Society

Dr. Moojan Momen

• Freedom From Prejudice
• The Advancement of Women
• Science, Technology, and the Environment
• Liberty and Human Rights
• Agriculture
• Teachings on Government and Social Policy
• Teachings on Economics
• General Principles and Other Teachings

Bahá'u'lláh has written a great deal on social matters. What he has given are not specific political and economic policies and laws. Rather he has elaborated the underlying principles that must guide all social policies and laws if they are to be successful in bringing about the welfare and advancement of humanity.

Bahá'u'lláh has identified unity and the lack of it in modern society as the principle matter that needs to be addressed by the peoples of the world. Few people need to be convinced of the fact that one of our major problems is the way in which social cohesiveness and the communal spirit have been undermined in the course of the twentieth century. Increasing numbers of people feel alienated from society. This may be because of their poverty, their lack of trust in those running society, their lack of the educational or intellectual capacity to deal with the complexities of modern society, or the prejudice against them because of their colour, ethnicity or religion. Each of these issues is addressed in the scriptures of the Bahá'í Faith.

A disunited and fragmented society is one in which little progress or development either of the individual or of society as a whole is possible. The energies of the society are consumed by its divisions and conflicts and by trying to resolve the problems caused thereby. Thus many of the teachings in the Bahá'í Faith revolve around this concept of unity and how to create it in society. (For more on the concept of unity itself, click here)