# Social Action

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Bahá'u'lláh, Social Action, bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> Social Action
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh
> 
> Abdu'l-Bahá
> 
> Shoghi Effendi
> 
> Universal House of Justice
> 
> Universal House of Justice, Research Department
> 
> , compiler
> 
> 2020/2023
> 
> Download:
> compilation_social_action.pdf
> .
> 
> Social Action
> 
> A Compilation Prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice
> 
> August 2020
> 
> Underlying Concepts and Principles
> 
> The Concept of Social and Economic Development Enshrined in the Teachings
> 
> Collective Maturity and an Ever-Advancing Civilization
> 
> Oneness and Justice
> 
> The Role of Knowledge
> 
> The Nature of Bahá’í Social and Economic Development
> 
> Coherence Between the Material and Spiritual Dimensions of Existence
> 
> Capacity Building, Participation, and Organic Growth
> 
> The Emergence of Social Action
> 
> Community Development and the Movement of Populations
> 
> Methods and Approaches
> 
> Learning and Systematic Action
> 
> Consultation and Collaboration
> 
> Utilizing Material Means
> 
> Selected Themes Pertaining to Social and Economic Development
> 
> Education
> 
> Agriculture
> 
> Economics
> 
> Health
> 
> Arts, Media, and Technology
> 
> Underlying Concepts and Principles
> 
> The Concept of Social and Economic Development Enshrined in the Teachings
> 
> Promote ye the development of the cities of God and His countries, and glorify Him
> therein in the joyous accents of His well-favored ones. In truth, the hearts of men
> are edified through the power of the tongue, even as houses and cities are built up
> by the hand and other means. We have assigned to every end a means for its accomplishment;
> avail yourselves thereof, and place your trust and confidence in God, the Omniscient,
> the All-Wise.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, par. 160)
> 
> [1]
> 
> … is not the object of every Revelation to effect a transformation in the whole character
> of mankind, a transformation that shall manifest itself, both outwardly and inwardly,
> that shall affect both its inner life and external conditions?
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> The Kitáb-i-Íqán:  The Book of Certitude
> (Wilmette:  Bahá’í Publishing, 2019), p. 169)
> 
> [2]
> 
> … that which hath streamed forth from the Most Exalted Pen is conducive to the glory,
> the advancement and education of all the peoples and kindreds of the earth. Indeed
> it is the sovereign remedy for every disease, could they but comprehend and perceive
> it.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
> (Wilmette:  Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1988), p. 73)
> 
> [3]
> 
> O people of God!  Give ear unto that which, if heeded, will ensure the freedom, well-being,
> tranquillity, exaltation and advancement of all men.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
> , p. 92)
> 
> [4]
> 
> Unveiled and unconcealed, this Wronged One hath, at all times, proclaimed before the
> face of all the peoples of the world that which will serve as the key for unlocking
> the doors of sciences, of arts, of knowledge, of well-being, of prosperity and wealth.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
> , p. 96)
> 
> [5]
> 
> The progress of the world, the development of nations, the tranquillity of peoples,
> and the peace of all who dwell on earth are among the principles and ordinances of
> God. Religion bestoweth upon man the most precious of all gifts, offereth the cup
> of prosperity, imparteth eternal life, and showereth imperishable benefits upon mankind.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
> , pp. 129–130)
> 
> [6]
> 
> God, the True One, beareth Me witness, and every atom in existence is moved to testify
> that such means as lead to the elevation, the advancement, the education, the protection
> and the regeneration of the peoples of the earth have been clearly set forth by Us
> and are revealed in the Holy Books and Tablets by the Pen of Glory.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
> , p. 130)
> 
> [7]
> 
> That one indeed is a man who, today, dedicateth himself to the service of the entire
> human race. The Great Being saith:  Blessed and happy is he that ariseth to promote
> the best interests of the peoples and kindreds of the earth.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
> , p. 167)
> 
> [8]
> 
> This servant appealeth to every diligent and enterprising soul to exert his utmost
> endeavour and arise to rehabilitate the conditions in all regions and to quicken the
> dead with the living waters of wisdom and utterance, by virtue of the love he cherisheth
> for God, the One, the Peerless, the Almighty, the Beneficent.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
> , p. 172)
> 
> [9]
> 
> Every age hath its own problem, and every soul its particular aspiration. The remedy
> the world needeth in its present-day afflictions can never be the same as that which
> a subsequent age may require. Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye
> live in, and centre your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> The Tabernacle of Unity:  Bahá’u’lláh’s Responses to Mánikchí Ṣáḥib and Other Writings
> 
> (Haifa:  Bahá’í World Centre, 2006), par. 1.4)
> 
> [10]
> 
> It behoveth the loved ones of God to occupy themselves under all circumstances with
> that which is conducive to the edification of human souls, the advancement of the
> world of being, and the exaltation of the Word of God, the realization of which dependeth
> upon the deliberations of the trustees of the House of Justice. Well is it with them
> that strive to render service to the world of humanity. The influence of these souls
> will lead the world from hardship to comfort, from poverty to wealth, and from abasement
> to glory.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [11]
> 
> Once in session, it behoveth them to converse, on behalf of God’s servants, upon the
> affairs and interests of all…. In like manner, they should consider such matters as
> the refinement of manners, the preservation of human dignity, the development of cities,
> and the polity which God hath made a bulwark for His lands and a fortress for His
> people.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [12]
> 
> God has given us eyes, that we may look about us at the world, and lay hold of whatsoever
> will further civilization and the arts of living. He has given us ears, that we may
> hear and profit by the wisdom of scholars and philosophers and arise to promote and
> practice it. Senses and faculties have been bestowed upon us, to be devoted to the
> service of the general good; so that we, distinguished above all other forms of life
> for perceptiveness and reason, should labor at all times and along all lines, whether
> the occasion be great or small, ordinary or extraordinary, until all mankind are safely
> gathered into the impregnable stronghold of knowledge. We should continually be establishing
> new bases for human happiness and creating and promoting new instrumentalities toward
> this end. How excellent, how honorable is man if he arises to fulfill his responsibilities;
> how wretched and contemptible, if he shuts his eyes to the welfare of society and
> wastes his precious life in pursuing his own selfish interests and personal advantages.
> Supreme happiness is man’s, and he beholds the signs of God in the world and in the
> human soul, if he urges on the steed of high endeavor in the arena of civilization
> and justice.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Secret of Divine Civilization
> (Wilmette:  Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 2015), pp. 4–5)
> 
> [13]
> 
> Exert every effort in the fields of development and of civilization, in the acquisition
> of knowledge, the increase of trade, the improvement of agriculture and the promotion
> of modern discoveries.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [14]
> 
> Guide and counsel at all times the friends of God, one and all, to be occupied day
> and night with that which is conducive to Iran’s abiding glory, and to exert the utmost
> effort and the greatest endeavour in order to refine character and manners, labour
> assiduously, aim for lofty goals, promote love and affection, and foster the progress
> and development of industry, agriculture and trade.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [15]
> 
> The friends must engage in the work of developing Persia, that is, they must exert
> great efforts in the promotion of agriculture, industry, trade, education, arts, and
> sciences.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [16]
> 
> And now, in gratitude for the assistance, confirmation, protection, and loving-kindness
> vouchsafed by the All-Glorious Lord, the beloved of God must with great wisdom strive
> to strengthen the pillars of the Cause of God, to establish and promote the religion
> of God, to diffuse the fragrances of God, and to exalt the Word of God. They must
> exert every effort for the advancement of the souls in all stages of existence. They
> must educate the children and teach them useful arts, reach ever higher degrees of
> civilization, multiply national crafts and industry, promote trade, improve agriculture,
> provide learning for all, educate women and honour them, and show consideration for
> the handmaidens of God. They must strive with heart and soul to create love and unity
> among the friends, to serve the government, and to be true to the royal throne, the
> well-wishers of everyone, and obedient to the valiant sovereign.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [17]
> 
> The matter of Teaching, its direction, its ways and means, its extension, its consolidation,
> essential as they are to the interests of the Cause, constitute by no means the only
> issue which should receive the full attention of these Assemblies. A careful study
> of Bahá’u’lláh’s and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Tablets will reveal that other duties, no less
> vital to the interests of the Cause, devolve upon the elected representatives of the
> friends in every locality….
> 
> They must do their utmost to extend at all times the helping hand to the poor, the
> sick, the disabled, the orphan, the widow, irrespective of color, caste and creed.
> 
> They must promote by every means in their power the material as well as the spiritual
> enlightenment of youth, the means for the education of children, institute, whenever
> possible, Bahá’í educational institutions, organize and supervise their work and provide
> the best means for their progress and development….
> 
> They must undertake the arrangement of the regular meetings of the friends, the feasts
> and the anniversaries, as well as the special gatherings designed to serve and promote
> the social, intellectual and spiritual interests of their fellow-men.
> 
> (Shoghi Effendi, from a letter dated 12 March 1923, in
> Bahá’í Administration:  Selected Messages
> , 1922–1932 (Wilmette:  Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1974), pp. 37–38)
> 
> [18]
> 
> From the beginning of His stupendous mission, Bahá’u’lláh urged upon the attention
> of nations the necessity of ordering human affairs in such a way as to bring into
> being a world unified in all the essential aspects of its life. In unnumbered verses
> and tablets He repeatedly and variously declared the “progress of the world” and the
> “development of nations” as being among the ordinances of God for this day. The oneness
> of mankind, which is at once the operating principle and ultimate goal of His Revelation,
> implies the achievement of a dynamic coherence between the spiritual and practical
> requirements of life on earth. The indispensability of this coherence is unmistakably
> illustrated in His ordination of the Ma
> sh
> riqu’l-A
> dh
> kár, the spiritual centre of every Bahá’í community round which must flourish dependencies
> dedicated to the social, humanitarian, educational and scientific advancement of mankind.
> Thus, we can readily appreciate that although it has hitherto been impracticable for
> Bahá’í institutions generally to emphasize development activities, the concept of
> social and economic development is enshrined in the sacred Teachings of our Faith.
> The beloved Master, through His illuminating words and deeds, set the example for
> the application of this concept to the reconstruction of society. Witness, for instance,
> what social and economic progress the Iranian believers attained under His loving
> guidance and, subsequently, with the unfailing encouragement of the Guardian of the
> Cause.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 20 October 1983 to the Bahá’ís
> of the World)
> 
> [19]
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has extolled “two calls” to “success and prosperity” that can be heard
> from the “heights of the happiness of mankind”. One is the call of “civilization”,
> of “progress of the material world”. It comprises the “laws”, “regulations”, “arts
> and sciences” through which humanity develops. The other is the “soul-stirring call
> of God”, on which depends the eternal happiness of humanity. “This second call”, the
> Master has explained, “is founded upon the instructions and exhortations of the Lord
> and the admonitions and altruistic emotions belonging to the realm of morality which,
> like unto a brilliant light, brighten and illumine the lamp of the realities of mankind.
> Its penetrative power is the Word of God.”  As you continue to labour in your clusters,
> you will be drawn further and further into the life of the society around you and
> will be challenged to extend the process of systematic learning in which you are engaged
> to encompass a growing range of human endeavours. In the approaches you take, the
> methods you adopt, and the instruments you employ, you will need to achieve the same
> degree of coherence that characterizes the pattern of growth presently under way.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, Riḍván 2008 message to the Bahá’ís of the World)
> 
> [20]
> 
> The term “politics” can have a broad meaning, and therefore it is important to distinguish
> between partisan political activity and the discourse and action intended to bring
> about constructive social change. While the former is proscribed, the latter is enjoined;
> indeed, a central purpose of the Bahá’í community is social transformation. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
> treatise
> The Secret of Divine Civilization
> amply demonstrates the Faith’s commitment to promoting social change without entering
> into the arena of partisan politics. So too, innumerable passages in the Bahá’í Writings
> encourage the believers to contribute to the betterment of the world. “Be anxiously
> concerned with the needs of the age ye live in,” Bahá’u’lláh states, “and center your
> deliberations on its exigencies and requirements.”  ‘Abdu’l-Bahá urges the friends
> to “become distinguished in all the virtues of the human world—for faithfulness and
> sincerity, for justice and fidelity, for firmness and steadfastness, for philanthropic
> deeds and service to the human world, for love toward every human being, for unity
> and accord with all people, for removing prejudices and promoting international peace.”
> Further, in a letter written on his behalf, Shoghi Effendi explains that “much as
> the friends must guard against in any way seeming to identify themselves or the Cause
> with any political party, they must also guard against the other extreme of never
> taking part, with other progressive groups, in conferences or committees designed
> to promote some activity in entire accord with our teachings”. In another letter written
> on his behalf in 1948, when racial inequality was enshrined in the laws of many states
> in the United States, he indicates that there is “no objection at all to the students
> taking part in something so obviously akin to the spirit of our teachings as a campus
> demonstration against race prejudice.”  Bahá’ís must, therefore, be tireless in addressing,
> through word and deed, a range of social issues.
> 
> (From a letter dated 23 December 2008 written on behalf of the Universal House of
> Justice to an individual believer)
> 
> [21]
> 
> Collective Maturity and an Ever-Advancing Civilization
> 
> All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh
> (Wilmette:  Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1983), sec. CIX, par. 2)
> 
> [22]
> 
> All men have been called into being for the betterment of the world. It behoveth every
> soul to arise and serve his brethren for the sake of God.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> The Tabernacle of Unity
> , par. 2.42)
> 
> [23]
> 
> And the honor and distinction of the individual consist in this, that he among all
> the world’s multitudes should become a source of social good. Is any larger bounty
> conceivable than this, that an individual, looking within himself, should find that
> by the confirming grace of God he has become the cause of peace and well-being, of
> happiness and advantage to his fellow men?  No, by the one true God, there is no greater
> bliss, no more complete delight.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Secret of Divine Civilization
> , p. 3)
> 
> [24]
> 
> O namesake of the Chaste One!
> 
> 1
> 
> The sea of bounty hath surged so high as to flood the shores of existence with the
> waters of infinite grace. The world of being hath therefore been set in wondrous motion
> and hath been revived and blessed. Minds have soared to new heights, understanding
> hath increased, movement hath become rapid, and progress hath become powerfully evident
> in all aspects of life. Thus, great discoveries have been made, mighty enterprises
> have been established, wonderful inventions have appeared, and the mysteries of the
> universe have stepped forth from the invisible plane into the realm of the visible.
> Wherefore must the friends, one and all, exhibit a signal effort to create a new invention,
> discover a new science, engage in a great enterprise, or manifest a power or a bestowal
> in the human world. I beseech God that thou mayest be assisted and confirmed under
> all conditions. The Glory of Glories rest upon thee.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [25]
> 
> All created things have their degree, or stage, of maturity. The period of maturity
> in the life of a tree is the time of its fruit bearing. The maturity of a plant is
> the time of its blossoming and flower. The animal attains a stage of full growth and
> completeness, and in the human kingdom man reaches his maturity when the lights of
> intelligence have their greatest power and development….
> 
> Similarly, there are periods and stages in the life of the aggregate world of humanity,
> which at one time was passing through its degree of childhood, at another its time
> of youth but now has entered its long presaged period of maturity, the evidences of
> which are everywhere visible and apparent. Therefore, the requirements and conditions
> of former periods have changed and merged into exigencies which distinctly characterize
> the present age of the world of mankind. That which was applicable to human needs
> during the early history of the race could neither meet nor satisfy the demands of
> this day and period of newness and consummation. Humanity has emerged from its former
> degrees of limitation and preliminary training. Man must now become imbued with new
> virtues and powers, new moralities, new capacities. New bounties, bestowals and perfections
> are awaiting and already descending upon him. The gifts and graces of the period of
> youth, although timely and sufficient during the adolescence of the world of mankind,
> are now incapable of meeting the requirements of its maturity.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Promulgation of Universal Peace:  Talks Delivered by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during His Visit
> to the United States and Canada in 1912
> (Wilmette:  Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 2012), pp. 617–618)
> 
> [26]
> 
> “The heights,” Bahá’u’lláh Himself testifies, “which, through the most gracious favor
> of God, mortal man can attain in this Day are as yet unrevealed to his sight. The
> world of being hath never had, nor doth it yet possess, the capacity for such a revelation.
> The day, however, is approaching when the potentialities of so great a favor will,
> by virtue of His behest, be manifested unto men.”
> 
> For the revelation of so great a favor a period of intense turmoil and wide-spread
> suffering would seem to be indispensable. Resplendent as has been the Age that has
> witnessed the inception of the Mission with which Bahá’u’lláh has been entrusted,
> the interval which must elapse ere that Age yields its choicest fruit must, it is
> becoming increasingly apparent, be overshadowed by such moral and social gloom as
> can alone prepare an unrepentant humanity for the prize she is destined to inherit.
> 
> Into such a period we are now steadily and irresistibly moving. Amidst the shadows
> which are increasingly gathering about us we can faintly discern the glimmerings of
> Bahá’u’lláh’s unearthly sovereignty appearing fitfully on the horizon of history.
> To us, the “generation of the half-light,” living at a time which may be designated
> as the period of the incubation of the World Commonwealth envisaged by Bahá’u’lláh,
> has been assigned a task whose high privilege we can never sufficiently appreciate,
> and the arduousness of which we can as yet but dimly recognize. We may well believe,
> we who are called upon to experience the operation of the dark forces destined to
> unloose a flood of agonizing afflictions, that the darkest hour that must precede
> the dawn of the Golden Age of our Faith has not yet struck. Deep as is the gloom that
> already encircles the world, the afflictive ordeals which that world is to suffer
> are still in preparation, nor can their blackness be as yet imagined. We stand on
> the threshold of an age whose convulsions proclaim alike the death-pangs of the old
> order and the birth-pangs of the new. Through the generating influence of the Faith
> announced by Bahá’u’lláh this New World Order may be said to have been conceived.
> We can, at the present moment, experience its stirrings in the womb of a travailing
> age—an age waiting for the appointed hour at which it can cast its burden and yield
> its fairest fruit.
> 
> (Shoghi Effendi, from a letter dated 11 March 1936, in
> The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh:  Selected Letters
> (Wilmette:  Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1991), pp. 168–169)
> 
> [27]
> 
> As we view the world around us, we are compelled to observe the manifold evidences
> of that universal fermentation which, in every continent of the globe and in every
> department of human life, be it religious, social, economic or political, is purging
> and reshaping humanity in anticipation of the Day when the wholeness of the human
> race will have been recognized and its unity established. A twofold process, however,
> can be distinguished, each tending, in its own way and with an accelerated momentum,
> to bring to a climax the forces that are transforming the face of our planet. The
> first is essentially an integrating process, while the second is fundamentally disruptive.
> The former, as it steadily evolves, unfolds a System which may well serve as a pattern
> for that world polity towards which a strangely-disordered world is continually advancing;
> while the latter, as its disintegrating influence deepens, tends to tear down, with
> increasing violence, the antiquated barriers that seek to block humanity’s progress
> towards its destined goal. The constructive process stands associated with the nascent
> Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, and is the harbinger of the New World Order that Faith must
> erelong establish. The destructive forces that characterize the other should be identified
> with a civilization that has refused to answer to the expectation of a new age, and
> is consequently falling into chaos and decline.
> 
> (Shoghi Effendi, from a letter dated 11 March 1936, in
> The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh
> , p. 170)
> 
> [28]
> 
> The long ages of infancy and childhood, through which the human race had to pass,
> have receded into the background. Humanity is now experiencing the commotions invariably
> associated with the most turbulent stage of its evolution, the stage of adolescence,
> when the impetuosity of youth and its vehemence reach their climax, and must gradually
> be superseded by the calmness, the wisdom, and the maturity that characterize the
> stage of manhood. Then will the human race reach that stature of ripeness which will
> enable it to acquire all the powers and capacities upon which its ultimate development
> must depend.
> 
> (Shoghi Effendi, from a letter dated 11 March 1936, in
> The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh
> , p. 202)
> 
> [29]
> 
> Of the principles enshrined in these Tablets the most vital of them all is the principle
> of the oneness and wholeness of the human race, which may well be regarded as the
> hall-mark of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation and the pivot of His teachings…. “We, verily,”
> He declares, “have come to unite and weld together all that dwell on earth.”  “So
> potent is the light of unity,” He further states, “that it can illuminate the whole
> earth.” … Unity, He states, is the goal that “excelleth every goal” and an aspiration
> which is “the monarch of all aspirations.”  “The world,” He proclaims, “is but one
> country, and mankind its citizens.”  He further affirms that the unification of mankind,
> the last stage in the evolution of humanity towards maturity is inevitable, that “soon
> will the present day order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead,” that
> “the whole earth is now in a state of pregnancy,” that “the day is approaching when
> it will have yielded its noblest fruits, when from it will have sprung forth the loftiest
> trees, the most enchanting blossoms, the most heavenly blessings.”  He deplores the
> defectiveness of the prevailing order, exposes the inadequacy of patriotism as a directing
> and controlling force in human society, and regards the “love of mankind” and service
> to its interests as the worthiest and most laudable objects of human endeavor.
> 
> (Shoghi Effendi,
> God Passes By
> (Wilmette:  Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1974, 2019 printing), pp. 343–344)
> 
> [30]
> 
> Inseparable from the Bahá’í perspective on politics is a particular conception of
> history, its course and direction. Humanity, it is the firm conviction of every follower
> of Bahá’u’lláh, is approaching today the crowning stage in a millennia-long process
> which has brought it from its collective infancy to the threshold of maturity—a stage
> that will witness the unification of the human race. Not unlike the individual who
> passes through the unsettled yet promising period of adolescence, during which latent
> powers and capacities come to light, humankind as a whole is in the midst of an unprecedented
> transition. Behind so much of the turbulence and commotion of contemporary life are
> the fits and starts of a humanity struggling to come of age. Widely accepted practices
> and conventions, cherished attitudes and habits, are one by one being rendered obsolete,
> as the imperatives of maturity begin to assert themselves.
> 
> Bahá’ís are encouraged to see in the revolutionary changes taking place in every sphere
> of life the interaction of two fundamental processes. One is destructive in nature,
> while the other is integrative; both serve to carry humanity, each in its own way,
> along the path leading towards its full maturity. The operation of the former is everywhere
> apparent—in the vicissitudes that have afflicted time-honoured institutions, in the
> impotence of leaders at all levels to mend the fractures appearing in the structure
> of society, in the dismantling of social norms that have long held in check unseemly
> passions, and in the despondency and indifference exhibited not only by individuals
> but also by entire societies that have lost any vital sense of purpose. Though devastating
> in their effects, the forces of disintegration tend to sweep away barriers that block
> humanity’s progress, opening space for the process of integration to draw diverse
> groups together and disclosing new opportunities for cooperation and collaboration.
> Bahá’ís, of course, strive to align themselves, individually and collectively, with
> forces associated with the process of integration, which, they are confident, will
> continue to gain in strength, no matter how bleak the immediate horizons. Human affairs
> will be utterly reorganized, and an era of universal peace inaugurated….
> 
> … Animating the Bahá’í effort to discover the nature of a new set of relationships
> among these three protagonists [the individual, the institutions, and the community]
> is a vision of a future society that derives inspiration from the analogy drawn by
> Bahá’u’lláh, in a Tablet penned nearly a century and a half ago, which compares the
> world to the human body. Cooperation is the principle that governs the functioning
> of that system. Just as the appearance of the rational soul in this realm of existence
> is made possible through the complex association of countless cells, whose organization
> in tissues and organs allows for the realization of distinctive capacities, so can
> civilization be seen as the outcome of a set of interactions among closely integrated,
> diverse components which have transcended the narrow purpose of tending to their own
> existence. And just as the viability of every cell and every organ is contingent upon
> the health of the body as a whole, so should the prosperity of every individual, every
> family, every people be sought in the well-being of the entire human race.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 2 March 2013 to the Bahá’ís
> of Iran)
> 
> [31]
> 
> Oneness and Justice
> 
> … The light of men is Justice. Quench it not with the contrary winds of oppression
> and tyranny. The purpose of justice is the appearance of unity among men….
> 
> … Shut your eyes to estrangement, then fix your gaze upon unity. Cleave tenaciously
> unto that which will lead to the well-being and tranquillity of all mankind. This
> span of earth is but one homeland and one habitation. It behoveth you to abandon vainglory
> which causeth alienation and to set your hearts on whatever will ensure harmony.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
> , pp. 66–68)
> 
> [32]
> 
> 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….
> 
> … There is no force on earth that can equal in its conquering power the force of justice
> and wisdom. I, verily, affirm that there is not, and hath never been, a host more
> mighty than that of justice and wisdom…. There can be no doubt whatever that if the
> daystar of justice, which the clouds of tyranny have obscured, were to shed its light
> upon men, the face of the earth would be completely transformed.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
> , pp. 164–165)
> 
> [33]
> 
> We entreat God to deliver the light of equity and the sun of justice from the thick
> clouds of waywardness, and cause them to shine forth upon men. No light can compare
> with the light of justice. The establishment of order in the world and the tranquillity
> of the nations depend upon it.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Epistle to the Son of the Wolf
> (Wilmette:  Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1988), pp. 28–29)
> 
> [34]
> 
> The second attribute of perfection is justice and impartiality. This means to have
> no regard for one’s own personal benefits and selfish advantages, and to carry out
> the laws of God without the slightest concern for anything else. It means to see one’s
> self as only one of the servants of God, the All-Possessing, and except for aspiring
> to spiritual distinction, never attempting to be singled out from the others. It means
> to consider the welfare of the community as one’s own. It means, in brief, to regard
> humanity as a single individual, and one’s own self as a member of that corporeal
> form, and to know of a certainty that if pain or injury afflicts any member of that
> body, it must inevitably result in suffering for all the rest.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Secret of Divine Civilization
> , pp. 45–46)
> 
> [35]
> 
> O ye beloved of God!  Know ye, verily, that the happiness of mankind lieth in the
> unity and the harmony of the human race, and that spiritual and material developments
> are conditioned upon love and amity among all men.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> (Wilmette:  Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1997, 2009 printing), par. 225.10)
> 
> [36]
> 
> O well-wisher of the world of humanity!  Praised be God that thine intention was good,
> that thou didst acquire knowledge and learning, and that thy wish is to engage in
> service to the peoples of the world. I beseech God that thou mayest succeed in this
> purpose and mayest manifest that which lieth concealed within thy heart. In the world
> of creation, good intentions are of two kinds. One kind is particular and aimed at
> specific people; this is limited and its scope is extremely narrow. The other kind
> is directed towards all created things; it is all-pervading and extensive in range.
