Rising crime
A.D. Couper
>haukness wrote: ... it is very true, that all around the world, violent
crime is rampant, the likes of which the world has never seen before.
.............................................
Travelling in Asia years ago, I came across a tower of skulls built by
invaders who killed all the locals. This kind of violence went on for
millennia before the modern (read Baha'i) era began. More violence is
now reported by the media but does that mean there's now more violence?
What the world has never seen before is the likes of modern media -
where every detail can be portrayed for all to see in the twinkling of
an eye. But I would think the world's past is much more violent than its
present. What evidence is there to say that violence is more rampant now
than before? A. Doug Couper, Milton, ON
haukness
Bahaullah's message is now with all of mankind. The United Nations exists,
The World Court and the most sophisticaded criminal justice systems ever
developed.
Never before clearly has humanity had at it's disposal so much material
wealth. This is not a statement that a girl raped or a mother or father
murdered in one time period contains any more sorrow than at another time.
This is about the establisment of paradise on earth, and that establishment
cannot ever, blind itself to it's own impediments? No, how could that be.
The slavery of young girls, the forced loss of virginity of young girls is
well documented all around the world, and you can say it's just media hyped
statistics, but these and other criminal rempant processes are easily viewed
on msworks search engine under a criminal justice search. (or any other
search engine).
The point is, when the Blessed Beauty is in the world, when all the world
has been renewed, coupled with we are not talking about hyped up media
exaggerations, we are talking about responsible journalism reporting, cannot
go ignored. Because how can anyone on earth have paradise on earth, how can
any parent on earth rest with 12 students in a school gunned down in no less
that 5 different states in one year.
The murders in Detroit, New York, Los Angeles as well as in the country side
all take place in the Nation Abdul Baha states will lead all nations
spiritually. So how can this be? The answer is simply, "it can't be." The
violence in the other continents is just as severe, and to say, it's all
just media over reporting, deny's the pain and suffering that families all
around the world are enduring. Tell the over reporting to the parents of
Columbine High School who have had their children maimed or killed. Does
this mean in any manner that there are not lots of altruism's happening all
the time, hardly, that's the light and darkness, the intigration and the
disintigration. I will stand by the statisical factual evidence that
criminal behavior is out of control and rampant.
Suzanne Gerstner
Dear friends,
I am in the middle of moving from the Netherlands to England, and I have had
a lot of loose ends to tie up before I go so I haven't been able to really
follow this or any other threads for quite a while, but I just thought I
would put in my two cents about rising crime.
For the last two years I have been a counsellor at a refugee center. I
talk to the people who have been so broken by the horrendous things which
have happened in their native lands, that they have fled to an unknown
future -- one which was also full of traumas of culture shock, isolation,
being at the mercy of uncaring bureaucrats, and having people be prejudiced
against them. They all tell me about a peaceful time when they were young
when they never even had to lock the doors of their homes, and then they
tell me about the barbarism which has taken over their countries now.
Believe me. It's really bone chilling to hear about the human savagery
which exists in the world. Things are happening now which never happened on
this sort of scale in the past in many countries.
Lawlessness reigns supreme in countries which have been destabilized by war,
poverty, famine, disease (AID's among others) and criminal leadership. Many
people who lived peaceful lives in small villages for centuries now have
television, and this gives them the idea of what material wealth is like,
and they move to the big cities trying to make their fortune there. Of
course, most of them certainly don't. They live in shabby ghettos and don't
get anywhere, and there's a lot of frustration and simmering rage there.
Also, a whole different mentality takes over them there. Whereas before, in
their small villages, people knew them and there was accountability. They
never would have thought of flaunting laws there. However, in the big
cities they are annonymous and anything goes.
And cultures are clashing with each other big time. The West -- especially
Hollywood -- is exporting a new way of looking at the world: one of glitz
and glamour, free sex, horrendous violence, and, just generally, extremely
lax morals. This is affecting people in other countries. I just read in my
paper this morning about how "honor killings" are on the rise in Muslim
countries because daughters are seeing western television programs and
wanting to be more liberated and be able to talk to boys, and how the
fathers will kill them for it. Rebelliousness of the young, and the
backlash of the orthodox is at an all time high in all sorts of way. There
was never rebelliousness anywhere in these countries in the past.
