Uses of History, Good and Bad
By John Taylor; 2009 Feb 09, 03 Mulk, 165 BE
Worryingly, many schools in the United States have stopped teaching history, apparently because an understanding of that discipline cannot be measured easily by the testing methods of the so-called "no child left behind" program. I always had objected the bias and distortion of how history was taught south of the border, but surely, no history is far worse than bad history. Aside from its own merits, how often does it happen that fundamental points of religion and philosophy arise from an acute insight and understanding of history. Consider the following passage from a Tablet of Abdu'l-Baha, which I originally ran across looking for an example of his use of the mathematical compass (as opposed to the navigator's magnetic compass),
"When thou considereth carefully thou wilt find this order and system to be established in all things. The whole attracteth the part, and the center of the circle is the axis of the compass. Consider His Holiness the Spirit (Christ): Since He was the Center of spiritual power and the Origin of divine benediction, although in the beginning He gathered but a few under His power, yet later through that conquering power, He ushered all sects under the shadow of the Christian tabernacle. Compare the present with the past, see the great difference. By this thou canst measure and reach the reality and know for a certainty that the difference among the sects of the world is due to the difference of comprehensions." (Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets, Vol. 3, p. 541)
This point cannot be overemphasized. From history we place our past, and incompatible understandings of history cause variant opinion, and variant opinion causes conflict. The point the Master is making here depends upon a subtle, penetrating grasp of Roman history during the first to sixth centuries. I have not found such insights in one place in any of the half dozen or so histories of Rome that I have read through the years. Secular sources for the first three centuries tend to ignore Christianity, although that is when (according to the Master) it was in its purest state, when it became the first multi-ethnic, cross-cultural force for unity in the experience of the Roman world.
Like culinary history, the history of religion in its pure state is invisible because it was by and large an initiative by women. For that reason it was (and still is) ignored by mainstream male historians. The details of the improvements in social structure that the early Christians laboriously raised up are all but forgotten, even by experts in Classical Studies. But early Christians made tremendous contributions to the public thing in the Roman Empire, for example they built the first hospitals that were free and open to all, even slaves and paupers. This was simply not written about by contemporaries, and even today historians, married to the biases in their "original" sources (which ignore women, most of whom were kept as illiterate as slaves) continue to pass by this crucial factor not only to history, but, as I said, to philosophy and religion. If anything should be common knowledge, this should.
Another reason the value of early religions is underappreciated was because they spread by means of the spirit, which is, by definition, beyond human comprehension and cannot be expressed in words, written or spoken. God, encouraging those who built the temple at Jerusalem, was recorded in the Bible as saying,
"Not by might nor by power shall this be done, but by my spirit." (Zechariah IV, 10 and 6)
Women, excluded from the patriarchal power that predominates and obscures human affairs, tended to be more sensitive than men to this subtle divine guidance.
By the time Christianity did become a political force to reckon with, it had become just that, political. It was corrupt and partisan rather than spiritual. It was solely concerned with the power struggles of an ambitious male priesthood, rather than "womanly" social issues like the charity and healthcare infrastructure that they had erected with such pains (we hear the same complaint from women's groups about President Obama's bailout money going to stimulate public works projects benefiting male professions rather than to female dominated ones, like teachers, nurses and social workers. They are still ignored, of course, but at least the voice is heard and recorded, unlike in Roman times). Worse, Christianity had become infected by asceticism and monasticism, both of which took direct aim at the institution of the family, the foundation of society.
The 18th Century historian Edward Gibbon records the fact that entire regiments of the Roman army were swallowed up by monasteries. The evangelical blandishments of desert hermits persuaded many a young person to sever all ties to society for good. Quite understandably, Gibbon ascribes the entire fall of the Roman Empire to this charismatic but corrupted form of Christianity. In the short term, it was not helpful.
Of course, the causes of Rome's decline and fall remain controversial even today. The latest (and I think most persuasive) theory was just contributed by a new profession, the climate scientist. They have found evidence that a shift in climate patterns, combined with a mini-ice age, doomed Rome. But nobody can doubt that, at least in the short term, corrupt Christian leaders tripped Rome up and helped usher in the Dark Age that followed. Only the stimulus of a rival faith, the rising Islam, goaded Christians into getting their act together, which they did in the Middle Ages.
As the Master says above, by comparing the early and recent fortunes of Christianity, "thou canst measure and reach the reality and know for a certainty that the difference among the sects of the world is due to the difference of comprehensions." A universal history would therefore be the first step to a universal philosophy and a common religion. A world history curriculum taught from our primary years would surely create a strong common bond among us all. Conversely, as long as there are many religions and cultures each with its own isolated history, it follows that contradictions and shortcomings in the teaching of history will always block peace.
Abdu'l-Baha, in saying this, may have been influenced by Jeremiah's admonition to look at history as the tree from which the "fruit of our thoughts" are grown,
"Thus says Yahweh, Stand you in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way; and walk therein, and you shall find rest for your souls. ... Hear, earth: behold, I will bring evil on this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not listened to my words." (Jer 6:16, 19, WEB)
It certainly is known that this biblical advice heavily influenced the vision of past and future of figures like St. Augustine, Frances Bacon and John Amos Comenius. Here is Comenius's commentary on what we now call the patriarchal order,
"Hence there has never been any true peace in our affairs, but only suspicion, jealousy, hatred, civil strife, and warfare, in a word, a regime of compulsion and violence. In the new politics, on the other hand, everything will be brought back to first principles (Universality, Simplicity, and Agreement): and then, at last, things will be all right. Any more subtle trickery that is written into the teaching of Politics will only cause more upheaval throughout the World of Mankind. 'Human affairs depend on the customs of olden times' (Panorthosia, Ch. 12, para 10, p. 191)
If only we studied history! If we learn from what has worked in the past maybe the subtle spirit driving the human world would be harder to ignore, less invisible and mysterious.
I just viewed a wonderful documentary film that demonstrates how everything comes out of understanding the dynamics of history. It is called "The Power of Forgiveness" and features interviews with scientists specializing in the new and rapidly growing scientific discipline of forgiveness studies, as well as with people applying the power of pardon to their own difficult situations. These include relatives of victims of the 9-11 killings, teachers of Catholic and Protestant children living in the "soft apartheid" of Belfast, the "truth and justice commissions" of South Africa, the relatives of murder victims, and so forth. I had no idea that a "forgiveness garden" is being planted in Beirut, and that efforts are being made to plant one on the site of the former World Trade Center. Every place that has seen violence in the past should surely be planting forgiveness gardens on every street corner in order to get over the endless repercussions of war.
Truly, even today the "feminine" success of those who learn to forgive is ignored and invisible while the "masculine" perpetual victims and abusers, who perpetuate violence and revenge, hog the limelight and are regarded as the default condition of humanity. If we only studied the feminine side of history, peace and forgiveness would surely become the new default.
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John Tayloremail: badijet@gmail.com
blog: http://badiblog.blogspot.com/
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