By John Taylor; 2009 July 03, Rahmat 09, 166 BE
We are considering the Great Announcement to Mankind, the section of
the Proclamation where Baha'u'llah addresses the entire human race as
a body. It is telling that here, not in earlier Tablets addressed to
leaders, He establishes the principle of elimination of prejudice.
Perhaps this is because other Baha'i social principles, such as
universal peace and economic readjustment, begin in strong initiatives
from the center, by public officials and experts. Prejudice, though,
is so universal a condition that there is a severe limit to what
anybody, as opposed to everybody, can do to stop it. Baha'u'llah sees
leaders taking a back seat, restricting themselves to what later came
to be called consciousness raising.
"Please God, the peoples of the world may be led, as the result of the
high endeavours exerted by their rulers and the wise and learned
amongst men, to recognize their best interests." (Proclamation, 113)
Strong, extrinsic measures tend only to suppress other fundamental
human rights, such as equality or freedom of expression. The Great
Announcement to Mankind (GAM) takes a different, intrinsic approach by
calling upon the people as a whole to take the lion's share of the
responsibility for expunging prejudice upon themselves.
"O contending peoples and kindreds of the earth! Set your faces
towards unity, and let the radiance of its light shine upon you.
Gather ye together, and for the sake of God resolve to root out
whatever is the source of contention amongst you. Then will the
effulgence of the world's great Luminary envelop the whole earth, and
its inhabitants become the citizens of one city, and the occupants of
one and the same throne." (Proclamation, 114)
This is as specific as you can get with prejudice as a social problem,
simply make a resolution "to root out whatever is the source of
contention amongst you." This is wise, since as long as prejudice
prevails just about anything, no matter how niggling, becomes a bone
of contention. It is best to be aware of this and seek out the fire
producing all this smoke, prejudice.
Like a petulant child who cries at the slightest annoyance, the causes
of human strife have many outward expressions but usually can be
traced to one of only a few underlying problems. No matter what the
shouting seems to be about a toddler is usually either wet, tired,
sick or hungry. In the case of severe social contention, the "source
of contention" is an injustice invariably caused by some breed of
prejudice, be it racial, sexual, national, ethnic or one of any number
of other varieties. In order to stop the "contending peoples and
kindreds" from continuing in the same old faulty caterwauling,
Baha'u'llah offers a series of questions.
"How long will humanity persist in its waywardness? How long will
injustice continue? How long is chaos and confusion to reign amongst
men? How long will discord agitate the face of society?" (113)
The way ahead leads only to further misery. New, more stable
presuppositions are needed if the people are to stop the hatred from
feeding upon itself and spreading out of control, leading to the
ultimate impasse to reform, apathy and loss of hope.
"The winds of despair are, alas, blowing from every direction, and the
strife that divideth and afflicteth the human race is daily
increasing. The signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now be
discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing order appeareth to be lamentably
defective." (113)
Baha'u'llah later in the GAM points to the root cause of prejudice,
the first deadly sin, pride. Experts and ideologues have arrogated to
themselves the divine responsibility of the salvation of humanity, and
though they clearly have botched the job, they continue bungling,
anything but admit that they are helpless to stop the spread of the
disease.
"We can well perceive how the whole human race is encompassed with
great, with incalculable afflictions. We see it languishing on its bed
of sickness, sore-tried and disillusioned. They that are intoxicated
by self-conceit have interposed themselves between it and the Divine
and infallible Physician. Witness how they have entangled all men,
themselves included, in the mesh of their devices. They can neither
discover the cause of the disease, nor have they any knowledge of the
remedy. They have conceived the straight to be crooked, and have
imagined their friend an enemy." (116-117)
Baha'u'llah was a good Platonist in that He believed that virtue can
be taught, but here in addressing humanity as a body He also makes it
clear that ignorance and pride can spread even more quickly than
knowledge. Like a virus, which spreads unimpeded by normal biological
processes, prejudice is a kind of ignorance that bypasses the usual
requirement that a truth be rooted in reality.
In its essence, then, prejudice is a viral attack on heart and mind.
It resembles the HIV/AIDS virus in that it can attack from any
direction and transmute itself into a myriad forms, turning immune
defences on their ear. There are innumerable types of biases and their
expressions tend to be subtle, inchoate and shifting. Prejudice is
also like common cold viruses. The fact that we give one name to
similar set of symptoms does not mean that it comes from one source.
Colds are now known to arise from any of hundreds of different
viruses, each with different structure and characteristics.
In the same way we can come up with a thousand excuses to quit
investigating before the whole truth is fully grasped. The result of
every such abdication is a pre-judgement that, as it spreads, becomes
a prejudice. This is why prejudice is untouchable by the blunt
instrument of the law. Government legislation can inflict legal
sanctions to curtail blatant bigotry, but this only alleviates
symptoms in the latter stages of the disease. Outward measures do
nothing to halt the penetration of prejudice into hearts and minds.
Baha'u'llah then goes on to address perhaps the most prolific,
persistent and widespread variety of prejudice, that which grows
within and among religions. This has made the Middle East a more
severe and enduring cauldron of violence than anywhere else in the
world. Baha'u'llah begins by assuring all sides that an adequate
measure of truth is on their side,
"There can be no doubt whatever that the peoples of the world, of
whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly
Source, and are the subjects of one God. The difference between the
ordinances under which they abide should be attributed to the varying
requirements and exigencies of the age in which they were revealed.
All of them, except a few which are the outcome of human perversity,
were ordained of God, and are a reflection of His Will and Purpose."
(Proclamation, 114)
The very fact that so many people have found the truth of a major
religious tradition useful over many centuries is proof that each has
a sufficient measure of truth. There is no need to put others down in
order to legitimate our own heritage. Since iconoclastic leanings are
central to every monotheist faith, each believer has a central duty to
break apart the real idols of this age, the 'isms and ideologies that
take the place of independent thought. This is the critical initiative
is what God is calling every one of us to take.
"Arise and, armed with the power of faith, shatter to pieces the gods
of your vain imaginings, the sowers of dissension amongst you. Cleave
unto that which draweth you together and uniteth you. This, verily, is
the most exalted Word which the Mother Book hath sent down and
revealed unto you. To this beareth witness the Tongue of Grandeur from
His habitation of glory." (Proclamation, 114)
While the relations between religion have shown themselves a prolific
breeding ground for this virus, Baha'u'llah also holds up hope that if
the world's religions take the initiative they can stand together for
the truth and the life that prejudice inherently denies. They can do
this by eliminating the negative, by purifying themselves of moral
turpitude,
"Beware lest the desires of the flesh and of a corrupt inclination
provoke divisions among you. Be ye as the fingers of one hand, the
members of one body. Thus counselleth you the Pen of Revelation, if ye
be of them that believe." (118)
And they can explode the virus by upholding the positive, by
testifying to the God of love, the bond of unity that takes hold on
whoever enter into the fundamentals of faith,
"This is the Day in which God's most excellent favours have been
poured out upon men, the Day in which His most mighty grace hath been
infused into all created things. It is incumbent upon all the peoples
of the world to reconcile their differences, and, with perfect unity
and peace, abide beneath the shadow of the Tree of His care and
loving-kindness." (Proclamation, 121)
John Taylor
email: badijet@gmail.com
blog: http://badiblog.blogspot.com/
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