In reviewing of the unfolding public message of the Cause
over the past 100 years it is important to distinguish this message from the
Faith's teaching work. There are as many teaching methods as there are Bahá'ís:
some five million of them at the present count. There are as many "Bahá'í
messages", perhaps, as there are inquirers. Entirely apart from this
worldwide effort of individuals to teach other individuals, the Bahá'í
community as a body has pursued a parallel, century-long -- and remarkably
systematic -- program to create an accurate and favorable image of the Cause in
the public mind generally.
There is no one satisfactory term that captures this
endeavor. The meaning of the much-used word "proclamation" has,
unfortunately, become steadily more blurred as it has been used for various
group teaching initiatives. What we are talking about are such activities as
public information, government relations, publicity, publishing, media
production and public relations, whose aim is to ensure that the society around
us gains a reasonably sound understanding of the nature and purposes of the
Bahá'í Cause.
When one looks back over the past century with this area of
our work in mind, a very interesting realization emerges. It is not only the
Bahá'í community that has moved through a series of stages in its development,
but also the presentation of its public message. In a sense the image of the
Cause can be said to have gone through three -- and perhaps four -- major
transformations during these hundred years.
Obviously, the basic message has never changed. We have
never stopped presenting one message in order to switch to an entirely new one.
On the contrary, the process has been a cumulative one, and is much stronger
for that reason. Nevertheless, it is clear that the focus has several times
shifted quite sharply, the emphasis has changed and with it the types of public
information activities which have received priority attention.
The First Hundred Years
If one examines our public message during the first two or
three decades of the century, one discovers a Bahá'í Faith which was
essentially a movement of peace, of universality and understanding. It took an
optimistic and encouraging view of the possibilities of human nature because it
declared humanity to be fundamentally spiritual. Mankind's hope lay in freeing
itself from the limitations and prejudices of the past, and accepting its
fundamental unity.
Inevitably, there were a number of mockers. One American
poet referred dismissively to what he called the "Sweet
Bahá'í-and-Bahá'í". At a much later date we still heard warnings about
"terminal niceness". Fundamentally, however, the message had great
attractive power: it planted in the public mind, to the extent that this mind
was aware of us, an identification of the word "Bahá'í" with a spirit
of universality and goodwill.
This image was most fully captured in the immensely
appealing figure of the Master Himself, during His epic journeys through the West.
The possibilities for its promotion were also most fully explored by Him in
such actions as His address to the Lake Mohonk peace conference, His
participation at an NAACP conference, His defense of the truth of Christianity
and Islam at Temple Emmanu-El in San Francisco, the host of interviews He gave
to the press, and in the unshakable confidence He displayed in the spiritual
destiny of the human race.
With the assumption by the Guardian of the responsibilities
placed on him in the Will and Testament, the focus shifted. For over three
decades Shoghi Effendi devoted himself to a task which he termed
"vindicating the independent character of the Faith". Patiently and
firmly he freed the Cause from the cultic milieu which had long veiled its true
nature. The Bahá'í Faith was an independent religion among the religions of the
world, he said, and must be recognized as such.
The legal recognition of Bahá'í marriages and Bahá'í holy
days was tenaciously pursued throughout the world. Bahá'í institutions were
incorporated in civil law. The foundations were laid for a close relationship
with the United Nations system as soon as that system came into existence.
At the local and national levels, Bahá'í communities
tirelessly organized classes in comparative religion and sought a place in the
emerging interfaith movement. "World Religion Day" was created to
focus media attention on this theme. Especially designed literature explored,
with varying degrees of professional expertise, the concept of Progressive Revelation.
(One recalls one small pamphlet whose cover listed the world's surviving
independent religions, beginning with "Sabeanism" whose origins were
imaginatively attributed to one "Enoch".)
