Jul 12th, 2009
Freedom and Rights: Baha’i Rights Day
The unity of the human race, as envisaged by Bahá’u'lláh, implies the establishment of a world commonwealth in which all nations, races, creeds and classes are closely and permanently united, and in which the autonomy of its state members and the personal freedom and initiative of the individuals that compose them are definitely and completely safeguarded. Bahai writings
Today, 11 July, is Baha’i Rights day, when bloggers and tweeters offer a thought on the rights of Baha’is. Organised by the Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights http://www.bahairights.org/, it is an opportunity to communicate some of the human rights abuses that the Baha’i suffer in many parts of the world.
I expect quite a few people will do this, so I thought I might take a different approach. `Abdu’l-Baha says that `the moderate freedom which guarantees the welfare of the world of mankind and maintains and preserves the universal relationships, is found in its fullest power and extension in the teachings of Baha’u'llah’. So what does the Baha’i Faith say about human rights and what freedoms does it guarantee?
When He was travelling in America in 1912, `Abdu’l-Baha described the how much more effective, progressive and just a community was if its people were granted certain rights: `Under an autocratic government the opinions of men are not free, and development is stifled, whereas in democracy, because thought and speech are not restricted, the greatest progress is witnessed. It is likewise true in the world of religion. When freedom of conscience, liberty of thought and right of speech prevail — that is to say, when every man according to his own idealization may give expression to his beliefs — development and growth are inevitable.’
In my reading of the writings of Baha’u'llah, `Abdu’l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi and the published talks of `Abdu’l-Baha I have come across many statements that describe the legal, equitable or moral entitlements of individuals within a society functioning according to the Bahá’í teachings. These are sometimes expressed as `freedoms’ and sometimes as `rights’. Many of these are the very entitlements that Baha’is - and others - are denied in their home countries today.
Freedoms (those that are more or less the same I have grouped together):
Freedom to worship God as one believes to be right
Freedom of belief
Freedom of choice of religion
Freedom of conscience
Freedom of thought
Freedom of speech
Freedom of expression
Freedom to have and express one’s own opinion
Freedom to criticise
Freedom of the press
Freedom of investigation
Freedom from government oppression
Freedom of the person
Freedom from slavery and bondage
Freedom from oppression
Freedom from all forms of abuse
Freedom from fear
Freedom from want
Freedom to marry the person of one’s choice (for Baha’is, conditioned on the consent of the parents)
Freedom of movement
Freedom of the voter to vote for whom he chooses
Freedom to bequeath ones property as one wishes
Rights of the Individual
Right of the family to maintain itself under conditions favourable to body, mind and spirit.
Right to survive
Right to hold opinions and express these opinions appropriately
Right to information
Right to establish centres of worship
Right to a happy, comfortable life
Right to a social order
Right to be citizens in good standing
Right to be recognized as a person before the law
Right to privacy
Right to freedom from racial discrimination
Right to expect that those cultural conditions essential to one’s identity enjoy the protection of national and international law
Right to a living
Right of the workers to share in the profits of the enterprise
Right to dignity
Rights of minorities and fostering their interest
Right to development
Right of women to equality with men
Right to help others
Right basic necessities such as food, shelter and health care
Right to education (also, `daughters have a prior right to education over sons’)
Baha’is believe that `rights and responsibilities are inextricably linked’ thus for every `right’ there is a counterpart responsibility
Responsibilities of individuals
To recognize the essential oneness of the human race
To promote the human rights of others
To uphold the rights of others
To develop a personal commitment to building a broader sense of community
To promote the well-being, and respect for the rights, freedoms, identity and human dignity of others
To promote the rights of women and children
To obey the law
To educate children
Responsibilities of governments
To respect the rights and freedoms listed above and to find ways to foster their expression
To respect the rights of minorities, women, children and the disabled
To be fair in their judgement
To provide employment for everyone
These are a few of the freedoms, rights and responsibilities of individuals and their governments that are described in the Baha’i teachings.
Today the trial of the seven imprisoned Baha’is facing the death penalty in Tehran was due to start. We have just learned that it has been postponed. Whether there has been the usual kind of judicial delay or there has been a change of heart, whether this is yet one more ploy by an unscrupulous administration to achieve some undisclosed agenda or is an attempt to deflect international criticism has yet to be determined. Whatever today’s event, the rights of the Baha’is are still severely restricted so a focus on them in still very much required.
Technorati Tags: Bahai, Baha’i, Bahá’u'lláh, `Abdu’l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, Baha’i Rights Day, freedom, human rights
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Wendi - beautifully put.
Mahalo!
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Great post Wendi. A list worth keeping!
Excellent and most helpful post, Wendi. Many thanks for this. I shall print off the list and keep it somewhere handy.
Fantastic list, I am going to print it off and keep it handy, great post.
Excellent and timely.
When I look at the human rights and treatment of Bahais in Iran and compare indeed contrast it with this list of rights and responsibilities I cannot help but think that though its the Bahais who will be on trial what will the world will be judging.
