Baha'i Solution for Peace

November 15, 2002

The Baha'i Council of Pitkin, Eagle and Garfield counties is opposed to war or any use of military force to solve the differences of our nation with the country of Iraq. The following statement from the Universal House of Justice, the Head of the Baha'i Faith, was published on Jan. 30, 1998.

"The Second International Baha'i Council/Universal House of Justice (IBC/UHJ) disapproves of and condemns the continued sanctions on Iraq and any further military action or violence against the people of Iraq. These acts are the cause of great human suffering. In the interest of basic human rights the leaders of the aggressing nations should put down their arms and resolve these difficulties with consultation."

Unbridled militarism and continued violence against the people of Iraq will only engender further violence and fan the flames of religious fanaticism and hatred. Jesus Christ himself warned, "those who live by the sword, die by the sword" (Matt. 26:52).

The United Nations-imposed economic sanctions on Iraq have killed 1.5 million innocent civilians, mostly children, and are causing massive suffering to countless others. How much longer must this unnecessary death and misery continue?

Abdu'l-Baha, son of the founder of the Baha'I Faith, and its perfect exemplar, said: "O ye individuals of humanity, find ye means for the stoppage of this wholesale murder and bloodshed. Now is the appointed time! Now is the opportune time! Arise ye ... and unfurl the Flag of Universal Peace and dam the irresistible fury of this raging torrent which is wreaking havoc and ruin everywhere" (Abdu'l-Baha: Star of the West).

In light of these atrocities, we must proclaim that the Baha'i Faith is not pro-Saddam, pro-Muslim or pro-Iraqi, but is unequivocally pro-justice.

We feel the attempt by the U.S., under the auspices of U.N. weapons inspections, to disarm Iraq is unjust. It is an illusion to reason that humans can live in a civilized, just, global community, with some nations who patently pursue the manufacture of more and more sophisticated nuclear weaponry, while other nations are forced to disarm.

True peace will only occur through complete and total disarmament, with nations maintaining only a small arsenal to preserve internal security.

Abdu'l-Baha explains: "As to the question of disarmament, all nations must disarm at the same time. It will not do at all ... that some nations shall lay down their arms while others, their neighbors, remain armed. The peace of the world must be brought about by international agreement. All nations must agree to disarm simultaneously. No nation can follow a peace policy while its neighbor remains warlike. There is no justice in that."

Therefore, any kind of peace resulting from the disarmament of Iraq will not be true peace so long as any other country still possesses weapons of mass destruction. This would not be peace, but tyranny, for peace without justice is tyranny. A different plan of action is required to bring about true peace.

Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'i Faith, fulfills the prophecies for the Second Coming of Christ. Over 100 years ago, Baha'u'llah revealed the blueprint for a democratically elected spiritual world government founded on justice, that vouchsafes universal human rights, establishes a spiritual solution to the economic problem, ensures absolute equality between men and women, and protects the freedom of speech for all. This is the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven, that Jesus Christ told us to pray for in the Lord's Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13).

Baha'u'llah's plan institutes the Universal House of Justice which is none other than the "House of the Lord" promised and prophesied in the Old Testament in which "all nations shall flow unto it" and "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." (Isaiah 2:2-4) The descendant of King David must be the President of Baha'u'llah's Universal House of Justice so we can distinguish it from fakes, frauds and imitations. This is God's Plan for peace; that nations may settle their differences at a council table and not through implements of war, so that all people, regardless of race or nationality, should live as one human family in amity and tranquility.

For more information about the Baha'i Faith, or to contact the Universal House of Justice, visit www.uhj.net, or contact the Colorado Baha'i Center.

Adam Sippola
Baha'i Council
(Aspen Times)

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Baha'i solution for peace