Tyrants, Fighting for their Tombs (Reprint)

If I hit my wife, does she have the right to leave me or kick me out? If I steal corporate or government secrets and get caught, should I spend months or years in jail and ruin my career and my family’s unity? If I lie to my boss about being sick, and she finds out, will she lose trust in me? We can’t foresee the future, but in these scenarios society increasingly says that individuals should suffer the consequences of their unjust actions.

Our societies have archetypes of acceptability, and it behooves us, if we wish to benefit from society’s bounties, to follow society’s mores. But those mores differ by group, and are not yet universal. Today extreme groups like ISIS and Al-Qaeda frighten rational people, with deviate views of the truth and violent, fanatical behavior. Yet tyrants who run despotic nations—the world’s Hitlers and Pol Pots of the past in new clothing—do much more damage. So how do we ameliorate these vile, vociferous killings and maimings of humanity by leaders who have such warped views of “Truth?”

In truth, our own vain imaginings cause humanity’s ills. The transgressors—tyrants, political leaders, generals and despots—are liars of the worst kind. They lie to us, and to themselves. They have lost the struggle for righteousness and justice within their own minds and hearts. They have decreed, like Napoleons of the past, “Verily I am God. Obey me.” Yet they are nothing more than the foam on the ocean wave, to one day be interred in their own abominable graves covered by the very dirt they coveted. The Baha’i teachings say that their futile plans can only have one ultimate result:

The highest of created beings fighting to obtain the lowest form of matter, earth! Land belongs not to one people, but to all people. This earth is not man’s home, but his tomb. It is for their tombs these men are fighting. There is nothing so horrible in this world as the tomb, the abode of the decaying bodies of men.

However great the conqueror, however many countries he may reduce to slavery, he is unable to retain any part of these devastated lands but one tiny portion — his tomb! – Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 29.

 Baha’is believe that only the Sun of Truth, the Prophet of God, can dispel these dark obscuring clouds of delusion. God is merciful. Like the foam on the wave, these dictators and totalitarians and Caesars will pass, and they will inevitably suffer the consequences of their actions, in this world or the next. It’s our job not to vote nor encourage new demigods to replace them. Whether dictator, candidate or elected, let’s rely on God, and our own purposeful counteractions to evil. We can use our words and deeds, minds and skills, to expose society’s falsehoods by spreading the truth and healing mankind. Let’s build up a new society where specious ideas and empty promises find no foothold in the hearts of humanity. Our task is to:

Rely upon God, thy God and the Lord of thy fathers. For the people are wandering in the paths of delusion, bereft of discernment to see God with their own eyes, or hear His Melody with their own ears. Thus have We found them, as thou also dost witness. – Baha’u’llah, Baha’i Prayers, p. 212.

The Baha’i teachings say that the tyrants’ self-important reign will come to an end:

…rely not on thy glory and thy power. Thou art even as the last trace of sunlight upon the mountaintop. Soon will it fade away, as decreed by God, the All-Possessing, the Most High. Thy glory, and the glory of such as are like thee, have been taken away… – Baha’u’llah, quoted by Shoghi Effendi in The Promised Day Is Come, p. 88.

By Rodney Richards, written for and published by BahaiTeachings.org Nov. 8, 2015

Look for my rewritten book Mania on the Loose in the spring, as well as a tabletop book of poetry

How Can We Stop Killing Each Other?

Killing one another, even a brother, has been the human race’s modus operandi since the story of mankind’s genesis. Whether justified by just wars or civil unrest, unjustified by unjustified wars or civil unrest, or totally unjustified under any condition or ideology by terrorism, the Baha’i teachings say we can find ways to stop the killing if we focus on our unity:

However great the conqueror, however many countries he may reduce to slavery, he is unable to retain any part of these devastated lands but one tiny portion—his tomb! If more land is required for the improvement of the condition of the people, for the spread of civilization (for the substitution of just laws for brutal customs)—surely it would be possible to acquire peaceably the necessary extension of territory.

But war is made for the satisfaction of men’s ambition; for the sake of worldly gain to the few, terrible misery is brought to numberless homes, breaking the hearts of hundreds of men and women! How many widows mourn their husbands, how many stories of savage cruelty do we hear! How many little orphaned children are crying for their dead fathers, how many women are weeping for their slain sons! There is nothing so heart-breaking and terrible as an outburst of human savagery!

