THE EARTH IS BUT ONE COUNTRY

JOHN HUDDLESTON

The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United Kingdom

1976/1988

PART I

 

Back cover

The interdependence of all nations and peoples of the earth has today become an established fact and the need for global cooperation on such issues as the environment, health, education, trade, finance and defence has never been more apparent. John Huddleston explains that a fundamental change in attitudes is required and that our very survival may depend upon our willingness to transcend traditional barriers of race, religion, culture and politics. Such change, although revolutionary in scope, may lie with the followers of a little known religion which many thinkers now believe to be the world faith of the future – the Bahá’í Faith.

The Bahá’í Faith, founded by the prophet Bahá’u’lláh just over a century ago, speaks specifically to the challenges of this age and is spreading rapidly amongst all people and classes around the world. Combining high moral standards with a practical vision and a global perspective it holds a special attraction to those concerned with peace, development and human rights issues. It recognizes the essential unity of mankind and foresees the establishment of a global civilization where the individual rights of all its members are fully protected. It holds the promise of a golden age.

John Huddleston is Chief of the Budget and Planning Division of the International Monetary Fund. Formerly a political radical and agnostic he has written several works on the Bahá’í religion.

Introduction

The purpose of this book is to show how the Bahá’í Faith meets the needs of mankind today, and how it is building up what is believed to be a new world-wide civilization in which all peoples can live together in justice, harmony, and peace. The emphasis is on the practical means to this end as well as on the dream.

Many, concerned about the condition of society and about the sense of unfulfilment in their personal lives, automatically assume that they will not find an answer in religion. Past experience has left a negative impression of superstition and escapism. This book is primarily addressed to those who have this point of view.

What is asked of such readers is that they have an open mind. It is healthy to approach new ideas with skepticism. However, there is a need to guard against skepticism being confused with prejudice, and against it degenerating into an anti-life cynicism.

Chapter 1: There is a New Wind Blowing

A – The Challenges of the day

There can be little doubt that the challenges which mankind faces today are immense. They are those which come with the attainment of adulthood. If we meet them successfully there is the prospect of a golden age of a beauty and depth unimaginably greater than at any other period in man’s history. If we fail the future is likely to be one of increasing bestiality and, quite probably, of the most horrifying destruction. There seems little chance of a middle way. We grow to meet our destiny or we sink to the lowest depths.

• The first challenge is how to establish a universal and lasting peace. The traumatic events of the 20^th century have forced men to see war for what it really is: the most sickening and degrading experience of the human race.
• The issue now is one of sheer survival. Since 1945 the human race has had the power to destroy itself.
• It is evident that, for a wide variety of reasons, most governments are prepared to risk war, including war in which weapons of mass destruction will be used.

The second major challenge of our time might be described broadly as how best to use the limited resources available on our planet. There are at least three interlocking facets to this problem.

• The first is the maldistribution of wealth amongst the world’s 4½ billion people. Even in the richest countries there are many who live in abject poverty.
• More serious is the existence of whole nations crushed by poverty where hunger, malnutrition, disease and an early death is the lot of millions.
• Another indication of the gross inequality of wealth between nations is the fact that the United States which only has 6% of the world’s population uses 40% of the world’s total annual product.
• Since the beginning of history there have been great extremes of wealth. What is different today is that modern science has made it possible for all men to escape from the crushing burden of poverty and attain a basic degree of material comfort – but only if this objective is treated as a high priority.
• Whilst such inequalities exist there cannot be a lasting peace. The elimination of such inequalities requires massive assistance by the rich countries and a great effort on the part of the poor countries, not only to increase their material resources but also to see that this is of particular benefit to their poorest citizens.
• The second factor which has considerable impact on the use of resources is the size and growth of world population. Population growth is one of the main obstacles to raising the standard of living in developing countries.
• If a developing country should increase its total wealth by 5% and its population is growing by 3%, then the average increase in the standard of living is 2% instead of the 5% which would have been achieved if the population size had been stable.
• The world population took 100 years to rise from 1 to 2 billion, and just 30 years to rise from 2 billion to 3 billion.
• During the 1970s, the population increased 50%, from 3 billion to 4½ billion.
• If present trends continue the world’s population might finally stabilize at about 10 billion sometime towards the end of the 21^st century.
• If such an increase in population should take place there is much evidence that there will be an increasing shortage of basic resources.
• The most obvious resources that would fall into short supply are fertile and otherwise usable land, fresh water and fossil fuels.

