bahá'í – Page 7 – Frameworks for Understanding the World

Fidál, 11 Qawl (Speech), 182 B.E.

Social Action: Selected Themes Pertaining to Social and Economic Development

Quotes for Reflection

It is useful to bear in mind that the Internet is a reflection of the world around us, and we find in its infinitude of pages the same competing forces of integration and disintegration that characterize the tumult in which humanity is caught up. — Universal House of Justice ¹

Question for Consideration

From a Bahá’í perspective, how can we effectively utilize the Internet for the benefit of humanity and not get caught up in its reflection of the competing forces of integration and disintegration that characterize the world around us?

Perplexity Pro Response ²

From a Bahá’í perspective, the Internet should be used deliberately to advance unity and the betterment of humanity, consciously avoiding its negative aspects that reflect the world’s current turmoil. The Universal House of Justice encourages Bahá’ís to stand aloof from the negative forces operating online and instead utilize the Internet as a tool to promote the Word of God, inspire, and uplift others, intentionally ignoring negativity or opposition encountered during these efforts. [1] [2]

Principles for Internet Use

Uphold spiritual qualities such as moderation, courtesy, dignity, accuracy, and wisdom in online interactions. [3]
Focus on creating spaces that foster unity, mutual understanding, and hope, turning conversations toward constructive discourse regardless of the social reality mirrored online. [1] [3]
Refrain from engaging in arguments or confrontational behavior and avoid participating in slander, contention, or activities that cause sadness or disunity. [4] [5]

Practical Guidelines

View the Internet as an unprecedented opportunity to share positive ideas and to build bridges between people from all backgrounds. [6]
Promote rational, courteous, and well-reasoned explanations of Bahá’í teachings when misunderstandings arise, rather than matching hostility with hostility. [1] [4]
Use self-regulation, discipline, and forbearance, especially in the face of criticism or negative responses online. [4]

Advancing Integration over Disintegration

Harness the integrative potential of the Internet by participating in discourse that seeks to unify, elevate, and build up rather than divide. [1] [6]
Ignore destructive behavior or negativity, focusing energies instead on the daily opportunities to promote truths that lead to unity. [1] [4]
Approach all online engagement with a spirit of genuine concern for others and a commitment to the oneness and wholeness of humankind. [3]

The Bahá’í approach is to use the Internet as an instrument for spiritual and social progress by cultivating environments founded on Bahá’í principles, even when the content and interactions elsewhere may trend toward division or discord. [1] [2] [3]

Citations

Follow-Up Questions Proposed by Perplexity

How can Bahá’í principles guide online consultation and dialogue?
What practical steps promote unity on social media platforms?
How to design digital projects that foster moral and spiritual growth?
Which online behaviors should communities discourage to avoid disintegration?
How can local Bahá’í communities train members in constructive internet use?

Footnotes

Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. “Social Action.” Bahá’í Reference Library, August 2020. https://www.bahai.org/r/425846067 ↩︎
Perplexity Pro. “Utilize the Internet for the Benefit of Humanity.” Edited by Steve Bosserman. December 1, 2025. https://www.perplexity.ai/search/it-is-useful-to-bear-in-mind-t-G8TAyY1_SEKNrrhxHLS3SQ#0. ↩︎

Kamál, 10 Qawl (Speech), 182 B.E.

Social Action: Selected Themes Pertaining to Social and Economic Development

Quotes for Reflection

The scientific and technological advances occurring in this unusually blessed century portend a great surge forward in the social evolution of the planet, and indicate the means by which the practical problems of humanity may be solved. They provide, indeed, the very means for the administration of the complex life of a united world. Yet barriers persist. Doubts, misconceptions, prejudices, suspicions and narrow self-interest beset nations and peoples in their relations one to another. — Universal House of Justice ¹ ²

Question for Consideration

From a Bahá’í perspective, how do scientific and technological advances portend a great surge forward in the social evolution of the planet, and indicate the means by which the practical problems of humanity may be solved?

Perplexity Pro Response ³

From a Bahá’í perspective, scientific and technological advances are part of the God-given means by which humanity can build an ever-advancing, unified world civilization and address many of its practical problems—provided they are guided by spiritual principles and used for the common good. At the same time, these advances also expose and even intensify moral and social barriers, so their constructive potential depends on the degree to which humanity overcomes prejudice, materialism, and self-interest. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Ever-advancing civilization

The Bahá’í writings state that all people are created to “carry forward an ever-advancing civilization,” and that progress in sciences, arts, and technologies is part of this divine purpose. Humanity as a whole is described as having reached a stage of collective maturity, where powerful capacities have appeared and global integration has become both possible and necessary. Scientific and technological growth is thus seen not as an accident, but as a sign that the human race has entered the age when world unity and a new social order can be established. [1] [4]