> Whatsoever is undertaken for the sake of the universal good is of God. Therefore,
> undertakings that relate somewhat to the general good may be accomplished among civilized
> nations, but the only thing that is directed wholly towards the general good is the
> Word of God and Divine wisdom. This is the power which can effect a fundamental change
> and transformation in the world of being. This force is creative; it is generative
> and revitalizing and bringeth forth a new creation. Exert thine utmost endeavour,
> therefore, in pursuing that which will be the cause of progress of the world of humanity
> and will lead to perpetual exaltation and eternal life. Upon thee be greetings and
> praise.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [37]
> 
> Let there be no mistake. The principle of the Oneness of Mankind—the pivot round which
> all the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh revolve—is no mere outburst of ignorant emotionalism
> or an expression of vague and pious hope.…  Its message is applicable not only to
> the individual, but concerns itself primarily with the nature of those essential relationships
> that must bind all the states and nations as members of one human family. It does
> not constitute merely the enunciation of an ideal, but stands inseparably associated
> with an institution adequate to embody its truth, demonstrate its validity, and perpetuate
> its influence. It implies an organic change in the structure of present-day society,
> a change such as the world has not yet experienced. It constitutes a challenge, at
> once bold and universal, to outworn shibboleths of national creeds—creeds that have
> had their day and which must, in the ordinary course of events as shaped and controlled
> by Providence, give way to a new gospel, fundamentally different from, and infinitely
> superior to, what the world has already conceived. It calls for no less than the reconstruction
> and the demilitarization of the whole civilized world—a world organically unified
> in all the essential aspects of its life, its political machinery, its spiritual aspiration,
> its trade and finance, its script and language, and yet infinite in the diversity
> of the national characteristics of its federated units.
> 
> (Shoghi Effendi, from a letter dated 28 November 1931, in
> The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh
> , pp. 42–43)
> 
> [38]
> 
> Their Faith they conceive to be essentially non-political, supra-national in character,
> rigidly non-partisan, and entirely dissociated from nationalistic ambitions, pursuits,
> and purposes. Such a Faith knows no division of class or of party. It subordinates,
> without hesitation or equivocation, every particularistic interest, be it personal,
> regional, or national, to the paramount interests of humanity, firmly convinced that
> in a world of inter-dependent peoples and nations the advantage of the part is best
> to be reached by the advantage of the whole, and that no abiding benefit can be conferred
> upon the component parts if the general interests of the entity itself are ignored
> or neglected.
> 
> (Shoghi Effendi, from a letter dated 11 March 1936, in
> The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh
> , p. 198)
> 
> [39]
> 
> Unification of the whole of mankind is the hall-mark of the stage which human society
> is now approaching. Unity of family, of tribe, of city-state, and nation have been
> successively attempted and fully established. World unity is the goal towards which
> a harassed humanity is striving. Nation-building has come to an end. The anarchy inherent
> in state sovereignty is moving towards a climax. A world, growing to maturity, must
> abandon this fetish, recognize the oneness and wholeness of human relationships, and
> establish once for all the machinery that can best incarnate this fundamental principle
> of its life.
> 
> (Shoghi Effendi, from a letter dated 11 March 1936, in
> The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh
> , p. 202)
> 
> [40]
> 
> Unbridled nationalism, as distinguished from a sane and legitimate patriotism, must
> give way to a wider loyalty, to the love of humanity as a whole. Bahá’u’lláh’s statement
> is:  “The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.”  The concept of world
> citizenship is a direct result of the contraction of the world into a single neighbourhood
> through scientific advances and of the indisputable interdependence of nations. Love
> of all the world’s peoples does not exclude love of one’s country. The advantage of
> the part in a world society is best served by promoting the advantage of the whole.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated October 1985 to the Peoples
> of the World)
> 
> [41]
> 
> … 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.
> 
> (From a letter dated 27 November 2001 written on behalf of the Universal House of
> Justice to an individual believer)
> 
> [42]
> 
> Penetrating, indeed, is Shoghi Effendi’s depiction of the process of disintegration
> accelerating in the world. Equally striking is the accuracy with which he analysed
> the forces associated with the process of integration. He spoke of a “gradual diffusion
> of the spirit of world solidarity which is spontaneously arising out of the welter
> of a disorganized society” as an indirect manifestation of Bahá’u’lláh’s conception
> of the principle of the oneness of humankind. This spirit of solidarity has continued
> to spread over the decades, and today its effect is apparent in a range of developments,
> from the rejection of deeply ingrained racial prejudices to the dawning consciousness
> of world citizenship, from heightened environmental awareness to collaborative efforts
> in the promotion of public health, from the concern for human rights to the systematic
> pursuit of universal education, from the establishment of interfaith activities to
> the efflorescence of hundreds of thousands of local, national and international organizations
> engaged in some form of social action.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, Riḍván 2006 message to the Bahá’ís of the World)
> 
> [43]
> 
> The organized endeavors of the Bahá’í community in these areas are reinforced by the
> diverse initiatives of individual believers working in various fields—as volunteers,
> professionals, and experts—to contribute to social change. The distinctive nature
> of their approach is to avoid conflict and the contest for power while striving to
> unite people in the search for underlying moral and spiritual principles and for practical
> measures that can lead to the just resolution of the problems afflicting society.
> Bahá’ís perceive humanity as a single body. All are inseparably bound to one another.
> A social order structured to meet the needs of one group at the expense of another
> results in injustice and oppression. Instead, the best interest of each component
> part is achieved by considering its needs in the context of the well-being of the
> whole.
> 
> (From a letter dated 23 December 2008 written on behalf of the Universal House of
> Justice to an individual believer)
> 
> [44]
> 
> As you know from your study of the Bahá’í writings, the principle that is to infuse
> all facets of organized life on the planet is the oneness of humankind, the hallmark
> of the age of maturity. That humanity constitutes a single people is a truth that,
> once viewed with scepticism, claims widespread acceptance today. The rejection of
> deeply ingrained prejudices and a growing sense of world citizenship are among the
> signs of this heightened awareness. Yet, however promising the rise in collective
> consciousness may be, it should be seen as only the first step of a process that will
> take decades—nay, centuries—to unfold. For the principle of the oneness of humankind,
> as proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh, asks not merely for cooperation among people and nations.
> It calls for a complete reconceptualization of the relationships that sustain society.
> The deepening environmental crisis, driven by a system that condones the pillage of
> natural resources to satisfy an insatiable thirst for more, suggests how entirely
> inadequate is the present conception of humanity’s relationship with nature; the deterioration
> of the home environment, with the accompanying rise in the systematic exploitation
> of women and children worldwide, makes clear how pervasive are the misbegotten notions
> that define relations within the family unit; the persistence of despotism, on the
> one hand, and the increasing disregard for authority, on the other, reveal how unsatisfactory
> to a maturing humanity is the current relationship between the individual and the
> institutions of society; the concentration of material wealth in the hands of a minority
> of the world’s population gives an indication of how fundamentally ill-conceived are
> relationships among the many sectors of what is now an emerging global community.
> The principle of the oneness of humankind implies, then, an organic change in the
> very structure of society.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 2 March 2013 to the Bahá’ís
> of Iran)
> 
> [45]
> 
> … though world unity is possible—nay, inevitable—it ultimately cannot be achieved
> without unreserved acceptance of the oneness of humankind, described by the Guardian
> as “the pivot round which all the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh revolve”. With what insight
> and eloquence did he expound upon the far-reaching implications of this cardinal principle!
> Plainly he saw, amidst the turbulence of world affairs, how the reality that humanity
> is one people must be the starting point for a new order. The vast array of relations
> among nations—and within them—all need to be re-envisaged in this light.
> 
> The realization of such a vision will require, sooner or later, an historic feat of
> statesmanship from the leaders of the world. Alas, the will to attempt this feat is
> still wanting. Humanity is gripped by a crisis of identity, as various peoples and
> groups struggle to define themselves, their place in the world, and how they should
> act. Without a vision of shared identity and common purpose, they fall into competing
> ideologies and power struggles. Seemingly countless permutations of “us” and “them”
> define group identities ever more narrowly and in contrast to one another. Over time,
> this splintering into divergent interest groups has weakened the cohesion of society
> itself. Rival conceptions about the primacy of a particular people are peddled to
> the exclusion of the truth that humanity is on a common journey in which all are protagonists.
> Consider how radically different such a fragmented conception of human identity is
> from the one that follows from a recognition of the oneness of humanity. In this perspective,
> the diversity that characterizes the human family, far from contradicting its oneness,
> endows it with richness. Unity, in its Bahá’í expression, contains the essential concept
> of diversity, distinguishing it from uniformity. It is through love for all people,
> and by subordinating lesser loyalties to the best interests of humankind, that the
> unity of the world can be realized and the infinite expressions of human diversity
> find their highest fulfilment.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 18 January 2019 to the Bahá’ís
> of the World)
> 
> [46]
> 
> The Role of Knowledge
> 
> Knowledge is one of the wondrous gifts of God. It is incumbent upon everyone to acquire
> it. Such arts and material means as are now manifest have been achieved by virtue
> of His knowledge and wisdom which have been revealed in Epistles and Tablets through
> His Most Exalted Pen—a Pen out of whose treasury pearls of wisdom and utterance and
> the arts and crafts of the world are brought to light.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
> , p. 39)
> 
> [47]
> 
> Knowledge is as wings to man’s life, and a ladder for his ascent. Its acquisition
> is incumbent upon everyone. The knowledge of such sciences, however, should be acquired
> as can profit the peoples of the earth, and not those which begin with words and end
> with words…. In truth, knowledge is a veritable treasure for man, and a source of
> glory, of bounty, of joy, of exaltation, of cheer and gladness unto him.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
> , pp. 51–52)
> 
> [48]
> 
> The Great Being saith:  The learned of the day must direct the people to acquire those
> branches of knowledge which are of use, that both the learned themselves and the generality
> of mankind may derive benefits therefrom. Such academic pursuits as begin and end
> in words alone have never been and will never be of any worth.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
> , p. 169)
> 
> [49]
> 
> In this day the choicest fruit of the tree of knowledge is that which serveth the
> welfare of humanity and safeguardeth its interests.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> The Tabernacle of Unity
> , par. 1.16)
> 
> [50]
> 
> Strain every nerve to acquire both inner and outer perfections, for the fruit of the
> human tree hath ever been and will ever be perfections both within and without. It
> is not desirable that a man be left without knowledge or skills, for he is then but
> a barren tree. Then, so much as capacity and capability allow, ye needs must deck
> the tree of being with fruits such as knowledge, wisdom, spiritual perception and
> eloquent speech.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [51]
> 
> … every branch of learning, conjoined with the love of God, is approved and worthy
> of praise; but bereft of His love, learning is barren—indeed, it bringeth on madness.
> Every kind of knowledge, every science, is as a tree:  if the fruit of it be the love
> of God, then is it a blessed tree, but if not, that tree is but dried-up wood, and
> shall only feed the fire.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> , par. 154.3)
> 
> [52]
> 
> Make every effort to acquire the advanced knowledge of the day, and strain every nerve
> to carry forward the divine civilization.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [53]
> 
> Good behaviour and high moral character must come first, for unless the character
> be trained, acquiring knowledge will only prove injurious. Knowledge is praiseworthy
> when it is coupled with ethical conduct and virtuous character; otherwise it is a
> deadly poison, a frightful danger. A physician of evil character, and who betrayeth
> his trust, can bring on death, and become the source of numerous infirmities and diseases.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [54]
> 
> The harder they strive to widen the scope of their knowledge, the better and more
> gratifying will be the result. Let the loved ones of God, whether young or old, whether
> male or female, each according to his capabilities, bestir themselves and spare no
> efforts to acquire the various current branches of knowledge, both spiritual and secular,
> and of the arts. Whensoever they gather in their meetings let their conversation be
> confined to learned subjects and to information on the knowledge of the day.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Arabic)
> 
> [55]
> 
> It is clear that learning is the greatest bestowal of God; that knowledge and the
> acquirement thereof is a blessing from Heaven. Thus is it incumbent upon the friends
> of God to exert such an effort and strive with such eagerness to promote divine knowledge,
> culture and the sciences, that erelong those who are schoolchildren today will become
> the most erudite of all the fraternity of the wise. This is a service rendered unto
> God Himself, and it is one of His inescapable commandments.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [56]
> 
> … the religion of God is the promoter of truth, the establisher of science and learning,
> the supporter of knowledge, the civilizer of the human race, the discoverer of the
> secrets of existence, and the enlightener of the horizons of the world. How then could
> it oppose knowledge?  God forbid!  On the contrary, in the sight of God knowledge
> is the greatest human virtue and the noblest human perfection. To oppose knowledge
> is pure ignorance, and he who abhors knowledge and learning is not a human being but
> a mindless animal. For knowledge is light, life, felicity, perfection, and beauty,
> and causes the soul to draw nigh to the divine threshold. It is the honour and glory
> of the human realm and the greatest of God’s bounties. Knowledge is identical to guidance,
> and ignorance is the essence of error.
> 
> Happy are those who spend their days in the pursuit of knowledge, in the discovery
> of the secrets of the universe, and in the meticulous investigation of truth!
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> (Haifa:  Bahá’í World Centre, 2014), pp. 154–155)
> 
> [57]
> 
> All the sciences, branches of learning, arts, inventions, institutions, undertakings,
> and discoveries have resulted from the comprehension of the rational soul. These were
> once impenetrable secrets, hidden mysteries, and unknown realities, and the rational
> soul gradually discovered them and brought them out of the invisible plane into the
> realm of the visible. This is the greatest power of comprehension in the world of
> nature, and the uttermost limit of its flight is to comprehend the realities, signs,
> and properties of contingent things.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> Some Answered Questions
> , pp. 250–251)
> 
> [58]
> 
> Science is the first emanation from God toward man. All created beings embody the
> potentiality of material perfection, but the power of intellectual investigation and
> scientific acquisition is a higher virtue specialized to man alone. Other beings and
> organisms are deprived of this potentiality and attainment. God has created or deposited
> this love of reality in man. The development and progress of a nation is according
> to the measure and degree of that nation’s scientific attainments. Through this means
> its greatness is continually increased, and day by day the welfare and prosperity
> of its people are assured.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Promulgation of Universal Peace
> , p. 67)
> 
> [59]
> 
> All the heavenly Books, divine Prophets, sages and philosophers agree that warfare
> is destructive to human development, and peace constructive. They agree that war and
> strife strike at the foundations of humanity. Therefore, a power is needed to prevent
> war and to proclaim and establish the oneness of humanity.
> 
> But knowledge of the need of this power is not sufficient. Realizing that wealth is
> desirable is not becoming wealthy. The admission that scientific attainment is praiseworthy
> does not confer scientific knowledge. Acknowledgment of the excellence of honor does
> not make a man honorable. Knowledge of human conditions and the needed remedy for
> them is not the cause of their betterment. To admit that health is good does not constitute
> health. A skilled physician is needed to remedy existing human conditions. As a physician
> is required to have complete knowledge of pathology, diagnosis, therapeutics and treatment,
> so this World Physician must be wise, skillful and capable before health will result.
> His mere knowledge is not health; it must be applied and the remedy carried out.
> 
> The attainment of any object is conditioned upon knowledge, volition and action. Unless
> these three conditions are forthcoming, there is no execution or accomplishment.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Promulgation of Universal Peace
> , pp. 217–218)
> 
> [60]
> 
> Acceptance of the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh carries with it the commitment to strive
> for individual spiritual maturity and to participate in collective efforts to build
> a thriving society and contribute to the common weal. Science and religion are the
> two inseparable, reciprocal systems of knowledge impelling the advancement of civilization.
> In the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “The progress of the world of humanity dependeth upon
> knowledge, and its decline is due to ignorance. When the human race gaineth in knowledge
> it becometh heavenly, and when it acquireth learning it taketh on lordly attributes.”
> To seek to acquire knowledge and learning and to study useful sciences and crafts
> are among the fundamental beliefs of the followers of Bahá’u’lláh. Therefore, the
> long-term solution you have chosen as a means of counteracting the difficulties imposed
> upon you in the path of higher education is to engage in constructive collaboration
> with other proponents of peace and reconciliation to build a progressive and orderly
> society committed to the promotion of knowledge and social justice.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 17 June 2011 to the Believers
> in the Cradle of the Faith)
> 
> [61]
> 
> One of the critical aspects of a conceptual framework that will require careful attention
> in the years ahead is the generation and application of knowledge…. At the heart of
> most disciplines of human knowledge is a degree of consensus about methodology—an
> understanding of methods and how to use them appropriately to systematically investigate
> reality to achieve reliable results and sound conclusions. Bahá’ís who are involved
> in various disciplines—economics, education, history, social science, philosophy,
> and many others—are obviously conversant and fully engaged with the methods employed
> in their fields. It is they who have the responsibility to earnestly strive to reflect
> on the implications that the truths found in the Revelation may hold for their work.
> The principle of the harmony of science and religion, faithfully upheld, will ensure
> that religious belief does not succumb to superstition and that scientific findings
> are not appropriated by materialism.
> 
> (From a letter dated 24 July 2013 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to a National Spiritual Assembly)
> 
> [62]
> 
> Fundamentally, a great share of the Bahá’í community’s efforts has been directed at
> addressing the root cause of religious prejudice—ignorance. “The perpetuation of ignorance”,
> the House of Justice has stated, “is a most grievous form of oppression; it reinforces
> the many walls of prejudice that stand as barriers to the realization of the oneness
> of humankind…. Access to knowledge is the right of every human being, and participation
> in its generation, application and diffusion a responsibility that all must shoulder
> in the great enterprise of building a prosperous world civilization—each individual
> according to his or her talents and abilities.”  This orientation has particularly
> manifested itself in the Bahá’í community’s focus on education, which has been a central
> concern since the inception of the Faith; in its efforts to foster in individuals
> a growing consciousness and capacity to recognize prejudice and to counter it; in
> its practice of using consultative processes in all its affairs; and in its commitment
> to and upholding of the dual knowledge systems of science and religion as being necessary
> for the advancement of civilization. Moreover, the development of the life of the
> mind and independent investigation of reality, which are highly prized in the Bahá’í
> writings, serve to equip individuals to distinguish truth from falsehood, which is
> so essential if prejudices, superstitious beliefs, and outworn traditions that impede
> unity are to be eliminated. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá offers the assurance in this respect that
> “once every soul inquireth into truth, society will be freed from the darkness of
> continually repeating the past.”
> 
> (From a letter dated 27 December 2017 written on behalf of the Universal House of
> Justice to an individual believer)
> 
> [63]
> 
> The Nature of Bahá’í Social and Economic Development
> 
> Coherence between the Material and Spiritual Dimensions of Existence
> 
> … whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth is a direct evidence of
> the revelation within it of the attributes and names of God, inasmuch as within every
> atom are enshrined the signs that bear eloquent testimony to the revelation of that
> most great Light.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> The Kitáb-i-Íqán
> :  The Book of Certitude, p. 71)
> 
> [64]
> 
> Religion is verily the chief instrument for the establishment of order in the world
> and of tranquillity amongst its peoples…. The greater the decline of religion, the
> more grievous the waywardness of the ungodly. This cannot but lead in the end to chaos
> and confusion.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
> , pp. 63–64)
> 
> [65]
> 
> … religion must be in conformity with science and reason, so that it may influence
> the hearts of men. The foundation must be solid and must not consist of imitations.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, First Tablet to The Hague)
> 
> [66]
> 
> … although material civilization is one of the means for the progress of the world
> of mankind, yet until it becomes combined with Divine civilization, the desired result,
> which is the felicity of mankind, will not be attained…. Material civilization is
> like a lamp-glass. Divine civilization is the lamp itself and the glass without the
> light is dark. Material civilization is like the body. No matter how infinitely graceful,
> elegant and beautiful it may be, it is dead. Divine civilization is like the spirit,
> and the body gets its life from the spirit, otherwise it becomes a corpse. It has
> thus been made evident that the world of mankind is in need of the breaths of the
> Holy Spirit. Without the spirit the world of mankind is lifeless, and without this
> light the world of mankind is in utter darkness.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, First Tablet to The Hague)
> 
> [67]
> 
> … until material achievements, physical accomplishments and human virtues are reinforced
> by spiritual perfections, luminous qualities and characteristics of mercy, no fruit
> or result shall issue therefrom, nor will the happiness of the world of humanity,
> which is the ultimate aim, be attained. For although, on the one hand, material achievements
> and the development of the physical world produce prosperity, which exquisitely manifests
> its intended aims, on the other hand dangers, severe calamities and violent afflictions
> are imminent.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> , par. 225.5)
> 
> [68]
> 
> We hope that the beloved of God and the handmaids of the Merciful will, in accordance
> with the heavenly Teachings, serve the oneness of the world of humanity, regard religion
> as the basis of love and fellowship amongst the people, strive to harmonize religion
> and science, become a treasury of riches for the poor and a shelter and asylum for
> the fugitive, bring joy and radiance to the destitute, and aid the needy through the
> strengthening grace of the All-Merciful.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [69]
> 
> Material civilization is like unto the lamp, while spiritual civilization is the light
> in that lamp. If the material and spiritual civilization become united, then we will
> have the light and the lamp together, and the outcome will be perfect. For material
> civilization is like unto a beautiful body, and spiritual civilization is like unto
> the spirit of life. If that wondrous spirit of life enters this beautiful body, the
> body will become a channel for the distribution and development of the perfections
> of humanity.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> The Promulgation of Universal Peace
> , p. 15)
> 
> [70]
> 
> For man two wings are necessary. One wing is physical power and material civilization;
> the other is spiritual power and divine civilization. With one wing only, flight is
> impossible. Two wings are essential. Therefore, no matter how much material civilization
> advances, it cannot attain to perfection except through the uplift of spiritual civilization.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Promulgation of Universal Peace
> , p. 16)
> 
> [71]
> 
> No matter how far the material world advances, it cannot establish the happiness of
> mankind. Only when material and spiritual civilization are linked and coordinated
> will happiness be assured. Then material civilization will not contribute its energies
> to the forces of evil in destroying the oneness of humanity, for in material civilization
> good and evil advance together and maintain the same pace. For example, consider the
> material progress of man in the last decade. Schools and colleges, hospitals, philanthropic
> institutions, scientific academies and temples of philosophy have been founded, but
> hand in hand with these evidences of development, the invention and production of
> means and weapons for human destruction have correspondingly increased….
> 
> All this is the outcome of material civilization; therefore, although material advancement
> furthers good purposes in life, at the same time it serves evil ends…. If the moral
> precepts and foundations of divine civilization become united with the material advancement
> of man, there is no doubt that the happiness of the human world will be attained and
> that from every direction the glad tidings of peace upon earth will be announced.
> Then humankind will achieve extraordinary progress, the sphere of human intelligence
> will be immeasurably enlarged, wonderful inventions will appear, and the spirit of
> God will reveal itself; all men will consort in joy and fragrance, and eternal life
> will be conferred upon the children of the Kingdom…. Therefore, the material and the
> divine, or merciful, civilizations must progress together until the highest aspirations
> and desires of humanity shall become realized.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Promulgation of Universal Peace
> , pp. 151–152)
> 
> [72]
> 
> Scientific knowledge is the highest attainment upon the human plane, for science is
> the discoverer of realities. It is of two kinds:  material and spiritual. Material
> science is the investigation of natural phenomena; divine science is the discovery
> and realization of spiritual verities. The world of humanity must acquire both. A
> bird has two wings; it cannot fly with one. Material and spiritual science are the
> two wings of human uplift and attainment. Both are necessary—one the natural, the
> other supernatural; one material, the other divine.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Promulgation of Universal Peace
> , pp. 195–196)
> 
> [73]
> 
> God has endowed man with intelligence and reason whereby he is required to determine
> the verity of questions and propositions. If religious beliefs and opinions are found
> contrary to the standards of science, they are mere superstitions and imaginations;
> for the antithesis of knowledge is ignorance, and the child of ignorance is superstition.
> Unquestionably there must be agreement between true religion and science. If a question
> be found contrary to reason, faith and belief in it are impossible, and there is no
> outcome but wavering and vacillation.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Promulgation of Universal Peace
> , pp. 251–252)
> 
> [74]
> 
> No matter how much the world of humanity advances in material civilization, it is
> nevertheless in need of the spiritual development mentioned in the Gospel. The virtues
> of the material world are limited, whereas divine virtues are unlimited. Inasmuch
> as material virtues are limited, man’s need of the perfections of the divine world
> is unlimited.
> 
> Throughout human history we find that although the very apex of human virtues has
> been reached at various times, yet they were limited, whereas divine attainments have
> ever been unbounded and infinite. The limited is ever in need of the unlimited. The
> material must be correlated with the spiritual. The material may be likened to the
> body, but divine virtues are the breathings of the Holy Spirit itself. The body without
> spirit is not capable of real accomplishment. Although it may be in the utmost condition
> of beauty and excellence, it is, nevertheless, in need of the spirit. The chimney
> of the lamp, no matter how polished and perfect it be, is in need of the light. Without
> the light, the lamp or candle is not illuminating. Without the spirit, the body is
> not productive.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Promulgation of Universal Peace
> , p. 287)
> 
> [75]
> 
> This last world war together with the treaty of peace and its consequences have taught
> humanity that unless national, religious and political prejudices be abolished, unless
> universal brotherhood be established, unless spiritual civilization be given an equal
> footing with material civilization and thereby change the standard of individual,
> national and international morality, the world is doomed to failure and society to
> utter destruction.
> 
> (From a letter written circa 1924 on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer)
> 
> [76]
> 
> The present social and economic problems that are facing the British people are surely
> occupying their whole attention, but they should also operate as a reminder and draw
> them closer to spiritual matters. The people have to be made conscious of the fact
> that without a complete change in our outlook and a total reform of the guiding principles
> of our life, such as the Cause advocates, our social and economic problems cannot
> be solved nor our conditions ameliorated.
