Bahá’í Faith

By Marcos Alan Ferreira and Michael Karlberg

In The SAGE Encyclopedia of War: Social Science Perspectives

Edited by: Paul Joseph

©2017 SAGE Publications, Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA

Print edition: pages: 131-133

Online edition: DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781483359878.n57

The Bahá’í Faith is the youngest of the world’s independent religions, and its teachings address,
among other things, the contemporary causes and effects of war, as well as the means of
achieving peace. The founder of the Bahá’í Faith, Bahá’u’lláh (1817–1892), addressed major
heads of state in the latter half of the 19th century, exhorting them to relieve their populations of
the suffering of war, along with the oppressive burden of military expenditures, by embracing the
cause of peace and instituting a universal framework for collective security. Though his
exhortations were ignored by heads of state, the Bahá’í community has since emerged as one
of the most rapidly expanding, diverse, geographically distributed religious communities on the
planet. As such, it represents a growing microcosm of humanity that is systematically working to
lay the foundations for universal peace.

Historical Perspective

Bahá’ís view war as an expression of immature stages in humanity’s collective social evolution.
This process, they believe, is leading toward a state of collective maturity characterized by
consciousness of the oneness of humanity and the construction of a globally integrated social
order founded on the principle of justice. According to this view, the turbulence and conflict of
the past century is analogous to the tempestuous stage of adolescence in the life of the
individual as he or she approaches the threshold of maturity.

In our collective lives, Bahá’ís believe, this evolutionary process advances through the interplay
of disintegrative and integrative social forces, both of which are accelerating at this critical
juncture in history. This can be seen in the collapse of anachronistic social norms and
institutions that constitute barriers to human progress, along with the emergence of global
systems of communication, cooperation, coordination, and solidarity. These interacting forces
are driving humanity, by necessity and aspiration, toward its collective maturity. In this context,
Bahá’ís assert the need to consciously recognize these processes and hasten the construction
of a more peaceful, just, and sustainable global order.
Bahá’ís also understand science and religion as complementary systems of knowledge and
practice that, as they mature throughout history, propel the advancement of civilization. In this
context, all of the world’s great religious systems are understood as expressions of a universal
process of spiritual development in response to the same underlying divine truths. The diversity
of inherited religious traditions reflects the varying exigencies of the age and culture in which
each initially emerged. Claims of religious exclusivity or finality, along with expressions of
religious violence and conflict, are thus understood as perversions of religion.

Conception of Human Nature

Another major source of conflict and war, according to Bahá’ís, is the materialistic conception of
human nature that informs many contemporary social norms and institutions. The current
social order is, in large part, premised on the view that humans are motivated primarily by
egoistic, self-interested, and competitive instincts. Society is thus widely understood as a
competitive arena in which self-maximizing individuals or groups pursue divergent interests in a
world characterized by scarce resources and opportunities. These conceptions are so
entrenched in contemporary thought and social structures that war is often viewed as an
inevitable expression of human nature—or even as a legitimate means for advancing the
interests of a group or nation.

In contrast, Bahá’ís assert that human nature is characterized by the dual capacities for egoism
and altruism, competition and cooperation—and the extent to which either develops is a function
of one’s education, cultural environment, and will. This conception of human nature, which is
supported by a growing body of empirical evidence in the social and behavioral sciences, leads
Bahá’ís to focus much of their energy, in collaboration with all who are willing, on the spiritual
education and empowerment of children and adolescents, along with the development of
capacity among youth and adults to contribute to the betterment of society through lives of
altruistic service. Bahá’ís also focus on the development of new institutional structures, as well
as new patterns of community life, which they believe will allow for the mature collective
expression of these cooperative capacities in human affairs. In all of these endeavors, Bahá’ís
strive to adopt a mode of continuous learning characterized by ongoing processes of action,
reflection, and consultation.