And then there's Africa. It's a continent sinking in civil war and aids,
and believe me, horrendous things happen there all the time, and its
definitely on a scale unrivaled in the past. So many children are orphaned
by parents affected by AID's and killed in wars, and many of the children
are made to become child soldiers, and horrrendous things happen to them.
I read that the Japanese are freaking out because senseless violence is
starting to happen even there in their well ordered society. Even in that
society where everyone always unquestionably followed the rules in the past,
many youth are becoming rebellious.
Then there's the child porn which is growing at incredible speed world wide
with the advent of the internet; and all the young women being sold into sex
slavery. Believe me, there are *horrendous* things going on in the world at
the present time which past centuries really could not rival. I haven't
even begun to mention it all. That's why there is a flood of immigrants
from all parts of the globe trying to find safety in the west.
If you live a sheltered life in an American suburb you may not know about
it, but it is like a tide which is rising fast, and it won't be contained in
these other lands. It will definitely spill over an engulf the whole world
unless people start taking positive action to stop it.
As Baha'u'llah says, you can consider the world as one body. This body of
our world is very sick and in anguish at the present time. It is screaming
out for the remedy which will restore it to wholeness and health, and that
is the teachings of Bahau'llah, the Divine Physician. We need to understand
our unity and interconnectedness and minister to the crying needs of the
whole of mankind with love and justice. We are all just one family -- all
the children of God. In the words of Baha'u'llah:
"The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless
and until its unity is firmly established."
Kind regards,
Suzanne
A.D. Couper
Perceived violence in the world can be explained in perhaps three ways:
(1)the world is getting worse rather than better because Baha'u'llah is
not the Messiah. (2)Baha'u'llah is the Messiah but the world is forced
to take some steps backward before moving forward because Baha'is aren't
working hard enough (3)Baha'u'llah is the Messiah and the world has been
getting better and better since the dawn of his Revelation.
In the latter scenario, perceived worsenings are sometimes just that -
perception rather than reality. My point was that we do not know enough
about the past to say there was less violence then. Rather it is fair to
say that there is evidence of horrendous violence in the past and it is
probable that most of it (especially individual acts against other
individuals) was unreported and unaccounted for.
Today with increasing demands for accountability, even acts of
individuals against other individuals are exposed by a worldwide media
that thrives on news of the negative. Pessimism breeds naught but more
pessimism. Yes there is disease, poverty and there are refugees. But
before AIDS there was and still is malaria - which has killed millions
for hundreds of years, if not more. Disease will kill less as medicine
advances, but the poor will always be with us. The world will always
change and a changing world will always produce refugees. Many victims
simply suffered and died 'in situ' before. Now aid comes to them or with
transportation, they can migrate. Still, many 'stat' refugees are not
true refugees but economic migrants simply seeking the consumer life
they see on T.V. To gain entry to immigrant-receiving countries, they
lie about their situation. Iranians fleeing the ayatollahs have claimed
to be Baha'is, for example, because the end justifies the means.
Overall, the avoidance of a third world war is sufficient proof for many
that things are getting better. Baha'is might distinguish themselves
from old-world negativity by concentrating on how things are getting
better rather than worse. Seeing the Teachings at work is real hope for
humanity.
Suzanne Gerstner
> Perceived violence in the world can be explained in perhaps three ways:
> (1)the world is getting worse rather than better because Baha'u'llah is
> not the Messiah. (2)Baha'u'llah is the Messiah but the world is forced
> to take some steps backward before moving forward because Baha'is aren't
> working hard enough (3)Baha'u'llah is the Messiah and the world has been
> getting better and better since the dawn of his Revelation.
Dear Doug,
I believe that these are not the only three options. Shoghi Effendi talks
about the twin processes of disintegration and of integration; the death
pangs of the old world order and the birth pangs of the new. These things
go hand in hand. So, yes, some things are definitely getting better. The
world is becoming more unified than it has ever been before, and many people
are become ever more knowledgeable and enlightened. 'Abdu'l-Baha didn't
call the 20th Century "The Century of Light" for nothing.
