Daily Frameworks for 03 June 2023

Jalál, 18 ‘Azamat (Grandeur), 180 B.E.

Employment and Beyond: Drawing on the Capacities of All to Contribute to Society

4.2 Approaching all as potential protagonists in the betterment of society is profoundly equalizing and morally empowering, in both principle and practice. To base action on the presumption that every individual and community is a reservoir of capacity and possibility for constructive transformation—regardless of wealth, education, social standing, or any other characteristic—is to reject the assumptions of superiority and inferiority that perpetuate countless inequalities. Productive employment and decent work are central to the operation of society—in their direct outcomes of goods produced and services rendered, but also in the livelihoods they support and the role they play as a source of identity, purpose, and the development and expression of personal talents. The changing world of work offers a valuable opportunity to reconsider conceptions of progress and to organize economic structures in ways that are suited to contemporary needs. Let this be the task before us and let movement toward this vision increasingly draw on the capacities and contributions of the entire human family. ¹

The Promulgation of Universal Peace

When we consider the kingdoms of existence below man, we find no distinction or estimate of superiority and inferiority between male and female. Among the myriad organisms of the vegetable and animal kingdoms sex exists, but there is no differentiation whatever as to relative importance and value in the equation of life. If we investigate impartially, we may even find species in which the female is superior or preferable to the male. For instance, there are trees such as the fig, the male of which is fruitless while the female is fruitful. The male of the date palm is valueless while the female bears abundantly. Inasmuch as we find no ground for distinction or superiority according to the creative wisdom in the lower kingdoms, is it logical or becoming of man to make such distinction in regard to himself? The male of the animal kingdom does not glory in its being male and superior to the female. In fact, equality exists and is recognized. Why should man, a higher and more intelligent creature, deny and deprive himself of this equality the animals enjoy? His surest index and guide as to the creative intention concerning himself are the conditions and analogies of the kingdoms below him where equality of the sexes is fundamental. ²

1. Bahá’í International Community Staff. “Employment and Beyond: Drawing on the Capacities of All to Contribute to Society.” Bahá’í International Community, January 12, 2023. https://www.bic.org/statements/employment-and-beyond-drawing-capacities-all-contribute-society. ↩
2. ’Abdu’l-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 75-76. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/4#193041102 ↩