Emergence, Dimensions of a New World Order
Author: edited by Charles Lerche
Publisher: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, London, 1991
Review by: Sen McGlinn
Emergence is a collection of 6 essays which are intended to outline the dimensions of a new world order. Because there is no discussion of the relationship of the long-term vision of the first essay to the world order of the lesser peace which is discussed in the other essays, or of the role of some important institutions in the world order, what we actually have is several unrelated essays which highlight particular aspects of what the Bahá'ís intend for the world, while the articulation of the whole remains obscure.
The best of the essays are nevertheless very good. Arthur Dahl writes on The World Order of Nature. The ecological warnings are not new, and the realization that only global approaches can deal with the stresses which poor and industrially developed economies alike place on the environment is coming to be generally accepted. What was interesting here was Dahl's definition of the type of environmental concern which the Bahá'í Faith fosters. While we are intimately related to the world of nature, this is not nature-romanticism. Dahl speaks of managing nature wisely and the 'management of the biosphere'. This is based on a review of the Bahá'í Writings on nature, and on human nature. The emphasis is firmly placed in this essay on the oneness of humanity as the root principle, and the development of a world commonwealth of nations as the key instrument, which must govern our approach to global problems. The weak point in the essay is its attempt to align 'Abdu'l-Bahá's explanations of evolution literally with current knowledge of evolutionary processes, an attempt which leaves some rather large unanswered questions which distract from the point Dahl is making.
The editor, Charles Lerche, has contributed another valuable essay, on Human nature and the problem of peace. This outlines, and debunks, the 'falsehood that human beings are incorrigibly selfish and aggressive'. His most compelling argument against this view of human nature is that it uses evidence of the widespread aggressiveness of states - itself far from consistent or compelling - to argue for the natural aggressiveness of the individual (which does not follow), and then completes the circle by arguing that, since we are naturally aggressive, states will inevitably reflect this. The point deserves further development, with an examination of why, in some states and under certain conditions, a substantial part of a population can be persuaded to be aggressive and cruel.
It is unfortunate that Lerche includes, without comment, passages from the Bahá'í Writings which, prima facia, contradict his thesis concerning human nature: "self-love is kneaded into the very clay of man" (Secret of Divine Civilization 96-7, cited p. 119) and "If a man's Divine nature dominates his human nature, we have a saint." (Paris Talks 60, cited p. 117). Either these passages should be omitted, or the fact that they apparently say that human nature is sinful and humans are naturally selfish has to be addressed.
Holly Hanson contributes an essay on a Bahá'í Development
Strategy, which identifies development strategies as characteristic
expressions of the donor society's economic programme, be it capitalist
or socialist. A comparison of capitalist, socialist, and Bahá'í
development programmes, with the concepts of human nature and human society
which lie behind them, leads to an exposition of the Bahá'í
economic programme. This is seen, not as a middle way, but as a third way,
incorporating as it does dimensions of human potential and purpose which
the varieties of materialist philosophy leave untapped. The author thinks
clearly and writes persuasively. In Eastern Europe, and elsewhere where
the Bahá'ís face the temptation of placing the Faith somewhere
on the ideological spectrum between socialist and capitalist, this essay
will be particularly useful.
Peter Mühlschlegel has contributed an essay on A universal political
thesis, which he formulates in these terms:
Any foreign policy which serves goals other than the
immediate transformation of the United nations into a fully functioning
world federation, bears within it the seeds of future world wars and is
equivalent to a crime against humanity.
