‘Agents of social change’ : November 27, 2001

A letter to an individual on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
[Plain text, paragraph numbers added]

27 November 2001

Dear Baha’i Friend,

1. Further to our letter of 7 June 2001, the Universal House of Justice has asked us to provide the following response to your email letter of 22 March 2001, which raises a number of questions regarding the role a Baha’i can play in advancing the cause of social justice. As we indicated, the delay has been occasioned by the unusually heavy demands on the time and resources of the Baha’i World Centre this year.

2. The issue of social justice is, as you know, central to the Baha’i Revelation. In addressing the elected representatives of the world’s people, Baha’u’llah sets out the context that must frame any effort to understand His Teachings on the subject: “Regard the world as the human body which, though at its creation whole and perfect, hath been afflicted with grave disorders and maladies.” The analogy is called on again in the well-known Tablet that denounces in severe language the ruinous consequences of meddling by the worldly-wise in matters that require a universal perspective, a perspective ultimately dependent on spiritual regeneration:

They that are intoxicated by self-conceit have interposed themselves between it [the human race] 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.

3. Central to such passages is the principle that not only are humanity’s talents and capacities shared by all its members, but its problems and afflictions likewise ultimately affect all. Whether in sickness or health, the human family constitutes a single species, and the condition of any part of it cannot be intelligently considered in isolation from this systemic oneness. As the present state of the world illustrates all too clearly, attempts by the leadership of society to proceed otherwise is merely to exacerbate the problems.

Though the world is encompassed with misery and distress, yet no man hath paused to reflect what the cause or source of that may be…. The Great Being saith: O well-beloved ones! The tabernacle of unity hath been raised; regard ye not one another as strangers. Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch. We cherish the hope that the light of justice may shine upon the world and sanctify it from tyranny. If the rulers and kings of the earth, the symbols of the power of God, exalted be His glory, arise and resolve to dedicate themselves to whatever will promote the highest interests of the whole of humanity, the reign of justice will assuredly be established amongst the children of men, and the effulgence of its light will envelop the whole earth.

4. Shoghi Effendi draws the implications of the principle for the immediate future of our world:

The interdependence of the peoples and nations of the earth, whatever the leaders of the divisive forces of the world may say or do, is already an accomplished fact. Its unity in the economic sphere is now understood and recognized. The welfare of the part means the welfare of the whole, and the distress of the part brings distress to the whole. The Revelation of Baha’u’llah has, in His own words, “lent a fresh impulse and set a new direction” to this vast process now operating in the world. The fires lit by this great ordeal are the consequences of men’s failure to recognize it…. Adversity, prolonged, world wide, afflictive, allied to chaos and universal destruction, must needs convulse the nations, stir the conscience of the world, disillusion the masses, precipitate a radical change in the very conception of society, and coalesce ultimately the disjointed, the bleeding limbs of mankind into one body, single, organically united, and indivisible.

5. In countless Tablets and public addresses ‘Abdu’l-Baha emphasized the universal change of consciousness needed to bring about so fundamental a reorientation:

In all the cycles of the prophets the philanthropic affairs were confined to their respective peoples only–with the exception of small matters, such as charity, which was permissible to extend to others. But in this wonderful dispensation, philanthropic affairs are for all humanity, without any exception, because it is the manifestation of the mercifulness of God. Therefore, every universal matter–that is, one that belongs to all the world of humanity–is divine….

**

6. It would be unthinkable that, faced with the appalling suffering afflicting the great majority of the peoples of the world, those of us whose lives have been illumined by this understanding of the issues at stake should not be moved to do all in our power to promote the welfare of humankind. The example of the daily life of the Master, in responding to every least opportunity that His severely limited circumstances offered, can leave no one in doubt that teaching the Cause must go hand in hand with service to our fellow human beings.

7. As individuals, we most effectively follow ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s example to the extent that we understand–as He so clearly did–certain parameters within which our efforts must be carried out. The Guardian described the emerging consciousness of the oneness of humankind that has been unfolding for the past hundred years as being driven by the two parallel and interrelated processes of integration and disintegration. It is by working in the context of the imperatives created by the two processes identified by Shoghi Effendi that we, as individuals, can respond effectively to the promptings of our conscience.

8. The most obvious parameter of this context is, of course, the moral obligation to demonstrate in our lives the sense of justice that the Faith teaches. Yet another is the concern you mention to avoid involvement in any form of partisan political action. This principle should not, however, be misunderstood. The programme of the Baha’i Cause itself operates in the political realm to the extent that it is concerned with inducing changes in public policy and behaviour at local, national and international levels. To this end, the community collaborates with other like-minded organisations and works closely with sympathetic governments and United Nations agencies. In doing so, its efforts are scrupulous to avoid entanglement in agendas that serve the interests of particular parties, factions, or similarly biased political forces. This standard must likewise govern the behaviour of individual believers.

