The current events taking place throughout the world — most prominently the social and economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic; and the social unrest sparked from a deep sense of systemic racism, being expressed through mass protests and riots — … Continue reading The Crucible of Universal Affliction
Humanity is on the threshold of the crowning stage in its evolutionary history – its collective maturity, characterized by a unification of the entire human race, manifest through a new world civilization which has achieved a dynamic coherence between the … Continue reading Re-Birth of the Clinic
Howard Colby Ives was a Unitarian Minister in New York who became a Bahá’í after encounters with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Howard was also a smoker. When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited New York, Howard was not in the best of health, having some lung difficulties. … Continue reading ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Advice To A Smoker
In the field of emergency medicine, there is an idea called “door-to-balloon” or “time-to-cath”, which is the amount of time that has elapsed from the moment a patient who is having a specific kind of heart attack walks into the … Continue reading Is Primary Care Actually Effective?
Human nature has been misinterpreted. We are not selfish and competitive by nature, but rather, altruistic and cooperative. The entire history of humankind’ s past represents only a stage in its infancy. The entire history of its adolescence is yet … Continue reading Maturation of Species: History, Human Nature, and World Peace
The Problem . ARTIFICIAL SCARCITY is a term used to describe the condition in which masses of people are deprived of their bare necessities, while wealth, resources, and infrastructure exist in sufficient proportion to provide for all. The amount of … Continue reading Artificial Scarcity & The Baha’i Faith
A continuation of a conversation on Facebook, prompted by the quotation below, in which thoughts about these two links were asked… http://www.usdebtclock.org – US National Debt Clock xkcd.com/980/huge/ – xkcd: Money Chart “Tell the rich of the midnight sighing … Continue reading The Midnight Sighing…
Humanity is a whole, single organism, and may be likened unto the body of a human being, also a whole and single organism. Likewise, the embryological processes that led to the development of the human being are therefore the same … Continue reading Embryonic Humanity
“Throughout the world, across all classes and social groups, there has been a ready response from youth who are invited to examine the forces shaping their society and their role in contributing to its constructive transformation through service as animators … Continue reading Releasing the Deep Reservoirs that Young People Possess
One can analyze in the tumultuous evolution of the life of humankind one thread, among others, that has been present and steadily advancing for thousands and tens of thousands of years. Perhaps human history can even be conceptualized as a … Continue reading A Final Step in Humanity’s Evolution
Invariably, opportunities afforded by the personal circumstances of the believers initially involved—or perhaps a single homefront pioneer—to enter into meaningful and distinctive conversation with local residents dictate how the process of growth begins in a cluster. What happens next follows no … Continue reading Occupied with the Greatest Undertaking
In the 1 July 2013 Message of the Universal House of Justice, that beloved Body draws a connection between an individual’s engagement in the process of civilization-building and that individuals own personal development. The Letter states, “You, however, are aware … Continue reading The Reality of Coherence
For thousands of years, beginning with the birth of the family – the smallest unit in the scale of human organization – humanity’s evolution has been characterized by a process of integration, which although far less spectacular than the parallel … Continue reading The Power of Truth
A ‘prescription’ is that which is laid down as a rule, an order, a precept. A ‘description’, on the other hand, is a statement that indicates and notes observations. Common to both words is ‘script’, which denotes a law or … Continue reading A De-scription Pad
The Baha’i world has been learning how to use an education program to raise capacity in individuals and populations to take charge of their own spiritual, social, and intellectual development and to build communities that understand the dynamic coherence of … Continue reading Pedagogy of the Empowered
“The reality of man is his thought…” The world is in a state of oppression. This is not an unknown fact – any media source will recount the various expressions of social disintegration throughout the world. The riots in Turkey, … Continue reading Which brand are you?