> 
> (From a letter dated 7 November 1931 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> [77]
> 
> It is not merely material well-being that people need. What they desperately need
> is to know how to live their lives—they need to know who they are, to what purpose
> they exist, and how they should act towards one another; and, once they know the answers
> to these questions they need to be helped to gradually apply these answers to everyday
> behaviour. It is to the solution of this basic problem of mankind that the greater
> part of all our energy and resources should be directed….
> 
> … we know that the working of the material world is merely a reflection of spiritual
> conditions and until the spiritual conditions can be changed there can be no lasting
> change for the better in material affairs.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 19 November 1974 to a National
> Spiritual Assembly)
> 
> [78]
> 
> With regard to the harmony of science and religion, the Writings of the Central Figures
> and the commentaries of the Guardian make abundantly clear that the task of humanity,
> including the Bahá’í community that serves as the “leaven” within it, is to create
> a global civilization which embodies both the spiritual and material dimensions of
> existence. The nature and scope of such a civilization are still beyond anything the
> present generation can conceive. The prosecution of this vast enterprise will depend
> on a progressive interaction between the truths and principles of religion and the
> discoveries and insights of scientific inquiry. This entails living with ambiguities
> as a natural and inescapable feature of the process of exploring reality. It also
> requires us not to limit science to any particular school of thought or methodological
> approach postulated in the course of its development. The challenge facing Bahá’í
> thinkers is to provide responsible leadership in this endeavour, since it is they
> who have both the priceless insights of the Revelation and the advantages conferred
> by scientific investigation.
> 
> (From a letter dated 19 May 1995 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to an individual believer)
> 
> [79]
> 
> … religion and science are the two indispensable knowledge systems through which the
> potentialities of consciousness develop. Far from being in conflict with one another,
> these fundamental modes of the mind’s exploration of reality are mutually dependent
> and have been most productive in those rare but happy periods of history when their
> complementary nature has been recognized and they have been able to work together.
> The insights and skills generated by scientific advance will have always to look to
> the guidance of spiritual and moral commitment to ensure their appropriate application;
> religious convictions, no matter how cherished they may be, must submit, willingly
> and gratefully, to impartial testing by scientific methods.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated April 2002 to the World’s Religious
> Leaders)
> 
> [80]
> 
> … science and religion are two complementary systems of knowledge and practice by
> which human beings come to understand the world around them and through which civilization
> advances; … religion without science soon degenerates into superstition and fanaticism,
> while science without religion becomes the tool of crude materialism; … true prosperity,
> the fruit of a dynamic coherence between the material and spiritual requirements of
> life, will recede further and further out of reach as long as consumerism continues
> to act as opium to the human soul….
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 2 March 2013 to the Bahá’ís
> of Iran)
> 
> [81]
> 
> As the place from which spiritual forces are to radiate, the Ma
> sh
> riqu’l-A
> dh
> kár is the focal point for dependencies to be raised up for the well-being of humanity
> and is the expression of a common will and eagerness to serve. These dependencies—centres
> of education and scientific learning as well as cultural and humanitarian endeavour—embody
> the ideals of social and spiritual progress to be achieved through the application
> of knowledge, and demonstrate how, when religion and science are in harmony, they
> elevate the station of the human being and lead to the flourishing of civilization.
> As your lives amply demonstrate, worship, though essential to the inner life of the
> human being and vital to spiritual development, must also lead to deeds that give
> outward expression to that inner transformation. This concept of worship—inseparable
> from service—is promulgated by the Ma
> sh
> riqu’l-A
> dh
> kár.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 18 December 2014 to the Bahá’ís
> in Iran)
> 
> [82]
> 
> Capacity Building, Participation, and Organic Growth
> 
> We must now highly resolve to arise and lay hold of all those instrumentalities that
> promote the peace and well-being and happiness, the knowledge, culture and industry,
> the dignity, value and station, of the entire human race. Thus, through the restoring
> waters of pure intention and unselfish effort, the earth of human potentialities will
> blossom with its own latent excellence and flower into praiseworthy qualities, and
> bear and flourish until it comes to rival that rosegarden of knowledge which belonged
> to our forefathers.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Secret of Divine Civilization
> , p. 5)
> 
> [83]
> 
> The world of politics is like the world of man; he is seed at first, and then passes
> by degrees to the condition of embryo and foetus, acquiring a bone structure, being
> clothed with flesh, taking on his own special form, until at last he reaches the plane
> where he can befittingly fulfill the words:  “the most excellent of Makers.”  Just
> as this is a requirement of creation and is based on the universal Wisdom, the political
> world in the same way cannot instantaneously evolve from the nadir of defectiveness
> to the zenith of rightness and perfection. Rather, qualified individuals must strive
> by day and by night, using all those means which will conduce to progress, until the
> government and the people develop along every line from day to day and even from moment
> to moment.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Secret of Divine Civilization
> , pp. 124–125)
> 
> [84]
> 
> In all the prophetic Dispensations, philanthropic affairs were confined to their respective
> peoples only—with the exception of small matters, such as charity, which it was permissible
> to extend to others. But in this wonderful Dispensation, philanthropic undertakings
> are for all humanity, without any exception, because this is the manifestation of
> the mercifulness of God.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a talk—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [85]
> 
> It is even as the seed:  The tree exists within it but is hidden and concealed; when
> the seed grows and develops, the tree appears in its fullness. In like manner, the
> growth and development of all beings proceeds by gradual degrees. This is the universal
> and divinely ordained law and the natural order. The seed does not suddenly become
> the tree; the embryo does not at once become the man; the mineral substance does not
> in a moment become the stone:  No, all these grow and develop gradually until they
> attain the limit of perfection.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> Some Answered Questions
> , p. 229)
> 
> [86]
> 
> In a living organism the full measure of its development is not known or realized
> at the time of its inception or birth. Development and progression imply gradual stages
> or degrees. For example, spiritual advancement may be likened to the light of the
> early dawn. Although this dawn light is dim and pale, a wise man who views the march
> of the sunrise at its very beginning can foretell the ascendancy of the sun in its
> full glory and effulgence. He knows for a certainty that it is the beginning of its
> manifestation and that later it will assume great power and potency. Again, for example,
> if he takes a seed and observes that it is sprouting, he will know assuredly that
> it will ultimately become a tree.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Promulgation of Universal Peace
> , pp. 181–182)
> 
> [87]
> 
> The realities of things have been revealed in this radiant century, and that which
> is true must come to the surface. Among these realities is the principle of the equality
> of man and woman—equal rights and prerogatives in all things appertaining to humanity….
> Woman must especially devote her energies and abilities toward the industrial and
> agricultural sciences, seeking to assist mankind in that which is most needful. By
> this means she will demonstrate capability and ensure recognition of equality in the
> social and economic equation.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Promulgation of Universal Peace
> , p. 395)
> 
> [88]
> 
> Another essential requirement is the expediting of the tasks of transcribing, collecting
> and despatching the Sacred Writings to the Holy Land, and recording the general history
> of the Cause of God. The Western believers in the far-flung reaches of the free world,
> who have set about prosecuting important plans, are anxious and expectant that these
> two tasks be speedily completed and the necessary preparations for their forthcoming
> projects be made without delay, thus enabling them to give concrete expression to
> their hopes and plans for the future, and to impart a great momentum to the spread
> of the Holy Cause.
> 
> The same applies to the participation of the friends in charitable, scientific, and
> literary associations. The friends must, with wisdom and moderation, after careful
> consultation, and according to their capacity and means, assist any association that
> sincerely aims to contribute to the common weal and to the best interests of the world
> of humanity. They should participate to the extent possible, but must refrain from
> the least involvement in politics, whether in their deeds, hearts, or words, and must
> shun and avoid any association with malevolent and contending parties.
> 
> (Shoghi Effendi, from a letter dated September 1926 written to the Bahá’ís of the
> East—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [89]
> 
> We cannot segregate the human heart from the environment outside us and say that once
> one of these is reformed everything will be improved. Man is organic with the world.
> His inner life moulds the environment and is itself also deeply affected by it. The
> one acts upon the other and every abiding change in the life of man is the result
> of these mutual reactions.
> 
> (From a letter dated 17 February 1933 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> [90]
> 
> “Regard the world as the human body,” wrote Bahá’u’lláh to Queen Victoria…. In the
> human body, every cell, every organ, every nerve has its part to play. When all do
> so the body is healthy, vigorous, radiant, ready for every call made upon it. No cell,
> however humble, lives apart from the body, whether in serving it or receiving from
> it. This is true of the body of mankind in which God has “endowed each and all with
> talents and faculties”, and is supremely true of the body of the Bahá’í world community,
> for this body is already an organism, united in its aspirations, unified in its methods,
> seeking assistance and confirmation from the same Source, and illumined with the conscious
> knowledge of its unity. Therefore, in this organic, divinely guided, blessed, and
> illumined body the participation of every believer is of the utmost importance, and
> is a source of power and vitality as yet unknown to us….
> 
> The real secret of universal participation lies in the Master’s oft expressed wish
> that the friends should love each other, constantly encourage each other, work together,
> be as one soul in one body, and in so doing become a true, organic, healthy body animated
> and illumined by the spirit. In such a body all will receive spiritual health and
> vitality from the organism itself, and the most perfect flowers and fruits will be
> brought forth.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated September 1964 to the Bahá’ís
> of the World)
> 
> [91]
> 
> As you can see, all these developments relate directly to the teaching work inasmuch
> as the Bahá’í communities must reach a certain size before they can begin to implement
> many of them. How, for example, can a Bahá’í community demonstrate effectively the
> abolition of prejudices which divide the inhabitants of a country until it has a cross-section
> of those inhabitants within its ranks?  A seed is the vital origin of a tree and of
> a tremendous importance for that reason, but it cannot produce fruit until it has
> grown into a tree and flowered and fruited. So a Bahá’í community of nine believers
> is a vital step, since it can bring into being for that locality the divine institution
> of the Local Spiritual Assembly, but it is still only a seed, and needs to grow in
> size and in the diversity of its members before it can produce really convincing fruit
> for its fellow-citizens.
> 
> (From a letter dated 3 January 1982 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to an individual believer)
> 
> [92]
> 
> There are two principles which the House of Justice feels are fundamental to the generality
> of such projects of social and economic development, although, of course, there will
> be exceptions. The first is that they should be built on a substructure of existing,
> sufficiently strong local Bahá’í communities. The second is that the long-term conduct
> of the project should aim at self-sufficiency and not be dependent upon continuing
> financial support from outside.
> 
> The first principle implies that the projects of social and economic development now
> to be undertaken are a natural stage of the growth of the Bahá’í community and are
> needed by the community itself, although they will, of course, benefit a much wider
> segment of society….
> 
> The second principle must take into account that any project started by the Cause
> should be designed to grow soundly and steadily, and not to collapse from attrition.
> In other words, external assistance and funds, Bahá’í and non-Bahá’í, may be used
> for capital acquisitions, to make surveys, to initiate activities, to bring in expertise,
> but the aim should be for each project to be able to continue and to develop on the
> strength of local Bahá’í labour, funds and enthusiasm even if all external aid should
> be cut off.
> 
> (From a letter dated 8 May 1984 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to a National Spiritual Assembly)
> 
> [93]
> 
> The second fundamental principle
> 
> 2
> 
> which enables us to understand the pattern towards which Bahá’u’lláh wishes human
> society to evolve is the principle of organic growth which requires that detailed
> developments, and the understanding of detailed developments, become available only
> with the passage of time and with the help of the guidance given by that Central Authority
> in the Cause to whom all must turn. In this regard one can use the simile of a tree.
> If a farmer plants a tree, he cannot state at that moment what its exact height will
> be, the number of its branches or the exact time of its blossoming. He can, however,
> give a general impression of its size and pattern of growth and can state with confidence
> which fruit it will bear. The same is true of the evolution of the World Order of
> Bahá’u’lláh.
> 
> (From a letter dated 27 April 1995 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to an individual believer)
> 
> [94]
> 
> These projects include schools, literacy programmes, moral education classes, academic
> training, health plans, special programmes for the advancement of women and minority
> groups, agricultural programmes, and special programmes for the conservation of the
> environment, etc. Experience has shown that if help is provided from abroad without
> the cooperation and involvement of the local inhabitants, the locals do not consider
> the project as something that belongs to them and feel no responsibility toward it,
> but if they initiate the process of identifying their needs and take part in the decision-making
> and execution processes they will feel responsible for the preservation and continued
> operation of the project.
> 
> (From a letter dated 30 July 1996 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to an individual believer)
> 
> [95]
> 
> The worldwide Bahá’í community, as an organic whole, transcends divisions prevalent
> in society today, such as “North” and “South”, “developed” and “underdeveloped”. Social
> and economic development efforts are undertaken by Bahá’ís, irrespective of the degree
> of material prosperity achieved by their nations, as they strive to apply the teachings
> of Bahá’u’lláh to the gradual process of building a new civilization. Every follower
> of Bahá’u’lláh is a member of this worldwide community and can rightfully offer to
> contribute to a specific endeavor in any country. As the friends gain experience in
> social and economic development, and as they advance in their studies of various branches
> of learning or in their professional fields, individuals arise in every continent
> who have expertise in some aspect of development work and who wish to offer their
> services to projects at home or abroad. If their energies are not channelled effectively,
> and they are not given a realistic picture of Bahá’í development efforts, these friends
> will later become frustrated when they realize that the capacity of Bahá’í projects
> overseas to utilize their talents and services is limited.
> 
> For this reason, it is important that conferences, seminars and promotional materials
> not reinforce an image of “development projects” as understood by society at large.
> Bahá’í efforts in this field generally take the form of grassroots initiatives carried
> out by small groups of believers in the towns and villages where they reside. As these
> initiatives are nurtured, some grow into more substantial programs with permanent
> administrative structures. Yet very few can be compared with the kind of complex projects
> promoted and funded by government agencies and large nongovernmental organizations.
> 
> The effective use of the talents of individuals with particular expertise also demands
> vigilance in ensuring that the initiative of some, usually those with access to more
> resources, does not end up suffocating the initiatives of others. The Administrative
> Order is structured in a way that fosters initiative and safeguards the right of people
> to be meaningfully involved in the development of their own communities. Accordingly
> the activities of the friends in each country fall under the guidance of the institutions
> of the Faith in that country….
> 
> In general, the determining factor in matching offers of service and assistance to
> projects should be the capacity of the projects to receive help and not the amount
> of resources available. It is quite possible that the talents of the friends, especially
> those in … exceed the capacity of the development projects elsewhere to receive assistance
> at this stage in the growth of the Faith. In this connection, the two-pronged approach
> you are pursuing seems most appropriate. While striving to help increase the capacity
> of projects worldwide, you are at the same time encouraging individual believers from
> more materially prosperous countries to become involved in Bahá’í projects at home.
> You should also continue encouraging them to participate in worthy endeavors outside
> the Faith in order to influence their professional fields and infuse them with the
> teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. They should be assured that this is, in and of itself, a
> tremendous service to the Cause and not feel that they are serving the Faith only
> if they dedicate themselves directly to Bahá’í projects.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a memorandum dated 11 March 1997 to the Office
> of Social and Economic Development)
> 
> [96]
> 
> Humanity’s crying need will not be met by a struggle among competing ambitions or
> by protest against one or another of the countless wrongs afflicting a desperate age.
> It calls, rather, for a fundamental change of consciousness, for a wholehearted embrace
> of Bahá’u’lláh’s teaching that the time has come when each human being on earth must
> learn to accept responsibility for the welfare of the entire human family.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 24 May 2001 to the Believers
> Gathered for the Events Marking the Completion of the Projects on Mount Carmel)
> 
> [97]
> 
> As you know, the attention of the Bahá’í world has been, and will continue to be for
> at least the next fifteen years, focused on advancing the process of entry by troops.
> It is expected that, as this process gathers momentum at the local level, one of the
> natural consequences will be the emergence of a vibrant Bahá’í community life characterized
> by a desire to apply the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh to the needs of society. Effective
> social action will result, then, as capacity at the grassroots of the community increases
> and collective consciousness is raised.
> 
> (From a letter dated 6 September 2006 written on behalf of the Universal House of
> Justice to an individual believer)
> 
> [98]
> 
> A greater involvement in the life of society, individually and collectively, will
> be an inevitable outcome as the process of growth gathers momentum in advanced clusters.
> In Bahá’í communities with limited resources too much involvement in such efforts
> at an early stage may dissipate their energies and detract from the coherence of activities
> necessary for growth. Yet, in areas where the Faith has sufficiently consolidated
> itself, it is natural to expect that Bahá’ís would engage in social action, initially
> by finding ways to apply the Teachings to the problems afflicting their families,
> neighbors and the communities in which they live.
> 
> (From a letter dated 11 September 2008 written on behalf of the Universal House of
> Justice to an individual believer)
> 
> [99]
> 
> In its Riḍván 2008 message, the House of Justice observed that, as the work of expansion
> and consolidation progresses, Bahá’ís will be drawn further and further into the life
> of the society around them. The nature of this encounter will necessarily be organic,
> gradual, and guided by the learning process in which the believers everywhere are
> already engaged. Moreover, it is hoped that the Bahá’í community’s increasing involvement
> with society will occur naturally in every cluster around the world.
> 
> (From a letter dated 16 June 2009 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to an individual believer)
> 
> [100]
> 
> … every human being and every group of individuals, irrespective of whether they are
> counted among His followers, can take inspiration from His teachings, benefiting from
> whatever gems of wisdom and knowledge will aid them in addressing the challenges they
> face. Indeed, the civilization that beckons humanity will not be attained through
> the efforts of the Bahá’í community alone. Numerous groups and organizations, animated
> by the spirit of world solidarity that is an indirect manifestation of Bahá’u’lláh’s
> conception of the principle of the oneness of humankind, will contribute to the civilization
> destined to emerge out of the welter and chaos of present-day society.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, Riḍván 2010 message to the Bahá’ís of the World)
> 
> [101]
> 
> As noted in the Riḍván message, social change is not a project that one group of people
> carries out for the benefit of another. The scope and complexity of social action,
> the message explains, must be commensurate with the human resources available in a
> village or neighbourhood to carry it forward. This implies that efforts best begin
> on a modest scale and grow organically as capacity within the population develops—essentially
> capacity to apply with increasing effectiveness elements of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation,
> together with the contents and methods of science, to social reality. In this light,
> the House of Justice has made clear in many of its recent messages that, at the present
> stage in the development of the Faith, building capacity to address the material needs
> of a local community should not be considered in isolation from a process already
> set in motion to address its spiritual needs. This process, of course, gathers momentum
> as devotional meetings, children’s classes, junior youth groups and study circles
> are established in a region. It is directed by the institutions and agencies of the
> Faith and depends heavily on the exercise of initiative by a growing number of individuals
> in the region concerned for the well-being of their communities. It is such individuals—men
> and women, young and old—who, thus empowered, begin to make and implement decisions
> about their spiritual and material progress, increasing still further their collective
> capacity as they do so. Depending on the circumstances in the region, the endeavours
> of a non-profit development organization, operating in keeping with the principles
> of the Faith, may well help to facilitate this now more complex process of empowerment
> unfolding in the region. Such an organization, which itself emerges organically and
> grows in strength over time, functions under the moral guidance of the institutions
> in the country. Those most intimately involved with the organization by necessity
> submit themselves to the discipline needed to ensure that their efforts constantly
> serve to contribute to the empowerment of a population, requiring them to work close
> to the grassroots, alongside the people themselves; to share in their struggles; and
> to recognize that economic benefits will be few.
> 
> (From a letter dated 18 July 2010 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to an individual believer)
> 
> [102]
> 
> A small community, whose members are united by their shared beliefs, characterized
> by their high ideals, proficient in managing their affairs and tending to their needs,
> and perhaps engaged in several humanitarian projects—a community such as this, prospering
> but at a comfortable distance from the reality experienced by the masses of humanity,
> can never hope to serve as a pattern for restructuring the whole of society. That
> the worldwide Bahá’í community has managed to avert the dangers of complacency is
> a source of abiding joy to us. Indeed, the community has well in hand its expansion
> and consolidation. Yet, to administer the affairs of teeming numbers in villages and
> cities around the globe—to raise aloft the standard of Bahá’u’lláh’s World Order for
> all to see—is still a distant goal.
> 
> Therein, then, lies the challenge that must be faced by those in the forefront of
> the learning process which will continue to advance over the course of the next Plan.
> Wherever an intensive programme of growth is established, let the friends spare no
> effort to increase the level of participation. Let them strain every nerve to ensure
> that the system which they have so laboriously erected does not close in on itself
> but progressively expands to embrace more and more people…. And let them not forget
> the lessons of the past which left no doubt that a relatively small band of active
> supporters of the Cause, no matter how resourceful, no matter how consecrated, cannot
> attend to the needs of communities comprising hundreds, much less thousands, of men,
> women and children.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 28 December 2010 to the Conference
> of the Continental Boards of Counsellors)
> 
> [103]
> 
> The pattern of spiritual and social life taking shape in clusters that involves study
> circles, children’s classes, junior youth groups, devotional meetings, home visits,
> teaching efforts, and reflection meetings, as well as Holy Day observances, Nineteen
> Day Feasts, and other gatherings, provides abundant opportunities for engagement,
> experience, consultation, and learning that will lead to change in personal and collective
> understanding and action. Issues of prejudice of race, class, and color will inevitably
> arise as the friends reach out to diverse populations, especially in the closely knit
> context of neighborhoods. There, every activity can take a form most suited to the
> culture and interests of the population, so that new believers can be quickened and
> confirmed in a nurturing and familiar environment, until they are able to offer their
> share to the resolution of the challenges faced by a growing Bahá’í community. For
> this is not a process that some carry out on behalf of others who are passive recipients—the
> mere extension of a congregation and invitation to paternalism—but one in which an
> ever-increasing number of souls recognize and take responsibility for the transformation
> of humanity set in motion by Bahá’u’lláh. In an environment of love and trust born
> of common belief, practice, and mission, individuals of different races will have
> the intimate connection of heart and mind upon which mutual understanding and change
> depend. As a result of their training and deepening, a growing number of believers
> will draw insights from the Writings to sensitively and effectively address issues
> of racial prejudice that arise within their personal lives and families, among community
> members, and in social settings and the workplace. As programs of growth advance and
> the scope and intensity of activities grow, the friends will be drawn into participation
> in conversations and, in time, initiatives for social action at the grassroots where
> issues pertaining to freedom from prejudice naturally emerge, whether directly or
> indirectly.
> 
> (From a letter dated 10 April 2011 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to an individual believer)
> 
> [104]
> 
> You will no doubt be familiar with the guidance provided by the Universal House of
> Justice in its Riḍván 2010 message concerning “certain fundamental concepts” that
> pertain to instances of social action pursued by Bahá’ís, which would include social
> and economic development projects. Among these are the principles that “while social
> action may involve the provision of goods and services in some form, its primary concern
> must be to build capacity within a given population to participate in creating a better
> world” and that “social change is not a project that one group of people carries out
> for the benefit of another.”  Indeed, such endeavours are best initiated from within
> the communities they are intended to benefit, and great care must be exercised so
> as to ensure that the resources available from outside the community do not define
> the nature of the projects undertaken. In places around the world where the process
> of growth is advancing well, the enhanced capabilities fostered within individuals
> by the training institute process are naturally giving rise to sustainable programmes
> of social action at the grassroots, as it is the members of a given community who
> are in the best position to understand their social reality, assess their needs, and
> trace their own path of progress. For this reason, Bahá’ís are discouraged from designing
> and implementing development projects in countries other than their own.
> 
> (From a letter dated 22 October 2012 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to an individual believer)
> 
> [105]
> 
> What should be stated plainly here is that Bahá’ís do not believe the transformation
> thus envisioned will come about exclusively through their own efforts. Nor are they
> trying to create a movement that would seek to impose on society their vision of the
> future. Every nation and every group—indeed, every individual—will, to a greater or
> lesser degree, contribute to the emergence of the world civilization towards which
> humanity is irresistibly moving.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 2 March 2013 to the Bahá’ís
> of Iran)
> 
> [106]
> 
> At the heart of such an approach lies the question of capacity building. It has been
> observed in cluster after cluster that the capacity to carry out efforts in the area
> of social action is gradually raised as growing numbers of individuals are involved
> in the institute process and are assisted to dedicate their energies to the spiritual
> and material transformation of the regions in which they live. Generally speaking,
> Bahá’í social and economic development efforts begin at the grassroots, start small,
> and grow organically, commensurate with the local human and financial resources available
> to them. In this connection, as noted in the Riḍván message of 2010, social change
> should not be conceived of as a project that one group of people carries out for the
> benefit of another, nor should it be reduced to the mere delivery of goods or services.
> In light of these considerations, Bahá’ís are discouraged from implementing projects
> in countries where they do not reside. Further, for a number of reasons, considerable
> caution needs to be exercised in cases where external funds are made available to
> a particular endeavor. Experience has shown, for example, that the right of the local
> community to trace its own path of progress can be compromised when those providing
> resources from outside of the community assume responsibility for the management and
> direction of an initiative or exert undue influence on the nature of projects undertaken.
> Moreover, organizations which are solely reliant on external support often struggle
> to sustain their activities in the event that outside sources of funding are withdrawn.
> In order to avoid such challenges, the Office of Social and Economic Development at
> the Bahá’í World Centre helps to coordinate the flow of resources to Bahá’í-inspired
> development projects, taking into account both the conditions in the region and the
> maturity of particular initiatives.
> 
> (From a letter dated 19 April 2013 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to an individual believer)
> 
> [107]
> 
> … development, from a Bahá’í perspective, is viewed as a process, the main protagonists
> of which are the people themselves. Emphasis is placed on building the capacity of
> communities to make and implement decisions about their spiritual and material progress.
> This necessitates a process whereby small-scale endeavors emerge organically from
> a pattern of community life which is created as the friends in a given cluster gain
> experience in applying the framework for action associated with the Five Year Plan.
> As the believers engage in the processes of expansion and consolidation, they acquire
> through their efforts a sharper understanding of the challenges faced by the populations
> they serve and gradually learn to apply the Teachings of the Faith to the pressing
> needs of their communities. Experience throughout the Bahá’í world has demonstrated
> that it is generally unproductive to introduce external agencies, technologies, or
> funding sources at an early stage—that is, before capacity to initiate and sustain
> projects is built at the grassroots.
