THE SPEAKING TREE
Love Humanity As A Whole
A K MERCHANT
The whole question of destruction and death wrought by the terrorist
attack in the US and its aftermath, in my estimation, must be understood
within the paradigm of good and evil. Since childhood we are exposed to
the images of what constitutes good and what should be regarded as evil.
This duality is the theme of hundreds of movies, books, articles,
speeches and sermons. However euphemistic the term `good' and `evil' may
be, I look upon the two as the absence of one resulting in the other.
Evil is actually non-existent, it is the absence of good.
Ignorance, thus, is the want of knowledge; error is the want of
guidance; forgetfulness is the want of memory; stupidity is the want of
good sense; darkness is the want of light; injustice is the want of
justice; illness is the want of health; poverty is the want of wealth;
death is the want of life; weakness is the want of
strength.
Things can be evil in relation to one another but not
evil in themselves. For example, scorpions and snakes are poisonous. Are
they good or evil? Well, a scorpion is evil in relation to the human
being; likewise a snake vis-a-vis the humans. But in relation to
themselves, they are not evil, for their poison is their weapon for
self-defence. It may then be construed that there is no evil in
existence; all that God created He created good.
In the current
context, a number of causes for terrorism can be identified. In some
ways selfish, uncaring behaviour on the part of human beings mirror the
adolescent stage of individuals where personal concerns or grievances
overwhelm people. Another explanation is the lack of a proper balance
between the liberty of the individual and the needs of society as a
whole. The rights of an individual to act as he wishes can never be
absolute. The cause that the terrorists espouse is driven by a `sense of
injustice', as when a nation does not have independence in the family of
nations, or where a minority feels that its rights are being trampled
upon.
A new world view based on the ideals of world citizenship
and the concept of the prosperity of humankind can replace the narrower
and more violent goals of the terrorist. There is no danger in a
rational and reasonable level of patriotism, but what needs to be
developed is the love of humanity as a whole. With this ideal as a goal,
replacing the fierce nationalism that is used to justify acts of terror,
a sense of world citizenship can be developed. ``The earth is but one
country and mankind its citizens,'' says Baha'u'llah, a Persian nobleman
who foresaw the need for a new world order more than a century ago.
The terrorist attack in the US and its resolve to stamp out
terrorism from the world cannot succeed unless and until there is one
government for the entire world and all the countries are its members as
equal partners, with a common army. In that event, should any problem
arise in any country, it can be resolved in that world forum without any
bloodshed. Till this goal is achieved, terrorism cannot be uprooted and
there will be no peace on earth. Any attempt of reprisal over a
particular terrorist act will be counter productive and it will amount
to curing a symptom and not the disease.
The current universal
fermentation and horrendous social upheavals can best be understood as a
period of profound transition from a warlike world to a peaceful one.
Inevitably, the movement leading to world unity must encounter opposing
tendencies rooted in stubborn habits of chauvinism and partisanship that
refuse to yield to the expectations of a new age. The torturous
suffering imposed by such conditions as poverty, war, violence,
fanaticism, disease and degradation of the environment, to which masses
of people are subjected, is a consequence of this opposition. Hence,
before the peace among the nations matures into a comprehensive reality,
it must pass through the difficult stages, not unlike those experiences
by individual nations until their internal consolidation was achieved.
It is my belief that the efforts towards world peace is far
advanced. And the greatest error the world's leadership could make at
this juncture would be to allow the present crisis caused by the
terrorist attacks to cast doubt on the ultimate outcome of the process
that is occurring. A world is passing away and a new one is struggling
to be born. What is required of the peoples of the world is a measure of
faith and resolve to match the enormous challenge now facing mankind
with the spiritual energies endowed by the almighty creator of the
universe.
©Copyright 2001, The Times of India
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