The main reason people look at the world and feel hopeless is because of its disunity.  We see that we need to do something about global warming, but how can we get people to come together and tackle the problem honestly and collaboratively? We see endless conflicts in the Middle East and it seems that no progress is ever made, with each government change often simply unmasking further divides.  When you sit back and look at the issues that divide people, they are often very superficial.  One group may harken its identity back to an older religion, one that they only superficially practice and no longer really believe. But it defines who they are in some conflict with another group, who also is clinging to an identity that has no real reality.  

The situation is the same the world over. Humans are naturally “tribal” in our outlook.  If we don’t have a real tribe, if we are a “melting pot”, we make up tribes- calling them “Democrat” and “Republican”- and then we make our decisions based on what our tribe has chosen as its particular policy of the moment- usually itself crafted to maintain the party in power, and only loosely tied to any firm principles.  The situation is frankly ridiculous. It would even be funny if it weren’t so devastating. 

Here’s the reality- humanity has no chance to progress as a civilization without collaboration and mutual effort. We may not even survive. But how do we build unity? 

In one of His Tablets to the Kings, Baha’u’llah gave a simple analogy that helps us to understand our role in building a peaceful world. He told us to regard the world as being like the human body. Our bodies are composed of 37 trillion cells, all working cooperatively and selflessly to sustain the  organism. The entirety of nature is like this. Cooperation and unity are life, disunity and disintegration cause death. It’s baked into the nature of things.  

But how do we get billions of autonomous people, with free will and individual rationality, to cooperate? At the heart of the answer is a shared commitment to common ideals- abstract ideals that we then work to manifest increasingly in our families and societies. Human societies are only as good as their shared ideals- and the more sublime and virtuous their ideals, the better the society. Human unity is fundamentally related to human virtue. And the more unity you seek to achieve- like unity of the whole world- the more virtuous people must be to attain it.  

Baha’u’llah’s revelation is replete with guidance and examples to demonstrate what virtues can lead to unity. Some of them may surprise you. For instance, Baha’u’llah taught us that each person has a responsibility to investigate truth for themselves- calling this true justice. “Look into all things with a searching eye”.  Why is this important? Because the reality of a situation is often not as complicated if people look at it with unbiased and open minds. Then people unite around the reality, and begin to collaboratively solve problems.  Baha’u’llah laid great emphasis on wisdom and fair-mindedness, seemingly for the same reason.  

A major personal virtue Baha’u’llah praised is detachment.  Detachment is an amazing quality with many nuances, but fundamentally it is about basing your identity on what is truly real and not the superficial transient elements of life. If we look at other people and see them with spiritual eyes, and not focus on their superficial features, we can create greater levels of unity.  We can start to see the whole world as one reality, and not as tribes with superficial and transient identities. 

Religion- and specifically the Revelations of God- have been the force that has taught humanity to unite around common virtuous ideals.  Baha’u’llah told us to honor and protect religion. This may seem strange because- at least superficially- it seems that religion is part of the problem.  But religion itself is not the problem- its the stubborn clinging to the superficial aspects of religion- creating a “religious tribe”- that is the problem. The virtues and ideals that flow out of the Revelations of God are the living water for the body of humanity.  We need those virtues and ideals in order to survive as a species.  That’s what Baha’u’llah means by “religion”.  He Himself was persecuted for his entire life because of people’s stubborn clinging to superficial religion. He knew all about that, but His incredible wisdom saw through that to the essence of religion- and that is what He taught us.  

The video below highlights the efforts of the Baha’is in the Democratic Republic of Congo to help the people overcome their various tribal prejudices and come together as unity.  It is just one example of what Baha’is are working to do the world over.  Sifter of Dust will continue to highlight these ideals, taught to us by Baha’u’llah, and share them liberally as we work to build a new civilization.