This is an extremist formulation, for it would equate programmes of decolonisation,
regional organisation, of bilateral disarmament, of humanitarian and educational
assistance, with crimes against humanity, in as much as they do not
immediately
serve the federalist goal. This is clearly not the Bahá'í
position, since the Universal House of Justice, in
The Promise of World
Peace, has given a very positive assessment of such 'favourable signs'
and 'practical measures.' Nor, it becomes clear, is this really Mühlschlegel's
view. A slip of the pen has given this most crucial paragraph of the essay
an unnecessarily fundamentalist tone. What Mühlschlegel is actually
concerned with is the concept of sovereignty, in military, economic, and
monetary senses, exercised at international, national, institutional and
individual levels. His astringent criticism of the system - or metaphor
- of national sovereignty could better have been tempered with Shoghi Effendi's
observation that, in the world commonwealth, the autonomy of the state
members is to be definitely and completely safeguarded (
World Order
of Bahá'u'lláh [WOB] 203). Mühlschlegel attributes
the continuing power of the thesis of national sovereignty to "A small
group of politicians, diplomats, and military officers [who] do not wish
to recognize that a radically new era has begun". If this were true, we
would only have to remove this clique from power, and all would be well
with the world. But the real causes are more complex, involving vestigial
tribalism, insecurity, and a confusion of one's cultural identity with
the forms of national power. There is a general, almost universal, tendency
to conceive of humanity in terms of 'us and them' rather than as one whole,
and these attitudes, rather than a group of 'criminals' who are 'obstructing
progress', constitute the blockage which must be overcome.
Whether the issue of world federalism should, as Mühlschlegel argues,
be made "one of the central themes of Bahá'í activity" remains
a moot point. I would at least want to caution that, before venturing on
such a project, we need a clear understanding of the process of federalization,
as it is working at regional and global levels, and a clear view of the
structure of the Commonwealth of nations towards which we are working.
It might also be valuable to ponder why the great tides of changes which
are affecting every aspect of life have been divided into God's major and
God's minor plan, and the role of the Bahá'ís limited to
the latter.
Brian Lepard has provided a brief history of the development leading
to the United Nations, and an assessment of its achievements and current
shortcomings. He then looks forward to a world commonwealth of nations,
a universal federation of states, to be established in the near future.
This brings us to the first essay in the volume, Loni Bramson-Lerche's
An Analysis of the Bahá'í World Order Model. Whereas
Lepard, and all of the other writers in this volume, do not look further
than the World Order of the Lesser Peace, Bramson-Lerche looks beyond the
Federation of Nations, which she treats as an interim stage, to the Most
Great Peace. And in the Most Great Peace, according to her understanding,
the Universal House of Justice is "the supreme legislative and judicial
body both in the Bahá'í administrative order and the Bahá'í
World Order model". The institutions of the world government, (the Supreme
Tribunal, International Executive, and World parliament) have apparently
withered away. There is one passing reference to the role given by Bahá'u'lláh
to 'just kings and presidents' in governing the world, but this is not
explicated. Her ideal model is clearly of a monolithic church state embracing
the whole world. There are passages enough which indicate that the civil
order will be brought under the umbrella of Bahá'u'lláh,
and some which even indicate that some at least of the institutions of
the world government may be replaced by the Universal House of Justice
(though the textual status of the latter passages leaves much to be desired),
but these are not cited here. Nor is there any reference to those passages
which would indicate that the institutions of a civil government are to
continue.(1) Thus the very important question
of church and state is left unaddressed: is the state to be baptized only
to be abolished, or does it have a continuing role as part of the organic
structure of the Bahá'í World Order? I think myself that
the shape of the World Order at the time of the Bahá'í Commonwealth
will be considerably more complex than Bramson-Lerche supposes, and will
contain a permanent place for kings and rulers and civil government.
The identification of the Universal House of Justice with the supreme
legislative and judicial bodies of the Bahá'í World Order
model is supported in this essay by a single quotation from 'Abdu'l-Bahá,
taken from The Promulgation of Universal Peace (455).
He has ordained and established the House of Justice,
which is endowed with a political as well as a religious function, the
consummate union and blending of church and state. . . A universal, or
international, house of Justice shall also be organized. Its rulings shall
be in accordance with the commands and teachings of Bahá'u'lláh,
and that which the Universal House of Justice ordains shall be obeyed by
all mankind. This international House of Justice shall be appointed and
organized from the Houses of Justice of the whole world, and all the world
shall come under its administration.
