Istijlál, 10 Kamál (Perfection), 180 B.E.
One Planet, One Habitation
Embracing the Role of the State
37.0 In some cases this might take the form of subsidies, compensation, regulatory adjustments, or other means of incentivizing needed action. At other times, the norm-setting role of government and individual leaders will be required—explaining, encouraging, praising, calling to action. In all, institutions of governance are uniquely positioned to foster and sustain generational transition. 1
The Secret of Divine Civilization
Should anyone object that the above-mentioned reforms have never yet been fully effected, he should consider the matter impartially and know that these deficiencies have resulted from the total absence of a unified public opinion, and the lack of zeal and resolve and devotion in the country’s leaders. It is obvious that not until the people are educated, not until public opinion is rightly focused, not until government officials, even minor ones, are free from even the least remnant of corruption, can the country be properly administered. Not until discipline, order and good government reach the degree where an individual, even if he should put forth his utmost efforts to do so, would still find himself unable to deviate by so much as a hair’s breadth from righteousness, can the desired reforms be regarded as fully established. 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 Secret of Divine Civilization. Translated by Marzieh Gail. 2nd Edition. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʾí Publishing Trust, 1970, 16. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/secret-divine-civilization/2#675889604. ↩
Frameworks for Understanding the World 