Major Shift in Focus
With the triumphant completion of the Ten Year Crusade and
the successful establishment of the Universal House of Justice, the image of
the Cause again underwent a major shift in focus. The Bahá'í community had
become established throughout the entire planet. Suddenly it was everywhere and
it was everyone. This immensely rich diversity was given further weight by the
dramatic increase in the community's sheer size. Whole Third World villages
became Bahá'í, with profound implications for the operation of the
Administrative Order.
As the process gained momentum, the community became an
increasingly valued collaborator with UN agencies and other non-governmental
organizations. Social and economic development projects proliferated.
Administrative sophistication expanded, as did the professional resources
available.
To use the words of a popular philosopher of the period,
Marshall McLuhan, "the medium was the message". A growing array of
public information activities emphasized the fact that the Bahá'í community was
a microcosm of the world. It was at home everywhere. It was as indigenous to
Africa as it was to America; as familiar a voice in Hindi as in Farsi; as
reliable a friend in the South as in the North. It was itself a convincing
proof of the validity of the Faith's message.
This century-long series of efforts has been a stunning
success. To the extent that people are familiar with the Bahá'í Faith, they
regard it as an influence for good, promoting those ideals of global unity and
interracial harmony that are increasingly seen as vital to the survival of
humankind. At some point in the past several decades a corner was turned in the
vindication of its character as an independent world religion; however stubborn
the resistance to this idea may be in many parts of the world, crucial agencies
that shape public opinion now routinely include the Faith among the distinct
religious systems of mankind.
Equally important is the extraordinary reputation which the
community's interaction with governmental, non-governmental and United Nations
bodies has established. The Bahá'í community is seen as an "honest
broker", as genuinely committed to principles of collaboration and
consultation, as an international influence that can be counted on for
rationality and professionalism in the initiatives it undertakes and the advice
it gives. It does what it says it will do.
Like New Immigrants
The Cause is, in short, becoming a familiar and respected
feature of the international landscape in the concluding decade of this
century, and it is of the utmost i mportance that we ourselves understand this
fact. In a sense we are like new immigrants getting off a plane in North
America. In most parts of the world one may live a lifetime -- and his children
and grandchildren after him -- without becoming "Italians" or
"Japanese" or "Norwegians". But almost the only one who does
not assume that the new arrival in New York is an American is the immigrant
himself. In much the same way, we are being challenged to "take yes for an
answer" in many areas of our public information work. We must not let the
limitations in our own minds prevent us from understanding this development and
the opportunities it opens up.
"Emblazoning the Name of Baha'u'llah"
Now, the House of Justice tells us that the moment has come
for a dramatic new initiative in the Faith's public presentation of its
message. What has so far been achieved creates a setting in which the central
truth of the Bahá'í Cause may appear in its proper perspective, a stage upon
which the Author of the Cause can Himself address our fellow human beings,
their institutions, their information systems, their centers of learning.
All of us have yearned for this day. It will bring together
two aspects of our work on which a perceptive public relations specialist
remarked two years ago. In an entirely friendly but objective manner he
expressed the view that there seemed in fact to be "two Bahá'í Faiths: the
one that you share with the public and the private one, the one that motivates
what you do. The difference between these two Faiths is Bahá'u'lláh".
Setting aside the circumstances that have made this distinction
a wise and considered strategy, it is clear that these "two Faiths"
are now converging. What are some of the principal implications of their doing
so? In considering them, we would be well advised to keep in mind that
wonderful sentence of the Guardian on the necessary limits on our ability to
peer very far into the future:
"All that we can reasonably venture to attempt is to
strive to obtain a glimpse of the first streaks of that promised Dawn which
must, in the fullness of time, chase away the gloom that has encircled
humanity."
