From Belinda
Forsee belinda@trytel.com:
Chapter/Unit 10: Theme Questions
Overview: Chapter 10 is about our relations with the world and its
institutions. It starts with the
reminder that the Revelation of God has come for all humanity. We must not only win individuals to the
Cause of God but also win the support of the institutions of society lending
our example as an encouragement and inspiration in their efforts to lay the
foundations for a just society. In this
we follow the example of Bahá'u'lláh Himself and after Him Abdu'l-Bahá both of
whom gave much time, thought and effort to cultivating relationships with
government officials, leaders of thought and leaders of various minority
groups. Our Guardian, Shoghi Effendi
also did this and initiated various efforts in this direction.
2) The
emergence of the Bahá'í Faith from obscurity.
A) From its beginning the United Nations Organization has given us a
broad and effective forum to exert a positive and helpful influence on the life
of society.
>1947: encouraged by Shoghi Effendi the N.S.A. of Canada & the
United States submitted a document entitled a Bahá'í Declaration on Human
Obligations and Rights.
>1948 : the Bahá'í
International Community was accredited as a non-governmental organization and,
thanks to the encouragement of out Guardian, began taking part in international
events.
>Bahá'í communities in many countries rendered a service to the U.N.
when they undertook to supply the general public with information about this
new entity in the world, an activity much appreciated by the U.N.
>1968: a Bahá'í representative was elected to membership on the
Executive Committee of n.g.o.s; later on our representatives have also held
Chair and vice-Chair positions.
>1970: gained consultative status with the UNECOSOC
>1974: we became associated with U.N.EP (environment)
>1976: gained consultative status with UNICEF
B) Our
association with the U.N. has worked also in connection with the
episodes of persecution of the Bahá'í
Community in Iran and elsewhere.
>1955 & 1962 when there was persecution of
Bahá'ís in Iran and Morocco, the community gained U.N. intervention and world
wide publicity.
? 1980:
catalyzed by the Iranian Revolution, an annihilating pogrom was initiated by
the Shi'ite clergy. The response of the
U.N>, media and various national governments propelled us to a new level of
prominence on the world stage. This
case has stayed in the international human rights system for 20 years. It also gave N.S.A.s in many countries
experience contacting and dealing with many levels of government on many levels
even the highest. Our case also served
as demonstration of the power the community of nations could exert through
systems created for this purpose to influence long established patterns of
oppression.
C)
The years 1990-1996 saw our
participation on the n.g.o. level in a series of world summits and related
conferences in which political leaders of the world came together to discuss
major issues challenging mankind, an agenda which mirrors the basic teachings:
education, children's welfare, environment, human rights, population, social
development and women's rights. This process
culminated with our participation in the Millennium Summit.
4) The
Bahá'í Cause demonstrates on a global scale its unifying power.
The Bahá'í International Community has come to
enjoy a strong sense of trust from the hundreds of its fellow n.g.o.s who
repeatedly select Bahá'í delegations to be allowed the opportunity to address
conferences from the podium. This
happens because we are and are seen to be able to speak for all humanity as
shown by the fact that our delegation memberships come from an extremely wide
range of countries. In addition we have
been consistently non-partisan and prepared to speak for the people of the
world.
end