The Oneness of the World and Humanity

Many people look at the Twelve Principles of the Bahá'í Faith and scoff. "The Oneness of the World and Humanity? Of course we are all equal! How is that a principle of your religion?" These principles were brought right after the American Civil War, at a time when the Jim Crow Laws were just being formed. Now, today, I walk around my college campus and see Asians, Indians, Africans, Caucasians, Latin Americans, Middle Easterners and many other races merged together, studying together and working together.

But I step outside and into the world. I see bigotry and hatred. People think that their race is the supreme race. That they are the most important, the wisest.

The beauty of the First Principle is that the other Eleven stem from it. We always talk about World Peace. We want peace on earth, but how can this be accomplished without unity? This Oneness of the World and Humanity is the beginning. The next Eleven Principles build the idea of Peace on Earth.

As 'Abdu'l-Bahá puts it in His Paris Talks, "All men are servants of the One God. One God reigns over all the nations of the world and has pleasure in all His children. All men are of one family; the crown of humanity rests on the head of every human being." If this be the case, why then do we fight amongst ourselves. It is funny really. When we go to war over land, we are essentially going to war over land in which we will be buried. Yes, we may grow crops on this land-but this is only temporary. This physical life is momentary while the life after death is eternal.

It is very true that one can say we have different talents and capabilities. The Valley of Unity from Bahá'u'lláh's Seven Valleys makes note of this fact. However, it is this inequality that we are equal. Somebody is a good runner, while another is an incredible swimmer. Somebody is excellent at logic and reasoning, while another is a talented speaker. We have different qualities to share amongst ourselves.

So, how do we bring about unity? Let us think about from the perspective of the Seven Valleys. The first valley, the Valley of Search, brought the idea of being detached from our bias. The second valley, the Valley of Love, made us realize we love everything for the sake of our love for God. The third valley, the Valley of Knowledge, allows us to see our own knowledge is nothing in comparison to the Knowledge of God. After surpassing these three valleys, we enter the Valley of Unity. Now let us look at this in terms of humanity. If we as humanity leave behind our biases of each other, love one another as brothers and sisters and realize our own knowledge (we can assume this to mean forms of government as sources of unity that mortals created) is nothing in the sight of God's Knowledge, then we can enter the Valley of Unity and truly be united as humanity. We can thus understand that the Seven Valleys are more than just a singular journey, but also a plural one.

In The Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, Bahá'u'lláh asserts, "Justice and equity are twin Guardians that watch over men. From them are revealed such blessed and perspicuous words as are the cause of the well-being of the world and the protection of the nations." This idea of justice stems from the Kitáb-i-Aqdas where the laws of the Bahá'í Faith may be found. Such laws are to bring about justice in a united society and make sure that humanity is kept in order. Without order, anarchy is born and anarchy is simply a state where every man is for himself and there is no unity.

"Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch. Deal ye one with another with the utmost love and harmony, with friendliness and fellowship... So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth... Exert yourselves that ye may attain this transcendent and most sublime station, the station that can insure the protection and security of all mankind. This goal excelleth every other goal, and this aspiration is the monarch of all aspirations. So long, however, as the thick clouds of oppression, which obscure the daystar of justice, remain undispelled, it would be difficult for the glory of this station to be unveiled to men’s eyes..."
-Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

Oppression of the peoples of the earth is another barrier to complete unity. In His letters to the kings and rulers of earth (see Summons of the Lord of Hosts), Bahá'u'lláh lays this foundation and offers each ruler the key to unity, but they all refused-from Napoleon III of France to Sultan Abdu'l-Aziz of the Ottoman Empire. Looking at history, you see every ruler which did not follow the rules of unity (forced or by choice) had his empire collapse.

Unity is the key to peace and stability.