# Notes on the Twentieth Century

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-19 — 1 clipping.*

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> Personal Notes from Talks by Douglas Martin
> Member, Universal House of Justice
> 
> Atlanta, New York and Massachusetts in September,
> 2001
> (compiled by Greg Watson)
> 
> What follows are notes beginning with those taken by Greg
> Watson from Douglas Martin's talk in Lowell, Massachusetts -- Sunday, September
> 22, 2001.  They are incomplete, but offered in the spirit of service,
> however inadequate. While typing up my notes I received notes of Mr. Martin's
> other talks in other cities.  All of these notes together offer a
> more complete or composite message than mine alone can offer, so I have
> included them also.  Each set of notes contains a least one nugget
> that the others do not.
> 
> I arrived a little late for the talk in Lowell, and missed
> a section of the question and answer period, so the second set of notes
> is more complete than mine. One of the things I have done to enrich my
> section here is to look up passages that Mr. Martin either quoted from
> in part or referred to indirectly. They are now included with my notes.
> My choice of quotes represents some interpretation of what he meant in
> some cases, so the reader will forgive whatever shortsightedness I may
> have had in that regard.  If you wish to skip the quotes you can use
> the sublinks under my notes or alternatively you could skip my notes altogether
> and go directly to the most complete set of notes-- those of September
> 28-29 (notetaker unknown).
> 
>   You can jump directly to any of the various notes using the following
> links and their subheadings, or you can read straight through.  Much
> of his talk was based on the document Century
> of Light which can be found on the web at: http://www.jkl.com/eBahai/html/cl.html 
> (Other formats at http://www.jkl.com/eBahai/,
> including downloads.)
> The links below will also serve as a limited Table of Contents of Dr.
> Martin's talks: (only underlines in blue are hypertext.  Other underlines
> are only for emphasis)
> 
> Notes of Mr. Martin's talk in Lowell,
> Massachusettes on Sunday, Sept. 22 (by Greg Kagira-Watson)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Dominant Theme of the Twentieth Century 
> 
> Two reciprocal processes 
> 
> Tearing away old identities = "resurrection" 
> 
> Forced migration became the paradigm for the whole
> human race 
> 
> Secular changes and changes within the Bahá'í community
> over last century 
> 
> [Letter of caution from the NSA's Office
> of External Affairs re: response to Sept. 11th] 
> 
> Nothing is more powerful than "absolute certitude." 
> 
> Significance of the Election of the Universal House
> of Justice in 1963 (our role as an NGO) 
> 
> Materialism 
> 
> Sedition and oppression will envelop the earth 
> 
> Some consequences of the Opening of the Terraces 
> 
> God is more than a Cosmic Force 
> 
> The world has already said "YES" to Bahá'u'lláh, and will
> continue to say "yes." 
> 
> The Bahá'ís must now learn to accept the YES answer: 
> Our new mission in America 
> 
> Change in Consciousness 
> 
> Globalism and globalization 
> 
> America's Mission and Destiny 
> 
> Bahá'ís should not be critical of the American
> government 
> 
> The Bab was the only true revolutionary of the 20th
> Century 
> 
> Q & A:  What is the role of the UHJ
> in the Lessor Peace?
> 
> 
> Also see http://www.homestead.com/watsongregory/files/GlenfordMitchell.htm#supplement 
> 
> Quote from Dr. Juan Carlos Busnelli, Secretaria
> de Ciencia y Tecnología of Brazil 
> 
> Concluding impressions
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Notes of Mr. Martin's talk on Sept. 28th
> and 29th (notetaker unknown).
> 
> Notes of Mr. Martin in Atlanta, 
> Tue, 02 Oct 2001  (by Peter Flipsen)
> 
> Notes of Mr. Martin speaking in New York City:
> Mon, 01 Oct 2001 (notetaker unknown)
> 
> Notes of  Mr. Martin at Boston Bahá'í
> Center --  Mon., Sept. 23, 2001 (Bob Sylvester)
> 
> Another GREAT set of notes (has some
> interesting points not in the others)
> 
> 
> PREFACE
> 
> This talk came within days after the terrorists attacked and
> destroyed the World Trade Center. More than anything else, I felt a calming
> effect from Mr. Martin's talks. His confidence in the destiny and role
> of America was certain. He said that as soon as the Universal House of
> Justice heard about the terrorist attack they immediately went to the Holy
> Shrines and said the "Prayer for America." Most of us were moved to tears
> at the love we could feel that the Universal House of Justice has for the
> Friends in America.  He assured us that we could trust in America's
> special destiny and pointed out that America was the only country for which
> a specific prayer was revealed, not to mention those found in the Tablets
> of the Divine Plan for the various states in the U.S.
> 
> [My comments in brackets are my conjecture from what was implied
> from the context of Mr. Martin's statements. Sometimes the brackets contain
> added relevant material, thought to help explain. Of course all of the
> notes here are from my own understanding or interpretation. Words in quotes
> are pretty much just as Mr. Martin stated them or otherwise from some text.]
