Find Communities in Australia

Join activities, celebrations, study groups, spiritual empowerment and education programs for young people, and more.

Learn about the Baha’i Faith

Baha’i beliefs address essential spiritual themes for humanity’s collective and individual advancement. Learn more about these and more.

DISMISS MENU

The NSA of UK Responds to Unrest in England

August 26, 2011, in Articles > News, by

 

Photo courtesy Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

I don’t know about you, but I lead a fairly easy and luxurious life. My daily challenges rarely go further than deciding what to have for dinner and how not to get angry amongst crowds in small spaces. I rarely need to think about the starving masses or the homeless I walk past on the streets every day.

But now and then, the problems simmering underneath our casual lifestyles come to the surface in dramatic fashion and remind us that all is not well. The recent riots in London remind us that we are witnessing a breakdown in social order and that our commitment to serving our communities is necessary.

As Baha’is, we believe in the nobility of man and do not consider these types of events to be inevitable:

Man is said to be the greatest representative of God… If he comes under the shadow of the True Educator and is rightly trained, he becomes the essence of essences, the light of lights, the spirit of spirits; he becomes the centre of the divine appearances, the source of spiritual qualities, the rising-place of heavenly lights, and the receptacle of divine inspirations.  

‘Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions

A recent letter written by the National Spiritual Assembly of the UK accurately describes what the London riots represent:

What we are seeing on the streets is the outcome of a society that has, in essence, rejected its spiritual reality, and this is just one of the symptoms from the resulting disease. Religion is no longer seen as the potent force that it is; instead it has been supplanted by false gods, such as materialism, which claim the hearts and minds of people.  But, Baha’u’llah warns “[s]hould the lamp of religion be obscured, chaos and confusion will ensue. 

Letter from the NSA of the UK, 15 August 2011

The terrible events that have been witnessed on the streets of England provide an opportunity to pause and reflect on the causes of the social problems we see in our communities. However, it is unfortunate that much of the time, we – as a society – fail to do so.

When such situations arise, society looks for someone to blame; it refuses to see the cause, but rather dwells on the symptoms.

Letter from the NSA of the UK, 15 August 2011

This focus on symptoms rather than on the underlying causes leads to the inevitable recurrence and continuation of the breakdown of society. As Bahai’s, we believe that simultaneous and parallel to this process of societal disintegration, is a growing level of societal integration, and it is these shocking events that often spur us on to further contribute to positive community building and to engaging in meaningful conversations with those around us:

Those who strive to understand the Revelation of Baha’u’llah and to apply it to their lives and their communities can take this opportunity to engage in distinctive and meaningful spiritual conversations in every social space where they engage, in a manner that throws light upon the root cause of the nightmare that terrorized so many streets of our cities… It was also reassuring to understand that we can see the constructive processes that are associated with the Faith of Baha’u’llah “in the outpouring of feeling, especially from the young, that springs from a longing to contribute to societal development… this longing, which wells up inexorably from the human spirit in every land, is able to find such eloquent expression in the work of the Baha’i community. 

Letter from the NSA of the UK, 15 August 2011

Rather than heading out into the streets to protest ourselves, or ‘take sides’ regarding the issue, the letter suggests what our role should be.

We must remain attentive and resolute, conscious of how and where to direct our energies, focussed on principle, avoiding the tendency to be partisan, striving to be distinguished in our contributions, engaging with all and empowering others to make their contribution to the betterment of the world and to the processes of profound spiritual and social transformation that are necessary for the building of a new civilization.

Society is witnessing the destruction of communities.  Our study circles, devotional gatherings, children’s classes and junior-youth activities, by contrast, are activities that build communities.  At this time, we can do no better than to revisit Book 2 of the Ruhi Institute, which helps us to develop the skills and capacity to share the insights we gain from the Writings and view the occurrences of the world through the light of the Revelation of Baha’u’llah. A revisiting of Unit 3 of Book 2 would undoubtedly serve as an aid to each of us, alone or in small groups, to practice our skills and prepare more confidently for meaningful and distinctive dialogue.”