With this caution in mind, let us try to identify some of
the broad lines which an attempt to proclaim the name and mission of
Bahá'u'lláh to humankind may seek to pursue. Fundamentally, the summons of the
House of Justice requires that we re-examine everything we do in presenting the
message of the Cause to the public. Every media interview, every submission to
a United Nations conference, every public event we organize, every audio-visual
presentation we create, every piece of music composed, every academic paper,
any contribution to the drafting of a national constitution -- in all these
activities, we must pose ourselves the question, "How can this be
reformulated so as to point to its source in Bahá'u'lláh?"
Broad Array of Initiatives
Our task is to set in motion a broad array of initiatives
that can establish Bahá'u'lláh's name as a familiar and authoritative voice in
human affairs. The goal in the decades ahead is to reach the point the point
where no responsible scholar will undertake work in fields as diverse as social
anthropology, systems research, political and economic science, administrative
theory, psychological methodology -- without consulting Bahá'u'lláh's teachings
and the models He has constructed:
- Where the media will routinely ask, "What does Bahá'u'lláh have to say about X, Y or Z?"
- Where public agencies will have begun to include citations from Bahá'u'lláh's works in support of proposals being advanced or analyses made.
- Where the masses of mankind will have begun to know who Bahá'u'lláh is and the nature of the mission He has undertaken.
Before anything else we need to determine how we are to
speak of Bahá'u'lláh Himself. A beginning has been made in the Statement on
Bahá'u'lláh prepared, at the request of the House of Justice, by the Office of
Public Information. Its numerous citations from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh
suggest a number of ways in which our public information work can profitably
make a start.
As the statement points out, Bahá'u'lláh was the first
Manifestation of God to set foot in the West. This simple fact of history and
geography points up one of the great distinctions between His mission and those
of the Messengers of God who preceded Him. Bahá'u'lláh is the Prophet of civilization.
The greater part of His life was spent not in the Galilean countryside nor
among the desert tribes of Arabia, but in the great cities of His world. He did
not reject the world as Buddha did; his mission was to transform and revitalize
it. While refusing government appointments, He moved freely in government
circles. Those whom He influenced were not only the common people, but the
ministers, scholars, diplomats and literary figures who eagerly sought Him out,
often traveling long distances for the purpose.
His mastery of both the Persian and Arabic languages and the
literary traditions of each matched the ease with which His writings dealt with
the great issues of social and political organization. He was the Head of a
large household, including family, dependents and servants, and He was able to
create around Him an order that defied the privations to which He was
subjected. Even to Ali Pasha, the Turkish prime minister who was to treat Him
with such injustice, He was "a man of great distinction, exemplary conduct,
great moderation" whose doctrine "is worthy of high esteem" and
whose influence might help overcome the religious conflict which was
undermining Ottoman society. He was seen as a teacher, a saint, a philosopher,
a reformer. He was the Master of His world, even when it imprisoned Him. He was
neither a recluse nor a fugitive. He did not accept to be a victim.
Second to a realistic presentation of the Person of
Bahá'u'lláh, the new stage opening before us requires a fundamental rethinking
of our presentation of His teachings. The shift that is called for, however
simple in nature, is a radical one. We are challenged to move beyond our
current discussion of "Bahá'í principle" to an exposition of what
Bahá'u'lláh said, what Bahá'u'lláh wrote, what Bahá'u'lláh called for, what He
explained, foresaw, cautioned against, proposed, envisioned. We need to share
with others how Bahá'u'lláh suggested we look at this or that issue, how He
advised us to approach this or that problem.
Programs of public information must focus, for example, on
the implications of Bahá'u'lláh's searching critique of political organization.
Interested segments of public opinion must be made aware of His application of
the principles of scientific method to all aspects of human consciousness,
including those that are "spiritual". Discussions of the
developmental and environmental challenges facing humanity must be related to
Bahá'u'lláh's uncompromising assertion that "women and men are and always
have been equal". We will find a wide and enthusiastic audience for a
presentation of the approach to group decision-making that He conceived and for
which the present-day Bahá'í administration presents an early working model. In
short, questions of faith entirely aside, we are challenged to introduce
leaders of thought and the public generally to the Author of a body of writings
that propose radically new approaches to the central issues of life.
