Baha'is offer decision-making model at UN commission
DoorBahais
among peoples of different cultures would contribute to integration
"at this time of transition to a new social order," according to a new
Baha'i statement.
The statement was prepared for the 48th United Nations Commission for
Social Development, which concluded on 12 February. The commission is
the chief U.N. body charged with following up on the World Summit on
Social Development held in 1995 in Copenhagen, where world leaders
outlined principles that would characterize a new "society for all."
These principles included respect for diversity and participation of
all people.
The Baha'i International Community said in its statement that it was
offering its experience in the method of consultation used by Baha'i
communities around the world – a key component in creating unity among
people.
The consultative process, the Baha'i statement said, rests on the
understanding that all human beings are essentially noble – "they
possess reason and conscience as well as capacities for inquiry,
understanding, compassion, and service to the common good."
Mr. Ming H. Chong of Singapore, a delegate to the commission who
presented a summary of the Baha'i statement, said afterwards that
understanding the nobility of all humans prevents people from
dismissing others as needy rather than being in charge of their own
development.
"If you start with (this) understanding, then you have a different
perspective, one that avoids labels like 'marginalized' and 'poor,'"
he said. He explained that he was a child of immigrants to Singapore
and had learned that such labels create the wrong impression of entire
groups of people.
"Language shapes the way we think," he said. "It creates mental
pictures of how we see the world. Some of these mental pictures are
not always positive – those that dehumanize migrants, for example."
The Baha'i statement to the U.N. commission suggested that the human
body can serve as a model for comparing the integration of the world's
cultures and peoples. "Within this organism, millions of cells, with
extraordinary diversity of form and function, collaborate to make
human existence possible. Every least cell has its part to play in
maintaining a healthy body," the statement said.
This image can be used to envision the world's peoples as one human
family and understand how each culture plays a part in the functioning
of the whole, Mr. Chong explained.
In consultation as practiced in Baha'i communities, great value is
placed on the diversity of perspectives and contributions that
individuals bring to the discussion.
"Actively soliciting views from those traditionally excluded from
decision-making not only increases the pool of intellectual resources
but also fosters the trust, inclusion, and mutual commitment needed
for collective action," the Baha'i statement said.
A key feature of Baha'i consultation is that ideas belong to the group
rather than to individuals.
"Detachment from one's positions and opinions regarding the matter
under discussion is imperative - once an idea has been shared, it is
no longer associated with the individual who expressed it, but becomes
a resource for the group to adopt, modify, or discard," the statement
said.
A diversity of opinions, however, is not sufficient – it "does not
provide communities with a means to bridge differences or to resolve
social tensions," it continued.
"In consultation, the value of diversity is inextricably linked to the
goal of unity. This is not an idealized unity, but one that
acknowledges differences and strives to transcend them through a
process of principled deliberation," the statement said. "It is unity
in diversity."
To read a longer version of the article, with photograph, go to:
http://news.bahai.org/story/758
For the Baha'i World News Service home page, go to:
http://news.bahai.org