# Us and Them: Understanding Cultural Identity

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-20 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Deborah Clark Vance, Us and Them: Understanding Cultural Identity, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Us and Them:
> 
> Understanding Cultural Identity
> 
> Deborah Clark Vance
> 
> 2002-08
> 
> What is Culture?
> We
> behave as though cultures are systems of cognitively shared
> uniformity, that individuals moving in them think and behave in
> predictable ways: African-Americans, Hispanics, Anglos, Arabs, even
> nationalities—Italians, Canadians(?) Japanese. If you examine
> any of these cultural systems, you’ll probably find tendencies,
> similarities, practices, that you can contrast with each other. For
> example a Japanese tendency to prefer the group over the individual;
> the USAmerican to profess the opposite.
> 
> Factors
> in the world are percolating to change all this – new ways of
> being are suggested via mass broadcasting; democratic expectations
> are rising with the demise of totalitarian states. In short,
> Bahá’u’lláh’s principles are taking
> root throughout the world, as an old order of national and clerical
> authority loses its grip.
> 
> Origins
> of Culture – a Bahá’í Perspective
> 
> “The seminal force in the civilizing of human nature has been
> the influence of the succession of these Manifestations of the
> Divine that extends back to the dawn of recorded history”
> (Universal House of Justice, April 2002 letter).
> 
> “Life on earth is millions of years old. Man has evolved from
> an embryonic state toward maturity.” (Abdu’l-Bahá,
> Some Answered Questions).
> 
> “Among the bounties of God is revelation. Hence revelation is
> progressive and continuous. It never ceases.” (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Teachings on Spiritual Reality, pp 166).
> 
> If
> God has always provided guidance through His Messengers, and if human
> beings have always existed on the planet, then countless
> Manifestations have come and gone, carrying civilization forward
> during prehistory as well, from the discovery of fire, to that of
> agriculture, to the establishment of the family unit, and every other
> human achievement.
> 
> “Civilization
> and cultures arise, built upon religious teachings of a new
> Manifestation coming into contact with people who are transformed by
> the Word of God, as the teachings affect their lives and they obtain
> a new measure of truth. When that unifying force, the penetrating
> influence of the word of God, taketh effect, the difference of
> customs, manners, habits, ideas, opinions and dispositions embellish
> the world of humanity. This diversity, this difference, is like the
> naturally created dissimilarity and variety of the limbs and organs
> of the human body, for each one contributeth to the beauty,
> efficiency and perfection of the whole” (Abdu’l-Bahá
> SAB 290-291).
> 
> Causes
> of Division
> 
> What
> we know and understand may all be traced back to divine teachings. In
> revealing religion, the Manifestations of God have stressed spiritual
> teachings, agreeing with each other (Selections from the Writings of
> Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 52-53). “Each of the divine
> religions embodies two kinds of ordinances. The first is those which
> concern spiritual susceptibilities…the second… is those
> which relate to the material affairs of humankind.” (Teachings
> of spiritual reality, pp 161-2).
> 
> Inasmuch
> as the teachings of the Manifestations have the power to transform
> human nature, cannot one assume that new cultures are born out of
> these transformations? “The birth of family life, development
> into the achievement of tribal solidarity...constitution of the city
> states…sovereign nations” (Selections from the
> Writings of 'Abdu’l-Baha [SWAB], p. 43). As society
> organized itself into families, tribes, and nations, it has made
> distinctions as to ethnicity, race, culture, nationality and
> religion. Thus one type of difference is material and the other is
> spiritual.
> 
> “Differences
> are of two kinds. One is the cause of annihilation and is like the
> antipathy existing among warring nations and conflicting tribes who
> seek each other’s destruction, uprooting one another’s
> families, depriving one another of rest and comfort and unleashing
> carnage” (SWAB 290).
> 
> Children
> learn to categorize by grouping together things that are alike and
> sorting out things that are not alike. Bahá’u’lláh
> says that humankind is reaching the stage of maturity. People used to
> be incapable of grasping certain truths. Jesus said “I have yet
> many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit,
> when he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he will guide you into all
> truth” (John 16:12-13). Thus humankind may have made
> distinctions among the in-group and the outgroups, because humans may
> have been incapable of understanding the concept of human oneness
> just as The notion that “I and my traditional enemy are the
> same” may have been beyond human understanding.
