QUEST (History of the The Baha'i Faith)

UNIT 7

A NEW WORLD ORDER

Have you ever felt frustrated, annoyed, or even angry at the way the present day world is run?

Discussion-Suppose you had the chance to change the way we are governed locally, nationally or internationally. Make a list of your priorities for change.

Comment-you might have suggested things like:-

Stopping politicians fighting among themselves so much.
Changing the British electoral system.
Making European (EU) institutions more democratic.
Making the United Nations stronger.
Enabling women to have a more equal role in government.

For most of this century Bahá'ís have been building up what they call the Bahá'í Administration. That sounds boring but it is actually incredibly important to the future of the human race. It is a whole new way of running our affairs. It is unlike any other system of government, past or present, and Bahá'ís are making it work!

Some of its unique characteristics include the following:-

1. The institutions, all similar in form, exist at local, national and world levels.

2.All elections are held by a totally secret ballot with no canvassing, manifestos, declared candidates or pressure on the electorate.

3. The power to make laws is given entirely to elected institutions whose members have no individual power.

4. The members of these elected institutions reach their decisions by consultation. They act as individuals; there are no political parties.

The Founder of the Bahá'í Faith, Bahá'u'lláh, likened Himself to a Divine physician whose mission it was to heal the chronic ills of the human race. In His writings He talks about two broad areas of change that must and will occur:

1. A revolution in our systems of government.

2. A revolution in our spiritual lives. Neither is sufficient without the other.

Discussion-How are you responding to what you have read so far? Are you excited or cynical or both? If cynicism is your dominant emotion, try to keep an open mind because many Bahá'ís felt just like you do when they first met the Bahá'í Faith.

The rest of this unit will give you a chance to consider these ideas in more detail and make up your own mind as to whether or not they are feasible.

ADMINISTRATION AND THE SPIRIT OF THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH

Some people believe that the world's problems could be solved simply by everyone becoming a better person. Bahá'ís do not accept that this is sufficient. We also have to change the way we organise our communities. Bahá'ís believe that their administrative order is a channel or instrument through which the spirit of the Bahá'í Faith can have an effect on the world. There are, however, strong warnings in the Bahá'í writings against allowing administration to become an end in itself-a substitute for faith.

. . .the Spirit breathed by Bahá'u'lláh upon the world can never permeate and exercise an abiding influence upon mankind unless and until it incarnates itself in a visible order, which would bear His name, wholly identify itself with His principles and function in conformity with His laws. (1)

.. .The administration of the Cause is to be conceived as an instrument and not a substitute for the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh. . . it should be regarded as a channel through which His promised blessings may flow. . . (2)

Typically all Bahá'í meetings will begin with prayers. During an election prayers will be said beforehand and voting will take place in a calm and meditative atmosphere. It is all far removed from the conduct of non-Bahá'í elections.

AN ADMINISTRATION FOR THE PRESENT AND FUTURE

The Bahá'í administration is superbly flexible. Today it functions in all parts of the world and in all types of society, from primitive tribal cultures to the most technologically advanced. The laws laid down by Bahá'u'lláh deal principally with issues such as prayer, fasting and marriage (see unit 4, Bahá'í Laws). His social laws are only an outline, but He gave the supreme elected body of the Bahá'í Faith, the Universal House of Justice, the right to legislate on any matters not revealed in His writings. He also gave it the right to repeal its own laws (but not His). Thus the laws can be changed as required in an evolving world.

The administration of the Cause has been so fashioned, that whatever is deemed necessary to incorporate into it in order to keep it in the forefront of all progressive movement can, according to the provisions made by Bahá'u'lláh, be safely embodied therein. (3)

THE STRUCTURE OF THE ELECTED INSTITUTIONS

There are three levels of elected administrative bodies.

These are the Local Spiritual Assemblies, the National Spiritual Assemblies and the Universal House of Justice. In the case of the first two, the term 'Houses of Justice' will eventually replace 'Spiritual Assemblies'.

The Local Spiritual Assemblies are elected every year on 21 April in every district where at least nine adult Bahá'ís live. The National Spiritual Assemblies are also elected once a year at a National Convention where locally elected delegates come together to cast their votes. The Universal House of Justice is elected once every five years at an International Convention in Haifa by the members of all the National Spiritual Assemblies in the world.

All of these Houses of Justice currently have nine members but, as with much of the detail above, this could be changed in the future.

Question-Why 21 April ?

Answer-21 April was the date in 1863 when Bahá'u'lláh first declared that He was a Messenger from God.

Question-Why Haifa ?

Answer-Mount Carmel, above the city of Haifa in Israel, is the place where Bahá'u'lláh pitched His tent. He also revealed that the world centre of His Faith should be established there.

It is important to realise that the structures described above have not been invented by the Bahá'ís but were specifically laid down in the Bahá'í Writings. In this respect they are fundamentally different from any administrative structures developed by other religions. Bahá'u'lláh, Himself ordained the Universal House of Justice and the Local Spiritual Assemblies. His chosen successor, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, indicated that there should be Secondary Houses of Justice in all countries and gave guidelines on how they should be elected. 'Abdu'l-Bahá's appointed successor, Shoghi Effendi then filled in the details and saw to the setting up of the Bahá'í Administrative Order across the planet (see unit 1 for more information about 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi).

THE CONTROL OF POWER

Bahá'u'lláh has given authority to the Assemblies and not to the individuals who make up those Assemblies. In fact, no individual Bahá'í can tell any other Bahá'í what they should or should not be doing. The Assemblies themselves can only take decisions when they meet. Bearing in mind that the Assembly members have been elected, not because they sought election, but because other Bahá'ís voted for them, you can begin to see how resistant to corruption the Bahá'í administration is.

