The
attacks directed against Bahá’ís and other citizens in Iran are in reality the
result of adherence to outdated beliefs and principles and obsolete customs and
traditions, whose direct and baleful influence can be perceived in every aspect
of life in that land. An atmosphere of ignorant fanaticism and superstition has
been imposed upon the country and the credibility of faith and religion has
been gravely damaged. The aspirations of the youth are ignored; spirituality
and moral values have, notwithstanding the innate nobility of character of
Iranian people, been marginalized; corruption and decay have permeated many
aspects of society; honesty and truthfulness have been abandoned in the arena
of leadership, where falsehood and deception hold sway; the ties of solidarity
and trust, so critical to the survival and advancement of a vibrant and dynamic
society, have become frayed; the foundations of social order have been
undermined; and a terrifying maelstrom of turmoil and trouble has engulfed all.
This pitiful state calls to mind the weighty statement of Bahá’u’lláh: “We can
well perceive how the whole human race is encompassed with great, with
incalculable afflictions. We see it languishing on its bed of sickness,
sore-tried and disillusioned. They that are intoxicated by self-conceit have
interposed themselves between it and the Divine and infallible Physician.
Witness how they have entangled all men, themselves included, in the mesh of
their devices. They can neither discover the cause of the disease, nor have
they any knowledge of the remedy. They have conceived the straight to be
crooked, and have imagined their friend an enemy.”
- The
Universal House of Justice (From a message dated 11 May 2012 to the Baha’is of
Iran’)