In the middle of the Nineteenth Century Baha'u'llah said that the time had
come for the unification of the people's of the world. He said that God had
released spriritual forces in the world to bring this about. He said that
we should abandon all prejudices and recognize each other as brothers and
sisters -- as the children of one God. He said to regard the world of
humanity as one individual body. The best interest of the part is the best
interest of the whole. All of this sounded ridiculous at that time. There
was no unity in the world, and the world was filled with prejudice of every
kind. People didn't even know each other. Most people had never travelled
outside of their region, let alone outside of their countries.
Communications were slow (although the day that the Baha'i Faith was born,
May 23, 1844, the first telegraph was sent from the west to east with the
Message "What hath God wrought". But travel was painstakingly slow and
expensive, and most people just didn't know people in other countries unless
it was family. Colonial governements were ruling much of the world.
Western people (not just a radical fringe group) believed in white supremacy
as the natural order of things.
But Baha'u'lah said the words "unity" and "oneness" and the world began to
change. Among numerous other things, two world wars happened. Young men
who had never been much further than their own little villages and who had
limited ideas about the world, were sent to all parts of the globe. Women
who had never left the home, went out into the workforce, and followed
closely the news of the war, and also had a broadened view of the world.
And the result of the wars was a world shocked to its foundations, and
deciding that this could never, ever be allowed to happen again. At this
moment in time there is peace among the major nations of the world and has
been for most of the time since the second world war. The only wars in the
world are civil, tribal or ethnic in nature (people fighting against oneness
and unity). Not nation against nation. This is new, and it's a direct
result of these two wars as well as the destructive potential of nuclear
weapons. Another direct result of the war was the birth of the United
Nations, and declaration of human rights. Every world disaster, has a
response in the people's of the world, which brings us closer to world
unity. During the Gulf War the principle of collective security was put
into practice. The war crimes in Bosnia and Rwanda has brought about an
effective war-crimes tribunal, and the realization that the world
desperately needs a world court that has some teeth. To have that, we
*need* international laws which must be obeyed by all. We need world needs
global governance or there will continue to be anarchy at the world level.
All the flood of refugees, and international trade, has gotten us mixing
around to the point where we are truly becoming a global neighborhood. Of
course the scientific advances in the world, and the rapid speed of
communications and travel have also turned us into a global village. We now
know and are completely aware of what is going on everywhere in the world.
We are familiar with all the people's of the world. Nobody is complete
strangers anymore. Look at us on the internet talking live-time between
continents.
When I was a child I never saw black and white people on tv mixing around
together, unless the black person was in some sort of inferior role like a
butler. Now you see people from the whole planet all mixing around together
as one. This is just normal for this generation, but it didn't used to be.
More and more people are becoming more and more aware of our
interconnectedness and oneness than ever was the case in the past.
Often you can see analogies in the world of nature of spiritual principles.
If you think of a egg -- it is in the utmost state of perfection. The yoke
is suspended neatly inside of the white, and it is good food. However, once
the egg becomes fertilized it turns into a bloody mess. If you didn't know
any better you would say that the egg was rotten. However, within that
bloody mess a new creature is growing, and it needs all the bloody mess to
grow strong. And finally the egg has to break. And then the new creation
is born.
This scenario happened in the age of Christ. The coming of Christ was the
divine impulse where the egg was fertilized, and the new creation grew
unnoticed in the world for a couple of centuries, during all the bloody mess
of the moral decay of the Roman empire. And at a certain point, the empire
completely collapsed, and the new creation -- Christianity -- was born into
the world, and it grew until it became *the religion*, the driving force,
for all of Europe for centuries, and eventually for many other peoples of
the world. However it took 300 years for the new creation to be born!
The same thing has happned in the day with the coming of Baha'u'llah, but
right now you need vision to be able to see it, since the new creation is
not yet born. As the Western world was united under Christ, the whole world
will one day be united under Baha'u'llah. He is the divine impulse which
will bring about world unity. The bloody mess of the world is the food that
is nourishing the new creation which is growing in the world -- our unity.