This passage comes from stenographic notes made by Esther Foster from an
extempore translation of a talk by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, for which we do
not have an autograph original or a "verbatim record in Persian" (
Unfolding
Destiny 90). It is therefore to be classed as 'pilgrim's notes' rather
than Bahá'í Writings. Shoghi Effendi has said that the interpreters
of those days gave "imperfect, not to say faulty, renderings" (ibid. 89,
see also p. 208), and 'Abdu'l-Bahá himself, referring to these talks,
speaks of "errors and deviations committed by previous interpreters" (
Promulgation
of Universal Peace xx). Moreover slight changes were made in the text
of at least some talks, in the compilation of
Promulgation of Universal
Peace, from earlier versions published in
Star of the West,
for reasons which are not clear (
Bahá'í Studies Bulletin,
6:2-3, Feb. 1992, p. 81).
Moreover, while 'Abdu'l-Bahá says, according to these notes,
that the Universal House of Justice has political functions, it is the
author who has identified these with the legislative and the judicial body
of the commonwealth. One might set against this another quotation, also
from Promulgation of Universal Peace, and with no more authority
than the passage above:
The Bahá'í Cause covers all economic and
social questions under the heading and ruling of its laws. The essence
of the Bahá'í spirit is that, in order to establish a better
social order and economic condition, there must be allegiance to the laws
and principles of government. Under the laws which are to govern the world,
the socialists may justly demand human rights but without resort to force
and violence. The governments will enact these laws, establishing just
legislation... (238)
Thus the quotations which Bramson-Lerche brings forward cannot bear the
weight she puts on it, and the essay falls into two halves - a description
of the Civil Order of the lesser peace and another of the religious order
of the Most Great Peace.
The book as a whole is disappointing. Despite the high academic standard
of the papers by Dahl, Hanson and Lerche, a certain spark is missing. I
feel here that the authors' attention is focused on the visible artifact
of scholarship - the published paper - rather than on issues being debated
in the community. The genre of the academic paper in its various forms
arose out of communities of specialists engaged in teaching, writing, conferencing
and facing issues which needed to be argued and which mattered enough to
warrant real engagement. In recent years Bahá'í scholars
have discovered that the Faith can be presented in this format, and so
gain new audiences and a new respectability. But this is old wine in new
bottles, an essentially apologetic presentation of the Faith without the
elements of fresh investigation and debate which gave rise to the form
of the scholarly paper in the first place, and though the forms are satisfied,
the result is rarely exciting.
The criticism above of Bramson-Lerche's paper may be mitigated by noting
that her essay contains a passage on 'the catastrophe' (pp. 26-32 and note
144, pp. 59-63) which is the most vigorously expressed and readable passage
in the whole collection. It deserves to be a paper in its own right. It
is lively and coherent, and the author obviously believes very much in
the position she is arguing (that 'the catastrophe' is the ongoing disaster
of the 20th century, now drawing to a close, rather than some yet-to-occur
event). It is to be hoped that the editor can find more writing like this
for the next volume.
End Notes
- e.g. Shoghi Effendi's statements that these institutions are established "once for all" (WOB 202) and that it is not the Bahá'ís' purpose "to allow the machinery of their administration to supersede the government of their respective countries" (WOB 66), while Bahá'u'lláh says that: "The one true God, exalted be His glory, hath bestowed the government of the earth upon the kings. . . That which He hath reserved for Himself are the cities of men's hearts. . ." (Gleanings CXV). There is also a passage in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Will and Testament: "This House of Justice enacteth the laws and the government enforceth them. The legislative body must reinforce the executive, the executive must aid and assist the legislative body so that through the close union and harmony of these two forces, the foundation of fairness and justice may become firm and strong, that all the regions of the world may become even as Paradise itself." (emphasis added)