9. A related consideration is the need to be certain that our actions, even where they do not involve us in inappropriate political activity, should not be such as to reflect negatively on the Cause or harm its long-term interests. (Anguish over the suffering of children, for example, will find an appropriate expression in promoting relief efforts in one country in dire need, while entailing unacceptable risks and limitations if invested in another country whose situation is equally tragic). Wisdom further urges that Baha’is place great value on those activities which, apart from meeting an immediate need, are of a nature that develops, in both ourselves and our communities, capacities that increase our effectiveness as agents of social change.

10. In the context of such parameters, each one of us must determine the priorities that will govern his or her own efforts. The resources available at this time to any of us are painfully limited and must be invested in areas of service that will be genuinely productive. This is, admittedly, a process of experimentation which, like all experimentation, entails a degree of risk. Risk is, however, a part of life and cannot in itself be allowed to deter us from fulfilling our moral responsibilities as Baha’is. Rather, should we take comfort in the fact that we are acting not as isolated individuals, but as members of a committed global community whose institutions are empowered to guide our efforts and to correct whatever mistakes may ensue from sincere efforts to serve Baha’u’llah’s purpose for humankind.

11. An example of what can be achieved through intelligent and principled action of this nature was the struggle that took place in the second half of the twentieth century for the achievement of racial equality in such countries as the United States and South Africa. Decades before the issue had attracted any significant measure of public or governmental support, Baha’is were demonstrating in the conduct of their daily lives and the life of their communities–often at great personal risk–their unreserved commitment to the Baha’i principle of the oneness of humankind. As opportunities expanded, the range of their efforts took advantage of such openings, and as political changes began to respond to changes in popular opinion, Baha’is were found in the forefront of the integrating forces that emerged. The Baha’i community in the United States today may well represent the most fully integrated body of people in that country, a distinction widely hailed by leaders of the civil rights movement. The achievement is, in large measure, the victory of many hundreds of individual believers whose actions testified, in whatever circumstances presented themselves, to an unshakeable commitment to ideals that, for them as Baha’is, were matters of deep spiritual conviction.

12. It is significant that this achievement came without in any way compromising the Baha’i principle of non-involvement in partisan politics or otherwise detracting from the image of the Cause in the minds of the general public. In doing what they could in the situation as they found it, American and South African believers ensured that their commitment kept them on the leading edge of a major process of social change. These efforts simultaneously deepened their understanding of the spiritual issues at stake and thus strengthened the effectiveness of their community as a force for the advancement of society.

13. Inevitably, recognition of the parameters within which our work must be carried out will compel us to accept impediments that are not of our own making and that we readily recognize as wrong in principle. Tragically, as the Guardian emphasized, humanity is passing through the darkest period of its collective history. Many–perhaps most–of the injustices that cause great distress to people of conscience are without practical solutions at this stage of the historical process. Even the best intentioned efforts to impose such solutions as collective security, the relief of want, or the liberation of the oppressed all too often find themselves compromised and vitiated by political circumstances that are beyond immediate correction.

14. Not surprisingly, the recourse of many well-intentioned people faced with the frustration of their efforts is to engage in various forms of public protest. Where reaction of this kind is motivated by the dictates of conscience, as opposed to such reasons as the mere venting of personal frustration or violence for its own sake, the results are often extremely positive, contributing in no small measure to the awakening of popular concern and to the required revision of public policy. Obviously, the effectiveness of such intervention depends on the extent to which the “conscience” motivating the activity is itself enlightened and its dictates relevant to the situation. You may find helpful, in this respect, the following extract from a letter written on behalf of the House of Justice to a believer inquiring about a related subject:

The functioning of one’s conscience … depends upon one’s understanding of right and wrong; the conscience of one person may be established upon a disinterested striving after truth and justice, while that of another may rest on an unthinking predisposition to act in accordance with that pattern of standards, principles and prohibitions which is a product of his social environment. Conscience, therefore, can serve either as a bulwark of an upright character or can represent an accumulation of prejudices learned from one’s forebears or absorbed from a limited social code.

A Baha’i recognizes that one aspect of his spiritual and intellectual growth is to foster the development of his conscience in the light of divine Revelation–a Revelation which, in addition to providing a wealth of spiritual and ethical principles, exhorts man “to free himself from idle fancy and imitation, discern with the eye of oneness His glorious handiwork, and look into all things with a searching eye.”