Now is the perfect time to reflect on our own contributions to the community around us, and be reminded of Abdu’l-Baha, our exemplar in the Bahai Faith, who “imparted love, wisdom, comfort, whatever the particular need. Uncompromising in defence of the truth, yet infinitely gentle in manner… He challenged their assumptions, reoriented their perspectives, expanded their consciousness, and focussed their energies.

Letter from the NSA of the UK, 15 August 2011

You can download a copy of the response by the NSA of the UK to the social unrest in the UK (pdf).

What are your thoughts on the spiritual significance of the recent events in England?

Posted by

Leva

Leva

Discussion 6 Comments

As a mix of events from murder to petty theft there is no single reason for this criminality. The one thing all sides agree on is the need for Justice. What is not yet agreed is who should face justice. Calls for justice for victims, justice for the disadvantaged, justice for petty offenders. Reactions say more of the divisions in society than the way forward, more heat than light. These divisions themselves leave a gap that itself enables the lawleness to grow. The uncertainty leaves a deafening silence on what is and isnt acceptable civilised behaviour. The problem and not the symptoms need addressed and the solution must include justice and unity .

Headline is inaccurate.
Truth will set us free and english cities do not constitute the UK.

Jack Quick

Jack Quick (August 8, 2011 at 8:00 PM)

Thanks Jack! Point noted and title edited accordingly 🙂

Preethi

Preethi (August 8, 2011 at 12:00 PM)

I actually think the rioters are to be praised for their intellectual honesty. You know, if one really doesn’t believe in a higher law, why not loot and pillage? I’m serious. What we saw in the UK was a moment of pure anarchy, when suddenly the powers of the ever-present state slipped and one could get away with anything. The people who trouble me are the ones who stayed off the streets, or even worse the self-righteous but equally amoral middle classes who cleaned up their cities in the days following the riots, broom in hand.

Read the accounts of some of the people who were caught and tried for looting. Not the great dispossessed but people who, for one sorry moment, thought they could indulge their most unbridled fantasies. Oxford law graduates, soldiers, trainee Olympians.

So perhaps some of the rest of us stayed off the streets because we – rightly – judged that we would not be able to get away with it, that the long arm of the law in CCTV-UK would stand a good chance of collaring us.

But what about the rest of us? If really there was a moment in which anything goes, and if we don’t believe in God, then – why didn’t we join in?

The rioters were right.

Mogogo

Mogogo (August 8, 2011 at 12:32 PM)

Thanks for antoher great Preethi! I wasn’t aware the NSA of UK had written such a letter – am glad I came across it on here 🙂

Corinne

Corinne (September 9, 2011 at 6:06 AM)

a survey was done recently, either last year or this see the BBC web site, the UN and the happinessof UK children from the survey was one of the lowest of 23 participating countries. Sweden and Spain were at the top. The report authors conclusions had to do with materialism being substiituted for family time. This sort of unhappiness and frustration and anger at nothing in particular will happen in the future as we all are influenced by the american free market model to some degree. Shoghi Effendi warned the american community in Advent of Divine Justice, Ruhhiah Khanum warned in her visits to LA, Ca, and Dr. Taherzadeh mentions it quite strongly in his 11 CD series of Drawing nigh to Baha’u’llah.

Thomas

Thomas (September 9, 2011 at 9:31 AM)

[…] #10: The NSA of UK Responds to Unrest in England […]

Leave a Reply

YOUR EMAIL WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED
REQUIRED FIELDS ARE MARKED *

"*" indicates required fields

Receive our regular newsletter

Join activities, celebrations, study groups, spiritual empowerment and education programs for young people, and more.

Find Communities in Australia

or Internationally

The arts and media have a critical role in how we share our community experiences. We’ve got resources, projects and more to help you get involved.

Visit our Creator Hub

Baha’i beliefs address essential spiritual themes for humanity’s collective and individual advancement. Learn more about these and more.

What Baha’is Believe

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia.

We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their cultures; and to elders both past and present.

Baha’i Blog is a non-profit independent initiative

The views expressed in our content reflect individual perspectives and do not represent the official views of the Baha’i Faith.