At the heart of Bahá’u’lláh’s message is a call for mutual understanding and fellowship among nations, cultures, and peoples. There is, Bahá’u’lláh insists, only one human race. Assertions that a particular group of people is in some way superior to the rest of humanity are without foundation. Prejudice — whether based on race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or class — is a baneful heritage that must be overcome if humanity is to create a peaceful and just global society.
The New Zealand Bahá’í community has taken a particularly strong initiative over the past decade in support of race unity. For example, Bahá’í communities throughout the country are amongst the active supporters of Race Relations Day. (To read more about race relations efforts by the New Zealand Bahá’í community, please see the article on Involvement in society.)
These initiatives are inspired by Bahá’u’lláh’s counsel to His followers to make an active effort to rid themselves of all prejudices which breed contention and strife. In His primary ethical work, The Hidden Words, Bahá’u’lláh exhorts human beings to reflect on this question:
O CHILDREN OF
MEN!
Know ye not why
We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the
other. Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created. Since we have
created you all from one same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as
one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the
same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of
oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest.
The very diversity of the human race is, in
fact, a means for creating a world based on unity rather than uniformity. It is
not by the suppression of differences that we will arrive at unity, but rather
by an increased awareness of and respect for the intrinsic value of each
separate culture, and indeed, of each individual. It is not diversity itself
which is the cause of conflict, but rather our immature attitude towards it,
our intolerance and misconceptions of others. 'Abdu'l-Báhá expresses this
viewpoint in the following passage:
A critic may
object, saying that peoples, races, tribes and communities of the world are of
different and varied customs, habits, tastes, character, inclinations and
ideas, that opinions and thoughts are contrary to one another, and how,
therefore, is it possible for real unity to be revealed and perfect accord
among human souls to exist?
In answer we say
that differences are of two kinds. One is the cause of annihilation and is like
the antipathy existing among warring nations and conflicting tribes who seek
each other's destruction, uprooting one another's families, depriving one
another of rest and comfort and unleashing carnage. The other kind which is a
token of diversity is the essence of perfection and the cause of the appearance
of the bestowals of the Most Glorious Lord.
Consider the
flowers of a garden: though differing in kind, colour, form and shape, yet,
inasmuch as they are refreshed by the waters of one spring, revived by the
breath of one wind, invigorated by the rays of one sun, this diversity
increaseth their charm, and addeth unto their beauty. Thus when that unifying
force, the penetrating influence of the Word of God, taketh effect, the
difference of customs, manners, habits, ideas, opinions and dispositions
embellisheth the world of humanity. This diversity, this difference is like the
naturally created dissimilarity and variety of the limbs and organs of the
human body, for each one contributeth to the beauty, efficiency and perfection
of the whole. When these different limbs and organs come under the influence of
man's sovereign soul, and the soul's power pervadeth the limbs and members, veins
and arteries of the body, then difference reinforceth harmony, diversity
strengtheneth love, and multiplicity is the greatest factor for co-ordination.
Source
This article has been adapted from an article on "The
Bahá'í World" website, official site of the Bahá'í International
Community, www.bahai.org, with material added about New Zealand.
Quotations in context
Click on the links below to search for quotations from
this page, in the Bahá'í reference library.
