# The Baha'i Approach: Moderation in Civilization

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Arthur Lyon Dahl, The Baha'i Approach: Moderation in Civilization, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> The Baha'i Approach:
> 
> Moderation in Civilization
> 
> Arthur Lyon Dahl
> 
> 1995-10
> 
> *While the Bahá'í Faith is only about 150 years old, it
> is now the second most geographically-widespread religion after Christianity.
> The Bahá'í International Community has long been active in
> environmental matters, going back to its participation in the UN Conference
> on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972, and including its significant
> role in the Rio Earth Summit and the associated Global Forum in Rio in
> 1992. It maintains an Office of the Environment as part of its United Nations
> representation in New York.
> The essence of the Bahá'í approach to the relationship
> between ecology, ethics and spirituality is founded in the fundamental
> principle of the harmony of science and religion. Just as two wings of
> a bird must be equally strong for it to fly, so must science and religion
> be in balance. Science without religion tends to materialism, while religion
> without science can fall into superstition. Science can give us tools to
> help us live in the physical world, but only religion can tell us how to
> use those tools for good rather than for evil. For Bahá'ís
> there is only one truth, and ecology and spirituality are but complementary
> facets of this truth. There can be no fundamental contradiction between
> them.
> The following selections from the Bahá'í sacred writings
> will give a general impression of the Bahá'í approach to
> nature and ecology. Bahá'u'lláh, the Prophet-founder of the
> Bahá'í Faith, wrote, "Nature in its essence is the embodiment of My Name,
> the Maker, the Creator. Its manifestations are diversified by varying causes,
> and in this diversity there are signs for men of discernment. Nature is
> God's Will and is its expression in and through the contingent world. It
> is a dispensation of Providence ordained by the Ordainer, the All-Wise."
> (1)
> The concepts of essential ecological processes and life support systems
> appear frequently in the Bahá'í writings. For example, "...all
> beings are connected together like a chain, and reciprocal help, assistance,
> and influence belonging to the properties of things, are the causes of
> the existence, development and growth of created beings."(2)
> And again, "Consider for instance how one group of created things constituteth
> the vegetable kingdom, and another the animal kingdom. Each of these two
> maketh
> use of certain elements in the air on which its own life dependeth,
> while each increaseth the quantity of such elements as are essential for
> the life of the other. In other words, the growth and development of the
> vegetable world is impossible without the existence of the animal kingdom,
> and the maintenance of animal life is inconceivable without the co-operation
> of the vegetable kingdom. Of like kind are the relationships that exist
> among all created things. Hence it was stated that co-operation and reciprocity
> are essential properties which are inherent in the unified system of the
> world of existence, and without which the entire creation would be reduced
> to nothingness." (3) One could almost write an ecology
> text with quotations from the Bahá'í writings.
> Man is seen as having a special place in the natural world. "The human
> body is like animals subject to nature's laws. But man is endowed with
> a second reality, the rational or intellectual reality; and the intellectual
> reality of man predominates over nature." (4) "...to
> man God has given such wonderful power that he can guide, control and overcome
> nature." (5) "Yet there is a third reality in man, the
> spiritual reality.... That celestial reality... delivers man from the material
> world. Its power causes man to escape from nature's world. Escaping, he
> will find an illuminating reality, transcending the limited reality of
> man and causing him to attain to the infinitude of God..." (6)
> Material development is also important, because man "should be free
> and emancipated from the captivity of the world of nature; for as long
> as man is captive to nature he is a ferocious animal, as the struggle for
> existence is one of the exigencies of the world of nature." (7)
> Bahá'u'lláh warned a hundred years ago about the hazards
> to the planet of too much material civilization. "The civilization, so
> often vaunted by the learned exponents of arts and sciences, will, if allowed
> to overleap the bounds of moderation, bring great evil upon men.... If
> carried to excess, civilization will prove as prolific a source of evil
> as it had been of goodness when kept within the restraints of moderation...."
> (8) He also warned about the dangers of atmospheric pollution.
> For Bahá'ís, nature and all the creation reflect the qualities
> and attributes of God. "When... thou dost contemplate the innermost essence
> of all things, and the individuality of each, thou wilt behold the signs
> of thy Lord's mercy in every created thing, and see the spreading rays
> of His Names and Attributes throughout all the realm of being...." (9)
> The spiritual, social and physical environments of man are all interrelated.
> "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."
