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World Unity the Goal
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Unification of the whole of mankind is the hall-mark of the
stage which human society is now approaching. Unity of family, of
tribe, of city-state, and nation have been successively attempted and
fully established. World unity is the goal towards which a harassed
humanity is striving. Nation-building has come to an end. The
anarchy inherent in state sovereignty is moving towards a climax.
A world, growing to maturity, must abandon this fetish, recognize
the oneness and wholeness of human relationships, and establish
once for all the machinery that can best incarnate this fundamental
principle of its life.
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"A new life," Bahá'u'lláh proclaims, "is, in this age, stirring
within all the peoples of the earth; and yet none hath discovered its
cause, or perceived its motive." "O ye children of men," He thus
addresses His generation, "the fundamental purpose animating the
Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote
the unity of the human race... This is the straight path,
the fixed and immovable foundation. Whatsoever is raised on this
foundation, the changes and chances of the world can never impair
its strength, nor will the revolution of countless centuries undermine
its structure." "The well-being of mankind," He declares, "its
peace and security are unattainable unless and until its unity is
firmly established." "So powerful is the light of unity," is His further
testimony, "that it can illuminate the whole earth. The one true
God, He Who knoweth all things, Himself testifieth to the truth of
these words... This goal excelleth every other goal, and this aspiration
is the monarch of all aspirations." "He Who is your Lord,
the All-Merciful," He, moreover, has written, "cherisheth in His
heart the desire of beholding the entire human race as one soul and
one body. Haste ye to win your share of God's good grace and
mercy in this Day that eclipseth all other created days."
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The unity of the human race, as envisaged by Bahá'u'lláh, implies
the establishment of a world commonwealth in which all nations,
races, creeds and classes are closely and permanently united,
and in which the autonomy of its state members and the personal
freedom and initiative of the individuals that compose them are
definitely and completely safeguarded. This commonwealth must,
as far as we can visualize it, consist of a world legislature, whose
members will, as the trustees of the whole of mankind, ultimately
control the entire resources of all the component nations, and will
enact such laws as shall be required to regulate the life, satisfy the
needs and adjust the relationships of all races and peoples. A world
executive, backed by an international Force, will carry out the decisions
arrived at, and apply the laws enacted by, this world legislature,
and will safeguard the organic unity of the whole commonwealth.
A world tribunal will adjudicate and deliver its compulsory
and final verdict in all and any disputes that may arise between the
various elements constituting this universal system. A mechanism of
world inter-communication will be devised, embracing the whole
planet, freed from national hindrances and restrictions, and functioning
with marvellous swiftness and perfect regularity. A world
metropolis will act as the nerve center of a world civilization, the
focus towards which the unifying forces of life will converge and
from which its energizing influences will radiate. A world language
will either be invented or chosen from among the existing languages
and will be taught in the schools of all the federated nations as an
auxiliary to their mother tongue. A world script, a world literature,
a uniform and universal system of currency, of weights and measures,
will simplify and facilitate intercourse and understanding
among the nations and races of mankind. In such a world society,
science and religion, the two most potent forces in human life, will
be reconciled, will cöoperate, and will harmoniously develop. The
press will, under such a system, while giving full scope to the expression
of the diversified views and convictions of mankind, cease
to be mischievously manipulated by vested interests, whether private
or public, and will be liberated from the influence of contending
governments and peoples. The economic resources of the world will
be organized, its sources of raw materials will be tapped and fully
utilized, its markets will be cöordinated and developed, and the distribution
of its products will be equitably regulated.
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National rivalries, hatreds, and intrigues will cease, and racial
animosity and prejudice will be replaced by racial amity, understanding
and cöoperation. The causes of religious strife will be permanently
removed, economic barriers and restrictions will be completely
abolished, and the inordinate distinction between classes
will be obliterated. Destitution on the one hand, and gross accumulation
of ownership on the other, will disappear. The enormous
energy dissipated and wasted on war, whether economic or political,
will be consecrated to such ends as will extend the range of
human inventions and technical development, to the increase of the
productivity of mankind, to the extermination of disease, to the
extension of scientific research, to the raising of the standard of
physical health, to the sharpening and refinement of the human
brain, to the exploitation of the unused and unsuspected resources
of the planet, to the prolongation of human life, and to the furtherance
of any other agency that can stimulate the intellectual,
the moral, and spiritual life of the entire human race.