> 
> I cannot describe the overall nature of this undertaking any
> better than by borrowing from Bob Sylvester's description of the notes
> he
> took the next evening (Monday, Sept. 23) at the Bahá'í Center in Boston:
> 
> 
> "In some cases they represent, word for word what was said.
> As in any case when a tape recorder is not used these notes cannot be assumed
> to be a totally correct record of everything that was stated. They are
> not a transcript of the talk or of the question and answer period. However,
> the points raised and sentiments expressed by the Member of the Universal
> House of Justice, while those of a personal nature and made in his individual
> capacity, were so poignant to our present challenges in the Faith and so
> moving in its sense of hope that I felt bound to share . . . my perceptions
> of his talk."  (Bob Sylvester)
> 
> Rather than use quotations I have simply made summaries of
> his points, more or less in the order he presented them rather than grouping
> them by themes. (The same theme appeared more than once.)  In some
> cases I have used underline or bold for emphasis or to highlight the themes
> expressed by Mr. Martin, both in my notes and in those notes taken by others.
> 
> Perhaps it is good to remember Shoghi Effendi's criteria for
> classifying and distinguishing between the talks and tablets of the Master.
> It probably goes without saying that since the talks of Abdu'l-Bahá have
> no authority we know that the talks of believers also have no authority. 
> Of course this is to say that Mr. Martin's thoughts are those of an individual,
> and not the institution on which he so ably servess.  Click
> here to read Shoghi Effendi's description of the difference between talks
> and tablets.
> 
> Some talks fall into that class of writings known as "pilgrim's
> notes." The Guardian advised the Bahá'ís that "they need not be suppressed,
> but they should not be given prominence or official recognition." Someone
> once described pilgrim's notes as an "inexact rendering of a partially
> understood truth."  Here are my "inexact" notes, followed by the notes
> of others. The notes of different people are surprisingly the same... even
> when in different cities...  This overlap seems to help the reader
> gain a better sense and confidence of the central themes, consistent from
> city to city.
>          Enjoy,
>          Greg Watson  
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Mr. Martin's Talk on the
> "Century of Light"
> (A Universal House of Justice's supervised
> document)
> 
>          (from Greg Watson's notes)  
> 
> Processes within development:
> 
> We witnessed the "emergence of the consciousness of the
> oneness of mankind" as the dominant theme of the twentieth century.
> Not possible to think back to Abdu'l-Bahá's time any more than we can imagine
> the vast changes that will take place in the next 100 years: In His time
> there was a zeal for war... racism was an embedded and accepted "fact." This
> was what He faced; e.g., the kinds of questions He was asked about then
> included "blood atonement", "original sin", etc. How do we remember or
> think back to this world of His time. It's GONE! There are "Neanderthal
> relics which extinction beckons."
> 
> Shoghi Effendi describes
> two reciprocal processes:
> 
> Integration -- communication, transportation...etc. A
> few caught the vision (Woodrow Wilson, Eleanor Roosevelt, and even some
> athletes). Disintegration: The second process has included military
> adventures, economic crises, and weaknesses in the hierarchy of the ecclesiastics.
> One of the principal churches in Canada is being sued by "Indians" (native
> peoples) and is being exposed for its misdeeds. Exposure is part of the
> disintegration. Its own members are making this Church bankrupt. Civil
> Rights movement of the '60s. In the Qur'án it says, "Mountains will
> pass away as the clouds."
> 
> "Thou seest the mountains and thinkest
> them firmly fixed: but they shall pass away as the clouds pass away: (such
> is) the artistry of God, Who disposes of all things in perfect order..."
> (The Qur'an, The Ant (An-Naml), verse 88)
> 
> The Soviet Union is gone! Overnight! This was a huge mountain.
> This social experiment failed... must understand this was not only a whole
> political system and but an ideology that tried to redefine biology, economics,
> etc. It included vast systems and millions of brilliant minds. It was reduced
> to utter nonsense. It takes your breath away that this could have happened!
> We are unable to mentally process changes so vast, so fast. There is a
> tiny group of people in the world that want to go back.
> 
> ["These twin processes
> -- the collapse of old institutions on the one hand and the blossoming
> of new ways of thinking on the other -- are evidence of a single trend
> which has been gaining momentum during the last hundred years: the trend
> toward ever-increasing interdependence and integration of humanity."
> (Bahá'í International Community, "Turning Point For All Nations")]
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh explains "resurrection"
> as meaning that the peoples have arisen from the graves of their limited
> identities and the past. This brings on fear and paralysis, bewilderment
> and terror. First of all we have to be "free" of these past doctrines and
> institutions before humanity can be brought together. So they have to crumble.
> Some new freedoms have been granted by legislation.
> 
> Some of our fellow human beings did not see the twentieth century
> the same [positive] way: They are glad the 20th Century is over
> because is associated with the "holocaust", two bloody world wars, and
> millions of refugees.
> 
> When the Blessed Beauty was sent into
> exile with His Family and driven from place to place -- that forced
> migration became the paradigm for the whole human race. The migration
> of the human race from place to place on the globe is unstoppable and will
> radically alter the sense of place and of identity everywhere in the world.
> (
>
> — *Notes on the Twentieth Century (Used by permission of the curator)*