And finally the shell will have to break. Some world disaster on a scale
never yet imagined, will have to happen to bring people to the religion of
God for this Day:
"The world is in travail, and its agitation waxeth day by day. Its face is
turned towards waywardness and unbelief. Such shall be its plight, that to
disclose it now would not be meet and seemly. Its perversity will long
continue. And when the appointed hour is come, there shall suddenly appear
that which shall cause the limbs of mankind to quake. Then, and only then,
will the Divine Standard be unfurled, and the Nightingale of Paradise warble
its melody."
(Baha'u'llah: Gleanings, Pages: 118-119)
When this will happen, and it's severity depends on the peoples of the world
themselves. If they were to willingly embrace their unity and would
recognize God's Messenger for this day and put His teachings into practice
in their lives of their own free will, it wouldn't have to happen. But
people are stubborn, and they don't change unless they are forced to through
suffering.
I don't know when this will happen. Nobody does. But it is clear to me
that world unity is coming, and that in the fullness of time it will be an
established fact, and nothing will be able to stop it from becoming a
reality. It is the Plan of God. It is foretold as far back as the Old
Testament. This is the time when the "wolf will lie down with lamb," and
"the swords will be beaten into ploughshares," and the Kingdom of God will
be established "on earth, as it is in heaven."
Kind regards,
Suzanne
A.D. Couper
>Suzanne Gerstner wrote: ...these are not the only three options
-----------------------------------------
I'm open to suggestion. Can you categorize the others?
>When I was a child I never saw black and white people on tv mixing around
>together, unless the black person was in some sort of inferior role
-----------------------------------------------------
Part of this is cultural as well as temporal. If you had grown up in
Portuguese culture (which is perhaps the most racially mixed on the
planet), you'd have seen poor blacks and whites living together in the
muzecs (sp?) of Luanda or the flavelas of Rio. You'd have seen blacks
and whites together on the beaches and sportfields and other cultural
arenas. Brazil in particular, has been a racial model for the world.
>(re Xianity) ...it took 300 years for the new creation to be born! ...
>As the Western world was united under Christ, the whole world will one
>day be united under Baha'u'llah ... finally the shell will have to break
>... world disaster on a scale never yet imagined, will have to happen
---------------------------------------------------------
There are Baha'is who interpret the disaster scenario as having already
happened with the two world wars that resulted in the abortion of the
League of Nations and the final birth of the United Nations. Any future
weather, floods, disease, food shortages, etc. may pale beside the wars
because the wars epitomized mankind's brutality at its spiritual low
point, whereas the crisis of natural disasters often brings out the
spiritual best in people - making them struggle together in unity.
Maybe there will be a future disaster. Maybe it's already happened. You
say nobody knows, but you 'know' it hasn't happened. To be completely
open minded, one has to allow that it may have already happened.
My main point is that by dwelling on such a negative as a future
disaster, one plays into the hands of Xian propagandists who would
dismiss the entire Baha'i revelation with the assertion that the world
is getting worse so how could Baha'u'llah have been the Messiah. The
reality is that some things are getting worse but most things are
getting progressively better all the time because of Baha'u'llah's
Revelation. Baha'is might get more converts by always focusing on the
positive. There's already enough negativity in Xianity and Judaism and
Islam (maybe Hinduism too). Why repeat their mistakes?
Suzanne Gerstner
> I'm open to suggestion. Can you categorize the others?
Actually I did. The other one was the twin processes of integration and
disintegration mentioned by the Guardian -- the building up of the new world
order and the tearing down of the old. Not the one or the other
exclusively. This theme is repeated throughout the Baha'i Writings. It is
the process which is evidently going on in the world right now.
> Maybe there will be a future disaster. Maybe it's already happened. You
> say nobody knows, but you 'know' it hasn't happened.