The third facet of the problem of distribution of wealth is the effect on the environment of present methods of making use of resources. Until the industrial revolution it might be said that man was merely scratching on the face of the earth and, with perhaps the major exception of deforestation, what he did had little noticeable effect on the process of nature. That is no longer so. Crude, greedy, short-sighted exploitation of resources and extravagant social habits are now recognized as causing massive pollution of the air, land and sea. If this tendency were allowed to grow, and it should be remembered that most of the pollution is caused by the rich minority whom the poor majority wish to emulate, then our planet might become difficult to inhabit. Once the problem is recognized there are technical ways of alleviating the worst side effects of industrial and social processes. However, these new methods will be costly and could therefore slow down economic growth. The poor countries being in the greatest need of economic growth would probably suffer the most. It is therefore all the more important that the rich countries give them every assistance as well as practicing a new environmental consciousness at home.

The third major challenge which mankind faces, and probably the one that is least recognized as such, is how to cure the deep spiritual malaise which has spread to all levels of society in very nearly every country of the world.

• This malaise or deep sense of loss of direction has been growing for decades.
• Since the mid-19^th century there has been a noticeable change of direction of what has been said by writers and artists from one of optimism to one of increasing pessimism and anguish.
• In recent years it has become increasingly clear that the spiritual malaise described by writers and artists has deepened and spread rapidly.
• There are now too many manifestations at all levels of society and in a wide range of differing situations for the issue to be any longer ignored.
• The majority of the poor in all countries feel they have no stake in society and that there is no hope for the future.
• Those whom they envy and whom they see as their oppressors barely seem more satisfied. There is growing disenchantment with the wearing, tearing, rat race.
• The boredom and frustration of private life produce reliance on sedatives and, in the case of the more prosperous, the psychiatrist’s couch.
• The more adventurous try to escape from their frustrations in an ever-speeding round of frantic sex, descending to every conceivable permutation, or into use of alcohol and drugs.
• The children of both rich and poor alike are increasingly disgusted by the empty materialism, hypocrisy, and above all, loveless life of their elders, and feel completely alienated from established society.
• Left to themselves with little to admire or strive for in society, all too often they also sink into spiritual inertia, all the more horrifying because of the contrast with that spiritual growth which the young can achieve when properly motivated.

It is apparent that crime is growing at a great rate throughout the world, certainly much faster than the growth in population. Official crime, however, is only the tip of the iceberg. For crime as such is only the most obvious side of a general decline in social morality which is also shown in such things as the prevalence of petty dishonesty in day-to-day transactions, deception with regard to service, price, and quality of goods, and the constant bombardment of half truths and straightforward lies in commercial advertisements and in the political arena.

• This leads on to the next facet of the social malaise of our time, which is the crumbling away of respect for all forms of authority.
• Policemen the world over are seen as oppressors, particularly of the underprivileged, instead of the protectors of society, and, as observed earlier, the young increasingly despise and ignore their parents and their teachers.
• All these manifestations of an all-pervading spiritual sickness come together in horrific profusion in the big cities.
• At this rate of development, the city, hub of our society, will soon become, if it is not already in some instances, a hell on earth.
• How sad the contrast with the ancient dream of the city as the center of refinement and culture, the pride of civilization.

All three challenges to man which have been discussed, war and peace, the rational distribution of world resources, and the all-pervading spiritual malaise, are about man in conflict with himself, with his fellow-man, with his environment. They are world-wide in scope and require world-wide answers. All three are closely linked and might be said to be three aspects of one challenge. The question is what sort of response can man now make to resolve these conflicts and so grasp the glorious opportunities which lie ahead if only the challenges are successfully met?

B – There is no hiding place