You may be wondering how Bahá'ís know who to vote for. They may, of course, be inspired by prayer, but it is clearly essential that Bahá'ís in a community get to know one another, because ultimately they will be called upon to vote for those nine Bahá'ís whom they believe are best able to serve on the Assembly. All the votes cast are then added together and those people with the most votes form the new Assembly.

Discussion-What do you think might be the advantages of every elector voting for 9 people? Comment - One advantage would be that every elector has the chance to vote for a balanced Assembly whose membership reflects the diversity of the community. For instance, it makes it easier to ensure that minority groups are represented.

Bahá'ís have the opportunity to meet each other on the first day of every Bahá'í month at their local Nineteen Day Feast. Its name may sound rather exotic to you! This meeting is held every 19 days (there are 19 days in a Bahá'í month) and it provides a chance for Bahá'ís to pray together, discuss the community's affairs, and to socialise with each other. It is therefore an important part of Bahá'í Community Life.

CONSULTATION-SEEKING THE TRUTH

When the members of a Bahá'í Assembly meet, the purpose of their consultation is to seek out the truth. Each member should give their point of view or opinion but, having done so, should let go of it, regarding it as the property of the Assembly. Members of the Assembly, aided by prayer, should have the humility to feel no egotistical attachment to their ideas. If an Assembly finds it does not have enough information to reach a decision then it should postpone making that decision.

'Abdu'l-Bahá has put it like this:

They must . . . proceed with the utmost devotion, courtesy, dignity, care and moderation to express their views. They must in every matter search out the truth and not insist upon their own opinion, for stubbornness and persistence in one's view will lead ultimately to discord and wrangling and the truth will remain hidden. The honoured members must with all freedom express their own thoughts, and it is in no wise permissible for one to belittle the thought of another. . . (4)

None of this should be taken to indicate that Bahá'ís shy away from conflicting opinions. 'Abdu'l-Bahá has said that, The shining spark of truth cometh only after the clash of differing opinions. (5) Ideally the final decision should be unanimous, but majority voting is allowed. However, the decision then becomes the decision of the Assembly, to be supported by all its members. There are no minority reports, and no dissenting voices outside of the meeting. The reason for this is simple. If a wrong decision is unitedly and wholeheartedly implemented, the error will soon become obvious and it can be changed. Think about this carefully.

THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

In the Old Testament book of Isaiah there is a well-known prophecy: It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the House of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come and say: "Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the House of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. (6)

Bahá'ís believe that they have built that 'House of the Lord'. It is situated on Mount Carmel and is the Seat of the Universal House of Justice. There has never before been an institution like this. Its main function is to make laws and adjudicate in all situations which are not covered by Bahá'u'lláh's own laws. Bahá'u'lláh has promised that He and the Báb will guide it from the spiritual world and that its decisions will be freed from error. In other words, when making laws it is infallible.

You may be thinking 'Isn't this just like the Pope-he's supposed to be infallible?'. In fact, it is quite different because the infallibility of the Pope was an idea developed by Christians centuries after Christ's death. There is no direct reference in the Bible about Popes, let alone their infallibility, whereas the infallibility of the Universal House of Justice is guaranteed in the authentic writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. It has not been invented by Bahá'ís.

The Universal House of Justice, 'the last refuge of a tottering civilisation' will, in the future, become the most important world institution as the mass of humanity accepts the Bahá'í Faith and decides to model the way it conducts its affairs on the pattern of the Bahá'í administration. This is what Bahá'ís understand by a New World Order. Precisely how this will come about we do not know.

The lesser peace (see unit 7) will be established in this century and existing world institutions will continue to evolve towards a world federal system which will gradually put into practise more and more of Bahá'u'lláh's teachings although their source will often not be recognised. At the same time, the Bahá'í institutions will evolve, and at some point, the first Bahá'í states will be formed. In Europe this seems a distant prospect but there are now several countries where Bahá'ís make up more than 1% of the population and are increasing rapidly. Just as importantly, some leading figures in those countries are taking a great interest in the Bahá'í Faith and its teachings.

CONCLUSION

We have the most radical agenda of any organisation in the world. The Bahá'ís themselves only dimly perceive how it will develop in the future. It has been well named 'The Ultimate Project'. This is a good phrase because this is not an academic theory for armchair discussion. It is a whole new way of running the world and the Bahá'ís are making it work. We are not a community of angels! We are not perfect; we do make mistakes and lots of them, but because we are all united in our allegiance to one vision, we learn from these mistakes and as a world community we go forward.

Many people in society are involved in worthwhile projects, many of which Bahá'ís would encourage or directly support, but to be a Bahá'í is to be involved in the greatest project of all-to unify humanity and to transform its spiritual and organisational life; in short, to make the fundamental changes which will ultimately banish all the ills, mostly caused by materialism and chronic disunity, which currently beset humanity.

EPILOGUE

In the early hours of the morning of May 29th 1992, 3000 Bahá'ís came together at Bahjí in Israel where the earthly remains of Bahá'u'lláh are buried. From almost every country on the planet, every different cultural and religious background, they came together in complete unity to commemorate the centenary of Bahá'u'lláh's death. It was possibly the most representative gathering of human beings ever held on the planet.

Later that day they climbed Mount Carmel to the Shrine of the Báb and then went to the Seat of the Universal House of Justice where they saw the photograph of Bahá'u'lláh. Some were irresistibly reminded of the prophecy of Isaiah quoted above.

During that same day, millions of Bahá'ís all over the world came together in spirit to pray at the exact time of Bahá'u'lláh's Ascension. Although they originally came from every religious, political and cultural background under the sun, they were united.