Expert: Ron Price - 3/5/2011

Question
QUESTION: Can you help me out? I need specific references to Bahai texts that instruct members of the religion to practice nonviolence.

Also, is there a list of rules somewhere that I can refer to? I would very much like reference to an official book or an official statement.

Thank you in advanced.

ANSWER: CONTEXT FOR THIS ROLE OF EXPERT
AT THE “ABOUT SITE”

Note: Before reading my attempt at an answer to the question you sent to the About internet site today, please read the following three A-4 pages and 1500 words which sets a framework for my response to your question.  I have set this framework outout below.  It is a framework that tries to place my remarks in a general and relevant context.  If I do not fully answer your question immediately on seeing your question, I will try to get back to you within 24 hours.  In addition, if you do not find my answer to your question satisfactory, then: (a) feel free to write again, (b) try one of the other experts at this site, (c) go to one of the many Bahá'í forums and internet locations now in existence on the internet, and/or (d) go to the official internaitonal Baha’I site at: bahai.org.

If you just insert the following words into your search engine: (1) Bahá'í Forums or (2) Web Forums about the Baha'i Faith or (3) the Bahá'í Faith followed by whatever topic is of interest to you; for example: the trinity, reincarnation, miracles, healing, inter alia--you will get yet another base of information to provide an immediate response to your area of interest.
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The function of an expert at this “About Site” is to act within the terms of reference as outlined by the About moderators.  These terms of reference specifically define the general objectives and methods of an expert.  I see my role as serving the specific need of an individual who writes to this site with a question and who is seeking an answer to that question.  I am not here to dictate arbitrarily to anyone, but rather to serve as one of the multitude of unifying factors at work in the Baha’i Faith, unifying factors that in this case function to answer the questions of seekers, those who simply want answers to their questions.  I attempt to be courteous and tactful on the one hand and to respond in a frank and honest way on the other in dealing with questions and comments that come in. Courtesy and frankness are difficult qualities to combine.   I also aim to foster a spirit of independence rather than a spirit which excessively relies on others to carry out their research and their study of the Baha’i Faith.

Whether the questioner is a Bahá’í, an interested observer or, indeed, someone without any special interest in this new world Faith, often the answer to their question can easily be found on the internet at one or more of the millions of sites, Baha’i and other, now in existence.  Often in answering a question, I direct the questioner to one or more of those sites for a more complete answer than the one I am providing.  Often, too, I provide an article, an essay and several relevant quotations, at least relevant as I see them, if not always seen as relevant by the recipient.  In the process, I have found over the six years I have been involved in answering questions that I sometimes provide too much information. sometimes I provide too little; sometimes questioners feel I have not even answered their question; sometimes they simply do not like my answer. The evaluation of my answers by questioners reflects my success from the point of view of questioners.  As in life, so on the internet with the question and answering process.

It is important for Baha’is and also for others who write in to utilize the many sources of assistance within both Baha’i administration and the burgeoning number of locations for expertise available in our diverse society. Government organizations, non-government organizations and special interest groups, inter alia and inter alter, are now available at the press of a button, the dialling of a number and a few clicks on the internet. So, too, are books, journals, pamphlets and a vast cornucopia of print and electronic media.   Evolution is forcing humanity to engage in a cooperative enterprize that is global--interplanetary--intergalactic now--in its reach.  This site at About and my contribution to the discourse is but a small part of this vast cooperative enterprize.  My approach and my words here are in many ways tentative ideas put forward as the limited and fallible views of one individual.  They should not be unthinkingly adopted as truth and I hope they would not pose a threat to the heartfelt strivings of any believer.

There are generally two kinds of Baha’i literature or writings about this Faith. One presents the/an official view and has the voice of authority behind it.  Such words are not the personal opinions of individual Baha’is.  There is a second category which includes all other writing.  The writing that I place here exists in this latter category, although from time to time I insert quotations that belong to the first category to explain my answer to a particular question.  The quotations, of course, are used by me in a certain way and form a part of an interpretive schema that becomes part of the second category--that is, opinion.  For readers who would like an excellent commentary on the whole question of interpretation I encourage them to read an article published in Bahá'í Studies Review, Volume 5.1, 1995.  It is entitled: Interpretation in the Bahá'í Faith.

Truth, the correct and only answer to a question, often cannot be found. This is mainly because there are often many truths, many answers, depending on the circumstances and situations—and many perspectives depending on the person answering the question and the person to whom one is writing.  To put this complexity or conundrum, this enigma, this apparent contradiction and paradox briefly, I could simply say that truth is relative, especially religious truth which is the main variety I deal with here and with which the various questions that come in are concerned. We are all struggling in our own way to come to terms with problems of understanding and knowledge.  