I charge you all that each one of you concentrate all the thoughts of your heart on love and unity. When a thought of war comes, oppose it by a stronger thought of peace. A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love. Thoughts of war bring destruction to all harmony, well-being, restfulness and content. Thoughts of love are constructive of brotherhood, peace, friendship, and happiness. – Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 30.

ISIS Mob in Iraq

In this age of transition toward a new global standard of universal peace, terrorists who murder innocents only produce senseless deaths. Some verbal terrorists also extort concessions when they demand, like children who throw a screaming tantrum, no negotiation; no consensus; no attempts at reaching compromise.

Yet these ruinous wars will pass away,Baha’u'llah promises us:

That all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease, and differences of race be annulled—what harm is there in this? …Yet so it shall be; these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the ‘Most Great Peace’ shall come. – The Proclamation of Baha’u’llah, p. viii.

Every age has its exigencies and requirements, all leading to the ultimate progress of the human race. But we shouldn’t be surprised, since every day of our lives in whatever age we live presents opportunities and challenges to either add to humanity’s woes, do nothing, or to correct society’s ills by our own actions. Our own personal struggles to survive and thrive are caught up in the circumstances surrounding us and those we love.

The Baha’i writings clearly describe this “titanic spiritual struggle” we find ourselves a part of: humanity as a race is growing into full maturity, and these stages of worldwide disruption, from autocratic rule to civil unrest to democracy, from war and terrorism to stable governments and peoples, are inevitable and to be expected.

This titanic struggle for the hearts of all people will be won if we each do our part.Baha’u’llah’s new Faith asks us to live peaceful, humble lives dedicated to the welfare and well-being of the entire world:

Be united in counsel, be one in thought. Let each morn be better than its eve and each morrow richer than its yesterday. Men’s merit lieth in service and virtue and not in the pageantry of wealth and riches. Take heed that your words be purged from idle fancies and worldly desires and your deeds be cleansed from craftiness and suspicion. Dissipate not the wealth of your precious lives in the pursuit of evil and corrupt affection, nor let your endeavors be spent in promoting your personal interest. Be generous in your days of plenty, and be patient in the hour of loss. Adversity is followed by success and rejoicings follow woe. Guard against idleness and sloth, and cling unto that which profiteth mankind, whether young or old, whether high or low. – Tablets of Baha’u’llah, p. 138.

By Rodney Richards

Reprinted from BahaiTeachings.org 

The opinions and views expressed in this article(s) are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of BahaiTeachings.org or any institution of the Baha’i Faith.

How Can We End Terrorism?

Terrorism, in the most widely accepted contemporary usage of the term, is fundamentally and inherently political. It is also ineluctably about power: the pursuit of power, the acquisition of power, and the use of power to achieve political change. Terrorism is thus violence — or, equally important, the threat of violence — used and directed in pursuit of, or in service of, a political aim. With this vital point clearly illuminated, one can appreciate the significance of the additional definition of `terrorist’ provided by the OED: `Any one who attempts to further his views by a system of coercive intimidation’. This definition underscores clearly the other fundamental characteristic of terrorism: that it is a planned, calculated, and indeed systematic act. – Inside Terrorism, by Bruce Hoffman.

Terrorism of any kind destroys world peace and world order.

Terrorism is the epitome of man’s inhumanity to man. Terrorism is also the wanton taking of property and lives–of countrymen, countrywomen and countrychildren. It uses random violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political or religious purposes. Even open war, just or unjust imprisonment, and torture, hold out the hope of an end and a release—but that’s not true with terrorism.

Terrorism is rooted in every human being’s need to belong to a group of peers. In these times it has become ideologically acceptable to indiscriminately murder innocents to effect the terrorist’s goal: A social order based on their sole conception of what is right for them as right for all others, no exceptions. They require instant, exact and complete obedience to their orders and tenets, as verified by the actions of human suicide bombers. Between 1982 and January 2015, over 4,283 suicide attacks in 40 countries were documented, with untold pain and destruction the result.