<snip>
> My main point is that by dwelling on such a negative as a future
> disaster, one plays into the hands of Xian propagandists who would
> dismiss the entire Baha'i revelation with the assertion that the world
> is getting worse so how could Baha'u'llah have been the Messiah. The
> reality is that some things are getting worse but most things are
> getting progressively better all the time because of Baha'u'llah's
> Revelation. Baha'is might get more converts by always focusing on the
> positive. There's already enough negativity in Xianity and Judaism and
> Islam (maybe Hinduism too). Why repeat their mistakes?
I don't know how this has happened, but I feel like you have put my thinking
into a very narrow doom and gloom cubby hole where it does not belong, and
since you are attributing to me thoughts which you believe I dwell on but
which I don't, I don't know how to answer you. In short, you are confusing
me. :-) Look again at what I wrote. It wasn't doom and gloom. It was
seeing the light growing in the darkness. I mentioned that the 20th century
was the century of light. I said that we were growing in unity. I also
believe that we have grown in all sorts of other wonderful ways.
I believe exactly what the Baha'i Writings, Shoghi Effendi, and the
Universal House of Justice have said. I do not sit around dwelling on
disasters -- big or little, one or many. I am doing my best to play an
active role in the spiritualization of the planet. I have a very positive
world view. I am "a happy, joyful being". I may work with refugees but I
see in them the divine souls they really are, who may be suffering at this
point on their paths, but who will continue on into eternal life, and their
suffering is purifying them in some mysterious way. I may be aware of the
negative things which are happening on the planet, and I may agree with the
Universal House of Justice that crime is on the rise, world wide speaking,
but I also believe that many things are getting much, much better in the
world, as I said in my last letter, and I do say so to people. I do believe
that all the disasters which are happening are moving us forward towards a
glorious future.
"God's purpose is none other than to usher in, in ways He alone can bring
about, and the full significance of which He alone can fathom, the Great,
the Golden Age of a long-divided, a long-afflicted humanity. Its present
state, indeed even its immediate future, is dark, distressingly dark. Its
distant future, however, is radiant, gloriously radiant - so radiant that no
eye can visualize it."
(Shoghi Effendi: The Promised Day is Come, Page: 116)
And I don't believe that disaster *have* to happen. Mankind has a choice.
As the Universal House of Justice says in The Promise of World Peace:
"World peace is not only possible but inevitable. It is the next stage in
the evolution of the planet... Whether peace is to be reached only after
unimaginable horrors precipitated by humanity's stubborn clinging to old
patterns of behavior, or is to be embraced now by an act of consultative
will, is the choice before all who inabit the earth. At this critical
juncture when the intractable problems confronting nations have been fused
into one common concern for the whole world, failure to stem the tide of
conflict and disorder would be unconscionably irresponsible..."
However, I leave it to you whether the majority of world leaders have
decided already to work for the well-being of all humanity and are aware
that the well-being of the part is the well being of the whole, or they
still are busy trying to promote the limited well-being of their own
countries. And if they still need to learn it, unfortunately, there will be
victims of their folly.
Baha'u'llah says:
Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and center
your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements.
(Baha'u'llah: Gleanings, Page: 213)
He doesn't say to pretend that everything in the world is positive. One
extreme is to "dwell" on the negative, as you say. This is wrong. The
other extreme is to only see the positive. That may work in terms of
overlooking the faults and shortcomings of another person, but it doesn't
work in helping the suffering masses on the planet to attain a truly human
standard of living.
Kind regards,
Suzanne
A.D. Couper
Dear Suzanne,
Thanks for your lengthy reply. I enjoy engaging others in ideas, but I
recognize my phrasing and lack of smiley faces :-) too often lead people
to take things personally. I don't want to offend anyone, but I fear it
sometimes inadvertently happens. Sorry. I just wanted to comment on the
crime thread, which I don't think you started, with the observation that
it's an essential part of my own faith that Baha'u'llah's Revelation has
done a makeover on the world so that things can't be getting worse -
they have to be getting better or Baha'u'llah's life was for naught.
