The Twin Guardians

Justice and Equity, Guardian Twins

"Justice and equity are twin Guardians that watch over men. From them are revealed such blessed and perspicuous words as are the cause of the well-being of the world and the protection of the nations." (Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 12)

I stumbled across this saying of Baha'u'llah a few weeks ago and it has been goading me ever since. I can well imagine that justice is a guardian watching over mankind, but what is this about its twin, equity? How does equity guard the world? Do I even know what equity is? And if so, how do you distinguish between equity and justice? Or, as "twins," are they all but identical? And what is this linguistic angle about the two of them "revealing" words which promote well-being and protect the nations?

One difference would seem to be that equity is more about balance inside, whereas justice is concerned with outer action. Justice, Baha'u'llah implies here, is "blessed" and equity is "perspicuous," or clear. Equity's limpid quality comes from an inner inclination to perceive and internalize truth, whereas the holy quality of justice is carrying right out in relation to others.

Both guardians keep us from making mistakes. The guardian that Baha'u'llah calls justice rights wrongs in the world and erases gross violations of law. Equity, on the other hand, seems more concerned with prevention, with countering systemic imbalances and curing chronic illnesses.

Be that as it may, somebody referred me to a humorous essay called "The Laziest Man on Earth's Guide to Green Living," which is to be found at:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/01/laziest-man-on-earth-guide-to-green-living.php

This is the kind of joking that evokes nervous laughter and disquieting second thoughts. The author writes,

"Anyone who thinks it's tough to be an environmentalist has got it all wrong. That's why I've gone to the considerable trouble of assembling a guide that even the laziest man on earth, who may or may not be yours truly, can follow to live according to ecologically friendly principles."

The lazy author then concocts rules like "borrow stuff," "never throw anything away," "do not wash your hair" and "do not flush your toilet." These reduce energy costs to manufacture new things and conserve fresh water. In other words, instead of showing forth what we normally think of as virtues, like neatness and cleanliness, the way things are right now we can take on vices like laziness and slovenliness and call it environmental friendliness.

The disturbing thing is that he is perfectly correct.

Upon long reflection I came to the conclusion that this is a systemic failing. If housing and the infrastructure that supports it were intelligently designed we would not harm the environment, for example, when we flush the toilet or wash our hair. That, I think, is failure mostly of our guardian of equity. This is not a gross wrong that would concern the guardian of justice, it is a long term imbalance whose subtle effects are impossible to detect in the short term. The inner balance of equity makes us concerned with such things before it is too late. With it we will see to it that doing the right and natural thing always has right and natural effects. If there is no concern with harmonious balance of daily living then the result, eventually, is an inefficient setup where order and cleanliness do more harm to the environment than vices.

An example is the mountain of trash we create whenever we purchase anything new. It started with the decision to stop reusing pop bottles and it worsened until suddenly there became an unspoken rule that everything in the store has to be covered in a thick layer (or two or three) of packaging, or it is somehow unsafe, unclean, not genuine. Nobody would plan such a situation intentionally, but that is what happens when we put the guardian of equity into the unemployment lines.

It is significant that Baha'u'llah in that quote personifies justice and equity; they are not abstractions but people. This, Plato did too. He envisioned an entire class of guardians protecting the general interest. I always imagined that as meaning the protective professions like police and the legal profession, but now that I am reading Comenius I am not so sure. Comenius envisioned specially trained guardians in all three estates of society, science, religion and politics, who would protect us against all sorts of disintegration and decay.

"To dispose of the danger confronting us (that Universal Affairs, which affect the order and security of mankind, may perchance fall apart and disintegrate) I say that the most effective remedy available is the appointment of regular guardians as soon as our sacred constitution is established, who shall have permanent responsibility for certifying that schools enlighten men's minds, churches inspire their hearts, and parliaments maintain national peace and for preventing errors from creeping in or developing." (Panorthosia, Ch. 15, para 7, p. 217)

That is, as soon as the three wings of a world government are formed and a constitution devised for them, there would not only be teachers sent out to "grow" their goals, but also there would be guardians to protect these provisions and to prevent situations like the one we are in, where vice is has a smaller footprint than virtue. This Comenius calls "keeping within the bounds of salvation."

"Every school, every church, and every state will have its guardians of law and order (I mean Scholarchs, Elders' and Senators). But as continuous progression is needed in each case towards the highest office of its kind, we must not leave any gaps especially here and now, when everlasting foundations for general salvation must be laid.

For example, just as people living together make up the family, families the state, states the province, provinces the kingdom, and, in fact, the entire community of kingdoms makes up one common state of mankind, so every home, state, province, and kingdom, and finally the whole world, should have its own Tribunal. Similarly there must be respective grades supervising the order and proficiency of schools and churches up to the highest level, and these must be vested with power to gather all men and all things together and to keep them within the bounds of salvation." (Panorthosia, Ch. 15, para 8, p. 218)

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John Taylor
email: badijet@gmail.com
blog: http://badiblog.blogspot.com/

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