> 
> (From a letter dated 30 December 2014 written on behalf of the Universal House of
> Justice to an individual believer)
> 
> [108]
> 
> In its early stages, the systematic effort to reach out to a population and foster
> its participation in the process of capacity building accelerates markedly when members
> of that population are themselves in the vanguard of such an effort. These individuals
> will have special insight into those forces and structures in their societies that
> can, in various ways, reinforce the endeavours under way.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 29 December 2015 to the Conference
> of the Continental Boards of Counsellors)
> 
> [109]
> 
> … Bahá’ís are engaged in cities and villages across the globe in establishing a pattern
> of life in which increasing numbers, irrespective of background, are invited to take
> part. This pattern, expressive of the dynamic coherence between the material and spiritual
> dimensions of life, includes classes for the spiritual education of children in which
> they also develop a deep appreciation for the fundamental unity of the various world
> religions; groups that assist young people to navigate a crucial stage of their lives
> and to withstand the corrosive forces that especially target them; circles of study
> wherein participants reflect on the spiritual nature of existence and build capacity
> for service to the community and society; gatherings for collective worship that strengthen
> the devotional character of the community; and, in time, a growing range of endeavours
> for social and economic development. This pattern of community life is giving rise
> to vibrant and purposeful new communities wherein relationships are founded on the
> oneness of mankind, universal participation, justice, and freedom from prejudice.
> All are welcome. The process which is unfolding seeks to foster collaboration and
> build capacity within every human group—with no regard to class or religious background,
> with no concern for ethnicity or race, and irrespective of gender or social status—to
> arise and contribute to the advancement of civilization.
> 
> (From a letter dated 27 December 2017 written on behalf of the Universal House of
> Justice to an individual believer)
> 
> [110]
> 
> The Emergence of Social Action
> 
> He has noted with keen interest the plan you have conceived for the intensification
> of agricultural production with the view of meeting any possible food shortage in
> these times of war. While he is fully aware of the need for putting forth such a plan,
> and deeply appreciative as he feels of the noble motives that have prompted you to
> approach this problem, he nevertheless thinks that the time is not yet ripe for the
> believers, as a body, to undertake social and economic experiments of such character
> and scope. Neither the material resources at their disposal, nor their numerical strength
> are sufficient to give them any reasonable hope of embarking successfully upon a project
> of this kind.
> 
> (From a letter dated 6 November 1940 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> [111]
> 
> Now is not the time for the friends to seek to establish a Bahá’í village; they have
> definite tasks confronting them of the utmost importance and urgency, and on these
> they should concentrate their attention. Nor does the Guardian feel it is necessary
> for the friends to buy land at this time. In the future, when they have accomplished
> the goals set out for them by the beloved Master Himself, they will be able to develop
> more community projects, but now such enterprises would merely dissipate their strength,
> which should all be directed into the teaching work.
> 
> (From a letter dated 26 March 1943 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> [112]
> 
> The believers must not take their eyes off their own immediate tasks of patiently
> consolidating their administrative institutions, building up new Assemblies … and
> labouring to perfect the Bahá’í pattern of life, for these are things that no other
> group of people in the world can do or will do, and they alone are able to provide
> the spiritual foundation and example on which the larger world schemes must ultimately
> rest. At the same time every effort should be made to broadcast the Teachings at this
> time, and correlate them to the plight of humanity and the plans for its future.
> 
> (From a letter dated 29 March 1945 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to a National
> Spiritual Assembly)
> 
> [113]
> 
> A wider horizon is opening before us, illumined by a growing and universal manifestation
> of the inherent potentialities of the Cause for ordering human affairs. In this light
> can be discerned not only our immediate tasks but, more dimly, new pursuits and undertakings
> upon which we must shortly become engaged….
> 
> … The powers released by Bahá’u’lláh match the needs of the times. We may therefore
> be utterly confident that the new throb of energy now vibrating throughout the Cause
> will empower it to meet the oncoming challenges of assisting, as maturity and resources
> allow, the development of the social and economic life of peoples, of collaborating
> with the forces leading towards the establishment of order in the world, of influencing
> the exploitation and constructive uses of modern technology, and in all these ways
> enhancing the prestige and progress of the Faith and uplifting the conditions of the
> generality of mankind.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, Riḍván 140 (1983) message to the Bahá’ís of the World)
> 
> [114]
> 
> The message of the House of Justice dated 20 October 1983 has clearly set out the
> concepts, defined the objectives and outlined the guiding principles for the selection
> and implementation of Bahá’í development projects, programmes or activities. The vast
> majority of Bahá’í projects will be primarily generated at the grass roots, and, initially
> as required, will receive help from Bahá’í sources, in terms of finances and manpower.
> The projects will, as you have already surmised, be non-profit making, concerned mainly
> with activities closely related to education, health and hygiene, agriculture and
> simple community development activities. It is hoped that all these types of projects
> will reflect the strength of the spiritual principles enshrined in the Teachings of
> Bahá’u’lláh.
> 
> It is important that our undertakings be modest in their scope at the present time.
> Then, as we gain in confidence and experience and as our resources increase, our work
> will encompass expanded objectives, and the friends will explore new areas of social
> and economic activity.
> 
> (From a letter dated 22 December 1983 written on behalf of the Universal House of
> Justice to an individual believer)
> 
> [115]
> 
> The relationship between teaching and social and economic development needs to be
> considered both in terms of certain fundamental principles and in the context of the
> processes which characterize the growth of the Bahá’í community. You are well aware
> of the relevant principles, which include the following:  Bahá’ís should give the
> teachings of Bahá’u’lláh liberally and unconditionally to humanity so that people
> may apply them to pressing social issues and uplift themselves materially and spiritually;
> in their dealings with society at large, the friends should be upright and avoid any
> trace of deception; social and economic development projects should not be used as
> an inducement to conversion; and funds from non-Bahá’ís should not be utilized for
> strictly Bahá’í purposes. None of these diminishes the importance of the sacred obligation
> to teach the Cause. Teaching should remain the dominating passion of the life of every
> individual believer, and growth a major concern of the Bahá’í community.
> 
> As the Bahá’í community has moved from one stage to the next, the range of activities
> that it has been able to undertake has increased. Its growth has been organic in nature
> and has implied gradual differentiation in functions. When the Bahá’í community was
> small in size, all of its interactions with society at large easily fitted together
> under the designation of direct and indirect teaching. But, over time, new dimensions
> of work appeared—involvement in civil society, highly organized diplomatic work, social
> action, and so on—each with its own aims, methods and resources. In a certain sense,
> it is possible to refer to all of these activities as teaching, since their ultimate
> purpose is the diffusion of the divine fragrances, the offering of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation
> to humankind, and service to society. But, in practice, it seems more fruitful to
> treat them as distinct but complementary lines of action. For example, simply designating
> certain social and economic development endeavors indirect teaching may cause confusion
> in at least two ways:  On the one hand, it may give the impression that development
> activities should have as their primary and immediate objective the recruitment of
> new believers, which is, of course, not the case. On the other, it may suggest to
> some friends that they are fulfilling their obligation to teach merely by participating
> in social action.
> 
> Social and economic development is an important area of activity in and of itself.
> Its justification should not be sought in its ability to produce enrollments; it complements
> teaching and also contributes to it. Naturally, when endeavors in the development
> field are successful, they increase the public’s interest in the Faith and create
> new teaching opportunities for the Bahá’í community, opportunities which the friends
> should seize upon through their expansion and consolidation activities.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a memorandum dated 27 April 1998 to the Office
> of Social and Economic Development)
> 
> [116]
> 
> One of the basic principles governing Bahá’í social and economic development is that
> the friends should give the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh liberally and unconditionally
> to humanity so that people everywhere can apply them to pressing social issues and
> improve their individual and collective lives, both in material and spiritual dimensions.
> Access to the Word of God should not be conditioned upon acceptance of Bahá’u’lláh
> as a Manifestation of God for today. Moreover, it would not be inappropriate to refrain
> from explicitly mentioning the Source of inspiration underlying an educational programme
> developed on the basis of His Teachings, when circumstances demand it. In this light,
> there are a range of options that the friends can consider when creating educational
> materials which draw on the teachings and principles of the Faith.
> 
> (From a letter dated 11 June 2006 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to an individual believer)
> 
> [117]
> 
> It is to be expected that a desire to undertake social action will accompany the collective
> change which begins to occur in a village or neighbourhood as acts of communal worship
> and home visits are woven together with activities for the spiritual education of
> its population to create a rich pattern of community life. Social action can, of course,
> range from the most informal efforts of limited duration to social and economic development
> programmes of a high level of complexity and sophistication promoted by Bahá’í-inspired
> non-governmental organizations—all concerned with the application of the teachings
> to some need identified in such fields as health, education, agriculture and the environment.
> 
> (From a letter dated 4 January 2009 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to a National Spiritual Assembly)
> 
> [118]
> 
> In our Riḍván 2008 message we indicated that, as the friends continued to labour at
> the level of the cluster, they would find themselves drawn further and further into
> the life of society and would be challenged to extend the process of systematic learning
> in which they are engaged to encompass a widening range of human endeavours. A rich
> tapestry of community life begins to emerge in every cluster as acts of communal worship,
> interspersed with discussions undertaken in the intimate setting of the home, are
> woven together with activities that provide spiritual education to all members of
> the population—adults, youth and children. Social consciousness is heightened naturally
> as, for example, lively conversations proliferate among parents regarding the aspirations
> of their children and service projects spring up at the initiative of junior youth.
> Once human resources in a cluster are in sufficient abundance, and the pattern of
> growth firmly established, the community’s engagement with society can, and indeed
> must, increase. At this crucial point in the unfoldment of the Plan, when so many
> clusters are nearing such a stage, it seems appropriate that the friends everywhere
> would reflect on the nature of the contributions which their growing, vibrant communities
> will make to the material and spiritual progress of society. In this respect, it will
> prove fruitful to think in terms of two interconnected, mutually reinforcing areas
> of activity:  involvement in social action and participation in the prevalent discourses
> of society….
> 
> Most appropriately conceived in terms of a spectrum, social action can range from
> fairly informal efforts of limited duration undertaken by individuals or small groups
> of friends to programmes of social and economic development with a high level of complexity
> and sophistication implemented by Bahá’í-inspired organizations. Irrespective of its
> scope and scale, all social action seeks to apply the teachings and principles of
> the Faith to improve some aspect of the social or economic life of a population, however
> modestly. Such endeavours are distinguished, then, by their stated purpose to promote
> the material well-being of the population, in addition to its spiritual welfare. That
> the world civilization now on humanity’s horizon must achieve a dynamic coherence
> between the material and spiritual requirements of life is central to the Bahá’í teachings.
> Clearly this ideal has profound implications for the nature of any social action pursued
> by Bahá’ís, whatever its scope and range of influence. Though conditions will vary
> from country to country, and perhaps from cluster to cluster, eliciting from the friends
> a variety of endeavours, there are certain fundamental concepts that all should bear
> in mind. One is the centrality of knowledge to social existence. The perpetuation
> of ignorance is a most grievous form of oppression; it reinforces the many walls of
> prejudice that stand as barriers to the realization of the oneness of humankind, at
> once the goal and operating principle of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation. Access to knowledge
> is the right of every human being, and participation in its generation, application
> and diffusion a responsibility that all must shoulder in the great enterprise of building
> a prosperous world civilization—each individual according to his or her talents and
> abilities. Justice demands universal participation. Thus, while social action may
> involve the provision of goods and services in some form, its primary concern must
> be to build capacity within a given population to participate in creating a better
> world. Social change is not a project that one group of people carries out for the
> benefit of another. The scope and complexity of social action must be commensurate
> with the human resources available in a village or neighbourhood to carry it forward.
> Efforts best begin, then, on a modest scale and grow organically as capacity within
> the population develops. Capacity rises to new levels, of course, as the protagonists
> of social change learn to apply with increasing effectiveness elements of Bahá’u’lláh’s
> Revelation, together with the contents and methods of science, to their social reality.
> This reality they must strive to read in a manner consistent with His teachings—seeing
> in their fellow human beings gems of inestimable value and recognizing the effects
> of the dual process of integration and disintegration on both hearts and minds, as
> well as on social structures….
> 
> … Further involvement in the life of society should not be sought prematurely. It
> will proceed naturally as the friends in every cluster persevere in applying the provisions
> of the Plan through a process of action, reflection, consultation and study, and learn
> as a result. Involvement in the life of society will flourish as the capacity of the
> community to promote its own growth and to maintain its vitality is gradually raised.
> It will achieve coherence with efforts to expand and consolidate the community to
> the extent that it draws on elements of the conceptual framework which governs the
> current series of global Plans. And it will contribute to the movement of populations
> towards Bahá’u’lláh’s vision of a prosperous and peaceful world civilization to the
> degree that it employs these elements creatively in new areas of learning.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, Riḍván 2010 message to the Bahá’ís of the World)
> 
> [119]
> 
> While expansion and consolidation have steadily progressed over the past year, other
> important areas of activity have also moved forward, often in close parallel. As a
> prime example, the advances at the level of culture being witnessed in some villages
> and neighbourhoods are due in no small part to what is being learned from Bahá’í involvement
> in social action. Our Office of Social and Economic Development recently prepared
> a document which distils thirty years of experience that has accumulated in this field
> since that Office was established at the Bahá’í World Centre. Among the observations
> it makes is that efforts to engage in social action are lent vital impetus by the
> training institute. This is not simply through the rise in human resources it fosters.
> The spiritual insights, qualities, and abilities that are cultivated by the institute
> process have proven to be as crucial for participation in social action as they are
> for contributing to the process of growth. Further, it is explained how the Bahá’í
> community’s distinct spheres of endeavour are governed by a common, evolving, conceptual
> framework composed of mutually reinforcing elements, albeit these assume varied expressions
> in different domains of action. The document we have described was lately shared with
> National Spiritual Assemblies, and we invite them, in consultation with the Counsellors,
> to consider how the concepts it explores can help to enhance existing efforts of social
> action pursued under their auspices and raise consciousness of this significant dimension
> of Bahá’í endeavour.
> 
> 3
> 
> This should not be interpreted as a general call for widespread activity in this
> area—the emergence of social action happens naturally, as a growing community gathers
> strength—but it is timely that the friends reflect more deeply on the implications
> of their exertions for the transformation of society. The surge in learning that is
> occurring in this field places increased demands upon the Office of Social and Economic
> Development, and steps are being taken to ensure that its functioning evolves commensurately.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, Riḍván 2013 message to the Bahá’ís of the World)
> 
> [120]
> 
> In recent years it has become evident that in communities where there has been a strong
> emphasis on the capacity-building features of the Five Year Plan, the ability of the
> friends to engage in social action has increased substantially. Accordingly, you would
> do well to encourage the friends to persevere in their efforts to strengthen the training
> institute and the activities of the Plan, for therein lies the key to multiplying
> your human resources and creating a vibrant, united, and loving community. As they
> progress along this path, they will become increasingly capable of contributing in
> tangible ways to the practical resolution of the problems that confront populations
> at the grassroots in cities and towns, neighbourhoods and villages.
> 
> (From a letter dated 1 October 2015 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to a National Spiritual Assembly)
> 
> [121]
> 
> A natural outcome of the rise both in resources and in consciousness of the implications
> of the Revelation for the life of a population is the stirrings of social action.
> Not infrequently, initiatives of this kind emerge organically out of the junior youth
> spiritual empowerment programme or are prompted by consultations about local conditions
> that occur at community gatherings. The forms that such endeavours can assume are
> diverse and include, for example, tutorial assistance to children, projects to better
> the physical environment, and activities to improve health and prevent disease. Some
> initiatives become sustained and gradually grow. In various places the founding of
> a community school at the grassroots has arisen from a heightened concern for the
> proper education of children and awareness of its importance, flowing naturally from
> the study of institute materials. On occasion, the efforts of the friends can be greatly
> reinforced through the work of an established Bahá’í-inspired organization functioning
> in the vicinity. However humble an instance of social action might be at the beginning,
> it is an indication of a people cultivating within themselves a critical capacity,
> one that holds infinite potential and significance for the centuries ahead:  learning
> how to apply the Revelation to the manifold dimensions of social existence. All such
> initiatives also serve to enrich participation, at an individual and collective level,
> in prevalent discourses of the wider community. As expected, the friends are being
> drawn further into the life of society—a development which is inherent in the pattern
> of action in a cluster from the very start, but which is now much more pronounced.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 29 December 2015 to the Conference
> of the Continental Boards of Counsellors)
> 
> [122]
> 
> Generally speaking, Bahá’í development projects begin at the grassroots and are, in
> the early stages, sustained by locally available human and financial resources. If
> such projects are introduced prematurely in a cluster, they risk distracting and dissipating
> the energies of the friends who should be attending primarily to advancing the process
> of expansion and consolidation. In this regard, experience has shown that community
> schools, like other efforts of social action, have proven more sustainable when they
> emerge in localities with a strong institute process, as a natural extension of the
> community-building activities under way. In these localities, conditions for starting
> a school are fostered as growing numbers of people participate in the study of the
> main sequence of institute courses, which serves to equip more and more individuals
> with the qualities, attitudes, and skills required to contribute to processes of spiritual
> and material transformation. Further, when efforts to multiply and strengthen children’s
> classes and junior youth groups foster a community’s sense of ownership for the education
> of younger generations, they lead to an increase in collective capacity to implement
> even more complex endeavours.
> 
> (From a letter dated 9 April 2017 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to a National Spiritual Assembly)
> 
> [123]
> 
> As the work of community building intensifies, the friends are using the new capacities
> they have developed to improve conditions in the society around them, their enthusiasm
> kindled by their study of the divine teachings. Short-term projects have soared in
> number, formal programmes have expanded their reach, and there are now more Bahá’í-inspired
> development organizations engaged in education, health, agriculture, and other areas.
> From the resulting transformation visible in the individual and collective lives of
> peoples may be discerned the unmistakable stirrings of the society-building power
> of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. No wonder, then, that it is from such instances of social
> action—whether simple or complex, of fixed duration or long sustained—that the Offices
> of the Bahá’í International Community are increasingly taking inspiration in their
> efforts to participate in the prevalent discourses of society.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, Riḍván 2018 message to the Bahá’ís of the World)
> 
> [124]
> 
> During the ministries of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, the first community of sufficient
> size that could begin to systematically apply Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings to unite material
> and spiritual progress was that of the believers in the Cradle of the Faith. The steady
> flow of guidance from the Holy Land enabled the Bahá’ís of Iran to make tremendous
> strides in but one or two generations and to contribute a distinctive share to the
> progress of their nation. A network of schools that provided moral and academic education,
> including for girls, flourished. Illiteracy was virtually eliminated in the Bahá’í
> community. Philanthropic enterprises were created. Prejudices among ethnic and religious
> groups, aflame in the wider society, were extinguished within the community’s loving
> embrace. Villages became distinguished for their cleanliness, order, and progress.
> And believers from that land were instrumental in raising in another land the first
> Ma
> sh
> riqu’l-A
> dh
> kár with its dependencies designed to “afford relief to the suffering, sustenance
> to the poor, shelter to the wayfarer, solace to the bereaved, and education to the
> ignorant.”  Over time, such efforts were augmented by scattered initiatives of other
> Bahá’í communities in various parts of the world. However, as Shoghi Effendi remarked
> to one community, the number of believers was as yet too small to effect a notable
> change in the wider society, and for more than the first half century of the Formative
> Age the believers were encouraged to concentrate their energies on the propagation
> of the Faith, since this was work that only Bahá’ís could do—indeed their primary
> spiritual obligation—and it would prepare them for the time when they could address
> the problems of humanity more directly.
> 
> Thirty-five years ago, circumstances within and outside the community combined to
> create new possibilities for greater involvement in the life of society. The Faith
> had developed to the stage at which the processes of social and economic development
> needed to be incorporated into its regular pursuits, and in October 1983 we called
> upon the Bahá’ís of the world to enter this new field of endeavor. The Office of Social
> and Economic Development was established at the Bahá’í World Centre to assist us in
> promoting and coordinating the activities of the friends worldwide. Bahá’í activities
> for social and economic development, at whatever level of complexity, were at that
> time counted in the hundreds. Today they number in the tens of thousands, including
> hundreds of sustained projects such as schools and scores of development organizations.
> The broad range of current activities spans efforts from villages and neighborhoods
> to regions and nations, addressing an array of challenges, including education from
> preschool to university, literacy, health, the environment, support for refugees,
> advancement of women, empowerment of junior youth, elimination of racial prejudice,
> agriculture, local economies, and village development. The society-building power
> of Bahá’u’lláh’s Cause has begun to be more systematically expressed in the collective
> life of the friends as a result of the acceleration of the process of expansion and
> consolidation, especially in advanced clusters. Beyond this, of course, countless
> believers, through their professional and voluntary efforts, contribute their energies
> and insights to projects and organizations established for the common good.
> 
> Once again, then, we find that forces inside and outside the Faith have made possible
> a new stage in the work of social and economic development in the Bahá’í world. Therefore,
> on this sacred occasion of the Festivals of the Twin Birthdays, we are pleased to
> announce that the Office of Social and Economic Development now effloresces into a
> new world-embracing institution established at the World Centre, the Bahá’í International
> Development Organization. In addition, a Bahá’í Development Fund will be inaugurated,
> from which the new organization will draw to assist both long-standing and emerging
> development efforts worldwide; it will be supported by the House of Justice, and individuals
> and institutions may contribute to it.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 9 November 2018 to the Bahá’ís
> of the World)
> 
> [125]
> 
> Community Development and the Movement of Populations
> 
> O people of the world!  Build ye houses of worship throughout the lands in the name
> of Him Who is the Lord of all religions. Make them as perfect as is possible in the
> world of being, and adorn them with that which befitteth them, not with images and
> effigies. Then, with radiance and joy, celebrate therein the praise of your Lord,
> the Most Compassionate. Verily, by His remembrance the eye is cheered and the heart
> is filled with light.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, par. 31)
> 
> [126]
> 
> … all the members of the human family, whether peoples or governments, cities or villages,
> have become increasingly interdependent. For none is self-sufficiency any longer possible,
> inasmuch as political ties unite all peoples and nations, and the bonds of trade and
> industry, of agriculture and education, are being strengthened every day. Hence the
> unity of all mankind can in this day be achieved.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> , par. 15.6)
> 
> [127]
> 
> Although to outward seeming the Ma
> sh
> riqu’l-A
> dh
> kár is a material structure, yet it hath a spiritual effect. It forgeth bonds of unity
> from heart to heart; it is a collective center for men’s souls. Every city in which,
> during the days of the Manifestation, a temple was raised up, hath created security
> and constancy and peace, for such buildings were given over to the perpetual glorification
> of God, and only in the remembrance of God can the heart find rest. Gracious God!
> The edifice of the House of Worship hath a powerful influence on every phase of life.
> Experience hath, in the east, clearly shown this to be a fact. Even if, in some small
> village, a house was designated as the Ma
> sh
> riqu’l-A
> dh
> kár, it produced a marked effect; how much greater would be the impact of one especially
> raised up.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> , par. 60.1)
> 
> [128]
> 
> The Ma
> sh
> riqu’l-A
> dh
> kár is one of the most vital institutions in the world, and it hath many subsidiary
> branches. Although it is a House of Worship, it is also connected with a hospital,
> a drug dispensary, a traveler’s hospice, a school for orphans, and a university for
> advanced studies. Every Ma
> sh
> riqu’l-A
> dh
> kár is connected with these five things. My hope is that the Ma
> sh
> riqu’l-A
> dh
> kár will now be established in America, and that gradually the hospital, the school,
> the university, the dispensary and the hospice, all functioning according to the most
> efficient and orderly procedures, will follow. Make these matters known to the beloved
> of the Lord, so that they will understand how very great is the importance of this
> “Dawning-Point of the Remembrance of God.”  The Temple is not only a place for worship;
> rather, in every respect is it complete and whole.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> , par. 64.1)
> 
> [129]
> 
> The foundation of life and existence is cooperation and mutual aid, whereas the cause
> of annihilation and deterioration is the cessation of aid and assistance. The higher
> the realm of existence, the stronger and more vital this weighty matter of cooperation
> and assistance doth become. In the realm of humanity, therefore, cooperation and mutual
> aid are in a greater degree of completeness and perfection than that which prevaileth
> in the other realms of existence—so much so, that the life of humanity dependeth entirely
> upon this principle. Among the friends of God, in particular, this strong foundation
> must be fortified in such wise that each soul may help the other in all matters, whether
> pertaining to spiritual realities and inner truths or to the material and physical
> aspects of life. Such is especially the case with regard to the founding of public
> institutions that benefit all people, and, in particular, the Ma
> sh
> riqu’l-A
> dh
> kár, which constituteth the greatest of divine foundations.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [130]
> 
> The responsibilities of the members of the Spiritual Assemblies that are engaged in
> teaching the Cause of God in Eastern lands have been clearly laid down in the holy
> Texts.
> 
> These bid them to work towards the improvement of morals and the spread of learning;
> to strive to eradicate ignorance and unenlightenment, eliminate prejudice, and reinforce
> the foundation of true faith in people’s hearts and minds; to seek to develop self-reliance
> and avoidance of blind imitation; to aim to enhance the efficient management of their
> affairs, and observe purity and refinement in all circumstances; to show their commitment
> to truthfulness and honesty, and their ability to conduct themselves with frankness,
> courage and resolution.
> 
> They similarly enjoin them to lend their support to agricultural and industrial development,
> to consolidate the foundations of mutual assistance and co-operation, to promote the
> emancipation and advancement of women and support the compulsory education of both
> sexes, to encourage application of the principles of consultation among all classes,
> and to adhere in all dealings to a standard of scrupulous integrity.