If I read your point correctly, you say a fourth category is the old
world rolling up while the new world unfurls. In my mind, this joint
activity is implicit in each of the 3 categories I referred to, but each
category has, on balance, a preponderance of good over evil or
viceversa. It is Baha'i theodicy (the explanation of evil) that a
process has been put in place through Baha'u'llah's Revelation whereby
evil is being vanquished by good over time. And Baha'is focus on the
harmony of (social) science and religion. Crime stats vary but I
understand murder rates are going down in many Western nations and I
question whether stats support the idea that crime is rising other than
as a cultural and/or temporal anomaly.
Also I think there is a cultural paranoia out there that focuses on
negativity. Certainly, the media focus on this (and Baha'u'llah refers
to their responsibility here). And I think this negativity is primarily
associated with or influenced by Xianity, because in Xian theodicy,
society is still shadowed by Satan until the Saviour comes.
Thus it's important for Baha'is to call into question statements that
crime is rising, because when people hear such statements, it supports a
general but erroneous conception that things are getting worse when they
aren't. Such statements may also be a misuse of scientific statistical
evidence, but their main impact is psychological. I hear non-Baha'is
saying they're not attracted to the Faith because Christ couldn't
possibly have returned when the world is in such a mess. My reply is
that the world isn't in the mess they think it is. Ever since the end of
the 2nd World War, the banner of world unity (the UN flag) has been
unfurled.
Suzanne Gerstner
Dear Doug,
I don't know a thing about Xian theodicy but I do understand your point
about not dwelling on the negative things in the world. I agree that much
is getting way better too, like the Universal House of Justice pointed out
in their Peace Statement.
> Thus it's important for Baha'is to call into question statements that
> crime is rising, because when people hear such statements, it supports a
> general but erroneous conception that things are getting worse when they
> aren't.
It depends on who makes the statement and in what context. I believe they
said that the Universal House of Justice made the statement in their book
The Century of Light. If they did, then I would agree with them. If they
said it was getting less, then I would agree with that too. ;-) It may
sound like I can't think for myself, but what do we really know about what
is going on in the entire planet except what the journalists present to us?
The Universal House of Justice is the august body I look to for true
understanding about the situation in the world at the present time. And I
am absolutely *sure* their point wasn't a negative one, but to present the
darkness in which the light of unity has been growing. After all, the name
of the book is The Century of Light.
Kind regards,
Suzanne
p.s. Yes, smiley faces are nice. :-)
Suzanne Gerstner
Charles wrote:
> Thank you for your post, and I hope your move goes well :)
Thanks, Charles. I have just three more days to be in the house I've been
living in for 14 years -- the house I raised my children in. It's amazing
how life can change so suddenly. Everything goes along as it always has and
as you feel it always will, and suddenly there comes a shift and
everything's changes. It's also exciting! It's a new life stretching out
before me -- one which will certainly present to me all sorts of new
challenges and opportunites. Really amazing! And I can see the Hand of
Baha'u'llah at work in this. :-)
> I am curious/concerned that we look carefully at the condition of the
world,
> but not become paranoid about it. There is a healthy level of concern,
and we
> as Baha'i's should be careful to "walk that line" so to speak.
I agree. We shouldn't be too negative, or make light of the real problems
in the world either. We should strive to really see what's there, but not
be overwhelmed by it, or become cynical, but strive to do something about
it, imo. And I believe that every little thing which way may do to effect
one other soul positively will have a ripple effect out into the whole
planet.
> In other words, we should remain happy under all circumstances. in the
words
> of the prayer, "I will be a happy and joyful being."
> My favorite quote of the week is this one from Abdu'l-Baha on the back
cover
> of "The Chosen Highway":
> "If we are not happy and joyous at this season, for what other season
shall we
> wait and for what other time shall we look?"
I love that too. Here's more of the passage that that comes from:
"If we are not happy and joyous at this season, for what other season
shall we wait and for what other time shall we look?
This is the time for growing; the season for joyous gathering! Take the
cup of the Testament in thy hand; leap and dance with ecstasy in the
triumphal procession of the Covenant! Lay your confidence in the
everlasting bounty, turn to the presence of the generous God; ask assistance
from the Kingdom of Abha; seek confirmation from the Supreme World; turn thy
vision to the horizon of eternal wealth; and pray for help from the Source
of Mercy!
