# The Lesser and the Most Great Peace

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: George Orr Latimer, The Lesser and the Most Great Peace, Wilmette, IL: Bahá'ı́ Publishing Committee, 1944, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> The Lesser
> and the
> Most Great Peace
> by
> George Orr Latimer
> 
> A discussion of the evolution of
> World Peace from Political to
> Spiritual civilization.
> 
> BAHA'i PuBLISHING CoMMirTEE
> 
> Wilmette, Illinois
> ..
> '
> 
> CoPYRIGHT     J 944
> Bv THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
> 
> BAHfi.'is OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA
> 
> Approved by the Reviewing Committee
> of the National Spiritual A ssembly
> 
> Printed in U.S .il..
> THE LESSER AND THE
> MOST GREAT PEACE
> 
> A   T a Reception by the New York
> Peace Society on May lJ, 1912,
> the guest of honor, 'Abdu'l-Baha,
> made the following significant state-
> ment: "Today there is no greater
> glory for man than that of service in
> the cause of the 'Most Great Peace.'
> Peace is light whereas war is darkness.
> Peace is life; war is death. Peace is
> guidance; war is error. Peace is the
> foundation of God; war is satanic
> institution. Peace is the illumination
> of the world of humanity; war is the
> destroyer of human foundations."
> During this memorable visit to
> America He further indicated that it
> would take only a spark to explode
> the mighty arsenals of Europe. Two
> years later the conflagration of war
> swept over the greater part of that
> continent, finally involving the United
> States in an effort to end all war. At
> the close of the so-called World War,
> certain institutions were established,
> including the League of Nations, for
> the express purpose of settling the
> disputes, rivalries and differences be-
> tween nations by means of arbitration,
> rather than a resort to armed force.
> And now thirty years after the utter-
> ance above quoted, the worId again
> is hurled into a maelstrom of terror
> and bloodshed that is destined to
> eclipse all previous wars of recorded
> history in the destruction of life,
> property, liberty,-even civilization
> itself; for today the machinery of
> warfare is so perfected that entire
> nations can be obliterated in the span
> of a few days or weeks. Is it not the
> time to re-examine the factors that
> produce a civilization and to study
> the "science of peace" so that the
> energies and inventions of man will
> be devoted to the establishment of
> human brotherhood which is the basic
> creative law of God and His
> Prophets?
> It is evident that some plan for
> World Order must be adopted if
> peace is to become a permanent real-
> ity. The material means that have
> been utilized in the past have proved
> futile in stemming the tides of war,
> aggression and exploitation, due main-
> ly to the fact that the sovereign na-
> tions after signing some peace pact,
> still maintain their right to do as they
> will by recognizing no authority
> greater than their own. As long as
> this attitude remains, national security
> which rests on armed strength, along
> with the control of markets and mate-
> rials, becomes more important than
> collective security. Each nation will
> still claim the right to be judge and
> jury in every case involving its rela-
> tionship with some other sovereign
> state. This attitude has greatly de-
> veloped in recent years to the extent
> that some writers have aptly termed
> it the "Religion of Nationalism."
> It means that the interests of one
> country are greater than those of a
> group of nations united by some
> solemn agreement for the welfare of
> all. Certainly nationalism as a re-
> ligion cannot be reconciled with any
> traditional religion for the obvious
> reason that it would have to vary
> according to one's nationality rather
> than to one's faith in God.