As much as possible I try to draw on relevant quotations from the voluminous Baha’i Scriptures.  Sometimes I simply do not have access to the relevant literature on a specific question since Baha’i literature in its many forms has become burgeoning, especially in the last quarter-century, since the 1980s and 1990s.  The Baha’i Faith had some 200,000 adherents in 1953 when I first came in contact with this new Faith which claims to be the emerging world religion on the planet.  It now has some 5 to 6 million.  In those six decades much of its literature, originally in Persian and Arabic, has been translated into English.  Still, there is much that remains untranslated.

Each Baha’i seeks to acquire, in his or her own way, a deeper understanding of the Revelation of Baha’u’llah. What is written here represents some of the fruits of my own efforts, limited as they are.  As I have said above, my words are not authoritative. This part of the About site for Baha’i expertise offers but one source of opinion and this opinion is written in accordance with my capacity and understanding.  Readers might like to try drawing on other Baha’i volunteer-experts at this site, as I have suggested above,  if they find my answers not to their satisfaction.  

The Universal House of Justice, the internationally elected body of the Baha’i Faith since 1963, pointed out recently that “the exercise of wisdom calls for a measure of love and the development of a sensitive conscience.”(1)  I am only too well aware of my incapacities on these fronts.  I feel somewhat presumptuous in taking on this role of expert, but I took on the role since I felt I could be the source of some social good, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá expresses one of the main roles of knowledge.  I do not seek any preference or distinction; I do not regard my ideas or myself as superior in anyway. I do not regard my answers as ‘the last word’ on the subject.  All of one’s talents in life are a gift from God, a gift as one writer put it, of some combination of merit and unmerited grace.  

After more than 50 years of association with a global Force that makes such a significant claim to be the emerging world religion on this planet, I offer these words and any answers I might give to questions simply as a service to others.  If questioners would like a more personal, direct and continued communication with me just write to the email address that I have provided below. -Ron Price, http://www.allexperts.com.   This is an updated statement written on 13 January 2010.  The original statement was placed at this site in response to a question in September 2004.
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(1) “Extracts from Letters of the Universal House of Justice on issues Related to the Study of the Baha’i Faith,” in Baha’i Canada, May 1998, p.18.
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Ron Price
Email      : ronprice9@gmail.com
Snailmail: 6 Reece Street
         Pipe Clay Bay
         George Town 7253
         Tasmania Australia
Tel          : 03-63824790-from mainland Australia; or
         dial your international access code #  & then
         613-63824790 if calling from outside Australia
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You ask for: (a) specific references in Bahai texts that instruct members of the religion to practice nonviolence and (b) a list of rules, if there are any, that you can refer to.  As you put it: you would like a reference to an official book or an official statement. My specif response is as follows:
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The following references are found at the internet site: Nonviolence and Religion « Educators for Nonviolence:
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‘Baha’i Faith and Nonviolence,’ Excerpt taken from “Bahá’í Teachings for a World Faith”.  Copyright © 1943, 1971, 1972 by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States of America. All rights reserved

‘Baha’i Faith and Social Action,’ Excerpt taken from: Christopher Buck, ‘Religious Myths and Visions of America,’ A Brief Introduction to the Baha’i Faith Chapter 11.

‘Tenets of Baha’i Faith,’ Excerpt taken from http://www.bahai.com/Bahaullah/principles.htm#THE%20ONENESS%20OF%20MANKIND

‘Exemplars of Nonviolent Action,’ Excerpt taken from http://www.vernalproject.org/papers/understanding/WhyNV/WhyNonviolence3.html

‘Textual Sources of Nonviolent Action,’ Excerpt taken from http://www.sacred-texts.com/bhi/index.htm
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Bahá'í Books - Check out the most popular books concerning Bahá'í.
Sacred Texts of Bahá'í - Bahá'í sacred texts available for free online viewing at sacred-texts.com.
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The hyperlink: http://bahai-library.com/momen_hinduism_bahai&chapter=2----has an excellent article comparing the Baha'i Faith and Hinduism
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If you have any more questions do not hesitate to write---Ron Price, Tasmania

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your time. Perhaps you would be willing to indulge another question?

Would it be justifiable under the Bahai faith to pluck out someone's eye if he plucked out the eye of another? I mean this literally. If you can reference a specific sacred text, that would be great.

Thanks again, in advanced.