Most of the terroristic acts we see today no longer fit the old saying “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” Take for example Nazi Germany’s stance against resistance groups opposing Germany’s occupation of their lands, labeling them “terrorists.” Even guerilla warfare tactics of old did not condone that. Fighting for freedom, justice and equality is not the same as fighting for repression and subjugation.

The terrorist, like the egotist, somehow cannot consider the feelings or the life of others as important:

The man who thinks only of himself and is thoughtless of others….” “[He] … is undoubtedly inferior to the animal because the animal is not possessed of the reasoning faculty. The animal is excused; but in man there is reason, the faculty of justice, the faculty of mercifulness. Possessing all these faculties he must not leave them unused. He who is so hard-hearted as to think only of his own comfort, such an one will not be called man. – Abdu’l-Baha, Foundations of World Unity, p. 42.

So far, the falsities of terroristic actions and ideologies have revealed themselves as obvious and self-defeating. It’s the recognized duty of good people and governments everywhere to expose their vapid philosophies and unsound justifications for killing innocents. The Baha’i teachings say that the spread of terrorism exposes one of the deepest flaws in the way humanity has ordered its affairs:

Flaws in the prevailing order are conspicuous in the inability of sovereign states organized as United Nations to exorcize the spectre of war, the threatened collapse of the international economic order, the spread of anarchy and terrorism, and the intense suffering which these and other afflictions are causing to increasing millions. – The Universal House of Justice, The Promise of World Peace, p. 1.

Of course, governments also kill innocent people with bombs and missiles and drones. Baha’is believe that all such actions—whether under the guise of terrorism or government—must stop. As we’ve seen in the past, killing and death only produces more killing and death.

Instead, the Baha’i teachings say, we must adopt a genuine, universal framework that can regulate, contain and eventually stop the world’s violent terrorist outbursts. That framework calls for a new way of organizing the world based on justice and unity:

Acceptance of the oneness of mankind is the first fundamental prerequisite for reorganization and administration of the world as one country, the home of humankind. Universal acceptance of this spiritual principle is essential to any successful attempt to establish world peace. It should therefore be universally proclaimed, taught in schools, and constantly asserted in every nation as preparation for the organic change in the structure of society which it implies.

In the Baha’i view, recognition of the oneness of mankind “calls for no less than the reconstruction and the demilitarization of the whole civilized world — a world organically unified in all the essential aspects of its life, its political machinery, its spiritual aspiration, its trade and finance, its script and language, and yet infinite in the diversity of the national characteristics of its federated units.” – ibid, p. 4.

 Next: How Can We Stop Killing Each Other?

By Rodney Richards

Reprinted from BahaiTeachings.org, June 11, 2015

A Democratic Upsurge -- Wars of Civil Unrest

During the past two decades, the world’s peoples have both propagated and experienced groundswells of civil unrest for a multitude of reasons.

Cairo, Egypt – February 25, 2011

One reason stands out: civil disobedience used to overthrow corrupt and evil leaders and governments that suppress human rights. This kind of civil unrest—with names like the Arab Spring—attempts to install democracy where autocracy or theocracy has long ruled. In the process, lives are being lost in defense of human rights, and lives are being lost trying to suppress them. These battles are being fought internally, inside national borders, with the goal of establishing democratic republics. Many of those battles have already resulted, and many more will likely result, in the implementation of the model of democratic federalism that the Baha’i teachings so strongly recommend:

You can best serve your country, was Abdu’l-Baha’s rejoinder to a high official in the service of the federal government of the United States of America, who had questioned Him as to the best manner in which he could promote the interests of his government and people, if you strive, in your capacity as a citizen of the world, to assist in the eventual application of the principle of federalism underlying the government of your own country to the relationships now existing between the peoples and nations of the world. – Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha’u'llah, p. 37.

America’s federation of colonies and later states has become a model of organization that many other nations subsequently adopted. In the 18th Century world of Kings and Queens and authoritarian rulers fighting to expand their territory and borders, the rise of democracy in America and France stunned the globe. Today those autocrats are gone, just as Baha’u’llah promised they would be if they resisted the spirit of the age. Since then, the growth of representative democracies has outstripped any other form of government. Here’s how democracy grew during the 20th Century:

Besides depicting the meteoric rise of democratic nations, this chart also shows clear growing unrest, anarchy and civil wars in the countries without democratic representation.