> NEED FOR WoRLD CoNTROL
> 
> The need for some form of world
> control has found serious and ever
> increasing consideration at the hands
> of many forward looking thinkers in
> recent years. A series of important
> suggestions for postwar peace are out-
> lined by Otto Tod Mallery in his
> timely book, "Economic Union and
> Durable Peace." (Harper & Brothers
> I 943)   In this survey six plans are
> presented for study; (I) The League
> Plan, with formulated provisions to
> remedy the flaws in the original
> Covenant of the League of Nations;
> ( 2) The Federation Plan, proposed
> by Clarence K. Streit in his "Union
> Now" which offers a federation of
> the existing democracies as a basis for
> world government with union citizen-
> ship, a defense force, a customs-free
> economy, union money and a postal
> and communications system; (3) The
> Good Neighbor Plan, an informal
> cooperation of nations, without defin-
> ite machinery, such as is found in the
> commissions which bind the twenty-
> one Republics of the Western Hemi-
> sphere; (4) The Good Will Plan,
> suggested by Lionel Curtis in his
> book "World Order", which stresses
> an underlying moral principle that
> applies to individuals and nations
> alike, since 'the loyalties and the spirit
> of cooperation, whether in family,
> tribe, State or nation, are the durable
> blocks out of which the progress of
> mankind is hewn,' and wherein the
> ideals of religion and politics are
> closely associated; (5) The Banking
> and Credit Plan, outlined by Pro-
> fessor Hans Heymann of Rutgers
> University in his "Plan for Perma-
> nent Peace", which proposes a Bank
> of Nations, in cooperation with a Fed-
> eral World Authority, to deal with
> special problems of labor migration,
> unemployment insurance, crop insur-
> ance, raw materials and other inter-
> national matters and to coordinate
> the economic functions of a world
> community with power to issue cur-
> rency and create credit; ( 6) The
> Economic Union Plan projected by
> Mr. Mallery, which is in essence the
> proposal of an international commis-
> sion, with limited objectives, working
> with other institutions now existing
> or which may be set up,-a union of
> like-minded nations rather than the
> whole world,--an organization based
> upon the threefold representation of
> governments, of organized labor and
> of organized managers with no nation
> excluded because of race, color, form
> of government, or previous condition
> of servitude to dictators or idealogies,
> and which will cooperate with de-
> feated peoples and grant equal access
> to raw materials and to markets.
> In the recent book "Problems of
> Lasting Peace", Mr. Herbert Hoover
> and Mr. Hugh Gibson stress the
> combining of the economic and poli-
> tical principles with the moral prin-
> ciples for international good will,
> while Mr. Wendell L. Willkie offers
> a plan for the creation of a world
> wherein equality of opportunity is
> guaranteed for every race and every
> nation. Other plans have been out-
> lined and Charters have been signed
> which admittedly are not binding on
> the governments signatory thereto,
> but all these plans and Charters are
> lacking in one or more essential in-
> gredients. The whole question of
> peace resolves itself upon the estab-
> lishment of a form of world order
> that will include all the individuals,
> communities and nations of the world.
> It has become quite evident that "no
> scheme which the calculations of the
> highest statesmanship may yet devise;
> no doctrine which the most distin-
> guished exponents of economic theory
> may hope to advance; no principle
> which the most ardent of moralists
> may strive to inculcate, can provide,
> in the last resort, adequate founda-
> tions upon which the future of a dis-
> tracted world can be built." (Shoghi
> Effendi, The Goal of A New World
> Order.) The League of Nations with
> all its good intent was only a balance
> of Powers, whose representatives had
> no authority for decision but had to
> refer all important matters back to
> their respective governments. Thus
> any attempt to unify the world for
> permanent peace can succeed only to
> the extent to which such effort in-
> cludes all the nations of the world
> and inculcates the moral and spiritual
> values.
> Mr. Mallery, stressing this point,
> makes the following valuable con-
> tribution: "Surely every man deeply
> concerned for a durable peace will
> feel the need of enlisting all men of
> good will in order to bring the King-
> dom of God on earth. Therefore,
> the plans of religious leaders to
> spiritualize the inner man are as essen-
> tial to any plan as mortar is to
> bricks."
> The vision of world peace is not
> an illusion but its appearance in the
> realm of reality depends upon an
> impartial insight into human values,
> IO
> with a stout resolution needed for
> its realization, for, according to Mr.
