The Bahá'í Faith upholds the unity of God, recognizes the unity of His Prophets, and inculcates the principle of the oneness and wholeness of the entire human race. It proclaims the necessity and the inevitability of the unification of mankind, asserts that it is gradually approaching, and claims that nothing short of the transmuting spirit of God, working through His chosen Mouthpiece in this day, can ultimately succeed in bringing it about.... It unequivocally maintains the principle of equal rights, opportunities and privileges for men and women, insists on compulsory education, eliminates extremes of poverty and wealth, ... prohibits slavery, asceticism, mendicancy and monasticism, ... emphasizes the necessity of strict obedience to one's government, exalts any work performed in the spirit of service to the level of worship, ... and delineates the outlines of those institutions that must establish and perpetuate the general peace of mankind.
- Shoghi Effendi (From a Statement dated 14 July 1947 addressed to a United Nations Commission; compilation: ‘The Redistribution of Wealth – Some Specific Measures’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice)
