PART X

Chapter 7: A World Civilization

A – The Most Great Peace

The Bahá’í community is distinguished from all other groups, social, political, and religious, in that it is totally dedicated to the building of a new world civilization in which there will be opportunity for and encouragement of spiritual growth and fulfilment for all men, free from the oppression of hatred, prejudice, violence and injustice.

Bahá’ís believe that a new world civilization will be reached in two stages. The first, or transitional, stage will be a state which is called the ‘Lesser Peace’ in which there will be a general agreement to settle disputes without resort to war. In this stage many of the basic illnesses of society will be still present and the establishment of a civilization permanently at peace with itself, both materially and spiritually, will only come with the second stage, which is called the ‘Most Great Peace’. The ‘Most Great Peace’ will be achieved when there is a world-wide acceptance of the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. Even the ‘Lesser Peace’ will, to a significant degree, depend on many Bahá’í principles being accepted by the majority of the peoples and governments of the world, whether consciously or unconsciously.

This is one reason why Bahá’ís feel the urgency of spreading knowledge of Bahá’u’lláh and His teachings as widely and as quickly as possible.

Bahá’u’lláh warned that if men did not change their way of conducting affairs there is the gravest danger of terrible disasters before the “Lesser Peace” is established.

Though doing everything in their power to change attitudes and so avert such catastrophes, Bahá’ís have to be prepared for the possibility that the political and social system will not respond quickly enough. This gives added reason for Bahá’ís to learn as quickly as possible the principles of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh and for them to spread evenly throughout the world so that in the event of major catastrophes they will be ready to help build a new civilization out of the ruins of the old.

Earlier chapters dealt with the principles and teachings not only for today’s community, but for the world civilization into which it will grow.
In addition, the Bahá’í Writings include other teachings which relate more specifically to the time when the major part of society is Bahá’í and there is a Bahá’í system of government in that society.
These additional teachings might be put into two groups: those which deal directly with the strengthening of world unity, and secondly those which have more to do with justice and harmony at the local community level.
The first group are discussed in the next section, and the second group in the third and last section of this chapter.

B – The world community

The first principle which will have bearing on the nature of the new civilization is the necessity for a world system of government. This would be similar in many ways to the Administrative Order crowned by the Universal House of Justice which is the backbone of the present Bahá’í community, developed to take account of vastly expanded responsibilities.

Such principles of the Administrative Order as the methods of election and consultation would be clearly essential features. The exact details of a world system of government will be unfolded in response to the circumstances of the time.

The role of government will be set to a large extent by the spiritualization of world society – that is, the practice in daily life by all of true religious principles. On the other hand, the spiritual nature of government methods will contribute to the spiritual growth and development of society. This is obviously so different from most of our experience that it is difficult to draw parallels with present or past institutions. However, the writer would like to venture the following remarks.

From studying the Bahá’í methods and administration it seems that there will be the minimum of bureaucracy and the prevailing spirit will be to rely on voluntary compliance with the rulings of the world government, and in consequence a great deal of responsibility will be delegated to national and local bodies.

As in all open societies, there would be room for great diversity of view and discussion. This is only possible when there is acceptance by all of the basic premises of society.
An international peacekeeping police force would be the only significant armed group permitted, sufficient to defend the world community against attack by any selfish interest which might arise.
Local communities would have their police forces sufficient to maintain law and order and additionally there may be some need for a small central group under each national government.

An important function of world government would be to strengthen the sense in all men of belonging to one world family. The chief instrument for the development of such an awareness would be the study of the Bahá’í Writings whose main message is the three unities: God is one, Religion is one, Mankind is one. There would be a universal system of compulsory education which would place equal emphasis on spiritual growth along the lines indicated in Bahá’í Writings, and on objective scientific investigation. Spiritual studies would act as a unifying force which would give meaning to the whole educational process and provide the universal principles which apply in science and other branches of learning. The whole concept is quite different from present-day systems of education which are lacking in unity of purpose and which are morally confusing. The system of education would also restore the balance between intellectual learning and manual skills, giving recognition to the importance of each in the fully rounded man. The object would be to raise up a new Race of Man, spiritually mature, and with an ever-inquiring view of the universe in its every aspect.

In the United States Bahá’ís are making valuable contributions to the development of the theory and practice of education, and it is a Bahá’í who is the founder and driving force behind the well known Harlem Preparatory School which has successfully motivated drop-outs to continue their education and go on to college, and so help break further the vicious circle of poverty which has held back the black people of America for so long.
An important part of the curricula of the world system of education would be the teaching of a universal auxiliary language and script.
Language plays an important part in the growth of a sense of oneness in a people.
In addition to a universal auxiliary language use of ethnic language would be encouraged in the Bahá’í system of education so as to ensure the continuing vitality of local culture, which is so important an aspect of the Bahá’í concept of world civilization.
Another important function of the world government will be to ensure that the world’s resources are used efficiently for the benefit of all mankind, not just for privileged classes and nations as at present.
A fair distribution of the world’s resources would be partly achieved by the creation of a unified world economy.
There will be a uniform system of weights and measures and, more important, a world currency. The world currency would be carefully regulated so that it would have a more or less constant value.