Since the housing market crash of 2008 we have heard it said that the economy is recovering. Who, I wonder are the people who are actually recovering? Let us look into what the facts say. The top 7% of wealthy … Continue reading Money, Lies, and Spiritual Solutions
Those who wish to make a positive impact on the world are faced with a paradox born of the very privilege that motivates them to help others. They are at once the beneficiary of oppressive structures and their product. Insofar as they … Continue reading Inside Those Suffering Eyes: The Us and Them Dichotomy
Corrupt incentives drive people’s contribution to the public discourse. Politicians, businessmen, financiers, are all guilty. The discourse no longer represents an honest viewpoint of reality, the dominant slogans on TV and radio are a designed smoke-screen to hide the real structure, decision-making, and motives at play in the world of economic policy, legislation, and campaigning. The derangement in economics, political deceit, and social manipulation is reaching unrecognizable proportions. Popular culture is responsible for making itself gullible to such influence. Our society nurtures a desire to be entertained from childhood, cultivating generations eager to be led by priests, politicians, advertising, pop idols, and whoever proves … Continue reading New World Order
No one looks for the source of economic problems in spiritual matters. Likewise, no one looks for solutions to economic problems through spiritual means. Unemployment is the self-claimed most important economic problem of the day, and yet, the fact that … Continue reading Unemployment and Religion
Dow Jones is at record high; corporate profits are too. The real estate crisis is over, but most people in the united states still seem to be in financial difficulties. Household incomes in absolute dollar amounts are at a decade-low … Continue reading Capitalism vs Corporatism
For decades, the Universal House of Justice has been nurturing the development of the Baha’i community in Iran, guiding them through their persecution and assisting them to recognize the significance of their sacrifice and their opportunities to serve. A few … Continue reading Framework that Shapes the Baha’i Approach to Political Involvement
Plato reflects on the Role of Economics in Society: If global development is to be governed by spiritual principles, the role it assigns to the generation and application of knowledge must be reevaluated. Materialism, whether cogently defined or hidden in implicit assumptions, has little choice but to place economic activity at the center of human existence. In one way or another, all other processes of social life end up subordinate to economic activity, deriving the greater part of their significance from the contributions they make to material comfort and wealth. Specifically, knowledge, which is too often confused with information, acquires … Continue reading The Role of Economics in Society
Topic Outline: (by paragraph) Summary Youth Saviors 95 Conferences will be Convened Carpe Diem (Seize the Day) ¶1 Summary Civilization as we know it is characterized by a culture of rational self-interest and a value system that encourages individual benefit. Decisions regarding … Continue reading Ninety-Five Conferences will be Convened
The Islamic Republic of Iran has arrested and imprisoned the head (Shahin Negari) of the university designed to provide education for Iran’s 1 million strong Baha’i community who are denied access to higher education in that country. The Iranian government has … Continue reading Baha’i, Iran, Kafir!
Some facts are based on principle, others follow from empirical evidence. The economic and social order of the industrial world no longer considers universal welfare the object of its deliberations and actions. This has been, in part, the result of … Continue reading In the Masses Lies the Key
Mental illness is not responsible for mass shootings. Removing guns from society would prevent mass shootings, but guns aren’t responsible for mass shootings. A desire for mass suffering is at play. What causes the desire for mass suffering? Much of … Continue reading Mental Illness and Collective Responsibility
Disproportionate access to nutritious diets, quality housing, industry-recognized education, employment opportunities, and healthcare services would not in itself sow the seeds of rebellion were it not for the possessiveness of the privileged over their resources. Selfishness towards privilege is engendered through fear of having to … Continue reading Economic Mirages
Our theory of economics is predicated on the assumption that people and wants grossly outnumber opportunities and resources in our society. This is why competition is the basis for our economic system. Biology is as much a testimony to this … Continue reading Economics and Human Nature
People say they want an end to violence. What they mean is, they want their opposing party to yield in deference to their will. Everyone wishes for world peace, but so many who wish continue to exacerbate conflict and contention. … Continue reading Ideology, Service, Change: Is Peace Possible Without Sacrifice?
Decades have come and gone and our busy lives, cluttered with diverse daily drives and enjoyments, have advanced in age, irreparable choices have been made, courses set, and moral decisions cast in the stone of opportunity cost. Billions have come … Continue reading Shadows of the Mind: Disorganized Activism, Conducive to Change?
How great is our capacity for change? The endpoint of our progress is as difficult to imagine as space travel is to cavemen. Social reform will outpace our technological ingenuity. Freedom fighting at present is dwarfed by the liberties of … Continue reading Spring Showers onto Hard Earth: Prevailing Theories of Human Nature, Alterable?
Paragraph#: 1. Abdu’l-Baha’s Temple-ground piercing Centenary. Diverse participants then and now. 2. Divine civilization beyond mere adjustments to present order. 3. Erroneous assumptions of human nature, justified by failings, disallow spiritual potential. 4. Imprisonment enables sympathetic hearts. 5-Year Plan (5YP) … Continue reading Summary: Ridvan 2012 Message
Human nature has been misinterpreted. We are not selfish and competitive by nature, but rather, altruistic and cooperative. Human societies to some extent actually represent an anomaly in the competitive theory of the jungle. Humans demonstrate a detailed division of … Continue reading Economic Theory: Competition, the Key to Prosperity?