Soon shall ye see the friends attaining their longed-for destination
and pitching their tents, while we are but in the first day of our journey."
(`Abdu'l-Baha: Baha'i World Faith*, Page: 351)
Thanks for sharing this. :-)
Kind regards,
Suzanne
dmcadam
Reply to A.D. Couper message 8/9/2001 10:36 PM
The beloved Guardian in some of the collections of his World Order
letterd said two forces were at work, disintegration and integration. He
amply defined the condition of the world in one of those letters which of
course goes back to the 50s. Now if we too his scenario, listing all the
symptoms or manifestations of disintegration and then asked ourself have
these things improved we might come close to reality, especially if we
research the House of Justice letters where often they mentioned how the
forces of oppression, disintegration and the like are increasing.
However in my opinion I think we should just accept the fact the House of
Justice said this is the time for entry by troops and be about our
business.
warmly,
doug
>
>Perceived violence in the world can be explained in perhaps three ways:
>(1)the world is getting worse rather than better because Baha'u'llah is
>not the Messiah. (2)Baha'u'llah is the Messiah but the world is forced
>to take some steps backward before moving forward because Baha'is aren't
>working hard enough (3)Baha'u'llah is the Messiah and the world has been
>getting better and better since the dawn of his Revelation.
>
Dempsey Morgan
dear friend, i sat on the parole board of the biggist walled prison
in1956. at that time there were 60 thousand dope addicts in the states,
they were mostly black and nothing was done about it exept imprisonment.
now there are millions of dope addicts and most of them are white. the
problem then was greater than the police. it is now greater than the
country. in covert ethnic cleansing we have more prisoners than any
country in the world. for this and other reasons we were put off the
committee for human rights by the united nations representing 150
nations. we are out of step with the world. morgan,dfc.
dmcadam
Reply to Suzanne Gerstner message 8/10/2001 7:27 AM
Dear friends-
Could we please distinguish between Doug Couper and me (Doug McAdam)
Thanks so much,
doug mcadam
>
>> Perceived violence in the world can be explained in perhaps three ways:
>> (1)the world is getting worse rather than better because Baha'u'llah is
>> not the Messiah. (2)Baha'u'llah is the Messiah but the world is forced
>> to take some steps backward before moving forward because Baha'is aren't
>> working hard enough (3)Baha'u'llah is the Messiah and the world has been
>> getting better and better since the dawn of his Revelation.
>
haukness
mankind" and from Hidden Words, "Not a pure breath have ye breathed" and
from The Promised Day Has Come, "A tempest, unprecedented in its violence,
unpredictable in its course, catastrophic in its immediate effects," and
last but not least this from Bahaullah, "The time for the destruction of the
world and it's people hath arrived."
I could go on and on from every Book Bahaullah authored and from every book
The Guardian compiled or wrote. So, we Baha'is can conceal this aspect of
our Writings, some argue they should be, but I choose to be reality based,
to write optomistically and positively as often as I can, but I do not buy
into the arguement to ignore troubles, ignore or conceal the wrongs that
inflict the world. In the Epsitle to the Son of The Wolf, which some Baha'is
do not feel is an appropriate teaching book, because of it's many dire
warnings, I reject those concerns because Bahaullah Wrote in the Epsitle to
the Son of The Wolf "to the peoples of the world," so while individual
Baha'is are free to not use those dark passages, I feel unrestrained in
using them.
Also, as far as optomism and sugar coating only being the best teaching
method, in my experience, many of the friends are rebuffed by a rosy picture
of life only. People know the world is in dire straights, Dire Straights
being the name of a popular recording group. And they manage to sell albums
using that title.
So, you all join in on a rose garden without thorns. I do not believe myself
that a reality based approach to life is a weak approach to interractions.
Or as The Guardian wrote, "Humanity, girpped in the clutches of its
devastating power is smitten by the evidences of its reistless fury."
