Tabernacle Series, II

Tabernacle of Unity Series

By John Taylor; 2006 November 07

 Let us continue sampling gems in the newly translated "Tabernacle of Unity." Before we leave the second Tablet in the book, which is addressed to Mirza Abu'l-Fadl and expands upon some specific questions by Manikchi Sahib, let us focus upon paragraphs 2.33 to 2.38. Here Baha'u'llah addresses Manikchi's question about religious tolerance.

 Some faiths, Manikchi had noted, such as Hinduism and Zoroastrianism, allow free association with members of other religions, while others persecute them and consider it a pious act to oppress and steal from them. Any guesses about which the latter faith group is? In view of the context, small wonder Baha'u'llah in His first, direct answer to Manikchi Sahib had framed it in general terms and circumspect language. Small wonder that Baha'u'llah often felt a sword of Damocles hanging over his head! On the one hand He could not compromise integrity by dissembling essential beliefs, but on the other hand the charged atmosphere of Persia meant that a single word might provoke more torture, robberies and killing of innocents.

 Nonetheless, Baha'u'llah does not avoid Manikchi's specific query: "Which approach is acceptable in the sight of God?" Baha'u'llah answers it in no uncertain terms. "The former statement hath ever been and will continue to be true. It is not permissible to contend with anyone, nor is it acceptable in the sight of God to ill-treat or oppress any soul." (Tabernacle 2.34, p. 38) He then cites a "Great Being" statement from the Lawh-i-Maqsud.

 "O ye children of men! The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men. Suffer it not to become a source of dissension and discord, of hate and enmity."

 This concise statement of the Baha'i position on religious tolerance we treated in detail in its role as a "Great Being" statement in an essay of April 18th of this year, called "The Rehabilitation, Oneness of God and Religion." Baha'u'llah leads up to it saying He has repeated it in other places "time and again," and concludes by saying that it has been explicated in more detail in other Tablets. It is particularly relevant in view of the recent BIC and UHJ position papers taking shelter under the UN's declared but un-enforced declaration that not only religious conviction but also religious conversion are fundamental human rights. Surely this mention here of the quote to what Baha'is would call a "close seeker" or a "friend of the Faith" is hint enough that we his followers should memorize it and use it whenever we have the chance.

 Myself, I am like the smoker who brags that he can quit anytime he wants, and proves it over and over. I have tried and failed "time and again" to commit this passage to memory. When I came across it in Tabernacle of Unity last night I tried once more. I found that, glory be, it stuck in there a bit easier than last time. Like a wet spitball on the wall, it held onto my gray matter, though you never knew when it would drop off and fall into the river Nepenth, or whatever that body of water is called where you forget everything before floating into the underworld. For me, the point when I can really be sure that I have a passage down is when I can recite it during our family prayer and reading session just before the kids retire to sleep. This is a difficult proving ground. All the while the devotions are being devoted I must keep one eye open to be sure that eyes are closed, backs are straight and shenanigans are not being perpetrated. If I can recite something then it is etched it stone. But if I cannot, it falls like a spitball to the dirt and I am back to the old standby, "This earth is but one country..."

 Baha'u'llah then proceeds in paragraph 35 to how teaching and religious conversion are to be done by Baha'is. The Word is to be offered with "the utmost goodwill, kindness, and compassion." God will reward those who believe, but if the listener fail to accept the truth, it is not permitted to contend. Baha'u'llah then offers two more brief quotes,

 "In another connection He saith, `Blessed and happy is he that ariseth to promote the best interests of the peoples and kindreds of the earth.'"

 Who is "He"? Again, the Great Being. This is perhaps the best known Great Being statement, also found in the Lawh-i-Maqsud (Tablets, 167). It was originally included in "The Proclamation of Baha'u'llah," (page 115) a collection of Baha'u'llah's letters to the Kings, under the section called "The Great Announcement to Mankind." This implies that it was originally written around 1867 to 1868, though I do not know that for sure. In any case, Baha'u'llah's statement here has been backed up by a growing mountain of scientific evidence. Anybody who "arises to promote the best interests of the peoples" is much more likely to be "blessed and happy," according to firm health measures like heart health, life expectancy, and psychological well-being.

 I have been listening to novel after novel of John Grisham over past weeks. I find the southern drawl of the readers somehow comforting, even a little hypnotic. The latest book finished was "The Street Lawyer." Grisham is a master of suspense but as I have complained here before, sometimes the moral center of his characters tilts off keel. The Street Lawyer makes up for it all. This is the story of an antitrust lawyer in a big firm who sees the light when a desperate homeless person holds his firm hostage and is shot by police right before him. He is forced by the man's arguments to see how greedy he is, how immoral it is to chase after the almighty dollar when there are people all around you who have nothing. As the Master once said, if there is somebody in your town without food or a bed it is a moral imperative not to eat or sleep yourself until they are fed and bedded down safely. The filthy rich lawyer realizes that he and his firm have done no Pro Bono work for years, and that what little they give to charity goes to trivial "good causes" and not to those in desperate need. He decides to become a street lawyer, to join a little legal clinic trying desperately on almost no funds to see that homeless people get a fair shake from officials who hold them in open contempt. As I listened to this story I was inspired and reminded of the love `Abdu'l-Baha had for the dirt poor. As He said, where you see people starving it is a sure sign of oppression. In the location where this novel takes place, the oppression is democratic, popular, the blood is on many hands, and that surely is a greater affront to humanity than if it happened under the boot of a dictator or party ideology. I wished that I were a lawyer, a doctor or anybody with a skill or money or anything to give to help those in need. Truly, listening to this story there wafted over me gentle waves of what Baha'u'llah says in the Proclamation,

"That one indeed is a man who, today, dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race. The Great Being saith: Blessed and happy is he that ariseth to promote the best interests of the peoples and kindreds of the earth."

Surely this implies that oppressors and the complacent rich who by their apathy implicate themselves in injustice are not worthy of the appellation "man,” they are rather some sort of mindless animal, maybe a leach or tapeworm. We will continue from there tomorrow.