World Religion Day

 

The third Sunday in January is known as World Religion Day. This annual event was initiated by the Bahá’ís of the United States as far back as 1950, and has been celebrated by many Bahá’í communities around the world since then. There are perhaps a dozen religions which are frequently named as “World Religions”, and in former times they were often seen as rivals to one another. The Bahá’í view is quite different – they are all one in origin and one in essence. Looked at across the world, they can be seen as branches of one tree. Looked at from the point of view of the time of their creation, they can be seen as chapters in one book. From a Bahá’í point of view, there is just one religion – the religion of God. In the words of Bahá’u’lláh: “This is the changeless Faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future.”

World Religion Day has spread in such a way that it is now marked by various bodies, not just by the Bahá’ís, and is celebrated in various countries. The exact format of the day is not as important as the message – that all the world religions are one. It may be a small gathering of friends and neighbours, or sometimes a public meeting, with representatives of various religious traditions. It often leads to both the participants and the observers remarking how similar the religions are in their purpose and goals. Two different people told me personally this year about schools which had used the theme of World Religion Day to illustrate the commonalities between the religions.

The Bahá’í goal in holding World Religion Day celebrations is to ensure that all the world religions are increasingly seen as one religion – the religion of God. This idea is seen as an essential component in the realisation of the oneness of all mankind. In His talk on “The Seven Candles of Unity”, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (the son of Bahá’u’lláh) said: “The fourth candle is unity in religion, which is the cornerstone of the foundation itself, and which, by the power of God, will be revealed in all its splendour.”

A classic example of the similarity of religions in their core teachings – on personal behaviour – is what is often referred to as “The Golden Rule”. In the Hindu Scriptures we find the following: “Do naught to others which would cause pain if done to you.” Judaism has: “What is hateful to you do not do unto your neighbour.” The Zoroastrian Scriptures say: “Do unto others all that which is well for oneself.” The same teaching is found in Buddhism: “Treat not others in ways that they would find hurtful.” In Christianity we find it as: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In Islam it states: “None of you is a believer until he loves for his brother that which he loves for himself.” Sikhism states the same teaching as: “Treat others as you would be treated yourself.” In the Bahá’í Faith the same message reappears as: “Lay not on any soul a load which ye would not wish to be laid upon you, and desire not for anyone the things ye would not desire for yourselves.” Each of the other world religions not quoted here has a similar verse in its scriptures.

In the past, there was a tendency to think that the various religions were worshipping different gods, but there is a wide understanding now that every religion is ultimately worshipping the same one Creative Force, the Unknown, the Unknowable. Different religions, and indeed different languages, have different names for this Creator, but they are all actually worshipping the same one God. In the Bahá’í view, the world religions all have the same Divine origin. World Religion Day exists to celebrate the existence and the relationship between all of them, and to overcome the separateness of past times. Bahá’u’lláh wrote: "Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship." World Religion Day is a way of bringing this vision nearer to reality.

               

 

If all the world were one…

 

This Planet B slogan, used by those protesting about climate change, cleverly points out the obvious – that we are all in this together. Climate change is a problem which faces the whole world, but we are not yet solving it as one people. We all share one planet, but we do not function together as if we realised this. If all the world’s people were treated as one people, and all the world were treated as one country, we would be several steps nearer to consciously living as one planet. If we regarded ourselves as one people, we would not feel the need to compete for resources with all other nations, or fear that they might be gaining an advantage over us. Of course we would need some kind of world administration, some sort of shared government, in order to ensure that everyone is treated fairly and to co-ordinate action as quickly as possible.  There is no “Planet B”, so we need to make “Planet A” – the Earth – work properly, as nature intended. As God intended.

We are destroying the environment. We are endlessly causing worse climate change. But at the same time, we have some nations – just portions of the world – which assume that they have the right to ignore the problems which everyone else can see so clearly, and take actions which make the problems even worse, either through aggressive military action or through short-sighted economic policies. We need to all feel that we are sharing this Earth together, and are taking ownership of the world together, and not have each nation trying to prove something to the rest of the world. If the world were seen as one, no part of the world would have the right, the authority, or even the motive to attack another part.

If the world were treated as one entity, one community, it would help if there was also a shared communication system. At the technological level, new initiatives towards such a shared system are happening constantly, but at the more basic level of direct human communication – language – there is no universal system yet. Bahá’u’lláh, the Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, urged the governments of the world to “convene a gathering and choose one of the (various) languages, and likewise one of the existing scripts, or else to create a new language and a new script to be taught to children in schools throughout the world. They would, in this way, be acquiring only two languages, one their own native tongue, the other the language in which all the peoples of the world would converse.” The principle is clear: there should be a shared world language chosen, but every nation or people will continue to use their own language.

Somehow, over the course of the relatively near future, the necessary world level of administration will have to come about. It will have to be some sort of federation, so that everyone feels that it belongs to them, and not to somebody else. No part of the world should feel more important, and no part of the world should feel either dominated or ignored. There should still be a national body in each part of the world, but fully integrated with its neighbours and with the world government. Local culture should be encouraged to flourish, so that every people feels proud of its role alongside its fellow peoples.

To make this world community work, we would ideally require a common set of goals, and/or a common philosophy. At a deep level, religion has often underpinned society through such a common philosophy, although at a surface level, religious quarrels and rivalry have often eroded this very sense of shared civilisation. The whole world now needs to develop a shared philosophy or shared belief. Bahá’u’lláh, when writing to Queen Victoria on this subject, wrote: “That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of all the world is the union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith.” One thing that will make a huge difference, and pave the way for this “common Faith”, is the recognition that every religion has insights to offer, that every religion has truth enshrined within it, that every religion was divinely-inspired.

We all know that the planet is one. We all know that the human race is one, from a scientific point of view. We need to take that oneness on board as a spiritual and cultural concept also. Bahá’u’lláh wrote: “The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.” If we all take this to heart, there will be no need of a Planet B - we can make a success of Planet A.