> 
> The
> Manifestations in every age have been rejected: The motives for past
> rejections are our heritage. “Whatever in days gone by hath
> been the cause of the denial and opposition of those people hath now
> led to the perversity of the people of this age” (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Kitab-i-Iqan) Opposition to God’s Messengers chronicled in the
> Iqán was not perpetrated merely by individuals, but by entire
> groups who denied, repudiated, vehemently opposed, contended, envied,
> and ignored the truth out of waywardness, idle fancy, pride,
> arrogance, petty mindedness and tyranny.
> 
> The
> only distinction that Manifestations seem to make among people is
> that of the believers and the heedless. Mohammad in the Koran tells
> the believers to eschew polytheists who are unclean. History shows
> that much effort has been exerted to maintain the hegemonic power of
> clergy, gathering force from tribes and nations to participate in the
> name of the religions of their fathers, though Bahá’u’lláh
> laments in the Iqán how people consistently reject
> Manifestations whose sole purpose was to exhort them to believe in
> God. “The essential reality of the religions is one and their
> seeming variance and plurality is adherence to forms and imitations
> which have arisen” (PUP, p. 99). History viewed thus provides
> one explanation for the origins of some of the prejudices that the
> House of Justice says “once seemed inherent in the nature of
> the human species, barriers that long divided the family of man into
> a Babel of incoherent identities of cultural, ethnic or national
> origin” (Letter April 2002).
> 
> Cultural
> Identity
> 
> Seen
> through the lens of Bahá’í teachings, one God
> made us all, and we all share a spiritual nature. This is where we
> begin to connect with each other. Yet we’ve each grown up in
> language and cultural systems among others who seem to share
> assumptions and expectations. Manifestations have revealed spiritual
> and material laws. Their interplay has blended in peoples’
> minds and developed similar assumptions as children learn their
> parents’ assumptions. “If you’re like us, you’ll
> behave this way.” We’ve internalized these assumptions so
> that they seem “natural” to us. We never discuss them,
> they just are. And usually they lie dormant unless countered or
> challenged by someone else
> 
> [Examples?]
> 
> [pioneer
> stories]
> 
> The
> Italian language distinguishes between knowledge (sapienza –
> facts, unchanging from day to day) and knowing (conoscenza –
> changes in different contexts). Similarly, cognitive psychologists
> say that the brain processes explicit knowledge (information acquired
> during skill learning) and implicit, non-declarative knowledge, such
> as habits to which we have no conscious access; evolutionarily older,
> and more resistant to disruptions by diseases and disorder (e.g.,
> amnesia). There’s less individual variation in implicit
> behaviors. “People share certain understanding because they’ve
> learned to interact successfully” (Borofsky, 345).
> 
> These
> dimensions of knowing coincide, perhaps, with the material and
> spiritual natures of humans and the material and spiritual teachings
> of the Manifestations. How does the knowing, the spiritual learning,
> become knowledge, (habitual, part of “human nature”?)
> “The fundamental principles of the Prophets are correct and
> true, the imitations and superstitions which have crept in are at
> wide variance with the original precepts and commands”
> (Teachings on Spiritual Reality, pp 161-2).
> 
> What
> is Prejudice?
> 
> Abdu’l-Bahá
> says, “all religious, racial, patriotic and political prejudice
> must be abandoned, for these are the destroyers of the real
> foundation of humanity.” (Promulgation of Universal Peace, p.
> 299) and “the prejudices and bigotries which exist today among
> the religions are not justifiable , inasmuch as they are opposed to
> reality;” and “racial assumption and distinction are
> nothing but superstition. (p. 299) Further, “Consider the
> prejudice of patriotism. This is one globe, one land, one country.
> God did not divide it into national boundaries. He created all the
> continents without national divisions. Why should we make such
> division ourselves? These are but imaginary lines and boundaries”
> (PUP p. 299). “By this division and separation into groups and
> branches of mankind, prejudice is engendered which becomes a fruitful
> source of war and strife (PUP p. 316). “Each nation has clung
> to its own imitations, and because these are at variance, warfare,
> bloodshed and destruction of the foundation of humanity have resulted
> (PUP p. 232) “Man has laid the foundation of prejudice, hatred,
> and discord with his fellowman by considering nationalities separate
> in importance and races different in rights and privileges”
> (PUP p. 232).