Today the economies of many capitalist countries depend to a large extent on the continued creation of increasingly frivolous consumer goods and on built-in obsolescence. In other countries all is sacrificed for the economic and military power of the state. In a spiritual world society such factors, which are utterly irrelevant to the well being of mankind, will not be present. Instead there will be, hand in hand with the concern for a fair distribution of wealth, a careful husbanding of available resources: a recognition of man’s role as steward of the world, charged to protect nature both for its own sake and for the benefit of future generations. At long last men today are coming to realize that the protection of the world’s environment and resources is ultimately the function of one world authority. Thus at the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment it was recognized that one of the most useful roles which the United Nations would have in the future would be the coordination and supervision of the development of those resources which lie beneath the oceans and the establishment and monitoring of basic controls for the preservation of a healthy environment.

C – The local community

Present-day society is dominated by the megalopolises, huge, ugly, dirty blotches on the landscape which have grown far beyond the “human scale”, and which crush the human spirit. There are many signs that these growths are reaching a completely unmanageable size and that they will die of their own weight and rigidity. Bahá’í Writings seem to indicate that a future world society will be more balanced and that the city will have less dominating a role. Certainly there may be economic and sociological reasons for thinking this may be the development of the future. The megalopolis has grown partly as a result of the need for large numbers of workers to man vast mass-production factories, and partly – ironically now – to facilitate rapid communication in government, commerce and the arts. There are indications that the age of mass-production may be passing its peak and that in future industrial plants will be small and will be designed to use highly specialized skills, and quality craftsmanship. If so, dispersal will become practical as well as attractive. What mass-production will still be required will undoubtedly be automated for the most part and so require relatively few workers, as is already the case with oil refining and is becoming so in the steel industry. The tendency toward dispersal might be strengthened by developments in communications. It is now possible to conceive that in the not too distant future we will be able to converse instantly, cheaply and extensively with others in any part of the globe, and that people will be able to travel to the other end of the earth without thinking more about it than they now do to go down to the next town. When this happens the pull of the giant city will be even less.

Agriculture with its associated activities will reassert itself as the first industry of society and that man’s occupations and way of life in general will become more harmonized with nature.
The typical local community of the future will be either a relatively small and ‘human-sized’ city or an agricultural village.
The local community will have a major role to play with regard to anti-social behavior. Crime today is predominantly associated with the uneducated and those who are rootless, particularly in the big city.
Today the treatment of criminals in many countries is a disgrace to civilization. Poorly paid and poorly educated police are often corrupt and brutal, the courts slow, legal professions self-serving and detached from reality, and prisons hell on earth.
In a Bahá’í society the lawbreaker, like the member of any other sick or deprived group, would be the responsibility, and in the care of, his family community.

It is generally agreed that much of the crime in present day society stems from extreme injustice with regard to inequalities of wealth. Though Bahá’ís believe complete equality is neither desirable, practical, nor capable of attainment, one of the more important of their objectives is to abolish extremes of wealth and poverty, to see that the basic needs of all peoples are met and that additional riches are given for service and not according to the accident of birthplace or race or family.

Many of the laws and principles of the Faith which have been already discussed have a bearing on economic justice, for instance, compulsory universal education, the equality of men and women, the emergence of the true family spirit, the idea that work in the spirit of service is worship, the fact that begging is forbidden, the awareness of being members of one world family, the concept of a fair distribution of the world’s resources amongst all nations. There are many others of which perhaps the more important are those dealing with industrial organization, inheritance and taxation.

The idea of consultation would not be confined to government but would be a normal feature of all organizations, including commercial enterprises.
Those enterprises which are not co-operatives will have a far-reaching profit-sharing programme which would be supervised by local or national governments to make sure that the sharing was equitable.
Another powerful; device for ensuring economic justice will be the application of both a progressive income tax and a negative income tax.
Each person will have his income free of tax up to the point where it exceeds his basic needs, thereafter a genuine progressively heavier tax will be levied.

Bahá’ís believe that only religion has the power to inspire society to support enthusiastically and equitable distribution of wealth and that such enthusiasm is required to ensure success. Past attempts to achieve an equitable distribution of wealth have failed because they have been made by governments in face of important groups in society which have been at best indifferent and at worst extremely hostile to the idea.

The objective would be to make each community self-supporting. It will take a considerable time for all local communities to reach a sufficient degree of prosperity to be able to support community services to the required level and therefore, during this period, the poorer communities will need assistance from either national or international finances resources.

One last thing should be said about the new civilization. It is envisaged that it will inspire the greatest renaissance in the arts. This will find expression in local culture freed from prejudice and glorying in positive patriotism. More important, it will be shown in a new world culture. In the arts today there is an overwhelming emphasis on the ugly which reflects the reality of our society, and this perhaps more healthy that presenting a fake veneer of beauty. It might be argued, however, that the tendency has become excessive and that the movement has lost its original genuineness and is now preoccupied with the bleak side of life for its own sake, that it is merely a hollow fashion. Be that as it may, Bahá’í artists having a vision of the “Promised Day” have a different view, and it is this view which is believed will blossom in the new age. Then the subjects and styles of the arts will shine in reflection of a just and progressive civilization at one with itself and nature, and wholeheartedly committed to the worship of God in all His Glory.

Chapter 8: The Beginning

Chapter 9: On Being A Bahá’í

Appendices

Index

The Earth is One Country Part 10