A Century of Thoughts

Today, all bloggers have been asked to write something about a human rights issue. I have some breaking news about one human rights issue that I want to post on this blog Here it is:

15 May 2008 (BWNS)

NEW YORK – Six Bahá’í leaders in Iran were arrested and taken to the notorious Evin prison yesterday in a sweep that is ominously similar to episodes in the 1980s when scores of Iranian Bahá’í leaders were summarily rounded up and killed.

The six men and women were in their homes Wednesday morning when government intelligence agents entered and spent up to five hours searching each home, before taking them away.

This is taking place in the country where Abdu'l-Baha was born. The hatred for and distrust of Baha'is that forced Abdu'l-Baha and his family to accept banishment from Persia, and ultimate imprisonment in Akka remains alive today. Groups concerned about human rights should not overlook the plight of Iran's Baha'is.

|  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this

In my anthology story, I have Abdu'l-Baha talk with two fictional characters--two young boys. Here is a statement from Abdu'l-Baha that sheds light on his views about children:

“If a child be trained” ‘Abdu'l-Bahá says, “from his infancy, he will, through the loving care of the Holy Gardener, drink in the crystal waters of the spirit and of knowledge, like a young tree amid the rilling brooks.  And certainly he will gather to himself the bright rays of the Sun of Truth, and through its light and heat will grow ever fresh and fair in the garden of life.”

|  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this

Did Abdu'l-Baha attend any Mother's Day celebration while he was in the United States? I do not know the answer to that question. Dr. Anne Gordon Perry, a professor at the University of Texas in Dallas has sent me quotes that could well have been used at such a celebration. Here are those quotes:

“When . . . the equality of men and women is realized, the foundations of war will be utterly destroyed. . . .” “In truth, woman will be the greatest factor in establishing universal peace and international arbitration.  Assuredly, woman will abolish warfare among mankind.”

“So it will come to pass that when women participate fully and equally in the affairs of the the world, when they enter confidently and capably the great arena of laws and politics, war will cease.” “Only as women are welcomed into full partnership in all fields of human endeavor will the moral and psychological climate be created in which international peace can emerge.”

All of those statements were taken from a passage in the Baha'i writings. They represent the thoughts that would no doubt have entered the mind of Abdu'l-Baha during any Mother's Day event that he might have attended.

|  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this

Earlier, I wrote about the unspoken thoughts of Abdu'l-Baha. Why did Abdu'l-Baha hesitate to express all of his thoughts? Sometimes the people of the United States were not ready to hear or read his thoughts.

In 1912,Abdu'l-Baha wrote this about his idea that there should be a union of the black and white people in America: "If this matter remaineth without change, enmity will be increased day by day,and the final result will be hardship and may end in bloodshed."

The America of 1912 was a white America. Abdu'l-Baha knew that most American Baha'is would find it hard to grasp the full meaning of the above statement. Perhaps he also knew that time would soon point-out the wisdom of his thoughts.

During the year of 1919  at least 25 race riots took place in different American cities. Such violence, coming on the heels of Ku Klux Klan activities and economic dislocations reinforced the need for a union between people of all races.

|  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this

Today the Associated Press has reported the death of Mildred Loving. American citizens first heard the name "Loving" in 1967, when the Supreme Court reached a decision in the case of Loving v. Virginia. The Court agreed to the union of Mildred and Richard Loving. Their marriage put an end to laws against interracial marriage.

While visiting the United States, Abdu'l-Baha served as the witness for a Baha'i marriage, a marriage that united another interracial couple. Abdu'l-Baha felt that the laws of God held more importance to him than any social contraints against such "mixed" marriages.

Here is an important quote from Abdu'l-Baha:

“Baha’ullah has compared the colored people to the black pupil of the eye surrounded by the white.  In this black pupil is seen that which is before it, and through it the light of the spirit shineth forth.”

|  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this

I have been writing about Abdu'l-Baha's unspoken thoughts. One can guess at some of his thoughts by reading the following passage:

“family is a nation in miniature. Simply enlarge the circle of the household and you have the nation. Enlarge the circle of nations and you have all humanity. The conditions surrounding the family surround the nation..."