Essentially, democratization has become the standard generic process that all nations and peoples will eventually go through. The clash of strong opinions and civil unrest seem simply unavoidable, unless authoritarian rulers voluntarily give up their power and allow the people to rule. Those kinds of peaceful revolutions have happened in several countries already—the Philippines, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Ecuador, etc. Even after a nonviolent revolution, however, achieving democracy is difficult, takes years to stabilize, is contentious and sometimes bloody, and must provide the political means for affecting reasonable policies of any new government.

But the rewards, once achieved, are too significant to overlook. Equal treatment under the law, free speech, freedom of assembly, the right to own property, freedom from slavery and the government-supported right to work—people have died for these since long before the American Revolution.

In a public address to an American church congregation in 1912, Abdu’l-Baha said:

Consider what a vast difference exists between modern democracy and the old forms of despotism. Under an autocratic government the opinions of men are not free, and development is stifled, whereas in democracy, because thought and speech are not restricted, the greatest progress is witnessed. It is likewise true in the world of religion. When freedom of conscience, liberty of thought and right of speech prevail—that is to say, when every man according to his own idealization may give expression to his beliefs—development and growth are inevitable. – The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 197.

The full democratization of all 196 or more countries of our world today hasn’t yet been fully realized—but the trend is clear. As Abdu’l-Baha predicted while in the United States in 1912, the 20th Century, “this century of light,” and the beginning decades of the 21st, have set the stage and put the forces in motion necessary to accomplish this gigantic task.

Civil unrest, with the goal of establishing fully independent, fully sovereign democratically elected nations, as evidenced by global outbreaks of protests and movements, is now reaching its climax.

That physical climax, unfortunately, has given rise to terrorism in our times.

Next: Part Three - Terrorism

By Rodney Richards

Reprinted from BhaiTeachings.org June 10, 2015

Chart courtesy of The Secret Peace by Jesse Richards

Can We End War? Part one

WAR noun 1. a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air. 2. a state or period of armed hostility or active military operations

Finally, humanity has begun to grow tired of war.

Indo-Pakistani War 1971

So far in the 21st Century, we haven’t had any widespread global wars, thank God. Of course, since World War II, leaders have propagated dozens of wars: the Indo-Pakistani wars, the Korean “conflict,” the Vietnam War, the Six-Day War, the Dirty War in Argentina, even the Football War in 1969. But since the turn of the century, wars have steadily become dwindled and smaller “rebellions,” “wars of independence,” “military actions,” and especially “civil unrest” have taken over. Make no mistake, these “smaller” wars still provoke the unmitigated suffering that larger wars bring. Misery, displacement and destruction continue, along with mass exoduses across vast distances, and death for tens of thousands. But the world has not had a war with death counts in the millions so far in this century.

There are no wars or conflicts of any kind in North America, unless you count race and class struggles or Mexico’s “drug wars.” Central and South America have remained relatively calm, except for several now-settled civil wars in places like Nicaragua and El Salvador and the short-lived Falklands War back in ’82. Europe, the progenitor of most wars on earth into the 20th century, remains relatively unscathed now. The Eastern Bloc with its clash of ideologies broke apart in ’89, and many smaller clashes continue in the region, but no wider war has broken out yet. China is mostly calm. In Africa, several rebellions and coups have taken place, but most of the continent has stayed peaceful.

Why?

Baha’is believe that humanity is coming of age—leaving behind the six thousand years of fractious warfare and constant bloodshed and maturing into a more thoughtful, empathetic and spiritually-minded species:

…it is our duty to put forth our greatest efforts and summon all our energies in order that the bonds of unity and accord may be established among mankind. For thousands of years we have had bloodshed and strife. It is enough; it is sufficient. Now is the time to associate together in love and harmony. For thousands of years we have tried the sword and warfare; let mankind for a time at least live in peace. Review history and consider how much savagery, how much bloodshed and battle the world has witnessed. It has been either religious warfare, political warfare or some other clash of human interests. The world of humanity has never enjoyed the blessing of Universal Peace. Year by year the implements of warfare have been increased and perfected. Consider the wars of past centuries; only ten, fifteen or twenty thousand at the most were killed but now it is possible to kill one hundred thousand in a single day. In ancient times warfare was carried on with the sword; today it is the smokeless gun. Formerly battleships were sailing vessels; today they are dreadnoughts. Consider the increase and improvement in the weapons of war. God has created us all human and all countries of the world are parts of the same globe. We are all his servants. He is kind and just to all. Why should we be unkind and unjust to each other? He provides for all. Why should we deprive one another? He protects and preserves all. Why should we kill our fellow-creatures? –Abdu’l-Baha, Foundations of World Unity, p. 50.

The wars we’ve put ourselves through fill thousands of bookshelves. Yet mankind can rejoice! You and I can rejoice!  Wars, in the old sense of fighting to retain or expand one country’s borders against another’s, are almost over. The consequences of modern warfare and atomic weapons have become too terrible to contemplate–or use. The Baha’i writings point this out:

Unification of the whole of mankind is the hall-mark of the stage which human society is now approaching. Unity of family, of tribe, of city-state, and nation have been successively attempted and fully established. World unity is the goal towards which a harassed humanity is striving. Nation-building has come to an end. The anarchy inherent in state sovereignty is moving towards a climax. A world, growing to maturity, must abandon this fetish, recognize the oneness and wholeness of human relationships, and establish once for all the machinery that can best incarnate this fundamental principle of its life. – Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha’u'llah, p. 282.

Yes, we’ve had a few wars in the 21st Century—Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, to name three–yet they tend toward models of a new type of war fought by a coalition of multiple country’s military forces. These wars protect borders rather than expanding them.

Military wars to permanently colonize or build nations have almost ended, and now claims for land acquisition are predominantly fought diplomatically or in the courts. We can be grateful for the demise of all-out global warfare—and yet, humanity’s unrest grows with its discontent over the Old World Order, as clearly demonstrated by citizens calls for change around the world through massive demonstrations of civil unrest.

Next: A Democratic Upsurge: Wars of Civil Unrest

By Rodney Richards 

Reprinted from BahaiTeachings.org June 9, 2015

Philosophy and Spirituality Today, part two in series

[Reprinted from BahaiTeachings.org, written by Rod, May 26, 2015]

The supreme cause for creating the world and all that is therein is for man to know God. – Baha’u’llah, Tablets of Baha’u’llah, p. 268.

From a Biblical perspective, it all began in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge–not an apple, but the knowledge of good and evil. In another word: Nature; the physicality of existence as opposed to abstract reality.

For the most part, those who believe only in the physical creation, nature, call themselves materialists:

By materialists, whose belief with regard to Divinity hath been explained, is not meant philosophers in general, but rather that group of materialists of narrow vision who worship that which is sensed, who depend upon the five senses only, and whose criterion of knowledge is limited to that which can be perceived by the senses. – Abdu’l-Baha, Tablet to Auguste Forel, p. 7.

We began this series on philosophy mainly focusing from the 16th century onward with the Deistic philosophers, followed by the atheistic ones. Their words and writings, voiced by the beliefs of their hearts and minds, reveal deep insight and intelligence. That very intelligence, the Baha’i teachings say, proves that an unseen reality exists:

In like manner the mind proveth the existence of an unseen Reality that embraceth all beings, and that existeth and revealeth itself in all stages, the essence whereof is beyond the grasp of the mind. Thus the mineral world understandeth neither the nature nor the perfections of the vegetable world; the vegetable world understandeth not the nature of the animal world, neither the animal world the nature of the reality of man that discovereth and embraceth all things. – ibid, p. 9.

The reality which created all philosophy is, according to the Baha’i Writings, the rational soul. Here again, Abdu’l-Baha explains:

The foremost degree of comprehension in the world of nature is that of the rational soul. This power and comprehension is shared in common by all men, whether they be heedless or aware, wayward or faithful. In the creation of God, the rational soul of man encompasses and is distinguished above all other created things: It is by virtue of its nobility and distinction that it encompasses them all. Through the power of the rational soul, man can discover the realities of things, comprehend their properties, and penetrate the mysteries of existence. All the sciences, branches of learning, arts, inventions, institutions, undertakings, and discoveries have resulted from the comprehension of the rational soul. – Some Answered Questions, newly revised edition, p. 217.