ANSWER: Indeed, I am willing to be indulged with an attempt to answer another of your questions, Joscelyn.-Ron

My instinctive reaction to your question: "Would it be justifiable under the Bahai faith to pluck out someone's eye if he plucked out the eye of another?"--is "No." You ask for a specific reference, a specific sacred text, if that is possible for me to do so.  Here is my response.-Ron
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The second classification or division of teaching in the great religions comprises social laws and regulations applicable to human conduct. This is not the essential spiritual quality of religion. It is subject to change and transformation according to the exigencies and requirements of time and place. For instance in the time of Noah certain requirements made it necessary that all sea foods be allowable or lawful. During the time of the Abrahamic prophethood it was considered allowable because of a certain exigency that a man should marry his aunt, even as Sarah was the sister of Abraham's mother. During the cycle of Adam it was lawful and expedient for a man to marry his own sister, even as Abel, Cain and Seth the sons of Adam married their sisters. But in the law of the Pentateuch revealed by Moses these marriages were forbidden and their custom and sanction abrogated. Other laws formerly valid were annulled during the time of Moses. For example, it was lawful in Abraham's cycle to eat the flesh of the camel, but during the time of Jacob this was prohibited. Such changes and transformations in the teaching of religion are applicable to the ordinary conditions of life but they are not important or essential. His Holiness Moses lived in the wilderness of Sinai where crime necessitated direct punishment. There were no penitentiaries or penalties of imprisonment.

Therefore according to the exigency of the time and place it was a law of God that an eye should be given for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. It would not be practicable to enforce this law at the present time; for instance to blind a man who accidentally blinded you. In the Torah there are many commands concerning the punishment of a murderer. It would not be allowable or possible to carry out these ordinances today. Human conditions and exigencies are such that even the question of capital punishment,--the one penalty which most nations have continued to enforce for murder,--is now under discussion by wise men who are debating its advisability. In fact, laws for the ordinary conditions of life are only valid temporarily. The exigencies of the time of Moses justified cutting off a man's hand for theft but such a penalty is not allowable now.

Time changes conditions, and laws change to suit conditions. We must remember that these changing laws are not the essentials; they are the accidentals of religion. The essential ordinances established by a Manifestation of God are spiritual; they concern moralities, the ethical development of man and faith in God. They are ideal and necessarily permanent; expressions of the one foundation and not amenable to change or transformation. Therefore the fundamental basis of the revealed religion of God is immutable, unchanging throughout the centuries, not subject to the varying conditions of the human world.

For an extension of the essay on this topic go to either:

Baha'i World Faith: Religion And Civilization
... law of God that an eye should be given for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. .... Have I lost anything by saying this to you and believing it as a Bahá'i? ...

or

Baha'i Points of Interest: Examples of changes in social laws ...
22 Jul 2010... it was a law of God that an eye should be given for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. ... the ethical development of man and faith in God. ...
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For some quotes which you desire go to this hyperlink:

http://bahai-library.com/bsr/bsr03_1/311_abdulbaha_christianity.htm

or read the article to which this hyperlink refers; it is found at:

'Abdu'l-Bahá on Christ and Christianity
... between the Bahá'í Faith and Christianity, Paris, 17th February, 1913. .... there was the law of an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. ...
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I trust this has been of help to you, Joscelyn.--Ron Price, Australia





---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you again.

If you don't mind me probing a little deeper, what I would like to know is if it would be justifiable under the bahai faith to cause a wrongdoer to suffer because he caused you to suffer. Is it good to cause people to suffer because they caused you to suffer?

If I recall correctly, Jesus said that it is not okay to hurt people because they have hurt you. I'm curious if the Bahai faith follows this teaching or whether they generally believe that it is good for wrongdoers to suffer.

I have been trying to find a specific answer to this question, and I can't seem to find a specific rule that asks Bahai followers to behave peacefully toward even their enemies (I don't mean that they should not defend themselves, but that they not harm anyone needlessly.) But since I have found other rules that indicate that Bahai followers not enlist in combat services, this leads me to believe that I am right in thinking that followers of the Bahai faith not harm people unless it's for a reason other than revenge.

Anyway, you've already been very helpful, but if you found me an answer to this very specific question, I would be grateful.

Answer
You now ask if it would be justifiable for a member of the Bahai Faith to cause a wrongdoer to suffer because he or she caused you to suffer. To put this another way: Is it good to cause people to suffer because they caused you to suffer?  You then refer to Christian teaching in which Jesus is reported to have said that it is not okay to hurt people because they have hurt you. You are curious if the Bahai faith follows this teaching or whether they generally believe that it is good for wrongdoers to suffer. You go on to say that:

"I have been trying to find a specific answer to this question, and I can't seem to find a specific rule that asks Bahai followers to behave peacefully toward even their enemies (I don't mean that they should not defend themselves, but that they not harm anyone needlessly.) But since I have found other rules that indicate that Bahai followers not enlist in combat services, this leads me to believe that I am right in thinking that followers of the Bahai Faith not harm people unless it's for a reason other than revenge."

