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                                  IV


The source of the  optimism  we  feel  is  a  vision  transcending  the
cessation  of  war  and  the  creation  of  agencies  of  international
cooperation. Permanent peace among nations is an essential  stage,  but
not,  Baha'u'llah  asserts, the ultimate goal of the social development
of humanity. Beyond the initial armistice forced upon the world by  the
fear  of  nuclear  holocaust,  beyond  the  political peace reluctantly
entered into by suspicious rival nations, beyond pragmatic arrangements
for  security  and  coexistence,  beyond  even  the many experiments in
cooperation which these steps will  make  possible  lies  the  crowning
goal:  the unification of all the peoples of the world in one universal
family.

Disunity is a danger that the nations and peoples of the earth  can  no
longer  endure;  the  consequences are too terrible to contemplate, too
obvious to require any  demonstration.  "The  well-being  of  mankind,"
Baha'u'llah wrote more than a century ago, "its peace and security, are
unattainable unless and until its  unity  is  firmly  established."  In
observing  that  "mankind is groaning, is dying to be led to unity, and
to terminate its agelong martyrdom," Shoghi Effendi  further  commented
that: "Unification of the whole of mankind is the hallmark of the stage
which human society is now approaching. Unity of family, of  tribe,  of
city-state  and  nation  have  been  successively  attempted  and fully
established. World unity is the goal towards which a harassed  humanity
is  striving.  Nation-building has come to an end. The anarchy inherent
in state sovereignty is moving towards a climax. A  world,  growing  to
maturity, must abandon this fetish, recognize the oneness and wholeness
of human relationships, and establish once for all the  machinery  that
can best incarnate this fundamental principle of its life."

All contemporary forces of change validate this view. The proofs can be
discerned  in  the  many  examples already cited of the favorable signs
towards  world   peace   in   current   international   movements   and
developments.  The  army  of  men and women, drawn from virtually every
culture, race and nation on earth, who serve the multifarious  agencies
of  the  United  Nations,  represent  a planetary "civil service" whose
impressive accomplishments are indicative of the degree of  cooperation
that  can  be  attained  even  under  discouraging  conditions. An urge
towards unity, like a spiritual springtime, struggles to express itself
through  countless  international congresses that bring together people
from  a  vast  array  of  disciplines.   It   motivates   appeals   for
international  projects involving children and youth. Indeed, it is the
real source of the  remarkable  movement  towards  ecumenism  by  which
members   of   historically   antagonistic  religions  and  sects  seem
irresistibly drawn towards one another.   Together  with  the  opposing
tendency   to   warfare   and   self-aggrandizement  against  which  it
ceaselessly struggles, the drive towards world  unity  is  one  of  the
dominant,  pervasive  features of life on the planet during the closing
years of the twentieth century.

The experience of the Baha'i community may be seen  as  an  example  of
this  enlarging  unity. It is a community of some three to four million
people drawn from many nations, cultures, classes and  creeds,  engaged
in  a  wide  range  of  activities  serving  the  spiritual, social and
economic needs of the peoples of many lands.  It  is  a  single  social
organism,   representative  of  the  diversity  of  the  human  family,
conducting  its  affairs  through  a  system   of   commonly   accepted
consultative   principles,   and   cherishing  equally  all  the  great
outpourings of divine guidance in human history. Its existence  is  yet
another convincing proof of the practicality of its Founder's vision of
a united world, another evidence that humanity can live as  one  global
society,  equal to whatever challenges its coming of age may entail. If
the Baha'i experience can contribute in whatever measure to reinforcing
hope  in  the  unity  of  the human race, we are happy to offer it as a
model for study.

In contemplating the supreme importance of the task now challenging the
entire  world,  we bow our heads in humility before the awesome majesty
of the divine Creator, Who out of His infinite  love  has  created  all
humanity  from  the  same  stock;  exalted  the gemlike reality of man;
honored it with intellect and wisdom,  nobility  and  immortality;  and
conferred upon man the "unique distinction and capacity to know Him and
to love Him," a capacity that "must needs be regarded as the generating
impulse and the primary purpose underlying the whole of creation."

We hold firmly the conviction that all human beings have  been  created
"to  carry  forward  an ever-advancing civilization"; that "to act like
the beasts of the field is unworthy of  man";  that  the  virtues  that
befit human dignity are trustworthiness, forbearance, mercy, compassion
and loving kindness towards all peoples. We reaffirm  the  belief  that
the "potentialities inherent in the station of man, the full measure of
his destiny on earth, the innate excellence of his reality, must all be
manifested  in this promised Day of God." These are the motivations for
our unshakable faith that unity  and  peace  are  the  attainable  goal
towards which humanity is striving.

At this writing, the expectant voices of Baha'is can be  heard  despite
the  persecution they still endure in the land in which their Faith was
born. By their example of steadfast hope,  they  bear  witness  to  the
belief  that the imminent realization of this age-old dream of peace is
now, by virtue of the transforming effects of Baha'u'llah's revelation,
invested  with the force of divine authority. Thus we convey to you not
only a vision in words: we summon the  power  of  deeds  of  faith  and
sacrifice;  we convey the anxious plea of our coreligionists everywhere
for peace  and  unity.  We  join  with  all  who  are  the  victims  of
aggression,  all  who  yearn for an end to conflict and contention, all
whose devotion to principles of peace  and  world  order  promotes  the
ennobling  purposes for which humanity was called into being by an all-
loving Creator.

In the earnestness of our desire to impart to you  the  fervor  of  our
hope  and  the depth of our confidence, we cite the emphatic promise of
Baha'u'llah: "These fruitless strifes, these ruinous  wars  shall  pass
away, and the 'Most Great Peace' shall come."

                                     THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE





Thank You,
Mike Register
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register%ilm.DEC@decwrl

Bruce Limber
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Verbus M. Counts
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