You ask whether the believers are to take an active role in combatting what they perceive as negative forces in their society. As the House of Justice has previously stated, "most people have no clear concept of the sort of world they wish to build, nor how to go about building it. Even those who are concerned to improve conditions are therefore reduced to combatting every apparent evil that takes their attention. Willingness to fight against evils, whether in the form of conditions or embodied in evil men, has thus become for most people the touchstone by which they judge a person’s moral worth. Bahá’is, on the other hand, know the goal they are working towards and know what they must do, step by step, to attain it. Their whole energy is directed towards the building of the good, a good which has such a positive strength that in the face of it the multitude of evils—which are in essence negative—will fade away and be no more. To enter into the quixotic tournament of demolishing one by one the evils in the world is, to a Bahá’i, a vain waste of time and effort."
In this period of uncertainty and transition, different political and social groups are vying for power to direct humanity towards their varying, and often conflicting, visions of an ideal society. At times, some of their objectives may be similar to those of the Faith. However, the Bahá’i community does not see itself as one among these competing groups and organizations. As discussed above, its approach is different. In working to build a new world based on the vision of Bahá’u’llah, Baháis must inevitably distinguish between those dimensions of public issues that are in keeping with the Bahá’i Teachings, which they can actively support, and those that are not, which they would neither promote nor necessarily oppose. Moreover, in pursuing their aims, Baháis cannot become embroiled in political controversies that would divide the Bahá’i community, dissipate its energies, and deflect it from its purpose to unify society. In attempting to determine what lines of action may be suitable in this regard, believers are advised to turn to their National Spiritual Assemblies.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter dated 6 August 2020 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer; compilation: ‘Selected Extracts on Political Non-Involvement and Social Transformation’, attached to a letter dated 26 February 2021 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer)