Discourse on the following topics has brought these themes to the point of being reconceptualized. Certain foundational principles have emerged and crystallized from ongoing discourse. Principles we now believe in in a new way are: 1) Unity of all Humankind 2) … Continue reading Discourse and Politics: Blood in the Arteries of Governance
The endowment which distinguishes the human race from all other life forms is summed up in the reality known as the human spirit, or the rational soul. Of this soul, the diverse faculties of the mind constitute its most brilliant … Continue reading Progressive Revelation: Historiography and Civilization Dynamics
One of the most fundamental characteristics of human nature is a soul’s desire to explore reality and search for meaning in the universe – the mind longs to understand. Language is the medium by which we can think about and … Continue reading The Beauty of Language
Objectivity – another desired quality of the language of science – is a term loaded with connotations and interpretations; it’s rarely a straightforward concept. It helps to contrast it with subjectivity. An entirely subjective statement is one of personal preference, such as “daffodils are the prettiest kind of flower” – this might be a consensus among a large group of people, but is not in universal agreement. Something that is in agreement with others is not necessarily objective, nor is it necessarily truth. There are certain things, however, that are somewhat objective because of their agreement amongst individuals. Social conventions … Continue reading Social Conventions – Objective or Subjective?
When one examines social structures, processes, and relationships, one can identify numerous factors that influence them all. Yet one that is a never-changing and ubiquitous factor upon which ultimately depends the efficacy of civilization-building is the individual – the values, … Continue reading Building the Capacity to Build Capacity
As we can clearly see around us, governance stands in need of reconceptualization. At this moment in history, when humankind is in a transition phase, and when changes are occurring at accelerated rates, the development of just and effective forms … Continue reading Assumptions Underlying Governance
How does the conception of power from the last few posts shape thoughts regarding governance? Currently, because our society’s structures and relationships are dominated by self-interested expressions of power, governance is viewed as a set of regulations and rules of … Continue reading Governance and Discipline
With the understanding that the human being is a potential instrument for the expression of spiritual powers and capacities within social realty, just as a lump of iron has the potential for the expression of magnetic forces within the physical … Continue reading Structures of Contest
The conventional analysis of the role of power in society has only focused on material sources of power. The discourse of this blog acknowledges that civilization has both a material and spiritual dimension, that science and religion are complementary systems … Continue reading Spiritual Sources of Power
Earlier in this blog, there was a post on the concept of latency. This concept helps us further understand an approach to knowledge that transcends foundationalism and relativism. If one considers the biological development of any organism – embryo to … Continue reading Relative Latency
Medical treatment of drug addicted patients involves assessment of abuse, addiction, and tolerance. Consumerism is an addiction. Commodities, physiques, and sensations are its drug of choice; corporations the drug lord; advertising the dealer. The mystique of the unknown first lures an unsuspecting customer in. … Continue reading The Stimulus of the New
In reference to human potential it has been said, “Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit there from.” . Education is a … Continue reading Education: The Driver of Social Transformation
Knowledge is distinct from information. Facts are the raw materials of knowledge – just as brick and wood do not, in themselves, constitute the building itself but are shaped into a structure, so is knowledge a structured system. The system of … Continue reading Information, Understanding, Wisdom
Beyond the highly propagated fragmentation of science and religion in current thought, and the resistance to reconceptualize these complementary systems of knowledge and practice, there are, in general, voices that resist change, especially at the level of principle. They refuse to believe that the … Continue reading Conscious Choice
Developing our latent capacities requires self-knowledge about our nature and purpose – both individually and collectively. Knowledge of self and of civilization cannot be separated, as each individual exits in a social context and influences their environment, while it is … Continue reading Truth and Beauty
The processes of development have adopted values driven by economic growth, values that often view all things as means to a narrow-minded end, values that reduce an individual’s identity to a producer, consumer, and coveter of goods, values that reduce … Continue reading Exploitation and Oppression
Today’s vision of betterment is dogmatically materialistic. The interpretation of reality that progress equals economic development, and that people’s happiness would only be the result of better health, food, education, living conditions, etc., has consolidated itself to become the deciding … Continue reading Materialism
Up to this point, many spiritual principles and qualities have been mentioned, in multiple contexts, and to various degrees. What is important to note, as more and more will be mentioned, is that virtues do not exist in isolation, but … Continue reading Moderation