Prerequisites of Peace

Bahá’ís believe that lasting peace cannot be attained merely through the signing of international
treaties and protocols, important as those are. Rather, peace will only be established as a range
of deeply rooted social problems are addressed. Foremost among these are the glorification of
materialistic pursuits, the perpetuation of ideologies that prescribe and rationalize these in the
modern world, and the ascendancy of systems that cultivate and reinforce such beliefs across
entire populations. Such patterns of thought and behavior have fostered the cynical and one-
dimensional views of human nature alluded to above, have tended to deify either the state or
the market; have led to the subordination of entire nations, races, and classes; and have
inhibited the generation of knowledge about the holistic advancement of civilization.

Other major prerequisites to peace, according to Bahá’ís, include eliminating racism at the
levels of human consciousness and social structure; reducing inordinate disparities of wealth
and poverty and reconstructing a market system that has aggravated the plight of vast
segments of humanity; abandoning the fetish of national sovereignty and the unbridled
nationalism it gives rise to; overcoming the oppression of women and ensuring their full
partnership in every field of human endeavor; transcending the causes of religious strife by
recognizing the underlying unity of all religious traditions; and addressing the lack of access to
adequate education among large segments of the earth’s population, which is a primary cause
of prejudice, superstition, and blind imitation of inherited cultural norms. According to Bahá’ís,
these oppressive social ills are among the root causes of instability, conflict, and war in the
world today.

Bahá’ís do not believe, however, that these forms of oppression can be overcome through
further conflict and strategies that reinforce social divisions. Bahá’ís therefore focus their
energies on unifying approaches to deep social transformation. These approaches are pursued
through constructive processes of community building, nonadversarial forms of social action,
and participation in social discourses focused on the exigencies of the age and the means of
addressing them.

Collective Security

One of the significant discourses that Bahá’ís have long been engaged in is the discourse on
peace and collective security. The Bahá’í teachings call for the convocation of a universal
gathering of heads of state for the purpose of forging a binding framework for collective security.
Within such a framework, all nations would permanently relinquish their right to wage offensive
war; reduce their armaments to that which is required to maintain internal security and collective
security obligations; and pledge unified, swift, and decisive action against any nation that
violates this agreement.

In accordance with these commitments, Bahá’ís supported the establishment of the League of
Nations after World War I and the United Nations after World War II as steps, however
imperfect, toward the elimination of war among nations. With regard to the UN, the Bahá’í
International Community was among the first nongovernmental organizations to begin working
within the UN system, where it has since been granted consultative status, and its substantial
contributions are now widely recognized. At the same time, the Bahá’í community has
repeatedly called for deep structural reform of the UN system so that it can advance the cause
of global peace and prosperity in a more just and functional manner.

Age of Transition

Bahá’ís recognize that the period of transition to a more peaceful and prosperous global order
will be characterized by mounting crises and challenges. As long as humanity clings to
immature and maladaptive patterns of behavior, and refuses to recognize its increasing global
interdependence, the conflict and suffering witnessed around the planet today will continue to
worsen. The question, according to Bahá’ís, is how quickly or slowly humanity recognizes the
exigencies of this age and the means for addressing them. But in the long term, Bahá’ís have
faith in humanity’s ultimate capacity to recognize its essential oneness. As Bahá’u’lláh declared,
“These fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the Most Great Peace shall
come. . . . Soon will the present-day order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead.”

See also Peace Education; Peaceful Societies; Religion and War; United Nations
Further Readings
Bahá’í International Community. Turning Point for All Nations: A Statement of the Bahá’í
International Community on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations. New
York: Bahá’í International Community United Nations Office, 1995.
Bahá’í Reference Library. http://www.bahai.org/library.
Ewing, Sovaida Maani. Collective Security Within Reach. Oxford, UK: George Ronald, 2007.
Lerche, Charles, ed. Healing the Body Politic. Oxford, UK: George Ronald, 2004.
Universal House of Justice. The Promise of World Peace. London: Bahá’í Publishing
Trust, 1985.