For reasons which are only too obvious the Bahá’í philosophy
of social and political organization cannot be fully reconciled with the
political doctrines and conceptions that are current and much in vogue to-day.
The wave of nationalism, so aggressive and so contagious in its effects, which
has swept not only over Europe but over a large part of mankind is, indeed, the
very negation of the gospel of peace and of brotherhood proclaimed by
Bahá’u’lláh. The actual trend in the political world is, indeed, far from being
in the direction of the Bahá’í teachings. The world is drawing nearer and
nearer to a universal catastrophe which will mark the end of a bankrupt and of
a fundamentally defective civilization.
From such considerations we can well conclude that we as
Bahá’ís can in no wise identify the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh with man-made
creeds and conceptions, which by their very nature are impotent to save the
world from the dangers with which it is being so fiercely and so increasingly
assailed.
- Shohi Effendi (From a letter dated 11 February 1934, written on behalf of Shoghi
Effendi to the NSA of Germany; ‘The Light of Divine Guidance’, vol. 1)
