Las Cruces Bulletin
Friday, April 26, 2019
World peace and security are attained through unity
By Carl Ewing
World Peace is NOT a “pipe dream.” Rather, it is an inevitable reality. Every object that exists is composed of atoms that are unified in the composition of that object. Its very existence depends on this working unity.
In the same way, our global society is composed of a multitude of cultures and peoples. Each culture, country, or people has a unique quality to offer to the essential unity of our whole planet. The wholesome development and prosperity of the planet depends on this. But it requires a change of attitude about the world. It requires the recognition of the oneness of humanity.
Baha’u’llah, the prophet-founder of the Baha’i Faith wrote: “The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established.” He also wrote: “The purpose of justice is the appearance of unity among men.”
The series of prerequisites is clear. Before Peace comes Unity and before Unity comes Justice. So, in order to achieve the unity required for peace, certain issues first need to be addressed for the establishment of justice. In 1985, the Universal House of Justice (governing body of the Baha’i world community) released a statement titled “The Promise of World Peace.” Some of its major points include:
• Racism, a baneful evil, is a major barrier to peace.
• The inordinate disparity between rich and poor keeps the world in a state of instability, virtually on the brink of war.
- Unbridled nationalism must give way to a wider loyalty, to the love of humanity as a whole.
- Religious strife, the cause of innumerable wars and conflicts, is increasingly abhorrent to people of all faiths and no faith.
- The achievement of full equality between the sexes is one of the most important prerequisites of peace.
• Universal education deserves the utmost support that governments can lend it, for ignorance is the principal reason for the decline and fall of peoples.
• A fundamental lack of communication between peoples seriously undermines efforts toward world peace.
• Two points bear emphasizing. One is that the abolition of war is not simply a matter of signing treaties and protocols but a complex task that requires a new level of commitment. The other point is that the context of the issues of peace must be raised to the level of principal. For peace stems from an inner state supported by a spiritual and moral attitude in which the possibility of enduring solutions can be found.
These are but a few issues that, in our own way, we can each help resolve by promoting justice amongst our friends and acquaintances and to our government. It begins within each one of us as a personal commitment but can grow in an ever expanding wave extending to our communities and nations.
World peace begins with a true understanding of the oneness of humanity. If the virus of nationalism and unfounded prejudices can influence our societies, why then can’t we realize an even more powerful unifying impulse through living by and promoting principles of justice?
We live in a world that is more and more interdependent. Surely, we can share a growing understanding of our essential unity to benefit the whole of humanity and see it realized in the prosperity and happiness of every country, village and individual. A seed looks nothing like the plant it becomes. Nonetheless, it grows to be so. Let our commitment to justice and unity be the seed of World Peace.
Carl Ewing is chairman of the Local Spiritual Assembly. He may be reached at 575-571-4434.
Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Las Cruces
PO Box 1491
Las Cruces, NM 88004
http://www.lascrucesbahai.org/