Reposted from the Bahá’í NYC website.
Over a century ago, Bahá’u’lláh stated:
“…the prevailing order appeareth to be lamentably defective…” “Soon will the present-day order be rolled up and a new one spread out in its stead.” –Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 216 and p. 7
Even a cursory glance reveals that the world is in turmoil. The daily newspaper and television news reports bring us terrible stories of crime, extreme poverty amidst plenty, the rising incidence of violence and immorality, the abandonment and neglect of children, and much more—things which indicate a breakdown of moral and ethical responsibilities on the part of individuals as well as society.
Concurrently, the world is also witnessing the emergence of the means and conditions that promise a magnificent future for humanity. Advancements in medicine, food production, communication, transportation and many other fields are paving the way for a global human community to begin a new era. A raised consciousness regarding human rights, the protection of the environment and all aspects of the home-village earth is replacing the old narrow mentality. The means for achieving world unity are also rapidly being put in place.
These two simultaneous processes are, in the Bahá’í view, the death pangs of the old world order and the birth pangs of the new. Slowly, even while humanity is learning to think of itself as one entity and laying the foundation for permanent peace, it is realizing the deep need for a world-wide spiritual regeneration, a movement toward raising personal moral and ethical standards of conduct that will enable individuals and societies to function the way they should.
In spite of the advances in material well-being, people are beginning to realize that all the technology that science brings us will not achieve this spiritual regeneration.
The Bahá’ís believe that only the spiritual force and power of the life-giving Message of a new Manifestation from God, Who calls us to a higher level of human dignity and moral conduct, can bring this about. When the energy released by a united and spiritually-regenerated humanity is combined with the benefits of science, then will the world witness that which it has never seen before.
The Forthcoming Golden Age
The centerpiece of the Bahá’í vision of the future society is the unity of the human race. Bahá’u’lláh writes:
“O ye children of men the fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race….The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established.” –Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 286
The achievement of this unity is Bahá’u’lláh’s declared mission and the cherished task of the world-wide Bahá’í community. The outline and structure of the unity of mankind when it is achieved are indicated in the following passage from the writings of Shoghi Effendi, great-grandson of Bahá’u’lláh and Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith:
“The unity of the human race, as envisaged by Bahá’u’lláh, implies the establishment of a world commonwealth in which all nations, races, creeds and classes are closely and permanently united, and in which the autonomy of its state members and the personal freedom and initiative of the individuals that compose them are definitely and completely safeguarded. This commonwealth must, as far as we can visualize it, consist of:
- A world legislature, whose members will, as the trustees of the whole of mankind, ultimately control the entire resources of all the component nations, and will enact such laws as shall be required to regulate the life, satisfy the needs and adjust the relationships of all races and peoples.
- A world executive, backed by an international Force, will carry out the decisions arrived at, and apply the laws enacted by, this world legislature, and will safeguard the organic unity of the whole commonwealth.
- A world tribunal will adjudicate and deliver its compulsory and final verdict in all and any disputes that may arise between the various elements constituting this universal system.
- A mechanism of world inter-communication will be devised, embracing the whole planet, freed from national hindrances and restrictions, and functioning with marvelous swiftness and perfect regularity.
- A world metropolis will act as the nerve centre of a world civilization, the focus towards which the unifying forces of life will converge and from which its energizing influences will radiate.
- A world language will either be invented or chosen from among the existing languages and will be taught in the schools of all the federated nations as an auxiliary to their mother tongue.
- A world script, a world literature, a uniform and universal system of currency, of weights and measures, will simplify and facilitate intercourse and understanding among the nations and races of mankind.
In the future society:
- Science and religion, the two most potent forces in human life, will be reconciled, will co-operate, and will harmoniously develop.
- The press will, under such a system, while giving full scope to the expression of the diversified views and convictions of mankind, cease to be mischievously manipulated by vested interests, whether private or public, and will be liberated from the influence of contending governments and peoples.
- The economic resources of the world will be organized, its sources of raw materials will be tapped and fully utilized, its markets will be coordinated and developed, and the distribution of its products will be equitably regulated.
- National rivalries, hatreds and intrigues will cease.
- Racial animosity and prejudice will be replaced by racial amity, understanding and co-operation.
- The causes of religious strife will be permanently removed.
- Economic barriers and restrictions will be completely abolished, and the inordinate distinction between classes will be obliterated. Destitution on the one hand, and gross accumulation of ownership on the other, will disappear.
- The enormous energy dissipated and wasted on war, whether economic or political, will be consecrated to such ends as will extend the range of human inventions and technical development, to the increase of the productivity of mankind, to the extermination of disease, to the extension of scientific research, to the raising of the standard of physical health, to the sharpening and refinement of the human brain, to the exploitation of the unused and unsuspected resources of the planet, to the prolongation of human life, and to the furtherance of any other agency that can stimulate the intellectual, the moral, and spiritual life of the entire human race.
- A world federal system, ruling the whole earth and exercising unchallengeable authority over its unimaginably vast resources, blending and embodying the ideals of both the East and the West, liberated from the curse of war and its miseries and bent on the exploitation of all the available sources of energy on the surface of the planet.
- A system in which Force is made the servant of Justice, whose life is sustained by its universal recognition of one God and by its allegiance to one common Revelation–such is the goal towards which humanity, impelled by the unifying forces of life, is moving.”
–Shoghi Effendi, Letter of March, 1936, World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 203-204
© 2002 The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of New York City