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A world federal system, ruling the whole earth and exercising
unchallengeable authority over its unimaginably vast resources,
blending and embodying the ideals of both the East and the West,
liberated from the curse of war and its miseries, and bent on the exploitation
of all the available sources of energy on the surface of the
planet, a system in which Force is made the servant of Justice,
whose life is sustained by its universal recognition of one God and
by its allegiance to one common Revelation--such is the goal
towards which humanity, impelled by the unifying forces of life,
is moving.
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"One of the great events," affirms `Abdu'l-Bahá, "which is to
occur in the Day of the manifestation of that incomparable Branch
is the hoisting of the Standard of God among all nations. By this
is meant that all nations and kindreds will be gathered together under
the shadow of this Divine Banner, which is no other than the
Lordly Branch itself, and will become a single nation. Religious and
sectarian antagonism, the hostility of races and peoples, and differences
among nations, will be eliminated. All men will adhere to one
religion, will have one common faith, will be blended into one race
and become a single people. All will dwell in one common fatherland,
which is the planet itself." "Now, in the world of being," He
has moreover explained, "the Hand of Divine power hath firmly
laid the foundations of this all-highest bounty, and this wondrous
gift. Whatsoever is latent in the innermost of this holy Cycle shall
gradually appear and be made manifest, for now is but the beginning
of its growth, and the dayspring of the revelation of its signs.
Ere the close of this century and of this age, it shall be made clear
and evident how wondrous was that spring-tide, and how heavenly
was that gift."
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No less enthralling is the vision of Isaiah, the greatest of the
Hebrew Prophets, predicting, as far back as twenty five hundred
years ago, the destiny which mankind must, at its stage of maturity,
achieve: "And He (the Lord) shall judge among the nations, and
shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into
plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not
lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more
...And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and
a Branch shall grow out of his roots... And he shall smite the
earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips
shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of
his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall
dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together... And
the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned
child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den. They shall not hurt
nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of
the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."
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The writer of the Apocalypse, prefiguring the millenial glory
which a redeemed, a jubilant humanity must witness, has similarly
testified: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first
heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more
sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down
from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, `Behold, the
tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and
they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be
their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes;
and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither
shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed
away.'"
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Who can doubt that such a consummation--the coming of age of
the human race--must signalize, in its turn, the inauguration of a
world civilization such as no mortal eye hath ever beheld or human
mind conceived? Who is it that can imagine the lofty standard
which such a civilization, as it unfolds itself, is destined to attain?
Who can measure the heights to which human intelligence, liberated
from its shackles, will soar? Who can visualize the realms which
the human spirit, vitalized by the outpouring light of Bahá'u'lláh,
shining in the plenitude of its glory, will discover?
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What more fitting conclusion to this theme than these words of
Bahá'u'lláh, written in anticipation of the golden age of His Faith--
the age in which the face of the earth, from pole to pole, will mirror
the ineffable splendors of the Abhá Paradise? "This is the Day
whereon naught can be seen except the splendors of the Light that
shineth from the face of thy Lord, the Gracious, the Most Bountiful.
Verily, We have caused every soul to expire by virtue of Our
irresistible and all-subduing sovereignty. We have then called into
being a new creation, as a token of Our grace unto men. I am,
verily, the All-Bountiful, the Ancient of Days. This is the Day
whereon the unseen world crieth out: `Great is thy blessedness, O
earth, for thou hast been made the foot-stool of thy God, and been
chosen as the seat of His mighty throne!' The realm of glory exclaimeth:
`Would that my life could be sacrificed for thee, for He
Who is the Beloved of the All-Merciful hath established His sovereignty
upon thee, through the power of His name that hath been
promised unto all things, whether of the past or of the future.'"
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Shoghi.
Haifa, Palestine,
March 11, 1936.
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