> 
> (Shoghi Effendi, from a letter dated 30 January 1926 written to the Local Spiritual
> Assemblies of the East—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [131]
> 
> There are, at the present time, many villages in India, the Philippines, Africa, Latin
> America, etc., where the Bahá’ís form a majority or even the entire population of
> the village. One of the goals of the Five Year Plan, as you will recall, is to develop
> the characteristics of Bahá’í community life, and it is, above all, to such villages
> that the goal is directed. The Local Spiritual Assemblies of such villages must gradually
> widen the scope of their activities, not only to develop every aspect of the spiritual
> life of the believers within their jurisdiction, but also, through Bahá’í consultation,
> and through such Bahá’í principles as harmony between science and religion, the importance
> of education, and work as a form of worship, to promote the standards of agriculture
> and other skills in the life of the people. For this they will need the assistance
> of Bahá’í experts from other lands. This is a major undertaking, and is being started
> gradually wherever and whenever possible.
> 
> (From a letter dated 27 July 1976 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to an individual believer)
> 
> [132]
> 
> When the Bahá’í community in a village is a significant proportion of the population,
> it has a wide range of opportunities to be an example and an encouragement of means
> of improving the quality of life in the village. Among the initiatives which it might
> take are measures to foster child education, adult literacy and the training of women
> to better discharge their responsibilities as mothers and to play an enlarged role
> in the administrative and social life of the village; encouragement of the people
> of the village to join together in devotions, perhaps in the early morning, irrespective
> of their varieties of religious belief; support of efforts to improve the hygiene
> and the health of the village, including attention to the provision of pure water,
> the preservation of cleanliness in the village environment, and education in the harmful
> effects of narcotic and intoxicating substances. No doubt other possibilities will
> present themselves to the village Bahá’í community and its Local Spiritual Assembly.
> 
> (From a letter dated 25 July 1988 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to a National Spiritual Assembly)
> 
> [133]
> 
> A community is of course more than the sum of its membership; it is a comprehensive
> unit of civilization composed of individuals, families and institutions that are originators
> and encouragers of systems, agencies and organizations working together with a common
> purpose for the welfare of people both within and beyond its own borders; it is a
> composition of diverse, interacting participants that are achieving unity in an unremitting
> quest for spiritual and social progress. Since Bahá’ís everywhere are at the very
> beginning of the process of community building, enormous effort must be devoted to
> the tasks at hand.
> 
> As we have said in an earlier message, the flourishing of the community, especially
> at the local level, demands a significant enhancement in patterns of behaviour:  those
> patterns by which the collective expression of the virtues of the individual members
> and the functioning of the Spiritual Assembly are manifest in the unity and fellowship
> of the community and the dynamism of its activity and growth. This calls for the integration
> of the component elements—adults, youth and children—in spiritual, social, educational
> and administrative activities; and their engagement in local plans of teaching and
> development. It implies a collective will and sense of purpose to perpetuate the Spiritual
> Assembly through annual elections. It involves the practice of collective worship
> of God. Hence, it is essential to the spiritual life of the community that the friends
> hold regular devotional meetings in local Bahá’í centres, where available, or elsewhere,
> including the homes of believers.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, Riḍván 153 (1996) message to the Bahá’ís of the World)
> 
> [134]
> 
> As you are aware, often in a rural cluster made up of villages and perhaps one or
> two towns, while the pattern of action associated with an intensive programme of growth
> is being established, the efforts of the friends are confined to a few localities.
> Once in place, however, the pattern can be extended quickly to village after village,
> as explained in our Riḍván message this year. Early on in each locality, the Local
> Spiritual Assembly comes into existence, and its steady development follows a trajectory
> parallel with, and intimately tied to, the fledgling process of growth unfolding in
> the village. And not unlike the evolution of other facets of this process, the development
> of the Local Assembly can best be understood in terms of capacity building.
> 
> What needs to occur in the first instance is relatively straightforward:  Individual
> awareness of the process of growth gathering momentum in the village, born of each
> member’s personal involvement in the core activities, must coalesce into a collective
> consciousness that recognizes both the nature of the transformation under way and
> the obligation of the Assembly to foster it. Without doubt, some attention will have
> to be given to certain basic administrative functions—for example, meeting with a
> degree of regularity, conducting the Nineteen Day Feast and planning Holy Day observances,
> establishing a local fund, and holding annual elections in accordance with Bahá’í
> principle. However, it should not prove difficult for the Local Assembly to begin,
> concomitant with such efforts and with encouragement from an assistant to an Auxiliary
> Board member, to consult as a body on one or two specific issues with immediate relevance
> to the life of the community:  how the devotional character of the village is being
> enhanced through the efforts of individuals who have completed the first institute
> course; how the spiritual education of the children is being addressed by teachers
> raised up by the institute; how the potential of junior youth is being realized by
> the programme for their spiritual empowerment; how the spiritual and social fabric
> of the community is being strengthened as the friends visit one another in their homes.
> As the Assembly consults on such tangible matters and learns to nurture the process
> of growth lovingly and patiently, its relationship with the Area Teaching Committee
> and the training institute gradually becomes cemented in a common purpose. But, of
> still greater importance, it will begin to lay the foundations on which can be built
> that uniquely affectionate and genuinely supportive relationship, described by the
> beloved Guardian in many of his messages, which Local Spiritual Assemblies should
> establish with the individual believer.
> 
> Clearly, learning to consult on specific issues related to the global Plan, no matter
> how crucial, represents but one dimension of the capacity-building process in which
> the Local Spiritual Assembly must engage. Its continued development implies adherence
> to the injunction laid down by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that “discussions must all be confined
> to spiritual matters that pertain to the training of souls, the instruction of children,
> the relief of the poor, the help of the feeble throughout all classes in the world,
> kindness to all peoples, the diffusion of the fragrances of God and the exaltation
> of His Holy Word.”  Its steady advancement requires an unbending commitment to promote
> the best interests of the community and a vigilance in guarding the process of growth
> against the forces of moral decay that threaten to arrest it. Its ongoing progress
> calls for a sense of responsibility that extends beyond the circle of friends and
> families engaged in the core activities to encompass the entire population of the
> village. And sustaining its gradual maturation is unshakable faith in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
> assurance that He will enfold every Spiritual Assembly within the embrace of His care
> and protection.
> 
> Associated with this rise in collective consciousness is the Assembly’s growing ability
> to properly assess and utilize resources, financial and otherwise, both in support
> of community activities and in discharging its administrative functions, which may
> in time include the judicious appointment of committees and the maintenance of modest
> physical facilities for its operations. No less vital is its ability to nurture an
> environment conducive to the participation of large numbers in unified action and
> to ensure that their energies and talents contribute towards progress. In all these
> respects, the spiritual well-being of the community remains uppermost in the Assembly’s
> mind. And when inevitable problems arise, whether in relation to some activity or
> among individuals, they will be addressed by a Local Spiritual Assembly which has
> so completely gained the confidence of the members of the community that all naturally
> turn to it for assistance. This implies that the Assembly has learned through experience
> how to help the believers put aside the divisive ways of a partisan mindset, how to
> find the seeds of unity in even the most perplexing and thorny situations and how
> to nurture them slowly and lovingly, upholding at all times the standard of justice.
> 
> As the community grows in size and in capacity to maintain vitality, the friends will,
> we have indicated in the past, be drawn further into the life of society and be challenged
> to take advantage of the approaches they have developed to respond to a widening range
> of issues that face their village. The question of coherence, so essential to the
> growth achieved thus far, and so fundamental to the Plan’s evolving framework for
> action, now assumes new dimensions. Much will fall on the Local Assembly, not as an
> executor of projects but as the voice of moral authority, to make certain that, as
> the friends strive to apply the teachings of the Faith to improve conditions through
> a process of action, reflection and consultation, the integrity of their endeavours
> is not compromised.
> 
> Our Riḍván message described a few of the characteristics of social action at the
> grassroots, and the conditions it must meet. Efforts in a village will generally begin
> on a small scale, perhaps with the emergence of groups of friends, each concerned
> with a specific social or economic need it has identified and each pursuing a simple
> set of appropriate actions. Consultation at the Nineteen Day Feast creates a space
> for the growing social consciousness of the community to find constructive expression.
> Whatever the nature of activities undertaken, the Local Assembly must be attentive
> to potential pitfalls and help the friends, if necessary, to steer past them—the allurements
> of overly ambitious projects that would consume energies and ultimately prove untenable,
> the temptation of financial grants that would necessitate a departure from Bahá’í
> principle, the promises of technologies deceptively packaged that would strip the
> village of its cultural heritage and lead to fragmentation and dissonance. Eventually
> the strength of the institute process in the village, and the enhanced capabilities
> it has fostered in individuals, may enable the friends to take advantage of methods
> and programmes of proven effectiveness, which have been developed by one or another
> Bahá’í-inspired organization and which have been introduced into the cluster at the
> suggestion of, and with support from, our Office of Social and Economic Development.
> Moreover, the Assembly must learn to interact with social and political structures
> in the locality, gradually raising consciousness of the presence of the Faith and
> the influence it is exerting on the progress of the village.
> 
> What is outlined in the foregoing paragraphs represents only a few of the attributes
> which Local Spiritual Assemblies in the many villages of the world will gradually
> develop in serving the needs of communities that embrace larger and larger numbers.
> As they increasingly manifest their latent capacities and powers, their members will
> come to be seen by the inhabitants of each village as “the trusted ones of the Merciful
> among men”. Thus will these Assemblies become “shining lamps and heavenly gardens,
> from which the fragrances of holiness are diffused over all regions, and the lights
> of knowledge are shed abroad over all created things. From them the spirit of life
> streameth in every direction.”
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 28 December 2010 to the Conference
> of the Continental Boards of Counsellors)
> 
> [135]
> 
> From this landscape of thriving activity, one prospect deserves particular mention.
> In the message addressed to you three years ago, we expressed the hope that, in clusters
> with an intensive programme of growth in operation, the friends would endeavour to
> learn more about the ways of community building by developing centres of intense activity
> in neighbourhoods and villages. Our hopes have been exceeded, for even in clusters
> where the programme of growth has not yet achieved intensity, efforts by a few to
> initiate core activities among the residents of small areas have demonstrated their
> efficacy time and again. In essence, this approach centres on the response to Bahá’u’lláh’s
> teachings on the part of populations who are ready for the spiritual transformation
> His Revelation fosters. Through participation in the educational process promoted
> by the training institute, they are motivated to reject the torpor and indifference
> inculcated by the forces of society and pursue, instead, patterns of action which
> prove life altering. Where this approach has advanced for some years in a neighbourhood
> or village and the friends have sustained their focus, remarkable results are becoming
> gradually but unmistakably evident. Youth are empowered to take responsibility for
> the development of those around them younger than themselves. Older generations welcome
> the contribution of the youth to meaningful discussions about the affairs of the whole
> community. For young and old alike, the discipline cultivated through the community’s
> educational process builds capacity for consultation, and new spaces emerge for purposeful
> conversation. Yet change is not confined merely to the Bahá’ís and those who are involved
> in the core activities called for by the Plan, who might reasonably be expected to
> adopt new ways of thinking over time. The very spirit of the place is affected. A
> devotional attitude takes shape within a broad sweep of the population. Expressions
> of the equality of men and women become more pronounced. The education of children,
> both boys and girls, commands greater attention. The character of relationships within
> families—moulded by assumptions centuries old—alters perceptibly. A sense of duty
> towards one’s immediate community and physical environment becomes prevalent. Even
> the scourge of prejudice, which casts its baleful shadow on every society, begins
> to yield to the compelling force of unity. In short, the community-building work in
> which the friends are engaged influences aspects of culture.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, Riḍván 2013 message to the Bahá’ís of the World)
> 
> [136]
> 
> A House of Worship is, of course, an integral part of the process of community building,
> and its construction represents an important milestone in the development of a community.
> It is the hope of the House of Justice that the friends in … will, through the zeal
> and determination with which they pursue the essential activities of the Five Year
> Plan, hasten the day when it will be timely for a Ma
> sh
> riqu’l-A
> dh
> kár to be built in your country.
> 
> (From a letter dated 12 December 2013 written on behalf of the Universal House of
> Justice to an individual believer)
> 
> [137]
> 
> Underlying the process even from the start is, of course, a collective movement towards
> the vision of material and spiritual prosperity set forth by Him Who is the Lifegiver
> of the World. But when such large numbers are involved, the movement of an entire
> population becomes discernible.
> 
> This movement is especially in evidence in those clusters where a local Ma
> sh
> riqu’l-A
> dh
> kár is to be established. One such, by way of example, is in Vanuatu. The friends
> who reside on the island of Tanna have made a supreme effort to raise consciousness
> of the planned House of Worship, and have already engaged no less than a third of
> the island’s 30,000 inhabitants in an expanding conversation about its significance
> in a variety of ways. The ability to sustain an elevated conversation among so many
> people has been refined through years of experience sharing the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh
> and extending the reach of a vibrant training institute. Junior youth groups on the
> island are particularly thriving, urged on by the support of village chiefs who see
> how the participants are spiritually empowered. Encouraged by the unity and dedication
> that exist among them, these young people have not only dispelled the languor of passivity
> in themselves but have, through various practical projects, found means to work for
> the betterment of their community, and as a result, those of all ages, not least their
> own parents, have been galvanized into constructive action. Among the believers and
> the wider society, the bounty of being able to turn to a Local Spiritual Assembly
> for guidance and for the resolution of difficult situations is being recognized, and
> in turn, the decisions of the Spiritual Assemblies are increasingly characterized
> by wisdom and sensitivity. There is much here to indicate that, when the elements
> of the Plan’s framework for action are combined into a coherent whole, the impact
> on a population can be profound. And it is against the background of ongoing expansion
> and consolidation—the thirtieth cycle of the intensive programme of growth has recently
> concluded—that the friends are actively exploring, with the rest of the island’s inhabitants,
> what it means for a Ma
> sh
> riqu’l-A
> dh
> kár, a “collective centre for men’s souls”, to be raised up in their midst. With the
> active support of traditional leaders, Tanna islanders have offered no less than a
> hundred design ideas for the Temple, demonstrating the extent to which the House of
> Worship has captured imaginations, and opening up enthralling prospects for the influence
> it is set to exert on the lives lived beneath its shade.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, Riḍván 2014 message to the Bahá’ís of the World)
> 
> [138]
> 
> … a House of Worship is to be the spiritual centre of a community and, together with
> its dependencies that will be created, contributes to a flourishing pattern of collective
> life. Currently, the first Houses of Worship of each continent serve as the national
> Temples of the countries in which they are located, and they also serve the communities
> in their vicinity, playing a significant role in local activities. As the process
> of growth unfolds, Temples will increasingly be raised at the national and local levels,
> and much will be learned about their nature and how they contribute to the community-building
> process. The many aspects of the functioning of this institution will then gradually
> be manifest. As Shoghi Effendi wrote, “None save the institution of the Ma
> sh
> riqu’l-A
> dh
> kár can most adequately provide the essentials of Bahá’í worship and service, both
> so vital to the regeneration of the world.”
> 
> (From a letter dated 26 January 2015 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to an individual believer)
> 
> [139]
> 
> In some of the clusters where growth has advanced to this extent, an even more thrilling
> development has occurred. There are locations within these clusters where a significant
> percentage of the entire population is now involved in community-building activities.
> For instance, there are small villages where the institute has been able to engage
> the participation of all the children and junior youth in its programmes. When the
> reach of activity is extensive, the societal impact of the Faith becomes more evident.
> The Bahá’í community is afforded higher standing as a distinctive moral voice in the
> life of a people and is able to contribute an informed perspective to the discourses
> around it on, say, the development of the younger generations. Figures of authority
> from the wider society start to draw on the insight and experience arising from initiatives
> of social action inspired by Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings. Conversations influenced by
> those teachings, concerned with the common weal, permeate an ever-broader cross section
> of the population, to the point where an effect on the general discourse in a locality
> can be perceived. Beyond the Bahá’í community, people are coming to regard the Local
> Spiritual Assembly as a radiant source of wisdom to which they too can turn for illumination.
> 
> We recognize that developments like these are yet a distant prospect for many, even
> in clusters where the pattern of activity embraces large numbers. But in some places,
> this is the work of the moment. In such clusters, while the friends continue to be
> occupied with sustaining the process of growth, other dimensions of Bahá’í endeavour
> claim an increasing share of their attention. They are seeking to understand how a
> flourishing local population can transform the society of which it is an integral
> part. This will be a new frontier of learning for the foreseeable future, where insights
> will be generated that will ultimately benefit the whole Bahá’í world.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 29 December 2015 to the Conference
> of the Continental Boards of Counsellors)
> 
> [140]
> 
> … as the work in thousands of villages and neighbourhoods gathers momentum, a vibrant
> community life is taking root in each. The number of clusters where the system for
> extending this pattern of activity to more and more locations is becoming well established—enabling,
> thereby, the friends to pass the third milestone along a continuum of development—has
> grown markedly. And it is here, at the frontiers of the Bahá’í world’s learning, particularly
> in the movement of populations towards the vision of Bahá’u’lláh, where not only are
> large numbers coming into the widening embrace of Bahá’í activities but the friends
> are now learning how sizeable groups come to identify themselves with the community
> of the Most Great Name. We are seeing the Faith’s educational efforts take on a more
> formal character in such places, as children move seamlessly through the grades year
> after year and one level of the junior youth spiritual empowerment programme reliably
> succeeds another. In these places, the training institute is learning to ensure that
> sufficient human resources are being raised up to provide for the spiritual and moral
> edification of children and junior youth in ever-increasing numbers. Participation
> in these foundational activities is becoming so embedded in the culture of the population
> that it is viewed as an indispensable aspect of the life of a community. A new vitality
> emerges within a people taking charge of their own development, and they build immunity
> to those societal forces that breed passivity. Possibilities for material and spiritual
> progress take shape. Social reality begins to transform.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, Riḍván 2018 message to the Bahá’ís of the World)
> 
> [141]
> 
> Methods and Approaches
> 
> Learning and Systematic Action
> 
> The purpose of learning should be the promotion of the welfare of the people…. True
> learning is that which is conducive to the well-being of the world, not to pride and
> self-conceit, or to tyranny, violence and pillage.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [142]
> 
> … the happiness and greatness, the rank and station, the pleasure and peace, of an
> individual have never consisted in his personal wealth, but rather in his excellent
> character, his high resolve, the breadth of his learning, and his ability to solve
> difficult problems.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Secret of Divine Civilization
> , p. 28)
> 
> [143]
> 
> There are certain pillars which have been established as the unshakable supports of
> the Faith of God. The mightiest of these is learning and the use of the mind, the
> expansion of consciousness, and insight into the realities of the universe and the
> hidden mysteries of Almighty God.
> 
> To promote knowledge is thus an inescapable duty imposed on every one of the friends
> of God.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> , pars. 97.1–97.2)
> 
> [144]
> 
> All blessings are divine in origin, but none can be compared with this power of intellectual
> investigation and research, which is an eternal gift producing fruits of unending
> delight…. Therefore, you should put forward your most earnest efforts toward the acquisition
> of science and arts. The greater your attainment, the higher your standard in the
> divine purpose. The man of science is perceiving and endowed with vision, whereas
> he who is ignorant and neglectful of this development is blind. The investigating
> mind is attentive, alive; the callous and indifferent mind is deaf and dead. A scientific
> man is a true index and representative of humanity, for through processes of inductive
> reasoning and research he is informed of all that appertains to humanity, its status,
> conditions and happenings. He studies the human body politic, understands social problems
> and weaves the web and texture of civilization. In fact, science may be likened to
> a mirror wherein the infinite forms and images of existing things are revealed and
> reflected. It is the very foundation of all individual and national development. Without
> this basis of investigation, development is impossible. Therefore, seek with diligent
> endeavor the knowledge and attainment of all that lies within the power of this wonderful
> bestowal.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Promulgation of Universal Peace
> , pp. 67-68)
> 
> [145]
> 
> The present condition of the world—its economic instability, social dissensions, political
> dissatisfaction and international distrust—should awaken the youth from their slumber
> and make them enquire what the future is going to bring. It is
> surely
> 
> they
> who will suffer
> most
> if some calamity sweep over the world. They should therefore open their eyes to the
> existing conditions, study the evil forces that are at play and then with a concerted
> effort arise and bring about the necessary reforms—reforms that shall contain within
> their scope the spiritual as well as social and political phases of human life.
> 
> (From a letter dated 13 March 1932 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> [146]
> 
> Systematization ensures consistency of lines of action based on well-conceived plans.
> In a general sense, it implies an orderliness of approach in all that pertains to
> Bahá’í service, whether in teaching or administration, in individual or collective
> endeavour. While allowing for individual initiative and spontaneity, it suggests the
> need to be clear-headed, methodical, efficient, constant, balanced and harmonious.
> Systematization is a necessary mode of functioning animated by the urgency to act.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, Riḍván 155 (1998) message to the Bahá’ís of the World)
> 
> [147]
> 
> If learning is to be the primary mode of operation in a community, then visions, strategies,
> goals and methods have to be re-examined time and again. As tasks are accomplished,
> obstacles removed, resources multiplied and lessons learned, modifications have to
> be made in goals and approaches, but in a way that continuity of action is maintained.
> 
> (The
> Institution of the Counsellors
> , a document prepared by the Universal House of Justice (Haifa:  Bahá’í World Centre,
> 2001), p. 24)
> 
> [148]
> 
> One of your primary concerns will be to strengthen appreciation for systematic action,
> already heightened by the successes it has brought. To arrive at a unified vision
> of growth based on a realistic assessment of possibilities and resources, to develop
> strategies that lend structure to it, to devise and implement plans of action commensurate
> with capacity, to make necessary adjustments while maintaining continuity, to build
> on accomplishments—these are some of the requisites of systematization that every
> community must learn and internalize.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 27 December 2005 to the Conference
> of the Continental Boards of Counsellors)
> 
> [149]
> 
> This evolution in collective consciousness is discernable in the growing frequency
> with which the word “accompany” appears in conversations among the friends, a word
> that is being endowed with new meaning as it is integrated into the common vocabulary
> of the Bahá’í community. It signals the significant strengthening of a culture in
> which learning is the mode of operation, a mode that fosters the informed participation
> of more and more people in a united effort to apply Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings to the
> construction of a divine civilization, which the Guardian states is the primary mission
> of the Faith. Such an approach offers a striking contrast to the spiritually bankrupt
> and moribund ways of an old social order that so often seeks to harness human energy
> through domination, through greed, through guilt or through manipulation.
> 
> In relationships among the friends, then, this development in culture finds expression
> in the quality of their interactions. Learning as a mode of operation requires that
> all assume a posture of humility, a condition in which one becomes forgetful of self,
> placing complete trust in God, reliant on His all-sustaining power and confident in
> His unfailing assistance, knowing that He, and He alone, can change the gnat into
> an eagle, the drop into a boundless sea. And in such a state souls labour together
> ceaselessly, delighting not so much in their own accomplishments but in the progress
> and services of others. So it is that their thoughts are centred at all times on helping
> one another scale the heights of service to His Cause and soar in the heaven of His
> knowledge. This is what we see in the present pattern of activity unfolding across
> the globe, propagated by young and old, by veteran and newly enrolled, working side
> by side.
> 
> Not only does this advance in culture influence relations among individuals, but its
> effects can also be felt in the conduct of the administrative affairs of the Faith.
> As learning has come to distinguish the community’s mode of operation, certain aspects
> of decision making related to expansion and consolidation have been assigned to the
> body of the believers, enabling planning and implementation to become more responsive
> to circumstances on the ground….
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation is vast. It calls for profound change not only at the level
> of the individual but also in the structure of society. “Is not the object of every
> Revelation”, He Himself proclaims, “to effect a transformation in the whole character
> of mankind, a transformation that shall manifest itself, both outwardly and inwardly,
> that shall affect both its inner life and external conditions?”  The work advancing
> in every corner of the globe today represents the latest stage of the ongoing Bahá’í
> endeavour to create the nucleus of the glorious civilization enshrined in His teachings,
> the building of which is an enterprise of infinite complexity and scale, one that
> will demand centuries of exertion by humanity to bring to fruition. There are no shortcuts,
> no formulas. Only as effort is made to draw on insights from His Revelation, to tap
> into the accumulating knowledge of the human race, to apply His teachings intelligently
> to the life of humanity, and to consult on the questions that arise will the necessary
> learning occur and capacity be developed.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, Riḍván 2010 message to the Bahá’ís of the World)
> 
> [150]
> 
> Numerous, of course, are the questions that the process of learning, now under way
> in all regions of the world, must address:  how to bring people of different backgrounds
> together in an environment which, devoid of the constant threat of conflict and distinguished
> by its devotional character, encourages them to put aside the divisive ways of a partisan
> mindset, fosters higher degrees of unity of thought and action, and elicits wholehearted
> participation; how to administer the affairs of a community in which there is no ruling
> class with priestly functions that can lay claim to distinction or privilege; how
> to enable contingents of men and women to break free from the confines of passivity
> and the chains of oppression in order to engage in activities conducive to their spiritual,
> social and intellectual development; how to help youth navigate through a crucial
> stage of their lives and become empowered to direct their energies towards the advancement
> of civilization; how to create dynamics within the family unit that lead to material
> and spiritual prosperity without instilling in the rising generations feelings of
> estrangement towards an illusory “other” or nurturing any instinct to exploit those
> relegated to this category; how to make it possible for decision making to benefit
> from a diversity of perspectives through a consultative process which, understood
> as the collective investigation of reality, promotes detachment from personal views,
> gives due importance to valid empirical information, does not raise mere opinion to
> the status of fact or define truth as the compromise between opposing interest groups.
> To explore questions such as these and the many others certain to arise, the Bahá’í
> community has adopted a mode of operation characterized by action, reflection, consultation
> and study—study which involves not only constant reference to the writings of the
> Faith but also the scientific analysis of patterns unfolding. Indeed, how to maintain
> such a mode of learning in action, how to ensure that growing numbers participate
> in the generation and application of relevant knowledge, and how to devise structures
> for the systemization of an expanding worldwide experience and for the equitable distribution
> of the lessons learned—these are, themselves, the object of regular examination.