15. An obvious example arises in discussions of the process of globalization, to which your letter alludes. The immense advantages, that this long-awaited stage in the evolution of human society brings with it, demand of government and civil society comparable efforts to ensure a fair distribution of its benefits to the whole of humankind. ‘Abdu’l-Baha sets the issue squarely before us:

Consider an individual who has amassed treasures by colonizing a country for his profit: he has obtained an incomparable fortune and has secured Consider an individual who has amassed treasures by colonizing a country for his profit: he has obtained an incomparable fortune and has secured profits and incomes which flow like a river, while a hundred thousand unfortunate people, weak and powerless, are in need of a mouthful of bread. There is neither equality nor benevolence. So you see that general peace and joy are destroyed, and the welfare of humanity is negated to such an extent as to make fruitless the lives of many. For fortune, honours, commerce, industry are in the hands of some industrialists, while other people are submitted to quite a series of difficulties and to limitless troubles: they have neither advantages, nor profits, nor comforts, nor peace.

16. The challenges posed by this issue, which today affects the whole planet, are on a scale unprecedented in human history. Addressing them will require unity of understanding about what is at stake, an understanding that can be achieved only by searching analysis, open public discussion and an unrelenting commitment to putting into effect agreed upon systems of control. Merely to state the case is to recognize that the process involved will be long and arduous. Nevertheless, to the extent that the process gradually assumes a rational and upright character, Baha’is will increasingly find many ways in which they can make significant contributions.

17. In the light of the Teachings, therefore, Baha’is should feel an obligation to be actively engaged in the process of the transformation of society. The vision inherent in the Faith, together with the framework created by such parameters as those discussed above, make it possible for each believer to work out a strategy of action appropriate to his or her particular situation.

**

18. Because the questions raised in your letter focus on the role of the individual believer, the foregoing has largely confined itself to that subject. The issues need also to be seen, however, in the larger perspective of the work of the Baha’i community in creating an alternative model of social relationships, one that is not only drawing into its embrace an ever larger number of the earth’s inhabitants, but that is thus becoming empowered to influence both public opinion and government policy. These latter concerns have been major features of the Faith’s work ever since the days of the Master. Under the successive guidance of the Guardian and the Universal House of Justice, and to the extent that the parallel tasks of the expansion and consolidation of the Faith itself have permitted, Baha’i institutions have cultivated means to take an ever growing part in shaping the agenda of civil society at local, national and international levels. The effectiveness of this involvement was strikingly recognized in the prominence accorded to spokespersons of the Baha’i International Community at United Nations Summits of the past decade such as those on the environment (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), social and economic development (Copenhagen, 1995) and the status of women (Beijing, 1995)–indeed in the central role of the Community in the collective planning work of non-governmental organizations at the international level.

19. The Faith’s programme in this respect is reinforced by a wide range of social and economic development projects around the world. At this stage, the relatively modest size of these undertakings is secondary to the experience being gained by a community that must educate itself in how best to help disadvantaged segments of society take charge of their own affairs and rise above the conditions that have so long oppressed them.

20. You may be confident that all such work, at both the international and grass-roots levels,–already far beyond the scale that the size of the Baha’i community itself might be assumed to make possible–will be intensively pressed. Clarity of moral principle, deriving from the Sacred Texts, together with the unity and coherence of the Faith’s administrative order, not only impose on the Baha’i community inescapable obligations in this respect, but give it a unique advantage. The body of His followers, in the words of Baha’u’llah, must serve to “leaven the peoples of the world”.

21. In responding to the challenges, whether immediate or long term, that the Baha’i principles of social justice entail, it is vital that none of us lose sight, even momentarily, of the goal toward which all of our efforts are bent. “Know thou, of a truth,” Baha’u’llah declares, “these great oppressions that have befallen the world are preparing it for the advent of the Most Great Justice.” However great the demands of the work in which we are engaged, and however stressful it will undoubtedly become, we can be confident that the forces released in this age of transition–this greatest crisis in the history of the human race–ultimately reinforce the efforts we make, swell the ranks of the community we are building and empower the Cause we serve to achieve every objective its Founder has decreed for it.

22. This response to your letter has, necessarily, focused its attention primarily on the basic Baha’i principles in the areas of concern you have raised. The House of Justice is confident that, as you reflect on the relevance of these guidelines to present day circumstances, answers to the more specific questions in your letter of 22 March 2001 will readily suggest themselves to you.

23. The House of Justice deeply appreciates not only the thoughtfulness of the questions posed in your letter, but also the spirit of noble commitment that has moved you to raise them. It assures you of its heartfelt prayers in the Holy Shrines, that Baha’u’llah will bless and confirm you in the path of His service.

With loving Baha’i greetings,
Department of the Secretariat

cc: International Teaching Centre
National Assembly of the United Kingdom