Means for solving practical problems

Bahá’í texts explain that modern science and technology have made possible practical solutions to many long-standing problems—such as communication across the planet, coordination of complex economic systems, improved health, and more equitable education. They “provide the very means for the administration of the complex life of a united world,” enabling global systems for decision-making, resource distribution, and environmental stewardship that earlier ages simply could not sustain. In this view, the material instruments needed for world peace and justice already exist or are rapidly emerging; what is lacking is the spiritual will and moral framework to employ them rightly. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Harmony of science and religion

Central to the Bahá’í perspective is that true science and true religion are harmonious and complementary, not in conflict. Science provides methods and knowledge that allow communities to understand reality and test solutions, while spiritual principles generate the values—justice, unity, altruism—that ensure technology serves the common good rather than narrow interests. Social progress depends on bringing these two “systems of knowledge” together so that technological proposals are assessed not only for efficiency, but also for their moral and social consequences. [2] [4] [7]

Bahá’í teachings describe human history as a long evolutionary process moving from family and tribe to city and nation, and ultimately toward the unification of humankind in a global commonwealth. Advances in transport, communication, and organization—such as air travel, the internet, and global institutions—are seen as concrete expressions of this integrating process that is drawing peoples and cultures into one planetary “neighbourhood.” These capacities can undergird structures of world governance, shared security, and international cooperation that are needed for enduring peace. [1] [2] [4] [6]

Technology and social evolution

Aspect	Role of science/technology (Bahá’í view)
Communication and media	Enable “world inter-communication” and foster a sense of world citizenship when used to promote truthfulness, justice, and empathy. [1] [4]
Economic life	Allow more efficient agriculture, industry, and trade, making it possible to reduce poverty and extremes of wealth and want under just, cooperative arrangements. [4] [6]
Education and knowledge	Expand access to knowledge and literacy, which the Bahá’í writings call a right of every person and a foundation of social progress. [2] [4]
Health and environment	Provide tools to prevent disease and protect the environment, provided decisions are informed by humility, stewardship, and concern for future generations. [1] [4]

Conditions and barriers

At the same time, Bahá’í guidance is explicit that scientific and technological progress alone cannot resolve humanity’s crises and may even worsen them if driven by materialism and competition. The text you quoted notes that despite unprecedented capacities, humanity is blocked by “doubts, misconceptions, prejudices, suspicions and narrow self-interest,” which distort how technologies are developed and deployed. Bahá’í institutions therefore warn against blindly adopting technologies “deceptively packaged” in development schemes or allowing tools like the internet to define human needs and values, instead of being consciously shaped to serve community building and justice. [2] [3] [4] [8]

In practice, the Bahá’í community seeks to use scientific and technological means in small and large efforts of social and economic development that build local capacity rather than dependency. Such initiatives apply elements of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings together with scientific methods to issues like education, health, agriculture, and media, with the primary aim of empowering people to become protagonists of their own spiritual and material progress. Over time, these patterns of community life and social action are understood as early expressions of the “society-building power” of the Faith, pointing toward the civilization that a spiritually guided use of science and technology can help bring into being. [1] [4]

Follow-Up Questions Proposed by Perplexity

How do Bahá’í teachings define social evolution?
What specific technologies do Bahá’í writings highlight as beneficial?
How does the principle of the oneness of humanity relate to science?
What barriers do Bahá’í texts identify to using technology for unity?
How do Bahá’í institutions propose applying science to solve social problems?

Citations

Footnotes

Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. “Social Action.” Bahá’í Reference Library, August 2020. https://www.bahai.org/r/425846068 ↩︎
Universal House of Justice. “October 1985 – To the Peoples of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library, Accessed May 9, 2025. https://www.bahai.org/r/048608699 ↩︎
Perplexity Pro. “Science and Technology and the Social Evolution of the Planet.” Edited by Steve Bosserman. November 30, 2025. https://www.perplexity.ai/search/the-scientific-and-technologic-mzFEDmTtRwGI8ybjvGZdtg#0. ↩︎

Social Action: Selected Themes Pertaining to Social and Economic Development

Quotes for Reflection

Question for Consideration

Perplexity Pro Response 2

Principles for Internet Use

Practical Guidelines

Advancing Integration over Disintegration

​Citations

Follow-Up Questions Proposed by Perplexity

Footnotes

Social Action: Selected Themes Pertaining to Social and Economic Development

Quotes for Reflection

Question for Consideration

Perplexity Pro Response 3

Ever-advancing civilization

Means for solving practical problems

Harmony of science and religion

Social evolution and world unity

Technology and social evolution

Conditions and barriers

Social action and capacity building

Follow-Up Questions Proposed by Perplexity

Citations

Footnotes

Perplexity Pro Response ²

Citations

Perplexity Pro Response ³