It is not enough to
bring people into the Faith, one must educate them and deepen their love for it
and their knowledge of its teachings, after they declare themselves. 
Equally important as a factor in the evolution of the
Administrative Order has been the remarkable progress achieved, particularly in
the United States of America, by the institution of the summer schools designed
to foster the spirit of fellowship in a distinctly Bahá'í atmosphere, to afford
the necessary training for Bahá'í teachers, and to provide facilities for the
study of the history and teachings of the Faith, and for a better understanding
of its relation to other religions and to human society in general.
We cannot segregate the human heart from the environment
outside us and say that once one of these is reformed everything will be
improved. Man is organic with the world. His inner life moulds the environment
and is itself also deeply affected by it. The one acts upon the other and every
abiding change in the life of man is the result of these mutual reactions.
Technocracy, as well as the other movements now existing in
the world, every one of them, has some wonderful point that connects it very
closely to the teachings of the Faith. But all these see the light partially.
The spirit of the Cause pulsates in their veins but they have to become
conscious of the center of inspiration and light if they desire to reform fully
our corrupted and despairing society. Our troubles are not purely economic.
There are also basic spiritual reforms that have to set in. There is the human
heart that has to be changed.
May the memory of the Greatest Holy Leaf, who through her
life of heroic self- sacrifice has left to us "a legacy that time can
never dim," inspire the friends in every country of the continent [of
Africa] to rededicate themselves to the Cause of God, not to allow any
opportunity for mentioning the Faith to slip by un-utilized, and not to permit one
day of their lives to pass without a noble effort to draw nearer to the good
pleasure of the Blessed Beauty.
"The world is in travail, and its agitation waxeth day
by day. ... Such shall be its plight,
that to disclose it now would not be meet and seemly." The shattering
blows dealt to the old, divisive system of the planet and the constantly
accelerating decline in civilized life since that dire warning was uttered by
Baha'u'llah a hundred years ago, have brought mankind to its present appalling
condition.
A little over four years had elapsed since the birth of the
Báb’s Revelation when the trumpet-blast announcing the formal extinction of the
old, and the inauguration of the new Dispensation was sounded. No pomp, no pageantry marked so great a turning-point in the world’s
religious history. Nor was its modest setting commensurate with such a sudden,
startling, complete emancipation from the dark and embattled forces of
fanaticism, of priestcraft, of religious orthodoxy and superstition. The
assembled host consisted of no more than a single woman and a handful of men,
mostly recruited from the very ranks they were attacking, and devoid, with few
exceptions, of wealth, prestige and power. The Captain of the host was Himself
an absentee, a captive in the grip of His foes. The arena was a tiny hamlet in
the plain of Badasht on the border of Mázindarán. The trumpeter was a lone
woman, the noblest of her sex in that Dispensation, whom even some of her
co-religionists pronounced a heretic. The call she sounded was the death-knell
of the twelve hundred year old law of Islám.
Bahá'u'lláh has clearly stated the consent of all living
parents is required for Bahá'í marriage... This great law He has laid down to
strengthen the social fabric, to knit closer the ties of the home, to place a
certain gratitude and respect in the hearts of children for those who have
given them life and sent their souls out on the eternal journey towards their
Creator.
…in the Bahá'í Faith the spiritual and administrative
aspects are complementary and… the social laws of the Faith are as binding as
the purely spiritual ones.
Bahá'í teachings on sexual morality center on marriage and
the family as the bedrock of the whole structure of human society and are
designed to protect and strengthen that divine institution. Thus Bahá'í Law
restricts permissible sexual intercourse to that between a man and the woman to
whom he is married.
The exercise of self-control in… so very many… aspects of
life, has a beneficial effect on the progress of the soul.
It may help the friends to understand this relationship if
they are aware of some of the processes that the Universal House of Justice
follows when legislating. First, of course, it observes the greatest care in
studying the Sacred Texts and the interpretations of the Guardian as well as considering
the views of all the members. After long consultation the process of drafting a
pronouncement is put into effect. During this process the whole matter may well
be reconsidered. As a result of such reconsideration the final judgement may be
significantly different from the conclusion earlier favoured, or possibly it
may be decided not to legislate at all on that subject at that time...
Care must be taken that the purpose of earmarking is not
defeated. Thus the use of earmarked funds to defray the expense of particular
items in your budget has the effect of reducing, pro tanto, the amount of
general contributions needed to be applied to the budget. In effect, this
practice may result in there being no difference between an earmarked
contribution and one not earmarked. For example: A friend may earmark a
contribution for the Baha'i International Fund. To apply this to the
contribution to the Baha'i International Fund from your National Fund would be
wrong unless the earmarking so specifies. Funds earmarked merely to the Baha'i
International Fund should be sent to the World Centre in addition to whatever
contribution is made from the National Fund.
In the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, the nobility inherent to
every human being is unequivocally asserted; it is a fundamental tenet of
Bahá’í belief, upon which hope for the future of humankind is built. The soul’s
capacity to manifest all the names and attributes of God—He Who is the
Compassionate, the Bestower, the Bountiful—is repeatedly affirmed in the
Writings. Economic life is an arena for the expression of honesty, integrity,
trustworthiness, generosity, and other qualities of the spirit. The individual
is not merely a self-interested economic unit, striving to claim an
ever-greater share of the world’s material resources. “Man’s merit lieth in
service and virtue”, Bahá’u’lláh avers, “and not in the pageantry of wealth and
riches.” And further: “Dissipate not the wealth of your precious lives in the
pursuit of evil and corrupt affection, nor let your endeavours be spent in
promoting your personal interest.” By consecrating oneself to the service of
others, one finds meaning and purpose in life and contributes to the upliftment
of society itself.