Thank you for this excellent post Wendi. It’s definitely one to bookmark
I have never seen the rights, freedoms and responsibilities laid out before in this manner, but it is extremely helpful to see things in this format. Thank you for an excellent post. As Kathleen said, one to bookmark…
Yes, i agree entirely with your list Wendi, but as you know yourself the Bahai community has a way to go before these
Freedom of conscience
Freedom of thought
Freedom of speech
Freedom of expression
Freedom to have and express one’s own opinion
Freedom to criticise
Freedom of the press
Freedom of investigation
in particular, are activities Bahais can engage in without the fear of losing their voting rights or worse, being declared as not meeting the requirements of membership of the Bahai community. What we Bahais can do is keep doing our very best to work towards a Bahai community where diverse views can be seen in the spirit of investigation, expression of one’s personal opinion, etc. My challenge here is that we all treat each other with an open mind so that the dialogue that is then able to occur makes space for a society (Bahai or not) all the more richer in its diversity.
[...] Wendi published a terrific list of human rights and responsibilities culled from the Baha’i writings - if you haven’t seen it it’s HERE [...]
Here are a few observations on Wendi’s excellent list of human rights and responsibilities.
1) It missed out the sweet, healing balm of – humour. You can tell how civilized a country is by its attitude to satire and other forms of humour, (and we, quite rightly, are proud of Omid!). I guess humour is a sub-set of ‘freedom of expression’. The UK is still a great country – satire and humour generally was never in better shape in my 68 years (I know, I know I look so much younger!).
2) It wasn’t clear from the post and the ‘raw’ presentation of the list whether it,
a) is what we as Baha’is want for ourselves, or for others, or both.
b) is applicable to governments in the wider community or to religions, especially those religions that see themselves as subsuming political government into their religious viewpoint, as in Islamic republics – or again both.
2) It strikes me that the list goes from international to personal without visiting intermediate levels such as communities or families. I don’t doubt that Wendi or some other able author will write about how those rights and responsibilities are very useful in thinking about other spheres such as a) marriage and family life and b) how communities and individuals relate to each other – e.g. as in ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ A country is a family writ large.
3) A very useful list of individuals who clearly didn’t have the right view of current Baha’i human rights and responsibilities has been
supplied by Dr Moojen Momen. An analysis is HERE and the original paper is HERE
This surely establishes another right in which we can set aside a whole range of admonishments such as not dealing harshly with the writings of men, avoiding gossip, back-biting and character-assassination, being forbearing, seeing with a sin-covering eye, no public humiliation, not taking on the responsibilities that rightly belong to institutions etc.
Terrific! I’m all for privatizing the calling out of lists of apostates to the world – I’m working on my first list right now. (By the way I had quite a problem tracking down the above links – my particular browser kept insisting that what I was looking for was Mormon Apostasy – very annoying.)
4) Purely theoretically of course, since the UHJ has absolute power in being infallible, and is in no way answerable to the electorate, it has the ‘right’ to abuse any of the rights in any way shape or form it decides. Is that a problem or have I misunderstood?
5) Wendi didn’t say – it wasn’t of course the purpose of her post – how the many moral injunctions of individuals or governments relate to safeguarding human rights and responsibilities. Moral injunctions? – any of the virtues or names and attributes of God. My preferred list starts with justice, truth, beauty and goodness.
The worst thing of course would be to have a great big gap between public protestation and inner reality – the hypocrisy of not ‘walking the talk’ or demanding a set of rights that we, in turn, refused to give. Thank goodness that’s not the case.
Thanks again for the great list – can you help with any of my questions Wendi, and any chance of a list of sources?
Some piccies HERE - http://processbahai.wordpress.com/
We are, as inidividuals and as a community, learning what the balance is between rights and responsibilities, to build that society of diversity - even articulating our rights and responsibilities is, I believe, a step along that path.
Thanks, Roger, for your observations. I took these from the Baha’i writings and statements of Shoghi Effendi, the Universal House of Justice and the Baha’i International Community. They are, as far as I understand it, the rights and responsibilities that are articulated for society at large - rights a Baha’i `government’ would provide for all inhabitants within its jurisdiction. The underpinning values of such a society are, as you say, justice, love, truth, beauty, joy, faith. I will send you a list of sources as soon as I ge a chance!
Thanks, everyone, for your comments. I hope we can repeat Baha’i Rights Day next year - I also hope Baha’is (and everyone!) are able to secure their rights in the meantime!
Hi Wendi
Thanks for your reply and the forthcoming list of sources.
I was wondering which of the rights you listed you feel are functioning well in the global Baha’i community and which ones, if any, need further development?
As a magistrate and long-term Baha’i administrator I was wondering what your views are on ‘due process’? Does it apply in the Baha’i theocratic community? If it doesn’t what are the grounds for setting it aside?
All good wishes,
Roger
PS Here’s another good list;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Charter_of_Rights_and_Freedoms
How far have we achieved what the Canadians set out - or have we gone beyond them - in the Baha’i community I mean?