The world's equilibrium hath been upset through the
vibrating influence of this most great, this new World Order. Mankind's ordered
life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous System—the
like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed.
(Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas: 85)
The realization of justice, especially today,
is central to the Divine purpose. Yet
all around there is a lack of justice and equity. This lack of justice, that discerning faculty
whose core value and principle is equity, stems from the degeneration of the
faculty of recognizing God and the failure to acknowledge the principle of the
oneness of humankind: i.e. that all are children of the one God. So befogged and dissipated has the
discernment of the faculty of justice become that Baha’u’llah could write: “For
the people are wandering in the paths of delusion, bereft of discernment to see
God with their own eyes, or hear His Melody with their own ears. Thus have
We found them, as thou also dost witness.”
To remedy this situation Baha’u’llah designed
the institutions of His Order around the principle of justice. These administrative institutions of the
Bahá’i Order are, according to Shoghi Effendi, to be both the nucleus and
pattern for the social institutions of a new world order. Too, given the
prominence of justice in the Bahá’i Writings, it probably should come as no
surprise that the governing bodies of the Bahá’i community are called Houses of
Justice, for their members are to discern the truth in all things that come
before them. Their collective means of educing
the faculty of justice, of finding the truth in any matter, to look into all
things with a shared, searching eye, are the principles and practice of
consultation.
The document, The
Prosperity of Humankind, states: “[C]onsultation is the operating expression
of justice in human affairs. So vital is it to the success of collective
endeavor that it must constitute a basic feature of a viable strategy of social
and economic development. Indeed, the participation of those on whose
commitment the success of such a strategy depends becomes effective only as
consultation is made the organizing principle of every project. ‘No man can
attain his true station,’ is Bahá’u’lláh's counsel, ‘except through his
justice. No power can exist except through unity. No welfare and no well-being
can be attained except through consultation.’" (The Prosperity of
Humankind: Section III para: 6)
But
outside of the Bahá’i Order much can be changed. In our discussion of the religious faculty we
noted that it can be smothered, crushed, or distorted by the wrong sort of
education, or by no spiritual education at all, whenever human thought usurps
divine thought, narrowing it, clogging its fresh streams of insight, turning it
into prejudice and oppression. Similarly
with justice.
Baha’u’llah observed that those who oppose
the Manifestations mostly do so because, lacking discernment and: “…having
weighed the testimony of God by the standard of their own knowledge, gleaned
from the teachings of the leaders of their faith, and found it at variance with
their limited understanding, they arose to perpetrate such unseemly acts.” (The Kitab-i-Iqan: 14)
Recall Baha’u’llah’s counsel that: “Schools must first train the children in the
principles of religion, so that the Promise and the Threat recorded in the
Books of God may prevent them from the things forbidden and adorn them with the
mantle of the commandments; but this in such a measure that it may not injure
the children by resulting in ignorant fanaticism and bigotry.” (Baha'u'llah,Tablets
of Baha'u'llah: 68)
The first part of this statement is the key
to educating, or bringing forth this faculty, as we will explain. But how to do this in such a way that it does
not result in fanaticism and bigotry?
First, is recognition of the principle of the
oneness of humanity and, second, is the goal of world unity. The first is the foundation, the second the
mature expression of justice. Shoghi Effendi writes: “Of the principles
enshrined in these Tablets the most vital of them all is the principle of the
oneness and wholeness of the human race, which may well be regarded as the
hall-mark of Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation and the pivot of His teachings. Of such
cardinal importance is this principle of unity that it is expressly referred to
in the Book of His Covenant, and He unreservedly proclaims it as the central
purpose of His Faith. "We, verily," He declares, "have come to
unite and weld together all that dwell on earth." "So potent is the
light of unity," He further states, "that it can illuminate the whole
earth." "At one time," He has written with reference to this
central theme of His Revelation, "We spoke in the language of the
lawgiver; at another in that of the truth seeker and the mystic, and yet Our
supreme purpose and highest wish hath always been to disclose the glory and
sublimity of this station." Unity,
He states, is the goal that "excelleth every goal" and an
aspiration which is "the monarch of all aspirations." (Shoghi
Effendi, God Passes By: 216)
Now, regarding the proper training and expression
of this faculty of justice, whose purpose is the appearance of unity, and also
to prevent tyranny and oppression, the Master tells us that it is done, in
part, through a combination of hope and fear.
“There is no greater prevention of oppression,” He asserts, “than these
two sentiments, hope and fear. They have both political and spiritual
consequences.
“If administrators of the law would take into
consideration the spiritual consequences of their decisions, and follow the
guidance of religion, ‘They would be Divine agents in the world of action, the
representatives of God for those who are on earth, and they would defend, for
the love of God, the interests of His servants as they would defend their own.’
If a governor realizes his responsibility, and fears to defy the Divine Law,
his judgments will be just. Above all, if he believes that the consequences of
his actions will follow him beyond his earthly life, and that "as he sows
so must he reap", such a man will surely avoid injustice and tyranny.
“Should an official, on the contrary, think
that all responsibility for his actions must end with his earthly life, knowing
and believing nothing of Divine favours and a spiritual kingdom of joy, he will
lack the incentive to just dealing, and the inspiration to destroy oppression
and unrighteousness.
When a ruler knows that his judgments will be
weighed in a balance by the Divine Judge, and that if he be not found wanting
he will come into the Celestial Kingdom and that the light of the Heavenly
Bounty will shine upon him, then will he surely act with justice and equity.
Behold how important it is that Ministers of State should be enlightened by religion!”
(Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks: 157)
Baha’u’llah states that this method of moderating behavior has always been the method of training of God and His Manifestations. Indeed, it goes back to the very foundations of human society. His statement expands on the Master’s: “Above all else, the greatest gift and the
most wondrous blessing hath ever been and will continue to be Wisdom. It is
man's unfailing Protector. It aideth him and strengtheneth him. Wisdom is God's
Emissary and the Revealer of His Name the Omniscient. Through it the loftiness
of man's station is made manifest and evident. It is all-knowing and the
foremost Teacher in the school of existence. It is the Guide and is invested
with high distinction. Thanks to its educating influence earthly beings have
become imbued with a gem-like spirit which outshineth the heavens. In the city
of justice it is the unrivalled Speaker Who, in the year nine, illumined the
world with the joyful tidings of this Revelation. And it was this peerless
Source of wisdom that at the beginning of the foundation of the world ascended
the stair of inner meaning and when enthroned upon the pulpit of utterance,
through the operation of the divine Will, proclaimed two words. The first
heralded the promise of reward, while the second voiced the ominous warning of
punishment. The promise gave rise to hope and the warning begat fear. Thus the
basis of world order hath been firmly established upon these twin principles.
Exalted is the Lord of Wisdom, the Possessor of Great Bounty.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah,: 66)
From this quote we glean that any statement
of spiritual principle from “the peerless source of Wisdom” is a cognitive
combination of promises of rewards and warnings of punishments. These “two words” when understood bring forth
an emotional response built upon the pillars of hope and fear. Then authorities of society are charged with
instituting the rewards and punishments. That is, rewards and punishments should be part and parcel of the laws and institutions themselves.
These dualities of promise/threat, hope/fear, reward/punishment provide
the structure of equity, the arena for moderating extremes, the scales for
balancing the powers of the human soul.
More next post.
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