That brings us to the point and purpose of philosophy itself. After all, what is philosophy? Opinions? Rules to live by? Morals and human values meant to be expressed in acceptance and action?

At its core all philosophy rests on some moral value. Hence, true philosophy should be no different than true religion, no different than the core and essence of all religions–the human spirit and its good actions. Good thoughts result in right actions, as the Buddha’s philosophy asserts—but humanity, the Baha’i teachings say, has lost touch with that spirit:

Alas! that humanity is completely submerged in imitations and unrealities notwithstanding the truth of divine religion has ever remained the same. Superstitions have obscured the fundamental reality, the world is darkened and the light of religion is not apparent. This darkness is conducive to differences and dissensions; rites and dogmas are many and various; therefore discord has arisen among the religious systems whereas religion is for the unification of mankind. True religion is the source of love and agreement amongst men, the cause of the development of praiseworthy qualities; but the people are holding to the counterfeit and imitation, negligent of the reality which unifies; so they are bereft and deprived of the radiance of religion. They follow superstitions inherited from their fathers and ancestors. – Abdu’l-Baha, Foundations of World Unity, p. 71.

This statement could easily apply today in the 21st century.

Manmade systems of philosophy and governance–socialism, capitalism and communism–have tried to supplant and even replace religion. Those philosophies, the Baha’i teachings tell us, will all eventually fail based on their inadequate and unequal moral grounds, and their lack of attention to the human spirit.

Lucretia Mott

Finally, lest we think that religion and philosophy belong only to the realm of the thoughts and morals of men, it is clear that the foundations of men owe their origin to women, their mothers and lifegivers. Even Christ, who had no physical father, was “born of woman.” Women are the upholders of love and caring to the world and the first educators of every child. We may owe a greater debt in this age to women like Tahirih in mid-19th century Persia, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott at the Seneca Falls NY Convention of 1848, for bringing to the world’s attention the critical role of women to humane values and all progress in the world.

Philosophy depends on clear thinking and right action, and religion depends on the Word of God revealed in every age by prophets and sages.

The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of BahaiTeachings.org or any institution of the Baha’i Faith.

Philosophy and Religion -- Comprehending the Realities

[Reprint from recent BahaiTeachings.org post]

Philosophy consists in comprehending, so far as human power permits, the realities of things as they are in themselves… The power of human understanding does not encompass the reality of the divine Essence: All that man can hope to achieve is to comprehend the attributes of the Divinity, the light of which is manifest and resplendent in the world and within the souls of men. – Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, newly revised edition, p. 255.

Albert Camus

If you had to pick one philosophy that best fits your outlook on life, what would it be?

I would say I’m a Humanist, like Camus–but not an Absurd Humanist. Or maybe I’m an Existentialist. I’m definitely an Analytic Philosopher, the most modern flavor. I love the philosophy of the Rational Soul and Rational Mind, which combines the thinking of the Rationalists, the Empiricists and the Romanticists. I guess, if you combined them all, I’d call myself a Spiritual Philosopher. In a way, all of these schools of thought have led me to the real purpose of all philosophy–to determine, describe and detail the meaning of life.

The Baha’i teachings would call that the love of God:

O Son of Man! I loved they creation, hence I created thee. Wherefore, do thou love Me, that I may name thy name and fill thy soul with the spirit of life. – Baha’u'llah,The Hidden Words, p. 4.

Modern philosophy began with the Frenchman Rene Descartes (1596-1650), who wrote and expressed the idea that since he could think, he could question his own thinking—and that he therefore must be human, with a mind, existing in the phenomenal world of nature. As human beings in this material world, Locke said, we’re born “a blank slate.” Rather, from a Baha’i perspective, we’re each born with a purpose: “to know and to love God,” according to the Baha’i writings. Therefore I agree with Leibnitz (1646-1716), that “God created the best possible world” for us to learn about Him.