> H. G. Wells, (The Common-Sense
> of World Peace): "We are facing a
> task vast and difficult enough to tax
> all the gifts and resources of man-
> kind, a task whose magnitude the
> majority of us-even among the most
> devoted-are only beginning to com-
> prehend, and the very prevalent per-
> suasion that a few amiable declara-
> tions, a few amiable conferences, a
> Pact or so and a picnic or so, will
> suffice to lay the foundations of a
> permanent world peace is a pure
> delusion. A permanent world peace
> implies a profound revolution in the
> nature of every existing government
> upon earth, and in the fundamental
> ideas upon which that government is
> based."
> PROBLEMS TO BE OVERCOME
> 
> Many and diverse are the prob-
> lems to be overcome before a lasting
> peace is possible of attainment. In
> the political realm, the system of the
> II
> "balance of power" bears no relation-
> ship to justice as it rests on the shift-
> ing scales of counter-alliances. Im-
> perialism subordinates the native in-
> terests of a colony and increases the
> demand for greater military power
> to protect the lines of communication
> with the "mother" country. The
> system of competitive armaments
> makes it impossible to distinguish
> between offensive and defensive
> armaments. The control of the air-
> lanes after the war must submit to
> some plan of collective security.
> Unrestricted sovereignty and the pol-
> icy of isolation must accept the moral
> basis for international law. Likewise,
> political nationalism, with its exag-
> gerated theories of racial superiority
> which attempt to justify the right of
> one people t o dominate other races,
> thereby denying the free activity of
> the human spirit and the right of
> individual judgment in political mat-
> ters, has led to governmental control
> of educational institutions and the
> agencies for news dissemination,
> I '2
> thereby suppressing the cultural bonds
> between nations.
> In the economic and social fields
> there are such factors as high tariffs,
> the struggles for new "living spaces'',-
> unemployment, war debts, the trag-
> edy of enforced displacement of large
> populations from their homelands,
> refugee children, pillage, hunger and
> disease, to mention only a few, which
> create distrust and hostility. The
> resultant inequality of social condi-
> tions lowers the public morale and
> lays the foundation for the rise of
> dictatorship and autocracy in govern-
> ment, thus sowing the seeds for future
> internal revolutions and more inter-
> national warfare.
> What then will make nations
> repudiate war as an instrument of
> national policy, adopt a legalized
> procedure for the settlement of dis-
> putes, and establish the priority of the
> moral law as a basis of conduct in
> their mutual efforts to create eco-
> nomic security, social justice and inter-
> national conciliation?
> MORE THAN HUMAN
> PowER REQUIRED
> Something more than human power
> is necessary for the establishment of
> peace on earth and its counterpart,
> good will toward men. Great was the
> desire for peace after the world war.
> All the governments tired of war-
> with its huge expenditures and great
> loss of life, the countless orphans and
> the destitute widows, all yearned for
> peace. The representatives of the
> various nations assembled in Paris to
> lay the foundations of Universal
> Peace, yet 'Abdu'l-Baha foresaw at
> that time, that in the atmosphere of
> self-interest and misunderstanding
> that still prevailed, no permanent
> peace could be established because the
> spiritual factor had been left out of
> the discussions. In a letter to the
> late Dr. David Buchanan, a class-
> mate of President Wilson, written in
> January, r9r9, He wrote as follows:
> "In such an atmosphere Universal
> Peace will not be practicable, nay
> rather fresh difficulties will arise.
> r4
> This is because interests are conflict-
> ing and aims are at variance. We pray
> and beseech at the Divine Kingdom
> and beg for the world of humanity
> rest and composure. For Universal
> Peace will not be brought about
> through human power and shall not
> shine in full splendor unless this
> weighty and important matter be
> realized through the Word of God
> and be made to shine forth through
> the influence of the Kingdom of God.
> Eventually it shall be thoroughly
> established through the power of
> Baha'u'llah. Verily, his honor, Presi-
> dent \\Tilson, is self-sacrificing in this
> path and is striving with heart and
> soul with perfect good-will in the
> world of humanity. Similarly, the
> equitable government of Great Brit-
> ain is expending a great deal of effort.
> Undoubtedly the general condition
> of the people and the state of small
> oppressed nationalities will not re-
> main as before. Justice and Right
> shall be fortified but the establish-
> ment of Universal Peace will be real-
> ized fully through the power of the
> Word of God."
