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30th
December 2011
Essential And Non-essential
(Cont’d from last Weekend
VOICE)
 As
a proof thereof he says, “A certain number
of people contemporaneous with us are known
as Christians. These enjoy the superlative degree
of moral civilization. Each one of them is a
great philosopher because they live together
in the utmost love and good-fellowship. They
sacrifice life for each other. They offer worldly
possessions for each other. You can say of the
Christian people that they are as one person.
There is a bond amongst them that is indissoluble
in character.”
It is evident therefore that the foundation
of real brotherhood, the cause of loving co-operation
and reciprocity and the source of real kindness
and unselfish devotion is none other than the
breaths of the Holy Spirit. Without this influence
and animus it is impossible. We may be able
to realize some degree of fraternity through
other motives but these are limited associations
and subject to change. When human brotherhood
is founded upon the Holy Spirit, it is eternal,
changeless, unlimited.
In various parts of the Orient there was a time
when brotherhood, loving-kindness and all the
praiseworthy qualities of mankind seemed to
have disappeared. There was no evidence of patriotic,
religious or racial fraternity but conditions
of bigotry, hatred and prejudice prevailed instead.
The adherents of each religion were violent
enemies of the others, filled with the spirit
of hostility and eager for shedding of blood.
The present war in the Balkans furnishes a parallel
of these conditions. Consider the bloodshed,
ferocity and oppression manifested there even
in this enlightened century; all of it based
fundamentally upon religious prejudice and disagreement.
For the nations involved belong to the same
races and nativities, nevertheless they are
savage and merciless toward each other. Similar
deplorable conditions prevailed in Persia in
the nineteenth century. Darkness and ignorant
fanaticism were widespread; no trace of fellowship
or brotherhood existed amongst the races. On
the contrary, human hearts were filled with
rage and hatred; darkness and gloom were manifest
in human lives and conditions everywhere. At
such a time as this His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh
appeared upon the divine horizon, even as the
glory of the sun, and in that gross darkness
and hopelessness of the human world there shone
a great light. He founded the oneness of the
world of humanity, declaring that all mankind
are as sheep and that God is the real and true
shepherd. The shepherd is one and all people
are of his flock.
The world of humanity is one and God is equally
kind to all. What then is the source of unkindness
and hatred in the human world? This real shepherd
loves all his sheep. He leads them in green
pastures. He rears and protects them. What then
is the source of enmity and alienation among
humankind? Whence this conflict and strife?
The real underlying cause is lack of religious
unity and association for in each of the great
religions we find superstition, blind imitation
of creeds, and theological formulae adhered
to instead of the divine fundamentals, causing
difference and divergence among mankind instead
of agreement and fellowship.
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Consequently strife, hatred
and warfare have arisen, based upon this divergence
and separation. If we investigate the foundations
of the divine religions, we find them to be
one, absolutely changeless and never subject
to transformation. For example each of the
divine religions contains two kinds of laws
or ordinances. One division concerns the world
of morality and ethical institutions. These
are the essential ordinances. They instil
and awaken the knowledge and love of God,
love for humanity, the virtues of the world
of mankind, the attributes of the divine kingdom,
rebirth and resurrection from the kingdom
of nature. These constitute one kind of divine
law which is common to all and never subject
to change. From the dawn of the Adamic cycle
to the present day this fundamental law of
God has continued changeless. This is the
foundation of divine religion.
The second division comprises laws and institutions
which provide for human needs and conditions
according to exigencies of time and place.
These are accidental, of no essential importance
and should never have been made the cause
and source of human contention. For example
during the time of His Holiness Moses -- Upon
him be peace! -- according to the exigencies
of that period, divorce was permissible. During
the cycle of His Holiness Christ inasmuch
as divorce was not in conformity with the
time and conditions His Holiness Jesus Christ
abrogated it. In the cycle of Moses plurality
of wives was permissible but during the time
of His Holiness Christ the exigency which
had sanctioned it did not exist, therefore
it was forbidden. His Holiness Moses lived
in the wilderness and desert of Sinai; therefore
his ordinances and commandments were in conformity
with those conditions. The penalty for theft
was to cut off a man’s hand. An ordinance
of this kind was in keeping with desert life
but not compatible with conditions of the
present day. Such ordinances therefore constitute
the second or non-essential division of the
divine religions and are not of importance
for they deal with human transactions which
are ever changing according to the requirements
of time and place. Therefore the intrinsic
foundations of the divine religions are one.
As this is true, why should hostility and
strife exist among them? Why should this hatred
and warfare, ferocity and bloodshed continue?
Is this allowable and justified? God forbid!
(Abdu’l-Bahá, Foundations of
World Unity, p. 80)
For further information contact:
North: 452-0335
Central: 452-4346
South: 459-3131
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comment respectfully and responsibly as we reserve
the right to remove any comment we consider
inappropriate. Refrain from personal attacks
and using any offensive language.
Discuss
Story
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