I understand David Hume’s and the other empiricist’s point (1711-1776), about material existence–that all we can know is what we experience. But that does not take into account the mind of man and his inner powers, like imagination and thought. Rousseau was right on target when he made the leap to believe in the “innate goodness of man.” Perhaps, though, we could understand the dichotomy between innate human goodness and the evil men do by realizing that all people have dual natures:

Man is intelligent, instinctively and consciously intelligent; nature is not. Man is fortified with memory; nature does not possess it. Man is the discoverer of the mysteries of nature; nature is not conscious of those mysteries herself. It is evident, therefore, that man is dual in aspect: as an animal he is subject to nature, but in his spiritual or conscious being he transcends the world of material existence. – Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 81.

Voltaire’s ideas (1694-1778), on civil liberties and social reform helped inspire the French and American revolutions. His writings on reason superseding nature influenced the church and church doctrine, yet he remained a firm believer in the Deity. In fact, religious belief informed the thinking of all the early philosophers, because of its power to change people’s hearts.

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), the great German philosopher who built a bridge, or tried to, between the two modern camps of rationalism and empiricism, with his idea “that all knowledge comes from the senses but is filtered through our rational minds,” altered current thinking and revolutionized the debate. Kant realized the difference between how things really are and how things are experienced by human beings. This has become self-evident, with the advent of the scientific method and the remarkable discoveries science continues to make. Religion has also provided the guidance to use reason and science for moral purposes, just as all of the great philosophers have included God-being in their treatises and philosophies.

The bottom line in my own thinking on philosophy to this point—it evolves progressively, logically and rationally, just like science, religion and existence itself.

The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of BahaiTeachings.org or any institution of the Baha’i Faith.

One, Thankful, Grateful Apostrophe to God (Reprint)

(By Rod, originally appeared in BahaiTeachings.org 4-10-15)

Drivin’ home from a three hour session with my banker, after tryin’ to eliminate fees from my simple business accounts, my mind was very much still in a questioning mood, looking for solutions. As usual, in my inner mental sanctum closed off from the world, except for my driving persona, I began reciting my noonday prayer.

That Baha’i prayer goes like this:

I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee. I testify, at this moment, to my powerlessness and to Thy might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth. There is none other God but Thee, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. – Baha’u’llah, Baha’i Prayers, p. 3.

Here’s my inner conversation:

“I bear witness,” I mean, I would tell anyone I believe, “O my God,” my God, Rodney Richards’ God if you will, “that Thou,” meanin’ you, my God, “hast created me,” well, You’re the Creator, and I am those strands of DNA and genes and body and everything else that You started, “to know Thee,” and how do I know Thee? through Thy prophets and their words and actions, at least what I’ve seen, heard and read, “and to worship Thee.”

Ah, how do I worship Thee?

I’ve read, God, that you are in no need of your servants, but as I just said, You desire that I “worship Thee.” How can I do that?

The simplest way to worship, from my perspective, involves being a good Baha’i, or as my wife reminds me, “Be nice.”

Abdu’l-Baha, in one of His London talks, said that a man may be a Baha’i even if he has never heard the name of Baha’u'llah. – quoted by J.E. Esselmont, Baha’u'llah and the New Order, p. 71.

“I testify,” or swear again, “at this moment,” on Wednesday February 11th at (quick glance), 1:06 pm, “to my powerlessness,” meanin’, I guess that means that although I’ve got free will, I am only ever in total control of a little, and even then it’s mostly circumstances I find myself in, “and to Thy might,” and yes, just from my Bible studies I know you are the Almighty and All-Powerful, “to my poverty,” and here I think that means impoverished of Thy grace unless you give me some, for I count us very lucky as far as prosperity goes. Wish it were the same for everyone. “…and to thy wealth.” And what wealth is greater than all conceivable wealth and then some? I mean You do as You Will, and what greater wealth is there? And I know You share it, God, like in June of 2009 when I asked for a nice day so my son and his fiancée could get married outside in our back yard, and sunny it was, and even the squall passed with its dark clouds off to the west.

“There is,” again, meanin’ now and every moment right? “none other God but Thee,” which is to say, from Day One you and the Prophets and seers have always been telling us this, “the Help in Peril,” like the time You saved my good-paying job when I should’ve been fired, or saved me from bein’ run over by a movin’ bus when my motorcycle crashed in that oil slick. I didn’t even have time to ask for Your help, and you know me, I ask all the time, “the Self-Subsisting.” Yeah, I wonder why You put up with us most times, when You don’t need us, no matter how many, nor this planet, nor even this solar system!