> 
> The overall direction of the process of learning that the Bahá’í community is pursuing
> is guided by a series of global plans, the provisions of which are established by
> the Universal House of Justice. Capacity building is the watchword of these plans:
> they aim at enabling the protagonists of collective effort to strengthen the spiritual
> foundations of villages and neighbourhoods, to address certain of their social and
> economic needs, and to contribute to the discourses prevalent in society, all while
> maintaining the necessary coherence in methods and approaches.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 2 March 2013 to the Bahá’ís
> of Iran)
> 
> [151]
> 
> Central to the effort to advance the work of expansion and consolidation, social action,
> and the involvement in the discourses of society is the notion of an evolving conceptual
> framework, a matrix that organizes thought and gives shape to activities and which
> becomes more elaborate as experience accumulates. It would be fruitful if the elements
> of this framework … can be consciously and progressively clarified…. Perhaps the most
> important of these is learning in action; the friends participate in an ongoing process
> of action, reflection, study, and consultation in order to address obstacles and share
> successes, re-examine and revise strategies and methods, and systematize and improve
> efforts over time.
> 
> (From a letter dated 24 July 2013 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to a National Spiritual Assembly)
> 
> [152]
> 
> The Bahá’í approach to the questions you have raised is one which will be worked out
> over time through patient and persistent effort and by the process of learning in
> which the Bahá’í community is engaged. This process will be augmented by research
> and discussion and by attempts to correlate the teachings with modern thought, including
> the identification of similarities and distinctions between the teachings and contemporary
> social constructs. Involvement in the discourses of society by believers in various
> social spaces will sharpen the insights gained. Ongoing study of the teachings and
> systematic endeavour to translate Bahá’í principles into action by engaging in the
> processes of community building, education of children and youth, and social action
> will assist in refining our grasp of Bahá’u’lláh’s intention for humanity in all areas
> of life. In the years ahead, the ability of the Bahá’í community to contribute to
> thought-shaping social change will increase, and answers to questions that appear
> to be unsolvable today will become apparent through a process of organic change, rather
> than as a result of imposing particular perspectives.
> 
> (From a letter dated 21 January 2014 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to an individual believer)
> 
> [153]
> 
> In many ways, the communities that have progressed furthest are tracing an inviting
> path for others to follow. Yet whatever the level of activity in a cluster, it is
> the capacity for learning among the local friends, within a common framework, that
> fosters progress along the path of development. Everyone has a share in this enterprise;
> the contribution of each serves to enrich the whole. The most dynamic clusters are
> those in which, irrespective of the resources the community possesses or the number
> of activities being undertaken, the friends appreciate that their task is to identify
> what is required for progress to occur—the nascent capacity that must be nurtured,
> the new skill that must be acquired, the initiators of a fledgling effort who must
> be accompanied, the space for reflection that must be cultivated, the collective endeavour
> that must be coordinated—and then find creative ways in which the necessary time and
> resources can be made available to achieve it. The very fact that each set of circumstances
> presents its own challenges is enabling every community not simply to benefit from
> what is being learned in the rest of the Bahá’í world but also to add to that body
> of knowledge. Awareness of this reality frees one from the fruitless search for a
> rigid formula for action while still allowing the insights gleaned in diverse settings
> to inform the process of growth as it takes a particular shape in one’s own surroundings.
> This entire approach is completely at odds with narrow conceptions of “success” and
> “failure” that breed freneticism or paralyse volition. Detachment is needed. When
> effort is expended wholly for the sake of God then all that occurs belongs to Him
> and every victory won in His Name is an occasion to celebrate His praise.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, Riḍván 2014 message to the Bahá’ís of the World)
> 
> [154]
> 
> … the capacity for learning, which represented such a priceless legacy of previous
> Plans, is being extended beyond the realm of expansion and consolidation to encompass
> other areas of Bahá’í endeavour, notably social action and participation in the prevalent
> discourses of society.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 29 December 2015 to the Conference
> of the Continental Boards of Counsellors)
> 
> [155]
> 
> Consultation and Collaboration
> 
> O people of God!  Give ear unto that which, if heeded, will ensure the freedom, well-being,
> tranquillity, exaltation and advancement of all men. Certain laws and principles are
> necessary and indispensable for Persia. However, it is fitting that these measures
> should be adopted in conformity with the considered views of His Majesty—may God aid
> him through His grace—and of the learned divines and of the high-ranking rulers. Subject
> to their approval a place should be fixed where they would meet. There they should
> hold fast to the cord of consultation and adopt and enforce that which is conducive
> to the security, prosperity, wealth and tranquillity of the people. For were any measure
> other than this to be adopted, it could not but result in chaos and commotion.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
> , pp. 92–93)
> 
> [156]
> 
> The Great Being saith:  The heaven of divine wisdom is illumined with the two luminaries
> of consultation and compassion. Take ye counsel together in all matters, inasmuch
> as consultation is the lamp of guidance which leadeth the way, and is the bestower
> of understanding.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
> , p. 168)
> 
> [157]
> 
> If ye travel the countries of the globe ye shall observe on one side the remains of
> ruin and destruction, while on the other ye shall see the signs of civilization and
> development. Such desolation and ruin are the result of war, strife and quarreling,
> while all development and progress are fruits of the lights of virtue, cooperation
> and concord.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> , par. 225.15)
> 
> [158]
> 
> In short, whatsoever thing is arranged in harmony and with love and purity of motive,
> its result is light, and should the least trace of estrangement prevail the result
> shall be darkness upon darkness…. Discussions must all be confined to spiritual matters
> that pertain to the training of souls, the instruction of children, the relief of
> the poor, the help of the feeble throughout all classes in the world, kindness to
> all peoples, the diffusion of the fragrances of God and the exaltation of His Holy
> Word.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, cited by Shoghi Effendi in a letter dated 5 March 1922, in
> Bahá’í Administration
> , p. 22)
> 
> [159]
> 
> Man must consult on all matters, whether major or minor, so that he may become cognizant
> of what is good. Consultation giveth him insight into things and enableth him to delve
> into questions which are unknown. The light of truth shineth from the faces of those
> who engage in consultation…. The members who are consulting, however, should behave
> in the utmost love, harmony and sincerity towards each other. The principle of consultation
> is one of the most fundamental elements of the divine edifice. Even in their ordinary
> affairs the individual members of society should consult.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [160]
> 
> Some of the creatures of existence can live solitary and alone. A tree, for instance,
> may live without the assistance and cooperation of other trees. Some animals are isolated
> and lead a separate existence away from their kind. But this is impossible for man.
> In his life and being cooperation and association are essential. Through association
> and meeting we find happiness and development, individual and collective.
> 
> For instance, when there is intercourse and cooperation between two villages, the
> advancement of each will be assured. Likewise, if intercommunication is established
> between two cities, both will benefit and progress. And if a reciprocal basis of agreement
> be reached between two countries, their individual and mutual interests will find
> great development…. It is evident, then, that the outcomes from this basis of agreement
> and accord are numberless and unlimited.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Promulgation of Universal Peace
> , p. 48)
> 
> [161]
> 
> The supreme need of humanity is cooperation and reciprocity. The stronger the ties
> of fellowship and solidarity amongst men, the greater will be the power of constructiveness
> and accomplishment in all the planes of human activity. Without cooperation and reciprocal
> attitude the individual member of human society remains self-centered, uninspired
> by altruistic purposes, limited and solitary in development like the animal and plant
> organisms of the lower kingdoms.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Promulgation of Universal Peace
> , pp. 478–479)
> 
> [162]
> 
> The Ancient Beauty, exalted be His Most Great Name, states:  “The canopy of world
> order is upraised upon the two pillars of consultation and compassion,” and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> in one of His Tablets asserts:  “The purpose of consultation is to show that the views
> of several individuals are assuredly preferable to one man, even as the power of a
> number of men is of course greater than the power of one man. Thus consultation is
> acceptable in the presence of the Almighty, and hath been enjoined upon the believers,
> so that they may confer upon ordinary and personal matters, as well as on affairs
> which are general in nature and universal. For instance, when a man hath a project
> to accomplish, should he consult with some of his brethren, that which is agreeable
> will of course be investigated and unveiled to his eyes, and the truth will be disclosed.
> Likewise on a higher level, should the people of a village consult one another about
> their affairs, the right solution will certainly be revealed. In like manner, the
> members of each profession, such as in industry, should consult, and those in commerce
> should similarly consult on business affairs. In short, consultation is desirable
> and acceptable in all things and on all issues.”
> 
> (Shoghi Effendi, from a letter dated 15 February 1922 written to a Local Spiritual
> Assembly—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [163]
> 
> The principle of consultation, which constitutes one of the basic laws of the Administration,
> should be applied to all Bahá’í activities which affect the collective interests of
> the Faith, for it is through co-operation and continual exchange of thoughts and views
> that the Cause can best safeguard and foster its interests. Individual initiative,
> personal ability and resourcefulness, though indispensable, are, unless supported
> and enriched by the collective experiences and wisdom of the group, utterly incapable
> of achieving such a tremendous task.
> 
> (From a letter dated 30 August 1933 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> [164]
> 
> There is nothing that can better ensure the success of your efforts than this close
> and continued consultation, and he would therefore advise you to adopt this method
> in all your future activities.
> 
> (From a letter dated 30 May 1937 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to two believers)
> 
> [165]
> 
> It is with such thoughts in mind that Bahá’ís enter into collaboration, as their resources
> permit, with an increasing number of movements, organizations, groups and individuals,
> establishing partnerships that strive to transform society and further the cause of
> unity, promote human welfare, and contribute to world solidarity. Indeed, the standard
> set by passages such as the above inspires the Bahá’í community to become actively
> engaged in as many aspects of contemporary life as feasible. In choosing areas of
> collaboration, Bahá’ís are to bear in mind the principle, enshrined in their teachings,
> that means should be consistent with ends; noble goals cannot be achieved through
> unworthy means. Specifically, it is not possible to build enduring unity through endeavours
> that require contention or assume that an inherent conflict of interests underlies
> all human interactions, however subtly. It should be noted here that, despite the
> limitations imposed by adherence to this principle, the community has not experienced
> a shortage of opportunities for collaboration; so many people in the world today are
> working intensely towards one or another aim which Bahá’ís share. In this respect,
> they also take care not to overstep certain bounds with their colleagues and associates.
> They are not to regard any joint undertaking as an occasion to impose religious convictions.
> Self-righteousness and other unfortunate manifestations of religious zeal are to be
> utterly avoided. Bahá’ís do, however, readily offer to their collaborators the lessons
> they have learned through their own experience, just as they are happy to incorporate
> into their community-building efforts insights gained through such association.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 2 March 2013 to the Bahá’ís
> of Iran)
> 
> [166]
> 
> In their reflections on how to contribute to the betterment of the world, Bahá’ís
> will undoubtedly recognize that demonstrations are not the only, or even the most
> effective, means available to them. Rather, they can learn and grow in capacity over
> time to help their fellow citizens to frame concerns in a way that rises above fissures,
> to share views in a manner that transcends divisive approaches, and to create and
> participate in spaces to work together in the quest to enact solutions to the problems
> that bedevil their nation. As Bahá’u’lláh stated:  “Say:  no man can attain his true
> station except through his justice. No power can exist except through unity. No welfare
> and no well-being can be attained except through consultation.”  In this light, justice
> is indeed essential to resist the vain imaginings and idle fancies of social and political
> machinations, to see reality with one’s own eyes, and to identify the requirements
> for an equitable social order. But then unity is essential—forged through consultative
> processes, including action and reflection—to achieve the power required for positive
> social change.
> 
> (From a letter dated 27 April 2017 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to an individual believer)
> 
> [167]
> 
> Concepts and principles associated with Bahá’í consultation inform how the friends
> should interact among themselves and how they participate in social discourses and
> social action. Consultation provides a means by which common understanding can be
> reached and a collective course of action defined. It involves a free, respectful,
> dignified, and fair-minded effort on the part of a group of people to exchange views,
> seek truth, and attempt to reach consensus. An initial difference of opinion is the
> starting point for examining an issue in order to reach greater understanding and
> consensus; it should not become a cause of rancor, aversion, or estrangement. By acting
> in unity, a conclusion about a particular course of action may be tested and revised
> as necessary through a process of learning. Otherwise, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explains, “stubbornness
> and persistence in one’s views will lead ultimately to discord and wrangling and the
> truth will remain hidden.”
> 
> (From a letter dated 29 November 2017 written on behalf of the Universal House of
> Justice to three believers)
> 
> [168]
> 
> Utilizing Material Means
> 
> Hold ye fast unto the cord of material means, placing your whole trust in God, the
> Provider of all means.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
> , p. 26)
> 
> [169]
> 
> In this day it is incumbent upon everyone to serve the Cause of God, while He Who
> is the Eternal Truth—exalted be His glory—hath made the fulfilment of every undertaking
> on earth dependent on material means.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [170]
> 
> Wealth is praiseworthy in the highest degree, if it is acquired by an individual’s
> own efforts and the grace of God, in commerce, agriculture, art and industry, and
> if it be expended for philanthropic purposes. Above all, if a judicious and resourceful
> individual should initiate measures which would universally enrich the masses of the
> people, there could be no undertaking greater than this, and it would rank in the
> sight of God as the supreme achievement, for such a benefactor would supply the needs
> and insure the comfort and well-being of a great multitude. Wealth is most commendable,
> provided the entire population is wealthy. If, however, a few have inordinate riches
> while the rest are impoverished, and no fruit or benefit accrues from that wealth,
> then it is only a liability to its possessor. If, on the other hand, it is expended
> for the promotion of knowledge, the founding of elementary and other schools, the
> encouragement of art and industry, the training of orphans and the poor—in brief,
> if it is dedicated to the welfare of society—its possessor will stand out before God
> and man as the most excellent of all who live on earth and will be accounted as one
> of the people of paradise.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Secret of Divine Civilization
> , p. 29)
> 
> [171]
> 
> Thou hast asked about material means and prayer. Prayer is like the spirit and material
> means are like the human hand. The spirit operateth through the instrumentality of
> the hand. Although the one true God is the All-Provider, it is the earth which is
> the means to supply sustenance. “The heaven hath sustenance for you”
> 
> 4
> 
> but when sustenance is decreed it becometh available, whatever the means may be.
> When man refuseth to use material means, he is like a thirsty one who seeketh to quench
> his thirst through means other than water or other liquids. The Almighty Lord is the
> provider of water, and its maker, and hath decreed that it be used to quench man’s
> thirst, but its use is dependent upon His Will. If it should not be in conformity
> with His Will, man is afflicted with a thirst which the oceans cannot quench.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [172]
> 
> O servant of God!  To ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, homelessness is home and the gloomy prison his
> nest. He seeketh a lofty mansion, but in the world of God; he desireth the Frequented
> Fane, but in the heavenly realm. An earthly edifice, even if raised as high as the
> heavens, will ultimately become a ruin, nay, a darkened tomb. Erecting edifices, palaces,
> mansions, and stately homes is acceptable and praiseworthy in the religion of God,
> but one should not become attached to them or set one’s affections upon them. The
> intention should be the advancement of the world and the establishment of human civilization.
> A man of true knowledge and understanding will build public structures, that is, places
> that belong to all—a house of worship, a school to teach children of all ages, a hostel
> for travellers, a hospital—for every public building is a divine edifice, eternal
> and everlasting. Upon thee be greetings and praise.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [173]
> 
> Charity, however, does not necessarily imply a project that would fall within the
> scope of development work; at its simplest, it suggests only the transfer of resources,
> whether financial or of another kind, from those who have plenty to those who have
> insufficient. The motive that prompts such a benevolent act is, of course, laudable—Bahá’u’lláh
> Himself declares that “charity is pleasing and praiseworthy in the sight of God and
> is regarded as a prince among goodly deeds.”  Nevertheless, the manner in which it
> is carried out must be carefully considered. It is important, for instance, to avoid
> any hint of paternalism, and the giver should be conscious of the values implicit
> in any system of redistribution that he or she establishes.
> 
> (From a letter dated 22 October 2012 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to an individual believer)
> 
> [174]
> 
> The future civilization envisaged by Bahá’u’lláh is a prosperous one, in which the
> vast resources of the world will be directed towards humanity’s elevation and regeneration,
> not its debasement and destruction…. Bahá’ís conduct their lives in the midst of a
> society acutely disordered in its material affairs. The process of community building
> they are advancing in their clusters cultivates a set of attitudes towards wealth
> and possessions very different from those holding sway in the world.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 29 December 2015 to the Conference
> of the Continental Boards of Counsellors)
> 
> [175]
> 
> The vision of Bahá’u’lláh challenges many of the assumptions that are allowed to shape
> contemporary discourse—for instance, that self-interest, far from needing to be restrained,
> drives prosperity, and that progress depends upon its expression through relentless
> competition. To view the worth of an individual chiefly in terms of how much one can
> accumulate and how many goods one can consume relative to others is wholly alien to
> Bahá’í thought. But neither are the teachings in sympathy with sweeping dismissals
> of wealth as inherently distasteful or immoral, and asceticism is prohibited. Wealth
> must serve humanity. Its use must accord with spiritual principles; systems must be
> created in their light. And, in Bahá’u’lláh’s memorable words, “No light can compare
> with the light of justice. The establishment of order in the world and the tranquillity
> of the nations depend upon it.”
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 1 March 2017 to the Bahá’ís
> of the World)
> 
> [176]
> 
> Selected Themes Pertaining to Social and Economic Development
> 
> Education
> 
> Man is the supreme Talisman. Lack of a proper education hath, however, deprived him
> of that which he doth inherently possess. Through a word proceeding out of the mouth
> of God he was called into being; by one word more he was guided to recognize the Source
> of his education; by yet another word his station and destiny were safeguarded. The
> Great Being saith:  Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education
> can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
> , pp. 161–162)
> 
> [177]
> 
> We prescribe unto all men that which will lead to the exaltation of the Word of God
> amongst His servants, and likewise, to the advancement of the world of being and the
> uplift of souls. To this end, the greatest means is education of the child. To this
> must each and all hold fast. We have verily laid this charge upon you in manifold
> Tablets as well as in My Most Holy Book. Well is it with him who deferreth thereto.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [178]
> 
> Close investigation will show that the primary cause of oppression and injustice,
> of unrighteousness, irregularity and disorder, is the people’s lack of religious faith
> and the fact that they are uneducated. When, for example, the people are genuinely
> religious and are literate and well-schooled, and a difficulty presents itself, they
> can apply to the local authorities; if they do not meet with justice and secure their
> rights and if they see that the conduct of the local government is incompatible with
> the divine good pleasure and the king’s justice, they can then take their case to
> higher courts and describe the deviation of the local administration from the spiritual
> law. Those courts can then send for the local records of the case and in this way
> justice will be done. At present, however, because of their inadequate schooling,
> most of the population lack even the vocabulary to explain what they want.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Secret of Divine Civilization
> , pp. 21–22)
> 
> [179]
> 
> The primary, the most urgent requirement is the promotion of education. It is inconceivable
> that any nation should achieve prosperity and success unless this paramount, this
> fundamental concern is carried forward. The principal reason for the decline and fall
> of peoples is ignorance. Today the mass of the people are uninformed even as to ordinary
> affairs, how much less do they grasp the core of the important problems and complex
> needs of the time.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Secret of Divine Civilization
> , p. 127)
> 
> [180]
> 
> Observe carefully how education and the arts of civilization bring honor, prosperity,
> independence and freedom to a government and its people.
> 
> It is, furthermore, a vital necessity to establish schools throughout Persia, even
> in the smallest country towns and villages, and to encourage the people in every possible
> way to have their children learn to read and write. If necessary, education should
> even be made compulsory. Until the nerves and arteries of the nation stir into life,
> every measure that is attempted will prove vain; for the people are as the human body,
> and determination and the will to struggle are as the soul, and a soulless body does
> not move. This dynamic power is present to a superlative degree in the very nature
> of the Persian people, and the spread of education will release it.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Secret of Divine Civilization
> , pp. 129–130)
> 
> [181]
> 
> And among the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is the promotion of education. Every child
> must be instructed in sciences as much as is necessary. If the parents are able to
> provide the expenses of this education, it is well, otherwise the community must provide
> the means for the teaching of that child.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, First Tablet to The Hague)
> 
> [182]
> 
> The education and training of children is among the most meritorious acts of humankind
> and draweth down the grace and favor of the All-Merciful, for education is the indispensable
> foundation of all human excellence and alloweth man to work his way to the heights
> of abiding glory.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> , par. 103.1)
> 
> [183]
> 
> It followeth that the children’s school must be a place of utmost discipline and order,
> that instruction must be thorough, and provision must be made for the rectification
> and refinement of character; so that, in his earliest years, within the very essence
> of the child, the divine foundation will be laid and the structure of holiness raised
> up.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> , par. 111.4)
> 
> [184]
> 
> Establish schools that are well organized, and promote the fundamentals of instruction
> in the various branches of knowledge through teachers who are pure and sanctified,
> distinguished for their high standards of conduct and general excellence, and strong
> in faith—scholars and educators with a thorough knowledge of sciences and arts….
> 
> Included must be promotion of the arts, the discovery of new wonders, the expansion
> of trade, and the development of industry. The methods of civilization and the beautification
> of the country must also be encouraged….
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [185]
> 
> One of the friends hath sent us a letter regarding the school at ‘I
> sh
> qábád, to the effect that, praised be God, the friends there are now working hard
> to get the school in order, and have appointed teachers well qualified for their task,
> and that from this time forward the greatest care will be devoted to the supervision
> and management of the school….
> 
> One of the most important of undertakings is the education of children, for success
> and prosperity depend upon service to and worship of God, the Holy, the All-Glorified.
> 
> Among the greatest of all great services is the education of children, and promotion
> of the various sciences, crafts and arts. Praised be God, ye are now exerting strenuous
> efforts toward this end. The more ye persevere in this most important task, the more
> will ye witness the confirmations of God, to such a degree that ye yourselves will
> be astonished.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [186]
> 
> This school is one of the vital and essential institutions which indeed support and
> bulwark the edifice of humankind. God willing, it will develop and be perfected along
> every line. Once this school hath, in every respect, been perfected, once it hath
> been made to flourish and to surpass all other schools, then, each following the other,
> more and more schools must be established.
> 
> Our meaning is that the friends must direct their attention toward the education and
> training of all the children of Persia, so that all of them, having, in the school
> of true learning, achieved the power of understanding and come to know the inner realities
> of the universe, will go on to uncover the signs and mysteries of God, and will find
> themselves illumined by the lights of the knowledge of the Lord, and by His love.
> This truly is the very best way to educate all peoples.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [187]
> 
> Exert every effort to acquire the various branches of knowledge and true understanding.
> Strain every nerve to achieve both material and spiritual accomplishments.
> 
> Encourage the children from their earliest years to master every kind of learning,
> and make them eager to become skilled in every art—the aim being that through the
> favouring grace of God, the heart of each one may become even as a mirror disclosing
> the secrets of the universe, penetrating the innermost reality of all things; and
> that each may earn world-wide fame in all branches of knowledge, science and the arts.
> 
> Certainly, certainly, neglect not the education of the children. Rear them to be possessed
> of spiritual qualities, and be assured of the gifts and favours of the Lord.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [188]
> 
> Your letter was eloquent, its contents original and sensitively expressed, and it
> betokened your great and praiseworthy efforts to educate the children, both girls
> and boys. This is among the most important of all human endeavours. Every possible
> means of education must be made available to Bahá’í children, tender plants of the
> divine garden, for in this consisteth the illumination of humankind.
> 
> Praised be God, the friends in ‘I
> sh
> qábád have laid a solid foundation, an unassailable base. It was in the City of Love
> that the first Bahá’í House of Worship was erected; and today in this city the means
> for the education of children are also being developed, inasmuch as even during the
> war years this duty was not neglected, and indeed deficiencies were made up for. Now
> must ye widen the scope of your endeavours and draw up plans to establish schools
> for higher education, so that the City of Love will become the Bahá’í focal centre
> for science and the arts. Thanks to the bountiful assistance of the Blessed Beauty,
> means for this will be provided.
> 
> Devote ye particular attention to the school for girls, for the greatness of this
> wondrous Age will be manifested as a result of progress in the world of women. This
> is why ye observe that in every land the world of women is on the march, and this
> is due to the impact of the Most Great Manifestation, and the power of the teachings
> of God.
> 
> Instruction in the schools must begin with instruction in religion. Following religious
> training, and the binding of the child’s heart to the love of God, proceed with his
> education in the other branches of knowledge.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [189]
> 
> Make ye every effort to improve the Tarbíyat School and to develop order and discipline
> in this institution. Utilize every means to make this School a garden of the All-Merciful,
> from which the lights of learning will cast their beams, and wherein the children,
> whether Bahá’í or other, will be educated to such a degree as to become God’s gifts
> to man, and the pride of the human race. Let them make the greatest progress in the
> shortest span of time, let them open wide their eyes and uncover the inner realities
> of all things, become proficient in every art and skill, and learn to comprehend the
> secrets of all things even as they are—this faculty being one of the clearly evident
> effects of servitude to the Holy Threshold.
> 
> It is certain that ye will make every effort to bring this about, will also draw up
> plans for the opening of a number of schools. These schools for academic studies must
> at the same time be training centres in behaviour and conduct, and they must favour
> character and conduct above the sciences and arts. Good behaviour and high moral character
> must come first, for unless the character be trained, acquiring knowledge will only
> prove injurious. Knowledge is praiseworthy when it is coupled with ethical conduct
> and virtuous character; otherwise it is a deadly poison, a frightful danger. A physician
> of evil character, and who betrayeth his trust, can bring on death, and become the
> source of numerous infirmities and diseases.
> 
> Devote ye the utmost attention to this matter, for the basic, the foundation-principle
> of a school is first and foremost moral training, character and the rectification
> of conduct.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [190]
> 
> The subjects to be taught in children’s schools are many, and for lack of time We
> can touch on only a few:  First and most important is training in behaviour and good
> character; the rectification of qualities; arousing the desire to become accomplished
> and acquire perfections, and to cleave unto the religion of God and stand firm in
> His Laws:  to accord total obedience to every just government, to show forth loyalty
> and trustworthiness to the ruler of the time, to be well wishers of mankind, to be
> kind to all.
> 
> And further, as well as in the ideals of character, instruction in such arts and sciences
> as are of benefit, and in foreign tongues. Also, the repeating of prayers for the
> well-being of ruler and ruled; and the avoidance of materialistic works that are current
> among those who see only natural causation, and tales of love, and books that arouse
> the passions.
