Istijlál, 06 Rahmat (Mercy), 180 B.E.
One Planet, One Habitation
16.0 Proposals for Exploration
16.2 Building actionable consensus around moral and ethical standards, alongside climate and environmental standards, can help ensure principle takes precedence over profit. This is not uncharted territory for the international community. Valuable lessons can be drawn, for example, from the certification process the United Nations established to curb the circulation of conflict related diamonds. Notwithstanding any shortcomings of that process, it represents an instance of consensus on ethical and social factors being translated into concrete measures of analysis and adjustment at various steps in a commodity’s value chain. 1
The Promulgation of Universal Peace
The cause of this fellowship and unity lies in the fact that the divine law has two distinct aspects or functions: one the essential or fundamental, the other the material or accidental. The first aspect of the revealed religion of God is that which concerns the ethical development and spiritual progress of mankind, the awakening of potential human susceptibilities and the descent of divine bestowals. These ordinances are changeless, essential, eternal. The second function of the divine religion deals with material conditions, the laws of human intercourse and social regulation. These are subject to change and transformation in accordance with the time, place and conditions. The essential ordinances of religion were the same during the time of Abraham, the day of Moses and the cycle of Jesus, but the accidental or material laws were abrogated and superseded according to the exigency and requirement of each succeeding age. For example, in the law of Moses there were ten distinct commandments in regard to murder, which were revealed according to the requirement and capacity of the people, but in the day of Jesus these were abrogated and superseded in conformity with the changed and advanced human conditions. 2
- Bahá’í International Community Staff. “One Planet, One Habitation.” International Environment Forum, June 1, 2022. https://www.iefworld.org/2022bic_OPOH. ↩
- ’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, 97-98. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/5#129240203 ↩
Frameworks for Understanding the World 