Third, Bahá'u'lláh's writings contain an instrument whose
impact on the exposition of the Faith's public message cannot yet be dimly
imagined. Underlying the body of His principles and concepts, Bahá'u'lláh has
created a unified, coherent world view, a universal theory of history, if you
like; a comprehensive vision of the nature of man and society. The
potentialities of the unique endowment of the Cause are suggested by an
examination of the central role which such systems of thought have played in
humanity's past. "Where there is no vision", the Bible says simply,
"the people perish." There has never been a human society on Earth
that has not been founded on a system of belief that gave meaning and purpose
to life. When such systems of belief fail, the members of those societies cease
to make the required sacrifices to maintain essential social relationships.
When this happens a society loses the cohesive power that sustains it, and
disintegration sets in.
"On the Road to Nowhere"
This is the universal condition of our present-day world. A
particularly dramatic example is Marxism, both in its political form as the
governing authority in certain blocs of nations, and in its intellectual form
as an aggressive and dogmatic materialism which, for decades, has imposed
itself on academic life everywhere. Its fate was well summed up in a large
banner carried through Moscow's Red Square on last year's May Day:
"Seventy-three years on the road to nowhere!" The statement is not
merely a political one; it reflects an appalled awareness that the foundations
of social and intellectual certainty have collapsed. Masses of humanity have
awakened to the fact that the fundamental values and concepts of their society,
values that demanded decades of heartbreaking sacrifice -- and on which were
reared an array of imposing political, academic, social and economic institutions
-- were not merely fundamentally wrong, but were largely nonsense. Speaking of
this day, the Qur'an says that "the mountains will pass away like the
passing of a vapor in the desert".
Universal Loss of Faith
The loss of faith in the great world views on which the
social systems of our world are founded is not confined to one part of that
world; it is universal. Whether those systems of thought are pseudo-scientific
like Marxism, or purely pragmatic like capitalism, or humanistic like Liberal
Democracy, or quite pathological like Nazism and Fascism, they have lost their
hold on the minds of those who once worshipped at their altars.
In the words addressed by the Voice of God to Bahá'u'lláh:
"Canst thou discover anyone but Me, O Pen, in this Day?
. . . Lo, the entire creation hath passed away! Nothing remaineth except My
Face . . . We have, then, called into being a new creation, as a token of our
grace unto men."
As we explore the public information field thus open to us,
we will find that what makes Bahá'u'lláh's world view unique is that it is
truly universal. Unlike all the systems that preceded it, it embraces not only
the entire diversity of the human race, but the entirety of human experience.
Nothing that is truly human is alien to it.
As we ourselves come to understand this resource more
clearly, we will be able to communicate its message to society in general, a
society whose search for such a vision will become ever more urgent. The
expectation is not that Bahá'u'lláh's vision will become readily adopted. The
expectation is that it will begin to engage serious minds everywhere and, in
popular forms of expression, the attention of the general public. Once this
process begins, the eventual outcome is as certain as tomorrow's sun.
The forthcoming publication of the Kitab-i-Aqdas points us
to a fourth area in which the historic encounter between Bahá'u'lláh and
humankind will take place. It is not merely the prevailing systems of thought
that have broken down, but human values themselves. We live in a world that has
entirely lost its moral moorings, in which all of the ethical reference points
of the past have been entirely swept away. The effect on the masses of
humanity, leaders and led alike, has been to create the deepest anxiety of which
human beings are capable.
In a famous passage of his writings, the Irish poet W.B.
Yeats described our age as one in which "the best lack all conviction,
while the worst are filled with passionate intensity". Questions that
touch the human heart most deeply, that cry out for reflection and a spirit of
consultation, are transformed by battling groups of extremists into rigid
formulae and cookie-cutter tests of human decency. In such a world, the
majority of society's members withdraw into helplessness and increasingly
desperate silence.