> 
> To sum up, let all the lessons be entirely devoted to the acquisition of human perfections.
> 
> Here, then, in brief are directions for the curriculum of these schools.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [191]
> 
> Your letter hath come and hath occasioned the utmost joy, with its news that, praised
> be God, in Hamadán a welfare and relief association hath been established. I trust
> that this will become a source of general prosperity and assistance, and that means
> will be provided to set the hearts of the poor and weak at rest, and to educate the
> orphans and other children.
> 
> The question of training the children and looking after the orphans is extremely important,
> but most important of all is the education of girl children, for these girls will
> one day be mothers, and the mother is the first teacher of the child. In whatever
> way she reareth the child, so will the child become, and the results of that first
> training will remain with the individual throughout his entire life, and it would
> be most difficult to alter them. And how can a mother, herself ignorant and untrained,
> educate her child?  It is therefore clear that the education of girls is of far greater
> consequence than that of boys. This fact is extremely important, and the matter must
> be seen to with the greatest energy and dedication.
> 
> God sayeth in the Qur’án that they shall not be equals, those who have knowledge and
> those who have it not.
> 
> 5
> 
> Ignorance is thus utterly to be blamed, whether in male or female; indeed, in the
> female its harm is greater. I hope, therefore, that the friends will make strenuous
> efforts to educate their children, sons and daughters alike. This is verily the truth,
> and outside the truth there is manifestly naught save perdition.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Arabic and Persian)
> 
> [192]
> 
> In this new and wondrous Cause, the advancement of all branches of knowledge is a
> fixed and vital principle, and the friends, one and all, are obligated to make every
> effort toward this end, so that the Cause of the Manifest Light may be spread abroad,
> and that every child, according to his need, will receive his share of the sciences
> and arts—until not even a single peasant’s child will be found who is completely devoid
> of schooling.
> 
> It is essential that the fundamentals of knowledge be taught; essential that all should
> be able to read and write. Wherefore is this new institution most worthy of praise,
> and its programme to be encouraged. The hope is that other villages will take you
> for a model, and that in every village where there is a certain number of believers,
> a school will be founded where the children can study reading, writing, and basic
> knowledge.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [193]
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh has announced that inasmuch as ignorance and lack of education are barriers
> of separation among mankind, all must receive training and instruction. Through this
> provision the lack of mutual understanding will be remedied and the unity of mankind
> furthered and advanced. Universal education is a universal law.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Promulgation of Universal Peace
> , p. 417)
> 
> [194]
> 
> Among the sacred obligations devolving upon the Spiritual Assemblies is the promotion
> of learning, the establishing of schools and creation of the necessary academic equipment
> and facilities for every boy and girl.
> 
> Every child, without exception, must from his earliest years make a thorough study
> of the art of reading and writing, and according to his own tastes and inclinations
> and the degree of his capacity and powers, devote extreme diligence to the acquisition
> of learning beneficial arts and skills, various languages, speech, and contemporary
> technology.
> 
> To assist the children of the poor in the attainment of these accomplishments, and
> particularly in learning the basic subjects, is incumbent upon the members of the
> Spiritual Assemblies, and is accounted as one of the obligations laid upon the conscience
> of the trustees of God in every land.
> 
> “He that bringeth up his son or the son of another, it is as though he hath brought
> up a son of Mine; upon him rest My Glory, My Loving-Kindness, My Mercy, that have
> compassed the world.”
> 
> (Shoghi Effendi, from a letter dated 8 June 1925 written to the Spiritual Assemblies
> of the East—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [195]
> 
> You had asked about poverty and wealth, and the toil of the poor and the comfort of
> the rich, and you had expressed your amazement and wonder at this situation….
> 
> The intent is not, however, to say that all the poor will become rich and they will
> become equal. Such a concept is like saying that all the ignorant and the illiterate
> will become the sages of the age and the learned of the learned. Rather, when education
> becomes compulsory and universal, ignorance and illiteracy will decrease and there
> will remain no one deprived of education. But, as the basis for distinction is in
> the person’s capacity and ability, and differences are related to the degree of his
> intelligence and mental powers, therefore, all the people will not be equal in their
> knowledge, learning and understanding. The intent is to say that the world of creation
> calls for distinctions in people’s stations, and degrees in the differences existing
> among them, so that the affairs of the world may become organized and ordered. Diversity
> in all created things, whether in kind, in physical appearance, or in station, is
> the means for their protection, their permanence, unity and harmony. Each part complements
> the other.
> 
> (From a letter dated 22 May 1928 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [196]
> 
> … Bahá’u’lláh considered education as one of the most fundamental factors of a true
> civilization. This education, however, in order to be adequate and fruitful, should
> be comprehensive in nature and should take into consideration not only the physical
> and the intellectual side of man but also his spiritual and ethical aspects.
> 
> (From a letter dated 9 July 1931 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> [197]
> 
> You have asked him for detailed information concerning the Bahá’í educational programme.
> There is as yet no such thing as a Bahá’í curriculum, and there are no Bahá’í publications
> exclusively devoted to this subject, since the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> do not present a definite and detailed educational system, but simply offer certain
> basic principles and set forth a number of teaching ideals that should guide future
> Bahá’í educationalists in their efforts to formulate an adequate teaching curriculum
> which would be in full harmony with the spirit of the Bahá’í Teachings, and would
> thus meet the requirements and needs of the modern age.
> 
> These basic principles are available in the sacred writings of the Cause, and should
> be carefully studied, and gradually incorporated in various college and university
> programmes. But the task of formulating a system of education which would be officially
> recognized by the Cause, and enforced as such throughout the Bahá’í world, is one
> which [the] present-day generation of believers cannot obviously undertake, and which
> has to be gradually accomplished by Bahá’í scholars and educationalists of the future.
> 
> (From a letter dated 7 June 1939 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> [198]
> 
> Education is a vast field, and educational theories abound. Surely many have considerable
> merit, but it should be remembered that none is free of assumptions about the nature
> of the human being and society. An educational process should, for example, create
> in a child awareness of his or her potentialities, but the glorification of self has
> to be scrupulously avoided. So often in the name of building confidence the ego is
> bolstered. Similarly, play has its place in the education of the young. Children and
> junior youth, however, have proven time and again their capacity to engage in discussions
> on abstract subjects, undertaken at a level appropriate to their age, and derive great
> joy from the serious pursuit of understanding. An educational process that dilutes
> content in a mesmerizing sea of entertainment does them no service.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 12 December 2011 to all National
> Spiritual Assemblies)
> 
> [199]
> 
> Agriculture
> 
> Whilst in the Prison of ‘Akká, We revealed in the Crimson Book that which is conducive
> to the advancement of mankind and to the reconstruction of the world. The utterances
> set forth therein by the Pen of the Lord of creation include the following which constitute
> the fundamental principles for the administration of the affairs of men:
> 
> First:  It is incumbent upon the ministers of the House of Justice to promote the
> Lesser Peace so that the people of the earth may be relieved from the burden of exorbitant
> expenditures. This matter is imperative and absolutely essential, inasmuch as hostilities
> and conflict lie at the root of affliction and calamity.
> 
> Second:  Languages must be reduced to one common language to be taught in all the
> schools of the world.
> 
> Third:  It behoveth man to adhere tenaciously unto that which will promote fellowship,
> kindliness and unity.
> 
> Fourth:  Everyone, whether man or woman, should hand over to a trusted person a portion
> of what he or she earneth through trade, agriculture or other occupation, for the
> training and education of children, to be spent for this purpose with the knowledge
> of the Trustees of the House of Justice.
> 
> Fifth:  Special regard must be paid to agriculture. Although it hath been mentioned
> in the fifth place, unquestionably it precedeth the others.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
> , pp. 89–90)
> 
> [200]
> 
> Thou hadst made reference in thy letter to agriculture. On this matter He hath laid
> down the following universal rule that it is incumbent upon everyone, even should
> he be resident in a particular land for no more than a single day, to become engaged
> in some craft or trade, or agriculture, and that the very pursuit of such a calling
> is, in the eyes of the one true God, identical with worship. This rule was exemplified
> by the Bahá’í community at the time when they were facing exile from ‘Iráq, for, while
> they were making arrangements for their journey, they occupied themselves in cultivating
> the land; and when they set out, instructions were given for the fruits of their labours
> to be distributed amongst the friends.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [201]
> 
> And if, as you pass by fields and plantations, where the plants, flowers and sweet-smelling
> herbs are growing luxuriantly together, forming a pattern of unity, this is an evidence
> of the fact that that plantation and garden is flourishing under the care of a skilful
> gardener. But when you see it in a state of disorder and irregularity you infer that
> it has lacked the training of an efficient farmer and thus has produced weeds and
> tares.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, First Tablet to The Hague)
> 
> [202]
> 
> Strive as much as possible to become proficient in the science of agriculture, for
> in accordance with the divine teachings the acquisition of sciences and the perfection
> of arts are considered acts of worship. If a man engageth with all his power in the
> acquisition of a science or in the perfection of an art, it is as if he has been worshiping
> God in churches and temples. Thus as thou enterest a school of agriculture and strivest
> in the acquisition of that science thou art day and night engaged in acts of worship—acts
> that are accepted at the threshold of the Almighty. What bounty greater than this,
> that science should be considered as an act of worship and art as service to the Kingdom
> of God.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> , par. 126.1)
> 
> [203]
> 
> Since thy dear child is taking his examinations, my fervent wish at the divine Threshold
> is that, by the grace and favour of God, he may meet with success, and that in the
> future he may go on to study agriculture and master its various branches, practical
> and theoretical. Agriculture is a noble science and, should thy son become proficient
> in this field, he will become a means of providing for the comfort of untold numbers
> of people.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [204]
> 
> Commerce, agriculture and industry should not, in truth, be a bar to service of the
> one true God. Indeed, such occupations are most potent instruments and clear proofs
> for the manifestation of the evidences of one’s piety, of one’s trustworthiness and
> of the virtues of the All-Merciful Lord.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [205]
> 
> The crisis that exists in the world is not confined to the farmers. Its effects have
> reached every means of livelihood. The farmers are in a sense better off because they
> at least have food to eat. But on the whole the crisis is serving a great purpose.
> It is broadening the outlook of man, teaching him to think internationally, forcing
> him to take into consideration the welfare of his neighbours if he wishes to improve
> his own condition.
> 
> (From a letter dated 2 March 1932 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> [206]
> 
> Economics
> 
> O My Servants!  Ye are the trees of My garden; ye must give forth goodly and wondrous
> fruits, that ye yourselves and others may profit therefrom. Thus it is incumbent on
> every one to engage in crafts and professions, for therein lies the secret of wealth,
> O men of understanding!  For results depend upon means, and the grace of God shall
> be all-sufficient unto you. Trees that yield no fruit have been and will ever be for
> the fire.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh, The Hidden Words, Persian, no. 80)
> 
> [207]
> 
> Should these sublime teachings be diffused, mankind shall be freed from all perils,
> from all chronic ills and sicknesses. In like manner are the Bahá’í economic principles
> the embodiment of the highest aspirations of all wage-earning classes and of economists
> of various schools.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablet to Dr. Forel)
> 
> [208]
> 
> To state the matter briefly, the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh advocate voluntary sharing,
> and this is a greater thing than the equalization of wealth. For equalization must
> be imposed from without, while sharing is a matter of free choice.
> 
> Man reacheth perfection through good deeds, voluntarily performed, not through good
> deeds the doing of which was forced upon him. And sharing is a personally chosen righteous
> act:  that is, the rich should extend assistance to the poor, they should expend their
> substance for the poor, but of their own free will, and not because the poor have
> gained this end by force. For the harvest of force is turmoil and the ruin of the
> social order. On the other hand voluntary sharing, the freely-chosen expending of
> one’s substance, leadeth to society’s comfort and peace. It lighteth up the world;
> it bestoweth honor upon humankind.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> , pars. 79.2–79.3)
> 
> [209]
> 
> O my spiritual friends!  Among the greatest means of achieving modern advancements,
> the prosperity of nations, and the civilization of the peoples is the establishment
> of companies for commerce, industry, and other sources of wealth, inasmuch as a company
> is a symbol of oneness, unity, and harmony in the Cause of God. It is most difficult
> for humankind to succeed in anything singly, but when an assemblage is formed and
> a company established, the members will be enabled jointly to accomplish great tasks.
> Consider, for instance, an army. If each soldier were to enter into combat singly,
> he would be fighting with the force of one man, but when a troop is formed, each member
> of that troop resisteth with a thousand-fold power, for the power of a thousand individuals
> is converged upon one point. It is the same in other matters. However, every business
> company should be established on divine principles. Its foundations should be trustworthiness,
> piety, and truthfulness, in order to protect the rights of the people and to become,
> as day followeth day, a magnet of fidelity, so that the confirmations of the All-Glorious
> may be unveiled. Moreover, a legitimate company must needs exert all within its power
> to safeguard the rights of the people in all matters, whether great or small, and
> to administer the affairs of the company with the utmost perfection, uprightness,
> and care. If it be so conducted, that company, beyond a shadow of a doubt, will become
> the embodiment of blessings, and that assemblage will attract the confirmations of
> the Lord of all bounties and, safe under the protection of the Greatest Name, will
> remain shielded from every misfortune. Upon you be greetings and praise.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [210]
> 
> The question of economics must commence with the farmer and then be extended to the
> other classes inasmuch as the number of farmers is far greater than all other classes.
> Therefore, it is fitting to begin with the farmer in matters related to economics
> for the farmer is the first active agent in human society. In brief, from among the
> wise men in every village a board should be set up and the affairs of that village
> should be under the control of that board. Likewise a general storehouse should be
> founded with the appointment of a secretary. At the time of the harvest, under the
> direction of that board, a certain percentage of the entire harvest should be appropriated
> for the storehouse.
> 
> The storehouse has seven revenues:  Tithes, taxes on animals, property without an
> heir, all lost objects found whose owners cannot be traced, one third of all treasure-trove,
> one third of the produce of all mines, and voluntary contributions.
> 
> This storehouse also has seven expenditures:
> 
> General running expenses of the storehouse, such as the salary of the secretary and
> the administration of public health.
> 
> Tithes to the government.
> 
> Taxes on animals to the government.
> 
> Costs of running an orphanage.
> 
> Costs of running a home for the incapacitated.
> 
> Costs of running a school.
> 
> Payment of subsidies to provide needed support of the poor.
> 
> The first revenue is the tithe. It should be collected as follows:  If, for instance,
> the income of a person is five hundred dollars and his necessary expenses are the
> same, no tithes will be collected from him. If another’s expenses are five hundred
> dollars while his income is one thousand dollars, one tenth will be taken from him,
> for he hath more than his needs; if he giveth one tenth of the surplus, his livelihood
> will not be adversely affected. If another’s expenses are one thousand dollars, and
> his income is five thousand dollars, as he hath four thousand dollars surplus he will
> be required to give one and a half tenths. If another person hath necessary expenses
> of one thousand dollars, but his income is ten thousand dollars, from him two tenths
> will be required for his surplus represents a large sum. But if the necessary expenses
> of another person are four or five thousand dollars, and his income one hundred thousand,
> one fourth will be required from him. On the other hand, should a person’s income
> be two hundred, but his needs absolutely essential for his livelihood be five hundred
> dollars, and provided he hath not been remiss in his work or his farm hath not been
> blessed with a harvest, such a one must receive help from the general storehouse so
> that he may not remain in need and may live in comfort.
> 
> A certain amount must be put aside from the general storehouse for the orphans of
> the village and a certain sum for the incapacitated. A certain amount must be provided
> from this storehouse for those who are needy and incapable of earning a livelihood,
> and a certain amount for the village’s system of education. And, a certain amount
> must be set aside for the administration of public health. If anything is left in
> the storehouse, that must be transferred to the general treasury of the nation for
> national expenditures.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [211]
> 
> One must therefore enact such laws and regulations as will moderate the excessive
> fortunes of the few and meet the basic needs of the myriad millions of the poor, that
> a degree of moderation may be achieved.
> 
> However, absolute equality is just as untenable, for complete equality in wealth,
> power, commerce, agriculture, and industry would result in chaos and disorder, disrupt
> livelihoods, provoke universal discontent, and undermine the orderly conduct of the
> affairs of the community. For unjustified equality is also fraught with peril. It
> is preferable, then, that some measure of moderation be achieved, and by moderation
> is meant the enactment of such laws and regulations as would prevent the unwarranted
> concentration of wealth in the hands of the few and satisfy the essential needs of
> the many. For instance, the factory owners reap a fortune every day, but the wage
> the poor workers are paid cannot even meet their daily needs:  This is most unfair,
> and assuredly no just man can accept it. Therefore, laws and regulations should be
> enacted which would grant the workers both a daily wage and a share in a fourth or
> fifth of the profits of the factory in accordance with its means, or which would have
> the workers equitably share in some other way in the profits with the owners. For
> the capital and the management come from the latter and the toil and labour from the
> former. The workers could either be granted a wage that adequately meets their daily
> needs, as well as a right to a share in the revenues of the factory when they are
> injured, incapacitated, or unable to work, or else a wage could be set that allows
> the workers to both satisfy their daily needs and save a little for times of weakness
> and incapacity.
> 
> If matters were so arranged, neither would the factory owners amass each day a fortune
> which is absolutely of no use to them—for should one’s fortune increase beyond measure,
> one would come under a most heavy burden, become subject to exceeding hardships and
> troubles, and find the administration of such an excessive fortune to be most difficult
> and to exhaust one’s natural powers—nor would the workers endure such toil and hardship
> as to become incapacitated and to fall victim, at the end of their lives, to the direst
> need.
> 
> It is therefore clearly established that the appropriation of excessive wealth by
> a few individuals, notwithstanding the needs of the masses, is unfair and unjust,
> and that, conversely, absolute equality would also disrupt the existence, welfare,
> comfort, peace, and orderly life of the human race. Such being the case, the best
> course is therefore to seek moderation, which is for the wealthy to recognize the
> advantages of moderation in the acquisition of profits and to show regard for the
> welfare of the poor and the needy, that is, to fix a daily wage for the workers and
> also to allot them a share of the total profits of the factory.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> Some Answered Questions
> , pp. 316–318)
> 
> [212]
> 
> Among the results of the manifestation of spiritual forces will be that the human
> world will adapt itself to a new social form, the justice of God will become manifest
> throughout human affairs, and human equality will be universally established. The
> poor will receive a great bestowal, and the rich attain eternal happiness. For although
> at the present time the rich enjoy the greatest luxury and comfort, they are nevertheless
> deprived of eternal happiness; for eternal happiness is contingent upon giving, and
> the poor are everywhere in the state of abject need. Through the manifestation of
> God’s great equity the poor of the world will be rewarded and assisted fully, and
> there will be a readjustment in the economic conditions of mankind so that in the
> future there will not be the abnormally rich nor the abject poor. The rich will enjoy
> the privilege of this new economic condition as well as the poor, for owing to certain
> provisions and restrictions they will not be able to accumulate so much as to be burdened
> by its management, while the poor will be relieved from the stress of want and misery.
> The rich will enjoy his palace, and the poor will have his comfortable cottage.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Promulgation of Universal Peace
> , pp. 182–183)
> 
> [213]
> 
> … Bahá’u’lláh set forth principles of guidance and teaching for economic readjustment.
> Regulations were revealed by Him which ensure the welfare of the commonwealth. As
> the rich man enjoys his life surrounded by ease and luxuries, so the poor man must,
> likewise, have a home and be provided with sustenance and comforts commensurate with
> his needs. This readjustment of the social economy is of the greatest importance inasmuch
> as it ensures the stability of the world of humanity; and until it is effected, happiness
> and prosperity are impossible.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Promulgation of Universal Peace
> , p. 252)
> 
> [214]
> 
> One of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings is the adjustment of means of livelihood in human society.
> Under this adjustment there can be no extremes in human conditions as regards wealth
> and sustenance. For the community needs financier, farmer, merchant and laborer just
> as an army must be composed of commander, officers and privates. All cannot be commanders;
> all cannot be officers or privates. Each in his station in the social fabric must
> be competent—each in his function according to ability but with justness of opportunity
> for all….
> 
> Difference of capacity in human individuals is fundamental. It is impossible for all
> to be alike, all to be equal, all to be wise. Bahá’u’lláh has revealed principles
> and laws which will accomplish the adjustment of varying human capacities. He has
> said that whatsoever is possible of accomplishment in human government will be effected
> through these principles. When the laws He has instituted are carried out, there will
> be no millionaires possible in the community and likewise no extremely poor. This
> will be effected and regulated by adjusting the different degrees of human capacity.
> The fundamental basis of the community is agriculture, tillage of the soil. All must
> be producers. Each person in the community whose need is equal to his individual producing
> capacity shall be exempt from taxation. But if his income is greater than his needs,
> he must pay a tax until an adjustment is effected. That is to say, a man’s capacity
> for production and his needs will be equalized and reconciled through taxation. If
> his production exceeds, he will pay a tax; if his necessities exceed his production,
> he shall receive an amount sufficient to equalize or adjust. Therefore, taxation will
> be proportionate to capacity and production, and there will be no poor in the community.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Promulgation of Universal Peace
> , pp. 301–303)
> 
> [215]
> 
> The fundamentals of the whole economic condition are divine in nature and are associated
> with the world of the heart and spirit. This is fully explained in the Bahá’í teaching,
> and without knowledge of its principles no improvement in the economic state can be
> realized. The Bahá’ís will bring about this improvement and betterment but not through
> sedition and appeal to physical force—not through warfare, but welfare. Hearts must
> be so cemented together, love must become so dominant that the rich shall most willingly
> extend assistance to the poor and take steps to establish these economic adjustments
> permanently. If it is accomplished in this way, it will be most praiseworthy because
> then it will be for the sake of God and in the pathway of His service. For example,
> it will be as if the rich inhabitants of a city should say, “It is neither just nor
> lawful that we should possess great wealth while there is abject poverty in this community,”
> and then willingly give their wealth to the poor, retaining only as much as will enable
> them to live comfortably.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Promulgation of Universal Peace
> , p. 334)
> 
> [216]
> 
> He has also received the article you wrote for “The Bahá’í World” on the economic
> teachings of the Cause.
> 
> 6
> 
> As you say, the writings are not so rich on this subject, and many of the issues
> at present baffling the minds of the world are not even mentioned. The primary consideration
> is the spirit that has to permeate our economic life and this will gradually crystallize
> itself into definite institutions and principles that would help to bring about the
> ideal condition foretold by Bahá’u’lláh.
> 
> (From a letter dated 20 December 1931 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to a National
> Spiritual Assembly)
> 
> [217]
> 
> With regard to your wish for reorganizing your business along Bahá’í lines, Shoghi
> Effendi deeply appreciates the spirit that has prompted you to make such a suggestion.
> But he feels, nevertheless, that the time has not yet come for any believer to bring
> about such a fundamental change in the economic structure of our society, however
> restricted may be the field for such an experiment. The economic teachings of the
> Cause, though well known in their main outline, have not yet been sufficiently elaborated
> and systematized to allow anyone to make an exact and thorough application of them,
> even on a restricted scale.
> 
> (From a letter dated 22 May 1935 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> [218]
> 
> There are practically no
> technical
> teachings on economics in the Cause, such as banking, the price system, and others.
> The Cause is not an economic system, nor should its Founders be considered as having
> been
> technical
> economists. The contribution of the Faith to this subject is essentially indirect,
> as it consists in the application of spiritual principles to our present-day economic
> system. Bahá’u’lláh has given us a few basic principles which should guide future
> Bahá’í economists in establishing such institutions as will adjust the economic relationships
> of the world.
> 
> … The Master has definitely stated that wages should be unequal, simply because men
> are unequal in their ability, and hence should receive wages that would correspond
> to their varying capacities and resources. This view seems to contradict the opinion
> of some modern economists. But the friends should have full confidence in the words
> of the Master, and should give preference to His statements over those voiced by our
> so-called modern thinkers….
> 
> … Whatever the progress of the machinery may be, man will have always to toil in order
> to earn his living. Effort is an inseparable part of man’s life. It may take different
> forms with the changing conditions of the world, but it will be always present as
> a necessary element in our earthly existence. Life is after all a struggle. Progress
> is attained through struggle, and without such a struggle life ceases to have a meaning;
> it becomes even extinct. The progress of machinery has not made effort unnecessary.
> It has given it a new form, a new outlet.
> 
> … By the statement “the economic solution is divine in nature” is meant that religion
> alone can, in the last resort, bring in man’s nature such a fundamental change as
> to enable him to adjust the economic relationships of society. It is only in this
> way that man can control the economic forces that threaten to disrupt the foundations
> of his existence, and thus assert his mastery over the forces of nature.
> 
> … As already referred to …, social inequality is the inevitable outcome of the natural
> inequality of men. Human beings are different in ability and should, therefore, be
> different in their social and economic standing. Extremes of wealth and poverty should,
> however, be totally abolished. Those whose brains have contributed to the creation
> and improvement of the means of production must be fairly rewarded, though these means
> may be owned and controlled by others.
> 
> (From a letter dated 26 December 1935 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> [219]
> 
> With regard to your question concerning the Bahá’í attitude towards labour problems:
> these cannot assuredly be solved, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá tells us, through the sheer force of
> physical violence. Non-co-operation too, even though not accompanied by acts of violence,
> is ineffective. The conflict between labour and capital can best be solved through
> the peaceful and constructive methods of co-operation and of consultation.
> 
> (From a letter dated 30 June 1937 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> [220]
> 
> Regarding your questions concerning the Bahá’í attitude on various economic problems,
> such as the problem of ownership, control and distribution of capital, and of other
> means of production, the problem of trusts and monopolies, and such economic experiments
> as social co-operatives:  the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá do not provide
> specific and detailed solutions to all such economic questions, which mostly pertain
> to the domain of technical economics, and as such do not concern directly the Cause.
