‘World Citizens-Not Consumers’

People’s spiritual beliefs influence their attitude toward climate change, with religious groups increasingly helping to frame humanity’s response to environmental issues. That was one of the messages from a session at the 33rd annual conference of the Association for Baha’i Studies, held in mid-August in Washington. The gathering drew nearly 1,000 participants from some 20 countries. The theme of the conference was “Environments,” and one of the plenary speakers was Peter G. Brown, a geography professor at McGill University in Montreal who has participated in the Moral Economy Project of the Quaker Institute for the Future. Dr. Brown said the current economic paradigm is bringing mayhem to the planet and that people need to learn to think of themselves as citizens, not consumers. “We need a different image of ourselves,” he said – an image that sees humanity as part of a long “co-evolutionary” process. Rather than asking how to better exploit the earth’s resources, humanity should be asking how to live with an ethic of respect and reciprocity for all life, he said. Society’s concept of morality is too limited, he continued, suggesting that a moral framework must be applied to systems, not just to individuals. “We have not been able to connect our scientific knowledge with our moral systems,” he noted. A Baha’i speaker, Peter Adriance, described how religious groups and faith communities are increasingly collaborating with the environmental movement. He quoted Mary Evelyn Tucker, co-founder of the Forum on Religion and Ecology, as saying that “no other group of institutions can wield the particular moral authority of the religions.” Mr. Adriance listed a dozen initiatives by various groups that focus on spiritual or moral aspects of creating a sustainable environment.

Source: http://news.bahai.org/story/728

‘One Heavenly Source’

In a world of increasing extremism I find the following words of Bahá’u’lláh a great confirmation of the underlying unity of all religions-

There can be no doubt whatever that the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God.

‘The Marriage Of East And West’

The artist Bernard Leach concludes his autobiography ‘Beyond East and West’ with an expression of yearning for world unity-

I have seen a vision of the Marriage of East and West, and far off down the Halls of Time I heard the echo of a childlike voice. How long? How long?

Leach’s art was a conscious attempt to unify the traditions of East and West. In the years since his passing the world has seen the ‘Marriage Of East and West’ having an increasingly literal reality with a growing number of loving inter-cultural relationships. The occident and orient are reuniting like estranged lovers. In the words of Bahá’u'lláh-

…Whither can a lover go but to the land of his beloved? and what seeker findeth rest away from his heart’s desire? To the true lover reunion is life, and separation is death. His breast is void of patience and his heart hath no peace. A myriad lives he would forsake to hasten to the abode of his beloved.

“The Clash of Civilizations” Revisited

The Associated Press reports that Samuel Huntington, a political scientist and author of “The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order” passed away at the age of 81 on Wednesday.  Huntingdon famously said

It is my hypothesis that the fundamental source of conflict in this new world will not be primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural.

Given Huntington’s profession as a political scientist it is curious that politics and economics are dismissed as fundamental sources of conflict in favour of culture. I am not aware of any major conflict of the last few hundred years which was primarily fought over culture. It seems more accurate to say that cultural (or religious) differences often provide a fig leaf for the political or economic ambitions of the individuals involved.  This being the case “The Clash of Civilizations” thesis seems unduly pessimistic about cultural diversity. Cultural diversity is part of our common humanity. In the words of Bahá’u’lláh addressed to the peoples of the world

Ye are all fruits of one tree, the leaves of one branch, the flowers of one garden.

We are all the flowers of the same garden and not all the flowers are the same.