Indeed, the chief reason for the evils now rampant in
society is the lack of spirituality. The materialistic civilization of our age
has so much absorbed the energy and interest of mankind that people in general
do no longer feel the necessity of raising themselves above the forces and
conditions of their daily material existence. There is not sufficient demand
for things that we should call spiritual to differentiate them from the needs
and requirements of our physical existence.
The universal crisis affecting mankind is, therefore,
essentially spiritual in its causes. The spirit of the age, taken on the whole,
is irreligious. Man's outlook on life is too crude and materialistic to enable
him to elevate himself into the higher realms of the spirit.
It is this condition, so sadly morbid, into which society
has fallen, that religion seeks to improve and transform...
- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, December 8, 1935; compilation: ‘Lights of
Guidance’)
