The use of force by the physically strong against the weak,
as a means of imposing one's will and fulfilling one's desires, is a flagrant
transgression of the Bahá'í Teachings. There can be no justification for anyone
compelling another, through the use of force or through the threat of violence,
to do that to which the other person is not inclined. 'Abdu'l-Bahá has written,
"O ye lovers of God! In this, the cycle of Almighty God, violence and force,
constraint and oppression, are one and all condemned." Let those who,
driven by their passions or by their inability to exercise discipline in the
control of their anger, might be tempted to inflict violence on another human
being, be mindful of the condemnation of such disgraceful behaviour by the
Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh.
(From a letter dated January 24, 1993 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer; published in ‘American Baha’i’ November 23, 1993)