Merely to mention this prevailing climate is to make it
clear how vital it is that we Bahá'ís not "get in the way", so to
speak, but rather help our fellow human beings to find their own relationship
with Bahá'u'lláh and the prescriptions He has brought. He is the Physician of
the soul, not we. He knows human nature as intimately as He knew the palm of
His own hand. He knows the pattern of habits and attitudes that constitutes
true human development, and He understands the inner disciplines and social restraints
that conduce to this development.
It is in this context, surely, that we must seek to help the
institutions of society and the public generally to understand the nature and
purpose of the Kitab-i-Aqdas. The Aqdas is not, Bahá'u'lláh explains, "a
mere code of laws", a list of do's and don'ts. It is, in His words,
"the choice wine of reunion" with God. And it is through reunion that
human minds can ascend to "the station conferred upon their inmost beings,
the station of the knowledge of their own selves".
The Covenant of Baha'u'llah
Finally, because we live in an age which seeks objective
evidence -- and which has every support in Bahá'u'lláh's writings to do so --
we need to acquaint society with the real implications of the work which
Bahá'u'lláh has done. This work includes the global community He has brought
into being. Those around us will be able to appreciate this extraordinary
achievement to the degree that they see its relevance to the fate of humanity
as a whole.
The key to this understanding is the Covenant. The
coming-of-age of the human race has made possible, Bahá'u'lláh says, an
entirely new relationship between God and man. As the peoples of the world
gradually turn to God and begin to conform their lives to the pattern of human
society contained in His Revelation for this day, "a new race of men"
will result. The unification of human consciousness will produce a people free
of the limitations that created and perpetuated the problems now facing the
planet.
This process is irresistible, and its manifestations can be
seen in every aspect of contemporary history. It provides the context in which
Bahá'u'lláh's creation of the Bahá'í community assumes its proper significance.
For Bahá'u'lláh has not merely outlined a theory of social evolution; nor has
He contented Himself with the creation of a model. The Bahá'í community, with
all its limitations and shortcomings, is itself the nucleus of the emerging
"race of men". To the degree that we understand this dimension of the
Revelation, to that extent will we be able, in the words of the House of
Justice, to "celebrate the achievements of the Covenant, and proclaim its
aims and unifying power".
"O people of Baha," Bahá'u'lláh urges, "be
not careless of the virtues with which ye have been endowed . . ." The
Bahá'í community, even at its present embryonic stage of development, possesses
features that are unique, features that will one day characterize the humanity
of our planet's future.
What are they?
The first and most fundamental of them is unity. Unity is
the mainspring of humanity's future. Except for the Bahá'í community, there is
no association of human beings on the planet, religious, political, racial or
social -- nor has there ever been one -- that possesses this attribute. Ultimately,
it alone will exert a compelling power of attraction on a world which is daily
coming to realize that disunity is the ultimate source of its dangers and
suffer ing. "So powerful is the light of unity", Bahá'u'lláh asserts,
"that it can illumine the whole earth."
Second only to its unity is the universality of the
community that Bahá'u'lláh has created. No one is left out, no one takes second
place. There is no corner of the earth where the pattern of life taught by
Bahá'u'lláh has not taken root; no culture, no people which does not play its
full part.
A New System of Values
Third, the emerging human race must be imbued with an
entirely new system of values, a new ethos. It must be guided by an inner
ethical orientation relevant to the challenges of the next stage in human
development. Such a transformation cannot come from legislation and education
alone. "Is it within human power . . . ", Bahá'u'lláh asks, "to
effect . . . so complete a transformation . . . ?" Yet, the evidences of
just such a fundamental change are already apparent in the ethos which
Bahá'u'lláh has fused into the worldwide Bahá'u'lláh community, not as an
imposed code, but as a pattern of spontaneous moral response.
