Some Bahá'í Principles

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Click on an item to read more.
starThe Oneness of the World of Humanity star The Foundation of All Religions Is One
star Progressive Revelation star Religion Must Be the Cause of Unity
star Harmony of Science and Religion star Independent Investigation of Reality
star Equality Between Men and Women star The Abolition of All Forms of Prejudice
star Universal Peace star Universal Education
star A Universal Auxiliary Language star Spiritual Solution of Economic Problems
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The Oneness of the World of Humanity
All the teachings of the Bahá'í Faith revolve around unity. Bahá'u'lláh teaches us that all of mankind is, and always has been one family. We are like a flower garden - quite beautiful in our diversity. The Bahá'ís are working very hard all over the world to bring about the Oneness of Mankind which is the pivotal theme of the Faith. "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." (Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, page 288)

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The Foundation of All Religions Is One
The Bahá'í Faith teaches that there is only one God. It explains that He is so elevated and lofty in His perfection that we can never hope to understand or comprehend Him. In His love for us, He sends, in every age (roughly every 500 to 1,000 years), a divine Messenger Who is God's mouthpiece on earth. To know Him is to know God. His words are God's words. His message is God's message. To obey Him is to obey God.
This process, we are told, has always been and will continue in the future. God's one religion has been given to mankind through these divine Beings whose teachings bring about whole new civilizations. The messengers throughout recorded history have been Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Krishna, Jesus, Muhammad and, in this age Bahá'u'lláh and His Forerunner, the Bab. Each brings a new chapter to the one book of religion by the one Author - God. The Author of the chapter of this book for today is Bahá'u'lláh and this chapter is called Bahá'í.
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A principle, fundamental to understanding the Bahá'í teachings, is . . .

Progressive Revelation
Click here for a more detailed presentation of this principle. mirror image

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Religion Must Be the Cause of Unity
The basis of the word Religion itself signifies unity: "re" meaning again and the Latin root "legio" meaning to gather or join together. So in the strict sense, the word religion means to gather or join together again. The Bahá'í Writings point out that if "religion" doesn't bring about unity, if it divides people, we would be better off without it. The Bahá'í Faith has successfully unified millions of diverse peoples. There is only one Bahá'í Faith. It has been said about the Faith that it is perhaps the most unified, most diverse group of people on the planet.

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Harmony of Science and Religion
It is pointed out by Bahá'u'lláh that the study of religion and the investigation of science are both avenues to truth in the created world. Both the spiritual and the physical worlds are creations of the same God, Who is Himself One. Therefore they cannot be in conflict - they must agree. If they don't, the Bahá'í Writings point out, then either the science is faulty, or, more likely, the religion is superstition and imitation. It is often our limited understanding that is the problem. Or, we have interpreted the Holy Books literally instead of seeing the metaphors that illustrate spiritual truths. This is a wonderful subject and worthy of lengthy study.

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The Independent Investigation of Reality
One of the pivotal principles of the Bahá'í Faith is that one must independently investigate reality for himself. The days are gone when others were required to interpret reality for us. There are no clergy in the Bahá'í Faith. Our Creator has endowed each of us with the capacity to recognize reality and follow it when we find it. We must avoid blind imitation and unthinking adherence to outworn dogma. This is a new age with new requirements.

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Equality between men and women
This is one of the many new teachings of the Bahá'í Faith. The rights, opportunities and privileges of all men and women must be promoted and protected. God has made no distinction between the sexes. To quote from 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the son of Bahá'u'lláh, and authorized interpreter of His teachings:

"And among the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh is the equality of women and men. The world of humanity has two wings - one is women and the other men. Not until both wings are equally developed can the bird fly. Should one wing remain weak, flight is impossible. Not until the world of women becomes equal to the world of men in the acquisition of virtues and perfections, can success and prosperity be attained as they ought to be."
(Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, p.302)
And further, this equality will assist in bringing about world peace.
"Equality between men and women is conducive to the abolition of warfare for the reason that women will never be willing to sanction it. Mothers will not give their sons as sacrifices upon the battlefield after twenty years of anxiety and loving devotion in rearing them from infancy, no matter what cause they are called upon to defend. There is no doubt that when women obtain equality of rights, war will entirely cease among mankind."

('Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 175)
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The Abolition of All Forms of Prejudice
Bahá'u'lláh has taught that the world has a sickness and that this illness is disunity. Disunity, in turn, is normally caused by one the many forms of prejudice :
National Political Class Racial
Religious Economic Family Tribal
School Gender Job Health
Some of the Many Types of Prejudice
One of the titles of Bahá'u'lláh is the "Divine Physician" and, as such, He has diagnosed the illness afflicting the world of humanity, prescribed the spiritual remedy and brought the medicine. His teachings, once taken to heart and practiced, have conclusively proven effective in eliminating this disease. The Bahá'í world offers itself as a model for how this cure can and does work. Please feel free to examine it.
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Universal Peacedove
Bahá'u'lláh has stated that all nations of the world must come together and, in a meeting to embrace and represent all the people of the earth, make a binding agreement to end war for ever. He has said that there will be no further need for arms except to a limited extent for internal order. He has prescribed an international police force to uphold the provisions of this all-embracing agreement and has outlined a system of collective security.

"They must put away the weapons of war, and turn to the instruments of universal reconstruction. Should one king rise up against another, all the other kings must arise to deter him."
(Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, page 31)
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Universal Education
All children must be educated. And this education must be universal. If the family is unable to educate the children, the community must do it for them. And if there is a choice in educating a boy or a girl, according to Bahá'u'lláh, the girl must be educated as she will be the first trainer of the future children. There is no doubt that the cause of many of the problems confronting the human race are based in the lack of a proper education. Everyone must receive proper training and become a productive member of society.

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A Universal Auxiliary Language
One of the most obvious necessities of the age we live in is an auxiliary universal language. The nations of the world must consult and choose an existing language and script (or create a new one) as an auxiliary language for all people. In this manner, all men and women on earth will be able to communicate. They will be required only to know their mother-tongue and this universal language. This, Bahá'u'lláh points out, will go a long way towards the realization by the peoples of the earth of the truth that "the earth is one country and mankind its citizens."

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Spiritual Solution of Economic Problems
The problems of the world, the Bahá'í writings indicate, have spiritual solutions. As long as we insist on the operation of an economy, both nationally and globally, based on greed and self aggrandizement we will make no real progress. We might look at the human body as a model for how the system should work. Human cells operate in a manner that is conducive to the betterment of the whole body. When there is a need, they fill it regardless of where it is or what is involved. They even shut down certain systems temporarily in order to resolve a crises. They never seem to think only of themselves. If they did, the system would decay and die. Medicine has a name for this type of individualism on the part of the constituent elements of the body ­ cancer. Yet we think we can operate in our global family thinking only of ourselves and behaving in this way. We must rethink this behaviour before it is too late.

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