Here is my response:
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"The afflictions which come to humanity sometimes tend to center the consciousness upon the limitations. This is a veritable prison. Release comes by making of the will a door through which the confirmations of the spirit come. They come to a man or woman who accepts his life with Radiant Acquiescence."
--'ABDU'LBAHÁ,Divine Philosophy
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The following is found at this hyperlink and it offers some helpful perspectives:
http://www.bahaindex.com/zh/news/1-general-news/58-radiant-acquiescence

RADIANT ACQUIESCENCE
ACQUIESCENCE means to "give in," to drop resistance, to tacitly agree. Divine acquiescence means to be submissive to the divine will. Everything in nature is acquiescent to the plan of the Universe and works in harmony with it except man. "Radiant acquiescence" means not only to give up your will to the Divine Will, but to do so joyfully and with radiance, knowing it is the best way in the end. The ordinary way of meeting the circumstances of life is to have a negative, passive submission to God's will and to blame every circumstance that was unfortunate on the & "Will of God" and to be unwillingly resigned to this condition and to do nothing to change it. Many become bitter and at enmity with life because of obstacles and calamities, and their faces register discontent and unhappiness.

"The death of one thing is the birth of another," said Marcus Aurelius. "Watch the eternal course of destruction and realize that the universe itself sustains no harm amidst all this change. The only true good is religion, which teaches us to keep our guiding principles pure and untainted by bodily impressions. Nothing external can influence us unless we pronounce it good or evil. Cease your complaint and you are not hurt."

Epictetus advised: "Dare to look up to God and say, ‘Deal with me for the future as thou wilt, I am of the same mind as Thou art; I am Thine; I refuse nothing that pleases Thee; lead me where Thou wilt, clothe me in any dress Thou choosest; is it Thy will that I should hold the office of a magistrate; that I should be in the condition of a private man; stay here; or be an exile; be rich; be poor, I will make Thy defense to men in behalf of all these conditions."

"He who frets himself because things do not happen just as he would have them, and secedes and separates himself from the law of the universal nature, is but a sort of an ulcer of the world."

Be acquiescent and things will change. God closes one door and opens another.

"Is anyone afraid of change?" asked Aurelius "I would gladly know what can be done without it? And what is dearer and more suitable to your universal nature? Pray, must not your wood be transformed (i.e., into fire) before your bath can be ready for you? Must not your meat be changed to make it fit to nourish you? Indeed what part of life can go forward without alteration? Now in all likelihood a change in your condition may be as serviceable to the world in general as those alterations above mentioned are to you."

When we are radiantly acquiescent our fears and worries disappear, what we ourselves cannot overcome or accomplish, we place in the hands of God, living in the faith that God can and will make all things well, and as our faith is, so is it always done unto us. When you feel that you live within God's protection you will never fear, you know you are safe and secure; fully protected at all times and nothing but good can come to you.

If we would only learn radiant acquiescence. Since things cannot always be as we wish them it is better for us to acquiesce to realize that after all in the great Divine plan it may be better for us that they are changed, therefore let us be glad!

When things do not give you pleasure, proceed instead to create pleasure in your own heart and soul, and you can if you will always be glad. Besides things will change for the better if you continue in the spirit of rejoicing. When things do not please you, resolve to please yourself by being glad. When evil befalls you consider the fact that the good that is yet in your possession is many times as great as all the evil you could ever know. †

"It is a great thing to feel, when our small plans are in a moment destroyed, our own ambitions in a moment thwarted forever, that instead of losing we are exchanging a lower for a higher thing; that the fall of the blossom means the coming of the fruit; the opening up a soul to newer and greater truth."††

Radiant acquiescence means "not my will but Thine be done." Let us approach our disappointments, our failures with the thought, "This is all right but different," and how much better it would be. A famous doctor who radiated sympathy and gladness had as his motto, "That's all right, that's the way it should be." Nothing ever upset him. He would work quietly to accomplish results and leave them in God's hands, perfectly willing to accept the ends as justifiable to the means.

"Magnify the faith in yourself and you will minimize the obstacles in your way," Marden has said. "With God nothing shall be impossible."
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If others hurl their darts against you, offer them milk and honey in return; if they poison your lives, sweeten their souls; if they injure you, teach them how to be comforted; if they inflict a wound upon you, be a balm to their sores; if they sting you, hold to their lips a refreshing cup.

(Baha’i Faith: Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Baha, Page 24)
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From the scriptures of the Bahá'í Faith:

   Blessed is he who preferreth his brother before himself.
   —Bahá'u'lláh

   And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbour that which thou choosest for thyself.
   —Bahá'u'lláh

   Ascribe not to any soul that which thou wouldst not have ascribed to thee, and say not that which thou doest not.
   —Bahá'u'lláh

   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.
   —`Abdu'l-Bahá
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I trust the above is satisfactory, Joscelyn---Ron