It should, moreover, be borne in mind that although to be,
married is highly desirable, and Bahá'u'lláh has strongly recommended it, it is
not the central purpose of life. If a person has to wait a considerable period
before finding a spouse, or if ultimately, he or she must remain single, it
does not mean that he or she is thereby unable to fulfil his or her life's
purpose.
We are forbidden to confess to any person, as do the
Catholics to their priests, our sins and shortcomings, or to do so in public,
as some religious sects do. However, if we spontaneously desire to acknowledge
we have been wrong in something, or that we have some fault of character, and
ask another person's forgiveness or pardon, we are quite free to do so. The
Guardian wants to point out, however, that we are not obliged to do so. It
rests entirely with the individual.
Under no circumstances should Bahá'ís drink. It is
unambiguously forbidden in the Tablet of Bahá'u'lláh, that there is no excuse for
them even touching it in the form of a toast, or in a burning plum pudding; in
fact, in any way.
Underlining the importance of education to the actualization
of man's potential, the Guardian concludes: “All depends fundamentally on the
training or education which man receives. Human nature is made up of
possibilities both for good and evil. True religion can enable it to soar in
the highest realm of the spirit, while its absence can, as we already witness
around us, cause it to fall to the lowest depths of degradation and misery.
Your comments concerning poverty emphasize the extent to
which society must change its attitudes before a solution to that social
problem can be found. It is not simply a matter of economics; the solution
deeply involves the adoption of spiritual principles at the grassroots as well
as among governments. It imposes upon the Bahá'ís a clear duty to teach the
Faith with unabating vigour.
... no husband should subject his wife to abuse of any kind,
whether emotional, mental or physical....
To claim to have grasped all the implications of
Bahá'u'lláh's prodigious scheme for world-wide human solidarity, or to have
fathomed its import, would be presumptuous on the part of even the declared
supporters of His Faith. To attempt to visualize it in all its possibilities,
to estimate its future benefits, to picture its glory, would be premature at
even so advanced a stage in the evolution of mankind.
One could postulate two extremes of economic theory: those
who believe that the best solution is to remove all governmental control and
intervention from the operation of the economic system, and those who believe
that the functioning of the economic system should be closely supervised and
adjusted by the State so that society is not at the mercy of the system but has
it under its control. As has become abundantly clear, neither extreme is
workable, and proponents of both have gradually come to adopt more moderate
stances, although there tends to be an oscillation of viewpoints in response to
changing conditions.
As regards your suggestion to write a book on Bahá'í
economics: the Guardian has no objection to your writing such a work, but he
feels that the task is a tremendously difficult one, specially in view of the
fact that there are almost no definite teachings on technical economics as it
is known and taught today. The Bahá'í Writings give us only a few principles
which can guide future Bahá'í economists in their efforts to bring about the
necessary readjustments in the economic and industrial system.
'Abdu'l-Baha observes that should man's “natura1 qualities
... be used and displayed in an unlawful way, they become blameworthy”.
Two Bahá'ís, when getting married, cannot have the religious
ceremony of another Faith.
…one cannot be a Bahá'í and also a member of another
religious organization. This is simply a matter of straight-forwardness and
honesty. A great part of the teaching of Jesus Christ concerned His Second
Coming and the preparation of His followers to be ready for it. The Bahá'ís
believe He has come. No Christian Church believes this; on the contrary, they
either look for Him still, or have ceased to believe that He will come. For a
Bahá'í to be a member of a community which holds such beliefs is disloyalty to
Christ and hypocrisy towards the Christians.
It is, of course, permissible to translate Bahá'í Writings
into other languages and dialects of languages. It is also possible to simplify
or paraphrase the Bahá'í Writings in order to facilitate their translation into
languages and dialects having small vocabularies. However, it is not
permissible to publish simplifications and paraphrases of Bahá'í Writings as
Bahá'í Scripture.
Shoghi Effendi, in a letter dated 25 May 1936, written on
his behalf, identifies man's “true self” with “his soul”. In describing the
nature of "man's inner spiritual self or reality”, he notes that the “two
tendencies for good or evil are but manifestations of a single reality or
self”, and that the self “is capab1e of development in either way·”
…basic to the Baha'i Teachings is the concept that it is
only God Who knows the purpose of human life, and Who can convey this to us
through His Manifestations. A distinguishing feature of human existence is that
we have been given the capacity to know and love God and to consciously obey
Him. Thus we also have the converse: the ability to turn away from God, to fail
to love Him and to disobey Him. Indeed, left to himself, man is naturally
inclined towards evil. Human beings need not only assistance in defining
acceptable behaviour of one person towards another, but also guidance which
will help them to refrain from doing that which is spiritually damaging to
themselves.
This Law [Huqúqu'lláh] of the Aqdas stipulates that nineteen
per cent of one's capital is payable as Huqúqu'lláh when such capital has
reached an amount of at least "nineteen mithqáls in gold".... In
determining the amount a believer should pay, he should first deduct any debts
and expenses he may have, and pay nineteen per cent of the remainder of his
capital if it is equal to at least nineteen mithqáls of gold.
…the Writings of the Faith not only acknowledge that each
individual has a God-given identity, but they also set out the means by which
this identity can achieve its highest development and fulfilment. Baha’u’llah
attests that through the Teachings of the Manifestation of God “every man will
advance and develop until he attaineth the station at which he can manifest all
the potential forces with which his inmost true self hath been endowed”.