Fourth, if it is to assume responsibility for its own destiny,
the human race must achieve collective consciousness. It must be able to think
and decide collectively. The Administrative Order conceived by Bahá'u'lláh
endows the community of His followers with this unique faculty. It exists
nowhere else in our world, and is a feature of the Cause that has evoked
particularly warn appreciation from our collaborators and well-wishers. From
the grassroots level in the most remote corners of the globe, up to the central
organ of decision-making which the community has raised up on the slopes of
Mount Carmel, a unified pattern of consultation provides an early glimmer of
what Bahá'u'lláh intended when He spoke of God cherishing in His heart the
desire of beholding the entire human race as "one soul in one body".
The problems confronting the human race highlight the
crucial importance of yet another power with which it must somehow become
endowed. Nothing has so daunted contemporary efforts to heal and protect our
tortured planet than the awareness of the enormity of the exercise of human
will that such efforts will require. To realize this is to gain a new
appreciation of the significance of the systematic prosecution of the Divine
Plan to which the Bahá'í community has devoted itself. For decades, tens of
thousands of ordinary people willingly accepted every type of sacrifice, solely
out of love for Bahá'u'lláh. Struggling young institutions diverted their best
resources to pursuing distant goals which had no immediate relevance to their
own needs. That a community of five million people has today become the most
widespread religion on earth, second only to Christianity, is a feat of sheer
will unparalleled in human history. No body of people has ever set itself such
staggering goals and then systematically achieved them, stage after stage, plan
after plan.
Nor is it only obstacles and challenges which lie ahead of a
united humanity. As contemporary events show all too clearly, there are in the
human ego impulses of perversity and selfishness that will resist to the utmost
every effort of the race to change course. The religious literature of all
peoples is filled with warnings of the titanic struggle between the forces of
Light and Darkness that will result. In such a perspective, the Bahá'í
community may well reflect deeply on the power of endurance with which it has
met recurrent waves of persecution and suffering.
The experience of the Iranian friends over the past 11 years
provides a glimpse into the community's spiritual reserves in this respect. One
thinks of the summer of 1983 when the persecution was reaching its peak. In
June of that summer the Iranian authorities paraded the entire national
leadership of the Tudeh (communist) party on national television. The prisoners
willingly confessed to every crime charged against them, and begged for their lives.
During that same eventful month 10 Bahá'í women and girls were subjected to
similar physical and mental abuse in an effort to force them to recant their
Faith. Their persecutors did not dare to put them on television because these
brutalities produced not a vestige of compliance. One thinks of Bahá'u'lláh's
ringing assurance:
"All praise be to God Who hath adorned the world with
an ornament, and arrayed it with a vesture, of which it can be despoiled by no
earthly power . . . Say: the springs that sustain the life of these birds are
not of this world. Their source is far above the reach and the ken of human
apprehension. Who is there that can put out the light which the snow-white Hand
of God hath lit?"
Greatest Gift to Mankind
There are several other features of the present- day Bahá'í
community that are relevant to humanity's future, but one of gaining particular
respect among our friends. The greatest gift of God to mankind, Bahá'u'lláh
says, is reason. Whatever force and faith may have achieved in the earlier
stages in the advancement of civilization, rationality is the key to humanity's
future. Bahá'ís have reason to feel proud of the informed and balanced
contributions that their community is making in international forums
everywhere. The development of the faculty is a feature of the growing
maturation of the Faith's institutions, a development which the beloved
Guardian foresaw as coinciding, in the closing years of this century, with the
emergence of the Lesser Peace and the completion of the complex of the
structures that constitute the World Center of the Faith.
These capacities do not arise out of any virtue of the
constituent elements of the Bahá'í community, much less its individual members.
They are purely and simply endowments of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant. We manifest
them to the extent that we ourselves are within the Covenant, but the Covenant
does not belong to us. It is Bahá'u'lláh's legacy to the whole of humankind:
"O people of Baha! That there are none to rival you is a sign of mercy . .