> A copy of this Tablet was sent to
> the President's headquarters in France
> and its receipt acknowledged by his
> secretary. History has already record-
> ed the rejection of a spiritual basis
> and the ultimate shattering of most
> of the noble ideals brought to the
> council chamber at Versailles, with
> its culmination in the present world
> catastrophe. Yet the great service
> for peace is still ahead of us, in spite
> of the surrounding gloom, for it is
> God's Will that Peace and the Uni-
> fication of mankind be established in
> this world. In 1915, 'Abdu'l-Baha
> wrote to Andrew Carnegie: "There-
> fore, ere long, a vast and unlimited
> field will be opened before your view
> for the display of your powers and
> energies. You must promote this
> glorious intention with the heavenly
> power and the confirmation of the
> Holy Spirit. I am praying in your
> behalf that you may pitch a pavilion
> and unfurl a flag in the world of
> peace, love and eternal life."
> The concept of world federation
> was envisaged by Baha'u'llah over
> seventy-five years ago. Shortly after
> His declaration that He was the
> Promised One of past cycles who was
> to establish a spiritual civilization on
> earth He proclaimed: "These fruit-
> less strifes, these ruinous wars shall
> pass away and the 'Most Great Peace'
> shall come!" He sent Tablets to the
> Rulers and Kings of the world, an-
> nouncing His Mission and calling
> them to establish the Kingdom of
> God on earth, thus sowing the ger-
> minating seeds of a real and lasting
> .federation. He warned that "the
> signs of impending convulsions and
> chaos can now be discerned, inasmuch
> as the prevailing Order appeareth
> to be lamentably defective." He
> prophesied that: "soon will the pres-
> ent day Order be rolled up, and a
> new one spread out in its stead." His
> appeals were rejected and the rulers
> continued to mcrease their expendi-
> tures for military preparedness and
> soon Europe and Asia were once more
> plunged into war. His final call to
> the sovereigns of the earth was in
> the following admonishment: "Now
> that ye have refused the Most Great
> Peace, hold fast unto this Lesser
> Peace, that haply ye may in some
> degree better your own condition and
> that of your dependents."
> THE NATURE OF THE
> LESSER PEACE
> 
> It is evident from the above quota-
> tions that the establishment of world
> peace will come in two stages: The
> Lesser and the Most Great Peace.
> The Lesser Peace will be achieved
> when war is abolished as the method
> of settling quarrels and disputes be-
> tween nations. To this end, Baha-
> 'u'llah, in the Tablet to Queen Vic-
> toria, admonishes the heads of gov-
> ernments to "be reconciled among
> yourselves, that ye may need no
> more armaments save in a measure
> to safeguard your territories and
> dominions. . . . Be united, 0 kings
> of the earth, for thereby the tempest
> of discord will be stilled amongst
> you, and your peoples find rest, if
> ye be of them that comprehend.