> 
> In
> seeking the causes of intergroup prejudices, communication theory
> often focuses on identity formation and how cultural identities can
> obstruct understanding. Intergroup prejudices can be counted among
> the contemporary perversities that Bahá’u’lláh
> condemns. Culture and language are seen as central to identity
> formation, providing standpoints from which individuals perceive the
> world: Individuals are born into cultural worlds and form their sense
> of self and their worldviews from a particular perspective, filtered
> through a particular language. The divisions established among human
> beings, whether national, racial, religious or cultural, are man-made
> divisions, yet they are so fundamental that most individuals derive a
> sense of identity from one or several of these groups. It can be
> argued that what is perverse about people today derives from these
> divisions, for opposition to the past Manifestations was led by
> clergy who held the reigns of power, who relied on
> 
> continued
> support from families and tribes. The literature bulges with research
> about how, by establishing the we-they boundaries, groups reinforce
> themselves.
> 
> Cultural
> Unity
> 
> “Gather
> ye together and for the sake of God resolve to root out whatever is
> the source of contention amongst you.” (World Order of
> Bahá’u’lláh, [WAB] p. 17) Seeing that these
> divisions are the root of a problem, though, is not powerful enough
> to wish them away. There are multiple languages, multiple cultures,
> multiple religions and perspectives on the planet. Children learn the
> teachings of their families’ religions, of their nation’s
> schools. Traditions, manners, virtues come with cultural and
> religious undertones. In short, diversity exists and it does so
> within a social and political hierarchy and as such, makes membership
> in one or another group advantageous. Diversity in and of itself
> should provide no problem.
> 
> The statement can be heard among Bahá’ís, “There
> is only one Bahá’í Faith.” While Bahá’ís
> believe this to be true, it is a mindset that overlooks the tenet of
> unity in diversity, that denies that individuals have different
> perspectives based on history and culture and sex. A recent example
> that I observed: We had a funeral of a longtime American Bahá’í
> whose Christian family opposed her participation in the Faith when
> she was a young woman. A family member asked the LSA to plan the
> memorial service and asked that Persian chanting not be included so
> as not to put off family members. The Persians in the community were
> offended and accused the LSA of being cowardly, as though they were
> denying their faith. They insisted that Bahá’u’lláh’s
> prayers are in Farsí and should always be included.
> 
> Discussion
> 
> A.
> Problem:
> 
> 1. Power differences exist among groups. In most segments of society,
> whites dominate, but as Kweisi Mfume recently reminded the NAACP,
> blacks can be racist too, when they have power.
> 
> B.
> Analysis:
> 
> 1. Bahá’u’lláh says we’ve inherited
> bad traits of the past.
> 
> 2. Humanity past started the laying down of boundaries, the making of
> distinctions whereas Manifestations have distinguished between the
> Godly and the ungodly
> 
> C.
> Solution:
> 
> 1.
> Awareness – What are your underlying assumptions?
> 
> a.
> how do you perceive time, space, smell, values?
> 
> b.
> how do others perceive you?
> 
> c.
> How do you know?
> 
> 2. Gurevitch (1989) says to understand that you don’t
> understand. But you can empathize
> 
> 3.
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says to travel.
> 
> a.
> What is the wisdom of pioneering?
> 
> b. One is that you’re forced to be in another culture and may
> learn to distinguish
> 
> II..
> What do you expect?
> 
> A.
> Contrast your expectations at Bahá’í events with
> those outside and you can see how expectations develop.
> 
> 1. think about conferences, summer schools, world congress,
> convention, feast, firesides.
> 
> 2. Meetings start with prayers and often end with “a closing
> prayer.”
> 
> 3. Prayers are never made up, but from Bahá’u’lláh
> and Abdu’l-Bahá
> 
> 4.
> Meetings aren’t punctual[?]
> 
> REFERENCES
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> Promulgation of Universal Peace
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selected Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh,
> Kitab-i-Iqan
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh,
> Teachings on Spiritual Reality, pp 161-2).
> 
> Borofsky, R. (Ed.)
> (1994). Assessing cultural anthropology. New York:
> McGraw-Hill, Inc.
> 
> Gurevitch, Z. D.
> (1989). The power of not understanding: The meeting of conflicting
> identities. The Journal of applied Behavioral Science 25 (2)
> 161-173.
> 
> Shoghi Effendi, World
> Order of Bahá’u’lláh
> 
> Universal House of
> Justice, April 2002 letter.
> 
> METADATA
> 
> Views8129 views since posted 2010-02-23; last edit 2024-05-30 06:59 UTC;
> 
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> — *Us and Them: Understanding Cultural Identity (Used by permission of the curator)*