Posted by Brett Zamir (12.248.114.98) on May 03, 2002 at 11:37:16:
In Reply to: Part IV response (Immigration Policy) posted by Brett Zamir on May 03, 2002 at 11:20:37:
Sorry, I neglected to include the source of the last quotation in the part iV response:
(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Antipodes, 19 April 1925, quoted at http://bahai-library.org/asia-pacific/messages1925.htm)
As to the responsibilities of blacks and whites, see Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 44-46 (available at http://www.bahai-library.org/writings/abdulbaha/pup/3/sec-6.html) and Advent of Divine Justice, pp. 16-41, available at http://www.bahai-library.org/writings/shoghieffendi/adj/2.html), a letter on behalf ot the Universal House of Justice available at: http://www.bahai-library.org/uhj/blacks.in.US.html, and the Vision of Race Unity (available at http://www.bahai-library.org/nsa/race.unity.html)
This latter reference (though, unlike the rest, not from a source granted infallibility in the Writings) includes a great quotation on this subject:
"It is entirely human to fail if that which is the most important to people's self-perception is denied them -- namely, the dignity they derive from a genuine regard by others for their stature as human beings. No educational, economic, or political plan can take the place of this essential human need; it is not a need that businesses and schools, or even governments, can provide in isolation from the supportive attitude of society as a whole. Such an attitude needs to be grounded in a spiritual and moral truth that all acknowledge and accept as their own and that, like the oxygen that serves all equally, breathes life into their common effort to live in unity and peace. Absence of the genuine regard for others fostered by such truth causes hopelessness in those discriminated against; and in a state of hopelessness, people lose the coherent moral powers to realize their potential. This vitalizing truth, we are convinced, is summarized in the phrase: the oneness of humankind."
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