Knowledge of human nature is essential in championing the cause of justice. Ontologically, human beings are dual-natured – there is capacity for egoism and altruism, competition and cooperation; in short, there is a lower/animal nature, and a higher/spiritual nature. Self-interested … Continue reading Champion of Justice
Let us take advertising as an example of social forces that cause oppression through distortion of self-knowledge. Advertising, a euphemism for propaganda, mutilates our conceptions of reality. Images presented to youth, at a time of rising self-awareness, present unattainable goals … Continue reading Advertising
Current society, quite understandably so, has a fear of imposed conformity in the name of unity. History has repeatedly given examples of oppressive systems under the disguise of unity – feudalism, castes, communism, fascism, theocracy, nationalism, and authoritarianism. This legitimate … Continue reading Fear of Uniformity
The roots of justice are in the human soul. Justice is a faculty of the human soul, a spiritual capacity that, like others such as love, reason, and mercy, can be nurtured through education and training, or ignored and left … Continue reading Justice: a Spiritual Capacity
Dr. Michael Karlberg is a professor of Communications at Western Washington University whose work centers around the advancement of collaboration and mutualism in human relations. In his TEDx Talk, Dr. Karlberg challenges the assumption that human nature is inherently competitive … Continue reading Beyond the Culture of Contest
That certain evolutionary processes are teleological in nature, meaning they are driven by an intrinsic purpose, brings up to the concept of latency. The characteristic of latent potential is common to all organic bodies – plants, the human body, and … Continue reading Latency
The next point regarding our perspective of history is that there is purpose in creation; in other words, evolution is understood as a teleological process. Characterizing evolutionary processes with this word – meaning that it is directed by an intrinsic … Continue reading History of the World, Part 3
The socio-spiritual phenomenon beginning circa 33 AD inaugurated an era of ever-deepening emphasis on the social reality of the individual, in terms of her or his status and rights, merits and responsibilities, and origins and opportunities. The various religions of … Continue reading The Rise of Christianity and Individualism
The region known as the ‘west’ comprises a minority of the population of the globe. The west influences global trends and determines national agendas disproportionately. China and India comprise vaster quantities of human souls than the west. Chinese and Indian … Continue reading Rural Life and Industrialization
In addition to individualism and individuality, here are two more examples of fragmented social theories on the conception of the individual: anarchism and socialism. Anarchism’s view places the individual as the source of inspiration, and values freedom for the people … Continue reading Ideological Either-Or
Individuality consists in the inner feelings and essential subjectivity of the human condition. Individualism on the other hand is a politico-economic doctrine instating rights and privileges of persons. The former is empirical fact; the latter, a cornerstone of anglo-american political theory and … Continue reading Individualism and the West
The previous post’s mention of various views about human nature, incoherent and fragmented in and of themselves, are also incoherent and fragmented in their application towards different domains of life. One individual, as an example, who claims self-interested notions of … Continue reading Questioning Fragmentation
There are multiple models of human nature that have been claimed on various levels throughout the ages, and regardless of whether they are religiously or philosophically associated claims, social models employed by policy makers, rhetorical assertions used to group rationalize … Continue reading Caricatures of Human Nature
Today’s consumer culture, a byproduct of the cult of the individual’s materialistic religion, is unapologetic as it reinterprets every aspect of human history and behavior within its single-minded view, as it imposes its ideology through a cultural hegemony, as it … Continue reading Consumer Culture
Society is plagued by a cult of the individual that has gone so far as to see association with other human beings merely as a means through which an individual acquires commodities that satiate his private desires. Presuppositions of the … Continue reading Cult of the Individual
We are in disagreement with self-interested conceptions of human nature and competitive social models. These tend to derive from a materialistic reduction of reality. Humankind’s future does not rest in their espousal, regardless of how popular they may seem at … Continue reading The Human Body and the Body Politic
Millions of systems exist in the universe we inhabit, from the sub-atomic systems of electron cloud probability to the cosmic flotation of great planets in the field of super novas. Systemic organization is molded on foundational laws and axioms that … Continue reading Systems and Transformation
The analogy of the human body to the body of humanity provides important insights to the nature of human society and the relationship between the individual and the collective, as well as into the principle of oneness itself. Yet, the … Continue reading Oneness as an Ontological Truth
In the context of twofold transformation, then, human beings have a twofold purpose. We were created to develop our potentialities, and we are created to contribute to an ever-advancing civilization. In reality, these purposes are one. It is service to … Continue reading Purpose as Service
The human body is the one analogy that points toward a convincing model for the organization of a planetary society. There is no other model that mirrors its complexity or prosperity upon which we can rely. Human society is not … Continue reading The body of humanity
achieving coherence 