."
But, as the work of the Covenant, the community of
Bahá'u'lláh represents nothing less than the arrowhead of the evolution of
consciousness. One thinks of similar fundamental changes at earlier stages in
the evolutionary process. How feeble, how insignificant was the first
manifestation of sensate life on this planet. And yet it was the future and
everything else had meaning because of it. It was where evolution was going;
the trees and mountains, however beautiful and imposing, represented where
evolution had come from.
The Bahá'í community, with all it signifies, is
Bahá'u'lláh's achievement, the result of His vision, His leadership, His
teachings. He is its Creator and Sustainer.
Building Bridges
Embarking on the task of "emblazoning the name of
Bahá'u'lláh across the planet" will open up opportunities in each of the
areas touched on in the foregoing. In all of them we will face a common
challenge. Through a century of patient effort on our part, an image of the
Cause has emerged as a body of people committed to principles of peace and
brotherhood, rational and trustworthy in their undertakings, and working with
other people of goodwill in programs for the improvement of the life of
humankind. This image is an accurate representation of the Cause and one of
which we can be justly proud. Now we are about to share with the society around
us the motivating power of this phenomenon. But Bahá'u'lláh is not merely a
Teacher or Reformer. He is, in the unforgettable words of the Guardian,
"the Judge, the Lawgiver, the Redeemer of all mankind".
How do we put this together for our friends? For us, it is
all one. Bahá'u'lláh is the Source of all the expressions of the Cause, and
there is no discontinuity in the historical, intellectual or spiritual processes
by which they have emerged. But others will not have this background of
understanding. How will our public information programs bridge the resulting
gap in the public mind?
The answers are as many as the questions. Essentially,
however, our challenge is to begin energetically to interpret Bahá'u'lláh's
mission in the vocabulary and concerns of those around us. Certainly there will
be the indisposed. We have already had some experience of the storms of
opposition that the proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh's mission will provoke. But a
growing majority of those to whom our message is addressed will be people who
want to understand, however skeptical, critical or reluctant they may appear.
The challenge is particularly acute for those Bahá'ís who
enjoy the advantages of education, opportunity and association. They are called
on to relate Bahá'u'lláh's teachings to the concerns of their colleagues; to
communicate His vision to leaders of thought; to focus their skills on building
bridges between the insights of their disciplines, on the one hand, and the
relevant truths in Bahá'u'lláh's writings, on the other.
Preoccupation with "Conversion"
So far, our efforts in the field of public information have
not been able to escape a certain connotation of exclusivity that inevitably
arises from our parallel efforts at teaching. Given the history of religion,
any effort to present a new Faith raises a preoccupation with the issue of
"conversion". To discuss a community and its goals similarly tends to
focus attention on membership. We should not be surprised if, in the minds of
others, a certain sense of "us and them" intrudes.
To realize this is to understand why we must now make an
heroic effort to shed all of our parochial views. It has been essential to
establish the credentials of the Faith as an independent religious system. But
the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh goes far beyond anything that humanity understands by
the word "religion". If the ecclesiastical systems of our world are
religion, then the Cause is not; if it is religion, then they really are not.
It does a disservice to the mission of Bahá'u'lláh, to the World Order which He
has come to establish, to focus our public message in religious categories.
As the Prophet of global civilization, Bahá'u'lláh addresses
all of humankind. The principles in His writings, the vision of civilization He
propounds, His prescriptions for the moral reformation of society and human
nature are a universal legacy, without conditions, without prior commitment.
The new Covenant between God and man which He proclaims is not an organization
nor an ideology, but a universal reality operating within every soul and
between all souls. It is readily accessible to independent investigation and
discovery, "the axis of the oneness of the world of humanity". It is
reality. Ultimately it will engage the minds and spirits of all people, because
the nature of reality is to do so.
(The American Baha’i, April 9, 1992)
