
require explicit guarantee by the international community. The same is
true of freedom of thought and belief, including religious liberty, along
with the right to hold opinions and express these opinions appropriately.
Since the body of humankind is one and indivisible, each member of the
race is born into the world as a trust of the whole. This trusteeship
constitutes the moral foundation of most of the other rights--principally
economic and social--which the instruments of the United Nations are
attempting similarly to define. The security of the family and the home,
the ownership of property, and the right to privacy are all implied in
such a trusteeship. The obligations on the part of the community extend to
the provision of employment, mental and physical health care, social
security, fair wages, rest and recreation, and a host of other reasonable
expectations on the part of the individual members of society.
The principle of collective trusteeship creates also the right of every
person to expect that those cultural conditions essential to his or her
identity enjoy the protection of national and international law. Much like
the role played by the gene pool in the biological life of humankind and
its environment, the immense wealth of cultural diversity achieved over
thousands of years is vital to the social and economic development of a
human race experiencing its collective coming-of-age. It represents a
heritage that must be permitted to bear its fruit in a global
civilization. On the one hand, cultural expressions need to be protected
from suffocation by the materialistic influences currently holding sway.
On the other, cultures must be enabled to interact with one another in
ever-changing patterns of civilization, free of manipulation for partisan
political ends.
"The light of men", Baha'u'llah says, "is Justice. Quench it not with the
contrary winds of oppression and tyranny. The purpose of justice is the
appearance of unity among men. The ocean of divine wisdom surgeth within
this exalted word, while the books of the world cannot contain its inner
significance."