The Measure of a Man and an Institution
By John Taylor; 2009 May 01, Jamal 04, 166 BE
Next in a series on Panorthosia and the Principle of Harmony Between Science and Religion
Now that the warming of the world's climate is universally accepted as a fact, the question remains, why are we doing so little to reverse it? Why do we not eliminate all burning by complete electrification? Why do we not act as quickly as if our very lives depended upon it, which they do? The answer is that knowing better is not the same as acting. We do not act because the ruts of ignorance run deeper than the path to reality.
While driving us to the 9th of Ridvan in Hamilton, a member of our Baha'i community reminisced about the death of his wife several years ago. This story reminded me of our plight in general. What happened was that she went to a local doctor complaining of numbness in her hands. The doctor diagnosed repetitive strain injury and prescribed therapy for her wrists. Only when she collapsed months later did it become obvious that her "numbness" was an early symptom of a stroke. By then it was too late for preventive medicine and as it turned out even a radical surgical intervention was not enough to save her.
"Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do."
The diagnosis of stroke should have been obvious to a trained specialist, but it was not. Crucial time was lost that could have prolonged her life. I regret the loss of one of the sharpest administrative minds I have ever met serving Baha'u'llah.
Our collective disease is just like this. The intellectuals of our age resemble that less-than-competent doctor. Our legs have collapsed out from under us but we go on with that old RSI wrist therapy because it feels familiar and comforting, not because it will help the problem.
I have been concentrating on John Comenius because he was among the very few who early on made the right diagnosis of the human disease. He proposed that the great challenge of the age for intellectuals is to find a viable substitute for the adversarial system. That is the nub. Instead of putting our heads together to address common threats we continue on the way we always have. We squabble, protest and thrash at one another rather than just agreeing upon what is common and working from there. We raise competition Agonistes to the status of a god.
"Therefore it is urgently necessary to find a way of taking all the different opinions expressed about the same question and finding grounds for compromise." (Panorthosia II, Ch. 8, para 45, pp. 128-129)
We must arrive at this "Come to God" moment, for the very concept of "God" entails nothing less than recognizing the Unity in existence, and trusting that unity can take on its own momentum.
"For contradictions and errors themselves arise simply from the fact that men do not know how to recall conflicting opinions into harmony, in the same way as God used opposites to temper His works and His words."
If we followed that example, we would happily compromise, agree and consult. The example of God is to reconcile apparent contradictions. The example of matter is the reverse; it disperses and separates by nature. Divine virtue works like Comenius describes, it accepts opposites and works with them creatively. It accepts what seems irreconcilable; it transcends, synthesizes and still loves the polarity.
Comenius goes on to point out that like the sham religion of Manichaeism, human thinkers persist in imagining that good and evil are inherently opposed, that each has its own independent realm eternally in conflict with the other, and that the conflict is a good thing. Rather, we should take the divine example of God more seriously. God finds a middle ground, a synthesis leading forward.
If we had a democracy of ideas and inspiration as well as politics, everybody would have a right to a reasonable expectation that his or her words and ideas contribute to the process. Aided by a universal language, all would feel that they are being listened to and their words help lead us forward. This in itself would be a great impetus towards reconciliation, contentment and tractability.
"It is necessary also to look for agreement in the process of reconciliation, which will mean that we are prepared to make every possible concession to one another. It is to be hoped that this will be easily obtained through seeking a compromise even in cases of apparent contradiction. For when everyone sees that his own opinions and arguments are not being rejected but only adapted to the general universal feeling, would anyone in his senses choose to disagree and engage in further conflict? For any man would prefer his own possessions to be left intact or only limited in the interests of general harmony, and if he saw the fighting ended on these terms he would surely congratulate himself and others on a bloodless victory and unexpected triumphs in the cause of truth." (Comenius, Panorthosia II, Ch. 8, para 44, p. 128)
Each of the three aspects of society, science (philosophy), religion and politics, help promote the consultation process if each subjects itself to proofs. Success in each are can be measured by clear criteria based on what they are meant to do. The measure of a science or body of knowledge is its ability to enlighten and teach.
"The means or instruments of Philosophy are all books of divine and human authorship according to necessity and choice. Nothing is excluded except what is evil, useless, or harmful." (Panorthosia, Ch. 13, para 12, pp. 205-206)
With a wisdom that I find heart-warming, Comenius points out that the way to reconciliation does not necessarily mean what intellectuals think it means, that we work out every contradiction, that we split every hair and count every angel before we move on to action.
"If anything cannot be reconciled in theory, one should begin to try it out in practice, for better practice would follow from the earnest attention given to both aspects." (Panorthosia II, Ch. 8, para 39, p. 126)
As we work the three main pillars of knowledge through institutions devoted to them, their limitations will become clear. Ways to improve will make themselves evident if we are honest and clear about how to measure each fairly and reasonably. The measure of religion is its power to inspire and harmonize. Faith gives expression to the many powers that the human soul has deep down, emotions that often have no practical use in this brief, dark life, but which still put us in tune with the music of the spheres.
"Those of Religion are all manner of ceremonies appropriate to the needs of the occasion, as for example in prayer, sitting, standing, kneeling, or bowing the head, etc."
The great measure of worth in politics is not power but the ability to unify and bring about peace on earth.
"Those of Politics are any measures, popular or unpopular, which make for the introduction and maintenance of peace and tranquillity."
It is the duty of every academic and thinking person to see that these criteria are clear, and that the trustees of society uphold them.
"I mean that all philosophers should prove the truth of their opinions by real experiments, based with the truest skill on the hypotheses of their theory. Theologians, too, should prove the truth of their doctrines by passionate practice in the worship of God, and by evidence of Regeneration in those who worship Him in this way, and lastly, politicians should prove their theories by establishing true peace and tranquillity. (Panorthosia II, Ch. 8, para 39, p. 126)
John Taylor
email: badijet@gmail.com
blog: http://badiblog.blogspot.com/
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