> (10)
> Respect for the natural world is also reflected in the Bahá'í
> prohibition of cruelty to animals: "Briefly, it is not only their fellow
> human beings that the beloved of God must treat with mercy and compassion,
> rather must they show forth the utmost loving-kindness to every living
> creature.... The feelings are one and the same, whether ye inflict pain
> on man or on beast." (11)
> Finally, Bahá'u'lláh linked the beauty and verdure of
> the country with our spiritual dimension. He said, "The country is the
> world of the soul, the city is the world of bodies." (12)
> Bahá'ís see the world today as evolving rapidly towards
> a world society, pushed by the technical revolution in transportation and
> communications which have broken down barriers between nations. Many of
> our problems are those of this process of transition. We share the view
> of Professor di Castri that the immediate future will be difficult, but
> the more distant future will be positive and full of promise.
> Scientific understanding is not a significant constraint to the solution
> of most environmental problems. The barriers to the application of solutions
> are largely economic, social and political. Changes in behaviour, sacrifices
> of individual interests in the common good, and major adjustments in society
> will be required. Many of the necessary solutions have even been agreed
> by the leaders and governments of the world in Agenda 21, the action plan
> from the Rio Earth Summit. It is the will to apply these solutions that
> is lacking, and this lack of will is fundamentally a spiritual problem.
> A change in values and a restoration of morality and ethical principles
> are required. The leaders who agree to many declarations of principles
> and plans of action, without the intention of carrying them out, should
> listen to the warning of Bahá'u'lláh that "...he whose words
> exceed his deeds, know verily his death is better than his life." (13)
> The Bahá'í Faith has an evolutionary concept of religion.
> We believe that all great religions have come from the same source, and
> represent but different chapters in the same book of guidance for our social
> and spiritual evolution down through the ages. Even the indigenous peoples
> have their legends of a great leader or ancester who brought the principles
> and values underlying their society. We therefore should all work together
> to restore this balance of the spiritual and the material in the world.
> The belief in God has been dying out in every land. We should acknowledge
> this spiritual need, and all the religions and ethical systems need to
> be involved in applying the solution. There is a set of basic values that
> is common to all the religions: values of unity, cooperation, harmony,
> responsible behaviour, altruism and respect for the rights of others. These
> should be universally incorporated into the education of children.
> Society needs to be reorganized on a more organic pattern to reflect
> the diversity and decentralized nature of planetary environments. Both
> scientific awareness and responsibility should be decentralized, with widespread
> participation, to be as close as possible to the scale of the problem.
> Local problems should be addressed at the local level, but with a sense
> of responsibility that extends to the whole planet.
> At the same time, the global nature of the biosphere and of certain
> environmental problems exceeds the capacity of national governments to
> respond to them effectively. A rapid transition to a world society, with
> the establishment of the appropriate institutions of a world federation
> or commonwealth, will be necessary to address these complex global problems
> effectively. All humanity needs to recognize its oneness and develop a
> sense of world citizenship. The central aim of the Bahá'í
> Faith is to help to lay spiritual foundations for a such world civilization.
> As Bahá'u'lláh has said, we should become like the leaves
> of one tree, the flowers of one garden, the waves of one sea.
> 
> References
> 1. Bahá'u'lláh, Tablet of Wisdom, in
> Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.
> Haifa, Bahá'í World Centre, 1978. p. 142.
> 
> 2. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions.
> Chpt. XLVI, p. 207.
> 
> 3. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, in Compilation on Huququ'llah,
> p. 14-15; Compilation on Social and Economic Development, p. 12.
> 
> 4. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Foundations of World Unity.
> Wilmette, Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1945. p. 51.
> 
> 5. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks. London,
> Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1951. p. 122.
> 
> 6. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Foundations of World Unity.
> p. 51.
> 
> 7. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings
> of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Haifa, Bahá'í World Centre, 1978.
> p. 302.
> 
> 8. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the
> Writings of Bahá'u'lláh. Wilmette, Bahá'í
> Publishing Trust, 1990. CLXIV, p. 342-343.
> 
> 9. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings
> of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, p. 41-42.
> 
> 10. Letter written on behalf of the Guardian, 17
> February 1933, Compilation on Social and Economic Development, p.
> 4.
> 
> 11. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings
> of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. p. 158-159.
> 
> 12. Bahá'u'lláh, in J. E. Esslemont,
> Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era. Chpt. 3.
> 
> 13. Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh,
> p. 156.
> * The views expressed are the author's own and do not
> necessarily reflect those of the United Nations Environment Programme.
> 
> METADATA
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> Views16595 views since posted 1998; last edit 2016-05-03 20:24 UTC;
> 
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> — *The Baha'i Approach: Moderation in Civilization (Used by permission of the curator)*