> True, there are certain guiding principles in Bahá’í Sacred Writings on the subject
> of economics, but these do by no means cover the whole field of theoretical and applied
> economics, and are mostly intended to guide future Bahá’í economic writers and technicians
> to evolve an economic system which would function in full conformity with the spirit,
> and the exact provisions of the Cause on this and similar subjects. The International
> House of Justice will have, in consultation with economic experts, to assist in the
> formulation and evolution of the Bahá’í economic system of the future. One thing,
> however, is certain:  that the Cause neither accepts the theories of the Capitalistic
> economics in full, nor can it agree with the Marxists and Communists in their repudiation
> of the principle of private ownership and of this vital sacred right of the individual.
> 
> (From a letter dated 10 June 1939 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> [221]
> 
> The ideologies now current in the world are extremely complex. Just as it is difficult
> to identify any longer a coherent system of teachings which could be called Christianity
> and embrace all those who call themselves Christians, so there are many kinds of Communist,
> often stridently at variance with one another. Even more so are there many kinds of
> “Capitalist” in the sense of those who advocate Capitalism as the most desirable form
> of economic system. “The Promise of World Peace” was no place for an analysis of the
> virtues and shortcomings of these various theories, it could but allude to some of
> the most glaring deficiencies produced by extreme variants, and encourage all who
> advocate them to overlook their differences in a search for the real solution of the
> problems afflicting mankind.
> 
> One could postulate two extremes of economic theory:  those who believe that the best
> solution is to remove all governmental control and intervention from the operation
> of the economic system, and those who believe that the functioning of the economic
> system should be closely supervised and adjusted by the State so that society is not
> at the mercy of the system but has it under its control. As has become abundantly
> clear, neither extreme is workable, and proponents of both have gradually come to
> adopt more moderate stances, although there tends to be an oscillation of viewpoints
> in response to changing conditions. It was to the proponents of one of these extremes
> and to the current highly unsatisfactory economic situation in the world that the
> House of Justice was alluding when it referred to those ideologies which have tended
> “to callously abandon starving millions to the operations of a market system that
> all too clearly is aggravating the plight of the majority of mankind, while enabling
> small sections to live in a condition of affluence scarcely dreamed of by our forebears.”
> 
> (From a letter dated 13 November 1985 written on behalf of the Universal House of
> Justice to an individual believer)
> 
> [222]
> 
> 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-Bahá
> 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 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.
> 
> 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.
> 
> (From a letter dated 27 November 2001 written on behalf of the Universal House of
> Justice to an individual believer)
> 
> [223]
> 
> The Universal House of Justice has received your letter … requesting clarification
> on what constitutes an appropriate economic philosophy for our time….
> 
> In your … letter you quote a passage from
> Century of Light
> , which refers to the current reigning system of thought on the planet as morally
> and intellectually bankrupt. The passage suggests to you that capitalism is regarded
> by the Bahá’í community as a useless economic philosophy for future world development.
> You find this stance surprising not only because it is in direct opposition to conclusions
> reached by thinkers today who consider capitalism the only viable system for global
> economic development, but also because it seems to contradict certain statements made
> by Shoghi Effendi. Capitalism has evolved into a system which you would argue is largely,
> if not entirely, consistent with Shoghi Effendi’s statements. You wonder how Bahá’ís
> working in the field of economics are to move forward, when they hold such widely
> differing views on the subject, from those like you who see the Guardian’s remarks
> as support for capitalism to others who believe it should be replaced.
> 
> There are two aspects to the questions you raise. One concerns the statement about
> the moral bankruptcy of today’s dominant world system, and the other is related to
> the validity of economic theories that embrace capitalism. As to the first, the passage
> you quote from
> Century of Light
> is intended as a general statement on the condition of the world, its political and
> economic structures, and the injustices that are tearing away the fabric of present-day
> society. One can rightly denounce as unjust the current global situation, in which
> a relatively few live in opulence while the vast majority of their fellow human beings
> are condemned to a life of utter material poverty. Surely this situation cannot be
> separated from the basic inadequacies of the dominant system of thought and the structures
> and processes to which it has given rise.
> 
> The second aspect of your questions concerns the specifics of economic theory. That,
> as you mention, Bahá’í thinkers adhere to a wide range of views on capitalism and
> its various forms should not be a cause for alarm. On the contrary, the House of Justice
> finds the situation quite healthy and does not wish to elaborate further on the subject
> at this time. You are correct when you make the statement in your … letter that the
> solutions to humanity’s problems are to be found in the application of scientific
> knowledge and the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh to social reality. It is to be expected,
> then, that the Teachings would be brought to bear on the choices humanity has to make
> about how to produce, distribute, multiply, apply and use material means. As is natural
> in the advancement of any science, insights into a proper economic theory will only
> be gained as people with divergent views explore different directions. Criticism of
> current economic practices should not be misconstrued as simply a denunciation of
> capitalism, nor should it be taken as an endorsement of socialism. As you would readily
> agree, the premise of private ownership can give rise to new and better ways than
> current modes of organizing the economic activity of the human race.
> 
> (From a letter dated 31 July 2002 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to an individual believer)
> 
> [224]
> 
> Social justice will be attained only when every member of society enjoys a relative
> degree of material prosperity and gives due regard to the acquisition of spiritual
> qualities. The solution, then, to prevailing economic difficulties is to be sought
> as much in the application of spiritual principles as in the implementation of scientific
> methods and approaches. The family unit offers an ideal setting within which can be
> shaped those moral attributes that contribute to an appropriate view of material wealth
> and its utilization.
> 
> Referring to the exigencies of the material world, Bahá’u’lláh has affirmed that to
> every end has been assigned a means for its accomplishment. A natural conclusion to
> be drawn from reflection on this fundamental principle is that vigilance must be exercised
> in distinguishing “means” from “ends”; otherwise, what is intended as a mere instrument
> could easily become the very goal of an individual’s life. The acquisition of wealth
> is a case in point; it is acceptable and praiseworthy to the extent that it serves
> as a means for achieving higher ends—for meeting one’s basic necessities, for fostering
> the progress of one’s family, for promoting the welfare of society, and for contributing
> to the establishment of a world civilization. But to make the accumulation of wealth
> the central purpose of one’s life is unworthy of any human being.
> 
> An idea closely related to the above, and well in accord with the spirit of the Bahá’í
> teachings, is that the end does not serve to justify the means. However constructive
> and noble the goal, however significant to one’s life or to the welfare of one’s family,
> it must not be attained through improper means. Regrettably, a number of today’s leaders—political,
> social, and religious—as well as some of the directors of financial markets, executives
> of multinational corporations, chiefs of commerce and industry, and ordinary people
> who succumb to social pressure and ignore the call of their conscience, act against
> this principle; they justify any means in order to achieve their goals.
> 
> The legitimacy of wealth depends, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has indicated, on how it is acquired
> and on how it is expended. In this connection, He has stated that “wealth is praiseworthy
> in the highest degree, if it is acquired by an individual’s own efforts and the grace
> of God, in commerce, agriculture, crafts and industry”, if the measures adopted by
> the individual in generating wealth serve to “enrich the generality of the people”,
> and if the wealth thus obtained is expended for “philanthropic purposes” and “the
> promotion of knowledge”, for the establishment of schools and industry and the advancement
> of education, and in general for the welfare of society….
> 
> Many would readily acknowledge that the acquisition of wealth should be governed by
> the requirements of justice, which, as a principle, can be expressed to varying degrees,
> on different levels. An employer and employee, for example, are bound by the laws
> and conventions that regulate their work, and each is expected to carry out his or
> her responsibilities with honesty and integrity. At another level, however, if the
> deeper implications of justice are to be realized, the other two preconditions to
> the legitimate acquisition of wealth mentioned above must be taken into account, and
> prevailing norms reassessed in their light. Here, the relationship between minimum
> wage and the cost of living merits careful evaluation—this, especially in light of
> the contribution workers make to a company’s success and their entitlement, as noted
> by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to a fair share of the profits. The wide margin, often unjustifiable,
> between the production costs of certain goods and the price at which they are sold
> likewise requires attention, as does the question of the generation of wealth through
> measures that “enrich the generality of the people”. What such reflection and inquiry
> will no doubt make abundantly clear is that certain approaches to obtaining wealth—so
> many of which involve the exploitation of others, the monopolization and manipulation
> of markets, and the production of goods that promote violence and immorality—are unworthy
> and unacceptable.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 2 April 2010 to the Believers
> in the Cradle of the Faith)
> 
> [225]
> 
> The welfare of any segment of humanity is inextricably bound up with the welfare of
> the whole. Humanity’s collective life suffers when any one group thinks of its own
> well-being in isolation from that of its neighbours or pursues economic gain without
> regard for how the natural environment, which provides sustenance for all, is affected.
> A stubborn obstruction, then, stands in the way of meaningful social progress:  time
> and again, avarice and self-interest prevail at the expense of the common good. Unconscionable
> quantities of wealth are being amassed, and the instability this creates is made worse
> by how income and opportunity are spread so unevenly both between nations and within
> nations. But it need not be so. However much such conditions are the outcome of history,
> they do not have to define the future, and even if current approaches to economic
> life satisfied humanity’s stage of adolescence, they are certainly inadequate for
> its dawning age of maturity. There is no justification for continuing to perpetuate
> structures, rules, and systems that manifestly fail to serve the interests of all
> peoples. The teachings of the Faith leave no room for doubt:  there is an inherent
> moral dimension to the generation, distribution, and utilization of wealth and resources.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 1 March 2017 to the Bahá’ís
> of the World)
> 
> [226]
> 
> Health
> 
> Let them also study whatever will nurture the health of the body and its physical
> soundness, and how to guard their children from disease.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> , par. 94.3)
> 
> [227]
> 
> Make ye then a mighty effort, that the purity and sanctity which, above all else,
> are cherished by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, shall distinguish the people of Bahá; that in every
> kind of excellence the people of God shall surpass all other human beings; that both
> outwardly and inwardly they shall prove superior to the rest; that for purity, immaculacy,
> refinement, and the preservation of health, they shall be leaders in the vanguard
> of those who know. And that by their freedom from enslavement, their knowledge, their
> self-control, they shall be first among the pure, the free and the wise.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> , par. 129.14)
> 
> [228]
> 
> O handmaiden of the Most High!  Thy letter was received. Thou hast written that thou
> seekest to establish a new hospital and art arranging and planning it together with
> five other Bahá’í doctors. Should such a matter be accomplished, it would be most
> beneficial.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [229]
> 
> If the health and well-being of the body be expended in the path of the Kingdom, this
> is very acceptable and praiseworthy; and if it be expended to the benefit of the human
> world in general—even though it be to their material (or bodily) benefit—and be a
> means of doing good, that is also acceptable. But if the health and welfare of man
> be spent in sensual desires, in a life on the animal plane, and in devilish pursuits—then
> disease were better than such health; nay, death itself were preferable to such a
> life. If thou art desirous of health, wish thou health for serving the Kingdom. I
> hope that thou mayest attain perfect insight, inflexible resolution, complete health,
> and spiritual and physical strength in order that thou mayest drink from the fountain
> of eternal life and be assisted by the spirit of divine confirmation.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, cited in
> Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era:  An Introduction to the Bahá’í Faith
> (Wilmette Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 2006), p. 127)
> 
> [230]
> 
> Healing through purely spiritual forces is undoubtedly as inadequate as that which
> materialist physicians and thinkers vainly seek to obtain by resorting entirely to
> mechanical devices and methods. The best result can be obtained by combining the two
> processes:  spiritual and physical.
> 
> (From a letter dated 12 March 1934 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> [231]
> 
> The enormous energy dissipated and wasted on war, whether economic or political, will
> be consecrated to such ends as will extend the range of human inventions and technical
> development, to the increase of the productivity of mankind, to the extermination
> of disease, to the extension of scientific research, to the raising of the standard
> of physical health, to the sharpening and refinement of the human brain, to the exploitation
> of the unused and unsuspected resources of the planet, to the prolongation of human
> life, and to the furtherance of any other agency that can stimulate the intellectual,
> the moral, and spiritual life of the entire human race.
> 
> (Shoghi Effendi, from a letter dated 11 March 1936, in
> The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh
> , p. 204)
> 
> [232]
> 
> You may be pleased to learn that information on AIDS is incorporated in many Bahá’í
> health education projects in Africa and throughout the world, emphasizing the importance
> of chastity, marital fidelity, the sacredness of marriage and the crucial importance
> of the family as the fundamental unit of society. Education about AIDS and human sexuality
> is likely to be most effective if it is conducted within the context of training focussed
> on the broader, spiritual and moral aspects of life, which would lead to the strengthening
> of families and communities.
> 
> (From a letter dated 15 November 2000 written on behalf of the Universal House of
> Justice to an individual believer)
> 
> [233]
> 
> Arts, Media, and Technology
> 
> It is permissible to study sciences and arts, but such sciences as are useful and
> would redound to the progress and advancement of the people. Thus hath it been decreed
> by Him Who is the Ordainer, the All-Wise.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
> , p. 26)
> 
> [234]
> 
> At the outset of every endeavour, it is incumbent to look to the end of it. Of all
> the arts and sciences, set the children to studying those which will result in advantage
> to man, will ensure his progress and elevate his rank.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
> , p. 168)
> 
> [235]
> 
> Erelong shall We bring into being through thee exponents of new and wondrous sciences,
> of potent and effective crafts, and shall make manifest through them that which the
> heart of none of Our servants hath yet conceived.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> The Summons of the Lord of Hosts:  Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh
> (Wilmette:  Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 2006), pp. 52–53)
> 
> [236]
> 
> “Arts, crafts and sciences uplift the world of being, and are conducive to its exaltation.”
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Epistle to the Son of the Wolf
> , p. 26)
> 
> [237]
> 
> Blessed is he who in the days of God will engage in handicrafts. This is a bounty
> from God, for in this Most Great Dispensation it is acceptable in the sight of God
> for man to occupy himself in a trade which relieveth him of depending upon charity.
> The craft of every craftsman is regarded as worship.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> [238]
> 
> Whatever is written should not transgress the bounds of tact and wisdom, and in the
> words used there should lie hid the property of milk, so that the children of the
> world may be nurtured therewith, and attain maturity. We have said in the past that
> one word hath the influence of spring and causeth hearts to become fresh and verdant,
> while another is like unto blight which causeth the blossoms and flowers to wither.
> God grant that authors among the friends will write in such a way as would be acceptable
> to fair-minded souls, and not lead to cavilling by the people.
> 
> (Bahá’u’lláh, from a Tablet—translated from the Arabic and Persian)
> 
> [239]
> 
> Would the extension of education, the development of useful arts and sciences, the
> promotion of industry and technology, be harmful things?  For such endeavor lifts
> the individual within the mass and raises him out of the depths of ignorance to the
> highest reaches of knowledge and human excellence.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Secret of Divine Civilization
> , p. 17)
> 
> [240]
> 
> It is therefore urgent that beneficial articles and books be written, clearly and
> definitely establishing what the present-day requirements of the people are, and what
> will conduce to the happiness and advancement of society. These should be published
> and spread throughout the nation, so that at least the leaders among the people should
> become, to some degree, awakened, and arise to exert themselves along those lines
> which will lead to their abiding honor. The publication of high thoughts is the dynamic
> power in the arteries of life; it is the very soul of the world. Thoughts are a boundless
> sea, and the effects and varying conditions of existence are as the separate forms
> and individual limits of the waves; not until the sea boils up will the waves rise
> and scatter their pearls of knowledge on the shore of life.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Secret of Divine Civilization
> , p. 127)
> 
> [241]
> 
> Observe for instance that in other countries they persevered over a long period until
> finally they discovered the power of steam and by means of it were enabled easily
> to perform the heavy tasks which were once beyond human strength. How many centuries
> it would take if we were to abandon the use of this power and instead strain every
> nerve to invent a substitute. It is therefore preferable to keep on with the use of
> steam and at the same time continuously to examine into the possibility of there being
> a far greater force available. One should regard the other technological advances,
> sciences, arts and political formulae of proven usefulness in the same light—i.e.,
> those procedures which, down the ages, have time and again been put to the test and
> whose many uses and advantages have demonstrably resulted in the glory and greatness
> of the state, and the well-being and progress of the people. Should all these be abandoned,
> for no valid reason, and other methods of reform be attempted, by the time such reforms
> might eventuate, and their advantages might be put to proof, many years would go by,
> and many lives. Meanwhile, “we are still at the first bend in the road.”
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> The Secret of Divine Civilization
> , pp. 131–132)
> 
> [242]
> 
> In this new and wondrous Age, the unshakable foundation is the teaching of sciences
> and arts. According to explicit Holy Texts, every child must be taught crafts and
> arts, to the degree that is needful. Wherefore, in every city and village, schools
> must be established and every child in that city or village is to engage in study
> to the necessary degree.
> 
> (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> , par. 109.1)
> 
> [243]
> 
> The day will come when the Cause will spread like wildfire when its spirit and teachings
> will be presented on the stage or in art and literature as a whole. Art can better
> awaken such noble sentiments than cold rationalizing, especially among the mass of
> the people.
> 
> (From a letter dated 10 October 1932 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> [244]
> 
> With regard to the … magazine, … he suggests that more emphasis be laid on the number
> and quality of articles, and that the latter be written not only on specific Bahá’í
> subjects, but should cover a wide range of material, whether social, religious or
> humanitarian. The science section is, no doubt, very important and has a special appeal
> to the young and the newcomers.
> 
> (From a letter dated 30 May 1935 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> [245]
> 
> The unity of the human race, as envisaged by Bahá’u’lláh, implies the establishment
> of a world commonwealth in which all nations, races, creeds and classes are closely
> and permanently united, and in which the autonomy of its state members and the personal
> freedom and initiative of the individuals that compose them are definitely and completely
> safeguarded…. The press will, under such a system, while giving full scope to the
> expression of the diversified views and convictions of mankind, cease to be mischievously
> manipulated by vested interests, whether private or public, and will be liberated
> from the influence of contending governments and peoples.
> 
> (Shoghi Effendi, from a letter dated 11 March 1936, in
> The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh
> , pp. 203–204)
> 
> [246]
> 
> Imbued with this excellence and a corresponding humility, with tenacity and a loving
> servitude, today’s youth must move towards the front ranks of the professions, trades,
> arts and crafts which are necessary to the further progress of humankind—this to ensure
> that the spirit of the Cause will cast its illumination on all these important areas
> of human endeavour. Moreover, while aiming at mastering the unifying concepts and
> swiftly advancing technologies of this era of communications, they can, indeed they
> must also guarantee the transmittal to the future of those skills which will preserve
> the marvelous, indispensable achievements of the past.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 8 May 1985 to the Bahá’í Youth
> of the World)
> 
> [247]
> 
> The scientific and technological advances occurring in this unusually blessed century
> portend a great surge forward in the social evolution of the planet, and indicate
> the means by which the practical problems of humanity may be solved. They provide,
> indeed, the very means for the administration of the complex life of a united world.
> Yet barriers persist. Doubts, misconceptions, prejudices, suspicions and narrow self-interest
> beset nations and peoples in their relations one to another.
> 
> (The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated October 1985 to the Peoples
> of the World)
> 
> [248]
> 
> It is useful to bear in mind that the Internet is a reflection of the world around
> us, and we find in its infinitude of pages the same competing forces of integration
> and disintegration that characterize the tumult in which humanity is caught up.
> 
> (From a letter dated 9 April 2008 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to an individual believer)
> 
> [249]
> 
> The capacity of the institutions and agencies of the Faith to build unity of thought
> in their communities, to maintain focus among the friends, to channel their energies
> in service to the Cause, and to promote systematic action depends, to an extent, on
> the degree to which the systems and instruments they employ are responsive to reality,
> that is, to the needs and demands of the local communities they serve and the society
> in which they operate.
> 
> In this connection, we are instructed to provide a word of warning:  The use of technology
> will, of course, be imperative to the development of effective systems and instruments
> …; yet it cannot be allowed to define needs and dictate action.
> 
> (From a letter dated 30 March 2011 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to a National Spiritual Assembly)
> 
> [250]
> 
> There is no doubt that modern technologies can be valuable instruments in the great
> enterprise of building a prosperous world civilization. Surely, however, as an individual
> committed to rural development, you are aware of the potentially destructive forces
> unleashed by a naïve implementation of technology in the name of modernity and globalization.
> For example, the introduction of the agricultural practice of monoculture in rural
> areas, intended to increase efficiency and yield for small landowners, has in some
> instances actually cost them their land; even if there is, ultimately, merit in moving
> toward modern agricultural practices, one cannot be blind to the tremendous cost in
> human suffering that may occur, and which might be mitigated by a change in approach.
> The statement in the letter was a reference to these negative tendencies, and not
> a general condemnation of technological development and progress, which are upheld
> by the teachings of the Faith….
> 
> Bahá’ís involved in projects for social and economic development recognize that there
> are both benefits and pitfalls involved with the use of technology. The key question
> is, therefore, not whether to use technology, but how to use it. Approaches to development
> centred on the donation of goods and services, so characteristic of well-intentioned
> traditional religious charity and the programs of the welfare state, are known to
> have debilitating effects. The initial allure of the promised technologies often proves
> ephemeral. It is to this phenomenon that the phrase “technologies deceptively packaged”
> refers. It is hoped that the friends in the development field will weigh the technical
> issues and social forces involved and bring to bear a profound understanding of both
> science and religion, so that they may contribute to a sound approach that avoids
> the extremes of blind faith in materialism and a romantic attachment to tradition.
> 
> (From a letter dated 30 December 2014 written on behalf of the Universal House of
> Justice to an individual believer)
> 
> [251]
> 
> As you know, technological advancement is integral to the emergence of a global civilization.
> Indeed, the Internet is a manifestation of a development anticipated by the Guardian
> when, in describing the characteristics of a unified humanity, he foresaw that a “mechanism
> of world inter-communication will be devised, embracing the whole planet, freed from
> national hindrances and restrictions, and functioning with marvellous swiftness and
> perfect regularity.”  Yet, learning to utilize the Internet in a manner conducive
> to material and spiritual progress is an immense challenge.
> 
> … However, given that the Internet allows for the instantaneous dissemination of content
> among growing multitudes, wisdom and self-discipline are required lest the significance
> or dignity of the Teachings become compromised by an unbecoming, inaccurate, or trivialized
> presentation…..
> 
> … For example, while it may be beneficial to reflect on the nature and form of the
> core activities, especially in the context of the experience of a cluster or region,
> certain problems arise in attempting to create a site that aims to speak to Bahá’ís
> worldwide about the subject. Such an approach could lead to the cultural norms and
> values of a particular population being promoted to a universal audience—a pattern
> all too prevalent in the world today. There is also the danger of exerting an unintended
> influence on the process of learning unfolding at the grassroots, where individuals,
> communities, and institutions are acting as protagonists of their own growth and development.
> The perspectives offered in the following extract from the message dated 12 December
> 2011 from the House of Justice to all National Spiritual Assemblies—although in the
> specific context of artistic endeavours and supplementary educational materials—are
> especially relevant to aspects of culture mentioned above:
> 
> Propelled by forces generated both within and outside the Bahá’í community, the peoples
> of the earth can be seen to be moving from divergent directions, closer and closer
> to one another, towards what will be a world civilization so stupendous in character
> that it would be futile for us to attempt to imagine it today. As this centripetal
> movement of populations accelerates across the globe, some elements in every culture,
> not in accord with the teachings of the Faith, will gradually fall away, while others
> will be reinforced. By the same token, new elements of culture will evolve over time
> as people hailing from every human group, inspired by the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh,
> give expression to patterns of thought and action engendered by His teachings, in
> part through artistic and literary works…. We long to see, for instance, the emergence
> of captivating songs from every part of the world, in every language, that will impress
> upon the consciousness of the young the profound concepts enshrined in the Bahá’í
> teachings. Yet such an efflorescence of creative thought will fail to materialize,
> should the friends fall, however inadvertently, into patterns prevalent in the world
> that give licence to those with financial resources to impose their cultural perspective
> on others, inundating them with materials and products aggressively promoted.
> 
> (From a letter dated 9 October 2015 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to a National Spiritual Assembly)
> 
> [252]
> 
> One of the most significant developments that mark the unfoldment of the Divine Plan
> at this time has been the advancements at the level of culture that the Bahá’í community
> has experienced and to which the House of Justice has in several of its messages referred.
> These advancements deserve profound reflection. Every devoted believer will surely
> wish to guard and further foster them. Accordingly, the friends must pay heed to their
> manner of communication which can do so much to impact the community’s culture. They
> must aim to raise consciousness without awakening the insistent self, to disseminate
> insight without cultivating a sense of celebrity, to address issues profoundly but
> not court controversy, to remain clear in expression but not descend to crassness
> prevalent in common discourse, and to avoid deliberately or unintentionally setting
> the agenda for the community or, in seeking the approval of society, recasting the
> community’s endeavors in terms that can undermine those very endeavors.
> 
> (From a letter dated 4 April 2018 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to a National Spiritual Assembly)
> 
> [253]
> 
> Notes
> 
> 1
> 
> i.e., Yaḥyá, the Arabic name of John the Baptist, who was titled “the Chaste”. See
> Qur’án 3:39.
> 
> 2
> 
> The first principle referred to in this letter is “the principle that the writings
> of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the Guardian are thoroughly imbued with the spirit of the Revelation
> of Bahá’u’lláh and intimately linked with the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh Himself.”
> See Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1986–2001, the Fourth Epoch of the
> Formative Age
> (Wilmette:  Bahá’í Publishing, 2009), pars. 201.9–201.11.
> 
> 3
> 
> “Social Action:  A paper prepared by the Office of Social and Economic Development
> at the Bahá’í World Centre, 26 November 2012,” published in
> Framework for Action:  Selected Messages of the Universal House of Justice and Supplementary
> Material, 2006–2016
> (West Palm Beach:  Palabra Publications, 2017), pp. 327–350. It is also available
> on the Bahá’í Reference Library.
> 
> 4
> 
> “Qur’án 51:22.
> 
> 5
> 
> Qur’án 39:12.
> 
> 6
> 
> “The World Economy of Bahá’u’lláh” by Horace Holley, in
> The Bahá’í World
> , vol. 4, 1930–1932 (New York:  Bahá’í Publishing Committee, 1933), pp. 351–367.
> 
> This document has been downloaded from the
> Bahá’í Reference Library
> . You are free to use its content subject to the terms of use found at
> www.bahai.org/legal
> 
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