I find that far more people will be attracted to the Baha'i Faith, if it's
even handed in giving a Baha'i perspective to current events. And in current
events, I see a lot of tradgedy that creates an opportunity, also, in the
world's great literature, from Herman Melvile to Charles Dickens, from Dumas
to Dotsvesky and Kafka and Hugo, the dark side of life becomes the plot of
novels critically hailed by the generations of readers who have made those
authors famous. And to those who only want to read fairy tales, well don't
read the Brothers Grimm, for me, I prefer not to bury my head under the
sand, or as Bahaullah wrote, "dost thou wail, or shall I wail."
-----Original Message-----au revoir j
dmcadam
Hi Doug Couper from Canada, this is Doug McAdam formerly from Canada and
now in Kokomo, IN.
I'm rather interested in this thread inasmuch as we are doing a Troubled
Youth and Adult Offender SED project here with a one year success
experience. Whether things get worse before they get better and whether
we are still on the downturn or at the point of return to the upward
progress I'm not sure but there are three reasons why I do not feel
things are getting better in the strict sense of the word or that if they
are getting worse then Baha'u'llah came for naught as you say.
First of all there is the Guardian's own statements about the increasing
waywardness and the House of Justice has often, over the years been
mentioning this condition. Secondly I am now 71 and have been through
several conscious decades in which I observed community conditions
especially when working for the media for seventeen years and now seeing
the media portray terrible materialism, greed, avarice, a morbid interest
in sex and violence, among many other sins and also lastly but maybe even
worstly is the fact the idea the Russian philospher Doestiovsky
(spelling?) said about the real horror being there is no more horrer
because people had become desensitized. And lastly but most importantly
is that the Supreme Institution itself has said so.
In addition, having worked as an accountant and in the media business as
well as many others I can honestly say the each individual or institution
can make stats do what they want for whatever egotistical purpose they
have for truth is not the object of these people.
However I will admit to the fact that we also were told by the Guardian
that we should not use the crumbling old world order signs as means of
teaching. In other words don't have people come into the Faith because
they feel everything is going to hell but rather have them recognize the
Manifestation for this day who has brought Justice to the world and what
we are seeing is the twin forces of disintegration and integration at
work. So I also agree we can focus on either the positive or the
negative. Unfortunately most people are not aware of the positive,
meaning the Baha'i Revelation and they act like they have their head in
the sand and hope it will all go away as long as they have their
technology, and various escapes.
I could be wrong and I'm not going to take the time to defend my argument
but from my point of view I have been seeing crimes of all sorts, some of
which many people are not aware of have been increasing dramatically. On
the other hand a positive thinker will see the negativity and strive to
do something about it. I think the more Light we spread the more the old
world order will appear as crumbling up.
regards,
doug
>Thus it's important for Baha'is to call into question statements that
>crime is rising, because when people hear such statements, it supports a
>general but erroneous conception that things are getting worse when they
>aren't. Such statements may also be a misuse of scientific statistical
>evidence, but their main impact is psychological. I hear non-Baha'is
>saying they're not attracted to the Faith because Christ couldn't
>possibly have returned when the world is in such a mess. My reply is
>that the world isn't in the mess they think it is. Ever since the end of
>the 2nd World War, the banner of world unity (the UN flag) has been
>unfurled.
>
A.D. Couper
> that (from his personal experience and understanding)
> say.
Thanks for sharing. When Canadians talk of things getting worse, we
often refer to it as the 'Americanization' of Canada (and the world).
Yet so many of us are attracted to so much American, we have difficulty
learning to separate the good from the bad. Both are present in every
culture. Cultural perspective is a player in how we react to
Baha'u'llah's message; e.g., whether one is a long-term globalist or
short-term regionalist. I think most Baha'is can agree that Baha'u'llah
came to make things better and that things will be better - given time.
So I agree with you that it's not especially fruitful to speculate on
when the turning point in time has been or will be. Is it at the same
time as the 'tempest'? Is the tempest over or yet to come? While the
first half of the twentieth century was particularly tempestuous, it's
now labelled as a century of 'light'. When she opened the ABS conference
last year, the Mayor of Mississauga said 'if that was the century of
light, it was only a 25 watt bulb'. She urged us to make the next
century a 1000 watt bulb.
Dempsey Morgan
by studying the pilgrim's notes your understanding will be increased.
morgan,dfc.