Those are words that were written by Abdu'l-Baha. He obviously saw all Americans as part of one large family. He wanted that family to stay united. He hoped that the citizens of the world would one day become united.

|  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this

Abdu'l-Baha noticed a good deal about the United States during his visit. He even seems to have picked-up on the thoughts of the Native Americans. Study these two quotes, and you will see why I have made that statement:

O army of God!  Beware lest ye harm any
soul, or make any heart to sorrow; lest ye
wound any man with your words, be he
known to you or a stranger, be he friend or
foe.  Pray ye for all; ask ye that all be
blessed, all be forgiven.  Beware, beware,
lest any of you seek vengeance, even
against one who is thirsting for your blood.
Beware, beware, lest ye offend the feelings
of another, even though he be an evil-doer,
and he wish you ill.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

|  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this

In my last post I wrote about the unspoken thoughts of Adu'l-Baha. I indicated that during his stay in the U.S., Abdu'l-Baha had communicated with his sister and his grandson. His grandson later wrote many different books.

Here is a passage from one of his books, a book titled Citadel of Faith. It is a collection of the many letters that Shoghi Effendi, Abdu'l-Baha's grandson, wrote to Baha'is in the United States. Some of those letters, contained mention of a promising future. Here is part of a letter that was written in June of 1947:

"Whatever the Hand of beneficent and inscrutable Destiny has reserved for this youthful, this virile, this idealistic, this spiritually blessed and enviable nation, however severe the storms which may buffet it in the days to come...however sweeping the changes which the impact of cataclysmic forces from without, and the stirrings of a Divine embryonic Order from within, will effect in its struture and life, we may, confident in the words uttered by Abdu'l-Baha, feel assured that that great republic...will continue to evolve..."

The statement in that letter sheds greater light on the statement made by Adu'l-Baha, when he disembarked from his boat in the harbor of New York City. He then declared that he had come to build a foundation for the "oneness of mankind." He spoke those three words in 1912, well before the decision to have the United Nations inside of New York City.

|  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this

In my story about Abdu'l-Baha's visit to the U.S., I did not include a great many quotes from Abdu'l-Baha. I think that the Persian visitor himself was a bit reticent during his visit. Here is a quote from his writings:

"Not everything that a man knoweth
can be disclosed, nor can everything that he can
disclose be regarded as timely, nor can every timely
utterance be considered as suited to the capacity of
those who hear it."

Obviously, Abdu'l-Baha had many unspoken thoughts during his stay in the United States. Maybe he shared some of those with his sister Bahiyya. Perhaps he shared some with his grandson, Shoghi Effendi.

Shoghi Effendi later wrote a number of letters to the Baha'is in the United States. Perhaps a look at some of the those letters could disclose a few of the unspoken thoughts that enterred the mind of Abdu'l-Baha. I have a book that contains some of those letters. I plan to look at it closely this week and next week.

|  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this

Becasue today is Earthday, I want to include in this post a qoute about man's treatment of the Earth. It is a quote from the writings of Abdu'l-Baha. Here is that quote:

"Today, all the peoples of the world are indulging in self-interest and exert the utmost effort and endeavor to promote their own material interests. They are worshipping themselves and not the divine reality, nor the world of mankind. They seek diligently their own benefit and not the common weal. This is because they are captives of the world of nature and unaware of the divine teachings, of the bounty of the Kingdom and of the Sun of Truth. But ye, praise be to God, are at present especially favored with this bounty, have become of the chosen, have been informed of the heavenly instructions, have gained admittance into the Kingdom of God, have become the recipients of unbounded blessings and have been baptized with the Water of Life, with the fire of the love of God and with the Holy Spirit."

|  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this