# Education of Children: Principles before Pragmatism

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

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Sandra Rowden-Rich, Education of Children: Principles before Pragmatism, bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> Education of Children:
> 
> Principles before Pragmatism
> 
> Sandra Rowden-Rich
> published in The Family: Our Hopes and Challenges
> 
> Roseberry: Association for Bahá'í Studies Australia, 1995
> 
> The Universal House of Justice in its statement to the peoples of the
> world in 1986 The Promise of World Peace, advises the leaders of government and all
> in authority, when seeking solutions to problems of peace, to raise the context to the
> level of principle, as distinct from pure pragmatism. The leaders should identify the
> spiritual principles involved in the issue, and be guided by them in consultation when
> deciding what action to take.[1]
> 
> Education leaders, teachers, parents, social workers and member of
> school communities should gain skills in identifying the spiritual principles involved in
> the social and learning problems in our schools, before trying to "fix" the
> problem. We should ask ourselves, "What is the spiritual principle involved
> here?" and "In the light of the knowledge of that spiritual principle, let us
> consult on finding the best solution to this problem.".
> 
> Today I will share with you what I have found as I researched the Holy
> Writings of the Bahá'í Faith seeking to identify the spiritual principles of the
> religion, and then we shall look at a couple of case studies from Tasmanian schools, and
> see if, together, we can identify the spiritual principle involved. We probably won't
> have time to consult on finding solutions to the problem. That will be another session.
> Our task today is to identify the spiritual principle in operation in the scenarios.
> 
> Please bear in mind that "the Word of God is the King of words...
> it is an ocean inexhaustible in riches, comprehending all things. Everything which can be
> perceived is but an emanation therefrom".[2]
> 
> In Paris Talks,[3] Abdu'l-Bahá enunciated the following
> principles of the Bahá'í Faith:
> 
> Search after truth.
> 
> Unity of Mankind - all are servants of one God.
> 
> Religion must be the cause of love and affection.
> 
> Science and religion must agree.
> 
> Prejudice must be abolished.
> 
> Means of existence. Everyone must have the right to earn their daily bread and should have the means to earn a livelihood.
> 
> Abolish the extremes of wealth and poverty.
> 
> Equality of men before the law, justice for all, and the principle of reward and punishment.
> 
> Universal peace.
> 
> Non-interference of religion with politics.
> 
> Equality between men and women.
> 
> Power of the Holy Spirit - the energising factor in the life of man. Unless the Holy Spirit breathes into their souls, the great philosophers are powerless, their hearts dead.
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh instructs "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...".[4]
> 
> In the letters to individuals that are contained in Selections from
> the Writing of Abdu'l-Bahá, the Master informs us that in "this age of the
> progress of the world of humanity - we should be self-sacrificing and should serve the
> human race".[5] He tells us that the principles of the divine Manifestations are
> all-universal and all-inclusive. No one is left out. He reminds us to show love though
> deeds, not through the tongue. In a letter to the Executive Committee of the Central
> Organisation for a Durable Peace in the Hague in 1919, Abdu'l-Bahá, addressing these
> leaders as "O ye esteemed ones who are pioneers among the well-wishers of the world
> of humanity!",[6] and explains in detail the various prejudices that need to be
> eliminated to attain world peace - the religious, racial, political, social, economic and
> patriotic prejudices that are destroying the edifice of humanity. Thus the Principle of
> the Declaration of Universal Peace was announced - one nation, one teaching, one pathway,
> one order, with prejudices all gone.
> 
> In His letter, He re-iterated the principles enunciated in Paris
> Talks, with the addition of:
> 
> Children must be trained in morals - love, kindness, truthfulness, rectitude of conduct, good character, chastity, reverence and love of justice.
> 
> There should be one universal language in addition to one's mother tongue.
> 
> Voluntary sharing of one's property.
> 
> Freedom. Man is to be emancipated from the captivity of the world of nature.[7]
> 
> Religion is a might bulwark - it teaches morals.
> 
> Material civilisation must combine with Divine civilisation. Without the spirit, the world of mankind is lifeless and without this light the world of mankind is in utter darkness.
> 
> I would like to conclude this section with the principle of "He
> shall not be asked of His doings", as explained so clearly by Bahá'u'lláh
> in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. This means that we accept whatever God decrees as lawful, and we do
> not question or challenge the authority of God. "Whoso hath not recognised this
> sublime and fundamental verity... the winds of doubt will agitate him and the sayings of
> the infidels will distract his soul. He that hath acknowledged this principle will be
> endowed with the most perfect constancy."[8]
> 
> Now I shall give you a couple of case studies. Please confer with the
> person sitting next to you to see if you can identify the spiritual principle involved.
> 
> Case Study One:
> 
> A Tasmanian Aboriginal activist lady enrols her 7 year old son at a
> country school halfway through term one. He is a good-looking dark-skinned boy, unruly in
> his behaviour. After a few days at school, when all the children in the class are sitting
> on the mat with the teacher sharing news, the boy suddenly becomes violent, without
> apparent provocation. He swings a chair at the young teacher, punches girls in the belly,
> bashes boys about the head, howling abuse all the time. The principal comes in to hold the
> boy, the mother is called on the telephone. She roars up to the school in her car, clasps
> her child to her bosom, screaming "Racist pigs" to all, "you're just
> like all the other f__ schools I've been to. You can't trust any of youse ___
> ___ whitey bastards!" What is the principle everyone needs to observe here?
> 
> Case Study Two:
> 
> Your 11 year old boy, who until recently was an excellent student,
> suddenly is very reluctant to go to school, mumbles "nothing" when you ask him
> what is the matter, shrugs off any probing by you to determine the cause of his
> anti-school attitude. What principle would you call to mind?
> 
> Case Study Three:
> 
> You are a teacher on playground duty. You observe a group of 14 year
> old boys having a punch-up about 50 metres away from you. By the time you reach the scene
> some observers have scattered, and you hear conflicting stories from the loyal onlookers
> about what happened, who started it, etc. The rules say fighting in the school yard is
> forbidden, and the punishment is a spell in the "time-out" room for all. However
> this little scenario is taking place every time you are on duty. On the surface it appears
> that Damien (part-aboriginal) starts the punch-ups. Yet Damien's supporters deny this
> and blame Ralph - the son of the District Superintendent. They say that Ralph taunts
> Damien. Ralph denies this. What spiritual principle needs to be observed when sorting out
> this conflict?
> 
> References
> 
> 1. The Promise of World Peace page 13. Universal House of
> Justice, Bahá'í World Centre, 1985. CPN Publications Canberra.
> 
> 2. Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh page 173. Compiled by
> Research Dept of Universal House of Justice, 1978. W&J Mackay Ltd, England
> 
> 3. Paris Talks pages 135-167. Abdu'l-Bahá 1971.
> Bahá'í Publishing Trust, England
> 
> 4. Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh page 172. op cit.
> 
> 5. Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Bahá page 68.
> Compiled by Research Dept of Universal House of Justice 1978. W&J Mackay Ltd, England.
> 
> 6. Ibid. page 296; Ibid page 302
> 
> 7. Kitáb-i-Aqdas page 77-78 (KA 162-463)
> 
> 8. Bahá'u'lláh. Trans. Universal House of Justice, 1992.
> 
> METADATA
> 
> Views6605 views since posted 2011-10-22; last edit 2024-07-09 05:04 UTC;
> 
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> — *Education of Children: Principles before Pragmatism (Used by permission of the curator)*