> Should any one among you take up
> arms against another, rise ye all
> against him, for this is naught but
> manifest justice." This statement
> indicates that "some form of a world
> Super-State must be evolved that
> will establish a single code of inter-
> national law" with a Supreme Tri-
> bunal whose decisions in carrying the
> law into effect will have a binding
> result upon any and all disputant
> parties. It calls for a World Parlia-
> ment or Congress composed of elect-
> ed representatives of the people with
> an International Executive strong
> enough to enforce the solemn com-
> pact entered into by the nations. Each
> nation will necessarily surrender its
> claims to make war, as well as the
> rights to impose certain taxes, to this
> supreme commonwealth. A world
> community will gradually be de-
> veloped, thus transmuting the "Re-
> ligion of Nationalism" into a lasting
> consciousness of responsible world
> citizenship. By general agreement
> the governments of the world will
> disarm, retaining only sufficient arms
> to preserve internal order; however,
> these governments will contribute a
> proportionate share of their army and
> navy to establish an international
> police force for the preservation of
> the union of all the states and the
> enforcement of the great treaty that
> will create the foundation for uni-
> versal peace. This is a very brief
> outline of the World Federation
> found in the Teachings of Baha-
> 'u'llah. There are one or two points
> of vital import which are further
> developed by 'Abdu'l-Baha in a letter
> sent to the Central Organization for
> a Durable Peace, at The Hague in
> r 9 r 9. One is that the national assem-
> blies of each country should elect the
> choicest men of its country who are
> well informed concerning inter..,
> national laws and the relationships
> between governments and who are
> likewise aware of the essential needs
> of humanity. The number of the
> representatives are in proportion to
> . the number of inhabitants of each
> country. The election of these repre-
> sentatives must be confirmed by the
> congress or parliament of each nation,
> by the cabinet and by the national
> executive so that they truly represent
> the government. The members of
> the Supreme Tribunal will be chosen
> from these delegates, thus the will
> of the people will be fully expressed
> at the council chamber, and when a
> decision is arrived at, either unani-
> mously or by majority-rule, there
> will no longer be any pretext for
> objection as both the plaintiff and
> defendant are properly represented
> by their duly accredited represen-
> tatives.
> The Bahi'f plan seeks to broaden
> the basis of the existing foundations
> of society in a changing and evolving
> world. "Its purpose," writes Shoghi
> Effendi, (Goal of a New World
> 2I
> Order) "is neither to stifle the flame
> of a sane and intelligent patriotism
> in men's hearts, nor to abolish the
> system of national autonomy so essen-
> tial if the evils of excessive central-
> ization are to be avoided. It does
> not ignore, nor does it attempt to
> suppress, the diversity of ethnical
> origins, of climate, of history, of
> language and tradition, of thought
> and habit, that differentiate the peo-
> ples and nations of the world. It
> calls for a wider loyalty, for a larger
> aspiration than any that has animated
> the human race. It insists upon the
> subordination of national impulses
> and interests to the imperative claims
> of a unified world. It repudiates ex-
> cessive centralization on one hand,
> and disclaims all attempts at uni-
> formity on the other." When the
> organs of the human body lack co-
> brdination, disease, dissolution and
> finally death result. The body-
> politic can well be likened to the
> human organism. If the various
> members are cooperating in harmony,
> life will find expression in the fullest
> degree, but dissention and rivalry
> will inevitably lead to discord and
> warfare, disintegration will follow
> and ultimate extinction will be the
> result.
> It is increasingly apparent that to
> achieve this "Lesser Peace,'' human-
> ity will have to pass through the fire
> of a severe ordeal before the warring
> elements of present-day civilization
> can be welded and fused into a new
> alloy of international concord. The
> maimed from the battlefields, the
> bombed civilian population, the be-
> reaved widows, the homeless orphans
> and the purged refugees, one and
> all will demand from their chastened
> leaders, a new world order. The
> institutions that will safeguard the
> peoples and nations of the world will
> arise as a phoenix from the ashes of
> the present conflict.
> THE MosT GREAT PEACE
> 
> But from the Baha'f viewpoint,
> there is yet another step to be taken,
> that of the establishment of the "Most
> Great Peace." "This can in no wise
> be achieved except through the power
> of a skilled, an all-powerful and in-
> spired Physician," asserts Baha'u'llah.
> It is the union of all the people of
> the world in one common Faith. The
> social laws and institutions established
> by Baha'u'llah cannot be separated
> from His moral precepts and spiritual
> principles. He not only called upon
> the Rulers of the world to establish
> the institutions that would prevent
> warfare, but He likewise exhorted
> them to accept His Revelation,
> destined to spiritualize the world and
> to fuse the races, creeds, classes and
> nations into a divinely conceived
> World Order. To the people who
> accept His Mission, He declares
> (Tablet to Napoleon III): "The
> sword of wisdom is sharper than the
> sword of steel-if ye are of those
> who know. Draw forth the sword
> in My name and power, then invade
> the cities of the hearts of those who
> are fortifying themselves in the forti -
> fication of desire." Humanity is
> entering the stage of maturity both
> individually and collectively. As the
> individual assumes his responsibility
> as an apostle of the Cause of God in
> this day, so likewise the nations of
> the world must accept their collective
> obligation to establish a World Order
> based on the Word of God.
