A Summary
The Bahá’í Faith recognizes the unity of God and of His Prophets, upholds the principle of an unfettered search after truth, condemns all forms of superstition and prejudice, teaches that the fundamental purpose of religion is to promote concord and harmony, that it must go hand-in-hand with science, and that it constitutes the sole and ultimate basis of a peaceful, an ordered and progressive society. It inculcates the principle of equal opportunity, rights and privileges for both sexes, advocates compulsory education, abolishes extremes of poverty and wealth, exalts work performed in the spirit of service to the rank of worship, recommends the adoption of an auxiliary international language, and provides the necessary agencies for the establishment and safeguarding of a permanent and universal peace.
~ Shoghi Effendi, The Bahá’í Faith – The World Religion: A Summary of Its Aims, Teachings and History
I really appreciate this single paragraph that summarizes the beliefs of the Baha’is. I ran across it in a collection of excerpts of the writings titled “Teachings for the New World Order.” That term has been used several times during the 20th century and beginning of the 21st. It was normally following wars, i.e. WWI, WWII and the Cold War, and used to describe the hopes of what would come—more specifically that after all of the death and destruction preceding those times, that people would change, that the world would have to change.
While it seems in those cases the world, though it may never be the same, did revert back to its previous pettiness—prejudice and poverty still persist. However, as Baha’is we pray for the day when people will put these feelings aside and learn how we can live together and allow religion to be the cohesive force that binds us, not the wedge that divides us.