Except that I know you love us. You love your creation, like I love Janet and the kids and especially grandbaby Sienna Rose now, and all thanks to You.

Thank you so much…

And then I drove through Dunkin Donuts with my gift card and got my medium coffee with cream and two Sweet-n-Low’s.

O Son of Spirit! My claim on thee is great, it cannot be forgotten. My grace to thee is plenteous, it cannot be veiled. My love has made in thee its home, it cannot be concealed. My light is manifest to thee, it cannot be obscured. – Baha’u’llah, The Hidden Words, pp. 8-9.

Giving Back Our Fair Share (Reprint)

(By Rod, Reprinted from BahaiTeachings.org which appeared 4-22-15)

We receive, for free, much more than we can ever give back.

In our apartment with mom and brother Stephen, the massive tin pot of tapioca pudding on the stove, once chilled, was my favorite dessert–free. The school lunches of egg salad on Wonder bread she used to make–free. The blue pants, white shirt and logoed blue tie I had to wear to wear to church each morn, the elementary school, all free. Growing up, I got everything for free, until age 15, when I sold magazines door-to-door all over Central Jersey. Then I had things I bought with “my money,” only for myself, which somehow meant much more.

An hour ago, 5:48 am at the squawk box at the new Dunkin Donuts just a mile from my house, I said, “Good morning my friend,” replying to her sweet voice asking for my order. “Oh, good morning to you… please pull up.” She knew my order by heart, and gave me such a good feeling to be known by just the sound of my voice. I pull up holding out my credit card, and Moha holds out my medium regular coffee… but doesn’t take my card. “That’s free, for you, my customer.” And of course I say “Oh no, Oh thanks so much!” and pull away saying aloud, “You’ve got to be kidding. How nice!”

This is not the first free thing she’s given me, completely unasked. Yesterday, for Sunday School when I ordered 50 munchkins for the kids, my girlfriend-clerk asked, “You? Why munchkins?” And I told her and she said, “How nice, that’ll be half price.” So I left the 5 dollars as part tip too. Once again, I couldn’t believe how nice that was.

And now I had yet another reason for liking my Egyptian-American friends at this Dunkin, and people in general.

I think of other things we get “for free,” like my Catholic grammar school, Ewing High, and even my California junior college education, all for free. In those years I never realized my parents’ property taxes, and the property taxes of thousands of other homeowners, paid for my education. I shudder now as an adult to wonder how my parents paid for that, and food, and clothing, and Christmas and birthday presents, and everything else we all needed.

Now, as I pay my own property taxes for schools, and sales taxes for social programs, state and Federal income taxes, and gasoline taxes for highways and others, I see that everything which exists for me, for my family’s ease and comfort, was mostly paid for by others, by society. I can’t help but think, at least I can do my part, too.

We hope our leaders do their part, to make our lives better and not miserable as too many are, not just in other countries, but here in America as well. Free? Earning goodwill, and peace and security where I live, and in America, and in the world, is not free. It requires some measure of wealth, enough to support a family and a home and to meaningfully contribute to the society we all live in and depend on.

The Baha’i teachings have a unique and fascinating viewpoint on acquiring and using material wealth. This passage from Baha’u’llah, for example, praises those who earn their living and then devote themselves to giving back:

…man should know his own self and recognize that which leadeth unto loftiness or lowliness, glory or abasement, wealth or poverty. Having attained the stage of fulfilment and reached his maturity, man standeth in need of wealth, and such wealth as he acquireth through crafts or professions is commendable and praiseworthy in the estimation of men of wisdom, and especially in the eyes of servants who dedicate themselves to the education of the world and to the edification of its peoples. – Tablets of Baha’u'llah, p. 34.

This wonderful practice of giving back doesn’t have to be monetary–it also takes doing our part, being kind to all others, caring a little bit or a lot, and helping where we can. When we focus on the oneness of humanity, it’s not that difficult, because we’re actually related to every other person we meet.