"Whoso cleaveth to justice, can, under no circumstances, transgress the limits of moderation ... If carried to excess, civilization will prove as prolific a source of evil as it had been of goodness when kept within the restraints of moderation."
Baha'i Writings
Baha'i Writings
Civilization carried out to excess, what could that be... What about talking about agriculture? Isn't that where civilization began, when we stopped living a nomadic life to take care of our crops? All along the history of mankind, we've improved our tools and the processes we use for agriculture. And the improvements keep on getting better, even today. I've read an article recently about a sensor that can be inserted inside the roots of plants to monitor the level of hydration of the plants, so that exactly the right amount of water can be given to each plant, saving water, and avoiding plant over-watering.
But that's a good improvement. Not like super-intensive agriculture, or fields after fields of uniform crops, or lots of chemicals to keep bugs away. Or with genetically modified species... I'm not saying I'm against GM food, but to add my drop to the societal debate, I ask: where do we draw the line of moderation?
Posts
you've tapped a rich vein here. Consider this:
ReplyDeleteAll men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing
civilization. The Almighty beareth Me witness: To act like the
beasts of the field is unworthy of man. Those virtues that befit his
dignity are forbearance, mercy, compassion and loving-kindness towards
all the peoples and kindreds of the earth. (Gleanings from the
Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 214)
This gives us a definition of true or moral civilization, which has nothing to do with the degree of urbanisation.
Then in the 9th leaf of the exalted paradise:
In all matters moderation is desirable. If a thing is carried to
excess, it will prove a source of evil. Consider the civilization of
the West, how it hath agitated and alarmed the peoples of the world.
... The purging of such deeply-rooted and overwhelming corruptions
(Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 69)
The civilization of the West has harmed the world, and is an example of corruption. And in the tablet of Maqsud:
Consider for instance such things as liberty, civilization and the
like. However much men of understanding may favorably regard them,
they will, if carried to excess, exercise a pernicious influence upon
men.... (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 216)
So is civilization to be ever-advancing, or limited to moderation?
In the first quotation from Gleanings, the term translated as "civilization" is 'islaah-ye `aalaam (according to the CTA tool: the source it cites is one I do not know myself). This means the betterment of the world, and 'world' is not necessarily confined to the human: depending on context it can mean the globe and all that is upon it. Using the same CTA tool (for which God and the Research Department be praised) we can find other instances of 'islaah-ye `aalaam in the writings translated by Shoghi Effendi, and see that it is:
"the betterment of the world" in ESW p123 - top; ADJ 24-bottom; and Gleanings p.286
"the reformation of this age and the rehabilitation of its fortunes" in Gleaning p216: 'alaam here is understood as the human world. And similarly to "rehabilitate the fortunes of mankind" in Gleanings p 94.
"elevate its [the world's] life" in Gleanings p 127 - again referring to the human world
But if we turn to the Lawh-e maqsuud, - "such things as liberty, civilization and the like." - the word for civilization is tamaddun, meaning urban life. And in Gleanings p 342. 'The civilization, so often vaunted by the learned exponents of arts and sciences, will, if allowed to overleap the bounds of moderation, bring great evil upon men." - the word for civilization is again tamaddun.
So we have two distinct concepts, not necessarily opposing (but they can be), but certainly distinct, and both translated as civilization. The excuse for European colonialism and conquest, that it is necessary to spread "the 'civilization' of the West" (see above), was used not just in the Americas, but also in the Middle East. Baha'u'llah denounced it in a number of tablets which Juan Cole mentions in Modernity and the Millenium p 134.
Now if we turn to the Manifestations, and the civilizations they raise up, Abdu'l-Baha says in section 3 of Some Answered Questions: "If there were no educator (murabbii: same root as the Hebrew rabbi), there would be no such things as comforts, civilization (madaniyyat - implying urban life) or humanity.(insaniyyat)."
But he then distinguishes 3 kinds of education: "Material education is concerned with the progress and development of the body, through gaining its sustenance, its material comfort and ease." "Human education signifies civilization (madaniyyat) and progress ..." while
"Divine education is that of the Kingdom of God: it consists in
acquiring divine perfections, and this is true education; for in
this state man becomes the focus of divine blessings, the
manifestation of the words, "Let Us make man in Our image, and after
Our likeness." This is the goal of the world of humanity."
We can learn how to obtain comfort even from the animals, and we can learn how to develop urban civilization from other civilizations, or from pure reason, but who teaches us to be truly human, to develop insaniyyat, to achieve our purpose? Only the divine educator I think, so that the way we can know a divine educator is present, is by this quality "Let Us make man in Our image, and after Our likeness." Abdu'l-Baha says that the Manifestation will "teach men to organize and carry out physical matters, and to form a social order" (material education) and "establish human education ... so that knowledge and science may increase" but he has also said that material education we have in common with the animals (who have not only their nests and ways of acquiring food and protecting themselves, but also social orders). The presence or absence of material education and urban civilization is therefore not a good way of determining the influence or absence of a Manifestation.
Now if I can return to 'islaah-ye `aalaam or the betterment of the world: I think it includes the natural world. There is an 'ethos' of nature and civilization in the Bahai writings, and they are not in opposition. In this I detect an influence from Zoroastrianims, where the 'care for the world' is a central theme (also in some strands of Judaism, perhaps because of the contact with Zoroastrianism). but also the practical influence of the physical geography of Iran. In much of the country (the central plateau) the land would not support a hunter-gatherer economy at any level, or even an agrarian lifesty without urban support, because of the water problem. Without qanats, or underground aquaducts, there could be no habitation, and the qanat needed a social organisation behind it, and delivered its water to people living in one place. The water supply and the land had to be actively cared for, to make even village life possible, and outside the cultivated (in Persian, the watered) lands, on one side there is just miles and miles of nothing, with perhaps a shrub here and there, and on the other side bare rocky mountains with absolutely nothing. In between is a little strip of clay land at the foot of the mountain, where water can be brought from under the mountain slope. In these circumstances, "care for the world" entails a complex social organisation, just as the urban community depends on a fragile surrounding ecology that has to be cared for: 'islaah-ye `aalaam and tamaddun are transparently complementary in this setting.
sen mcglinn
Dear Sen,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your in depth reply! You're really doing me a favor, since I can scratch the surface, but I don't have enough knowledge to give more substance to my posts.
Thanks again,
Varion