> When the new spiritual forces
> manifest themselves, the human
> world will be enabled to adapt itself
> to a new social form wherein the
> justice of God will be the keynote
> of human affairs. The principle of
> justice is emphasized throughout the
> Writings of Baha'u'llah. He enjoins
> the House of Justice, that Supreme
> Tribunal to be elected by universal
> suffrage, to direct their gaze to the
> revealed Word of God "for the train-
> ing of the servants, for the upbuild-
> ing of countries, for the protection of
> men and for the preservation of
> human honor," for He adds, "if the
> lamp of Religion remain concealed
> agitation and anarchy would prevail,
> and the orb of justice and equity and
> the sun of peace and tranquility would
> be withheld from giving light." This
> is the reason why He addressed
> powerful epistles to the rulers of
> the world and counseled President
> Ulysses S. Grant to assist with the
> hands of justice the broken-hearted
> and to adhere to the command for
> the Most Great Peace, "which is the
> greatest means for the protection of
> mankind" and "the main cause for
> the security and tranquility of the
> world." (Tablet of l@raqat.)
> However, with one exception, the
> rulers and sovereigns who held the
> peace and welfare of their country-
> men in their hands, did not heed
> this summons to the court of justice
> and permitted the great oppressions
> to continue. The one sovereign
> responding to this call, was the late
> Queen Marie of Roumania who, in
> 1936, made the following public
> declaration: "More than ever today
> when the world is facing such a crisis
> of bewilderment and unrest, must we
> stand firm in Faith seeking that which
> binds together instead of tearing
> asunder. To those searching for
> light, the Baha'f Teachings offer a
> star which will lead them to deeper
> understanding, to assurance, peace
> and good will with all men."
> The advent of Divine Justice and
> its consequent spiritualization of man-
> kind will fuse the races, classes,
> creeds and nations into a great World
> Civilization based upon the durable
> structure of a World Faith. Fore-
> seeing the efforts now being made
> for the settlement of international
> disputes by those with a vision of a
> wider, more inclusive loyalty, Baha-
> 'u'llah pointed out: "The time must
> come, when the imperative necessity
> for the holding of a vast, an all-
> embracing assemblage of men will
> be universally realized. The rulers
> and kings of the earth must needs
> attend it, and, participating in its
> deliberations, must consider such ways
> and means as will lay the foundations
> of the world's Great Peace among
> men." The resultant treaty must be
> sound, definite and inviolable and
> receive the sanction not only of all
> the rulers but of all the human race.
> Unity of purpose and justice for all
> are the standards for the new human-
> ity. The establishment of a world
> commonwealth will be realized
> through (a process of) gradual stages.
> Ultimately Universal Peace will be
> achieved and it will signify the estab-
> lishment of the Kingdom of God
> upon earth. The "Lesser Peace" may
> come in the near future, while the
> "Most Great Peace" will eventually
> be realized and remain eternally
> effective and secure, through the
> potency of Divine decree. There will
> be a merging of the two elements-
> the organization of a world common-
> wealth and the institution of a world
> religion, and then Universal Peace
> will be fully realized, by this achieve-
> ment of organic and spiritual unity.
> In its fullness, the Revelation of
> Baha'u'llah is not alone another stage
> in the progressive prophetic cycles
> '28
> that have come to this earth, nor is
> it yet another spiritual revival, but it
> represents the founding of a world
> civilization and culture, with its lead-
> ers and representatives responsible to
> a world citizenry for the maintenance
> of new moral standards, new virtues,
> higher ideals and greater service to
> the common weal. It represents the
> growth of mankind from adolescence
> to maturity through a process of
> spiritual integration culminating in
> that Golden Age proclaimed by all
> the prophets of the past as the ulti-
> mate destiny for man on this planet.
>
> — *The Lesser and the Most Great Peace (Used by permission of the curator)*