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Paris Talks
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Pages 45-49
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RELIGIOUS PREJUDICES
October 27th
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The basis of the teaching of Bahá'u'lláh is the Unity
of Mankind, and his greatest desire was that love
and goodwill should live in the heart of men.
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As He exhorted the people to do away with strife
and discord, so I wish to explain to you the principal
reason of the unrest among nations. The chief cause
is the misrepresentation of religion by the religious
leaders and teachers. They teach their followers to
believe that their own form of religion is the only one
pleasing to God, and that followers of any other persuasion
are condemned by the All-Loving Father and
deprived of His Mercy and Grace. Hence arise among
the peoples, disapproval, contempt, disputes and hatred.
If these religious prejudices could be swept away, the
nations would soon enjoy peace and concord.
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3 |
I was once at Tiberias where the Jews have a Temple.
I was staying in a house just opposite the Temple, and
there I saw and heard a Rabbi speaking to his congregation
of Jews, and he spoke thus:
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`O Jews, you are in truth the people of God! All
other races and religions are of the devil. God has
created you the descendants of Abraham, and He has
showered His blessings upon you. Unto you God sent
Moses, Jacob and Joseph, and many other great prophets.
These prophets, one and all, were of your race.
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`It was for you that God broke the power of Pharaoh
and caused the Red Sea to dry up; to you also He sent
manna from above to be your food, and out of the
stony rock did He give you water to quench your
thirst. You are indeed the chosen people of God, you
are above all the races of the earth! Therefore, all other
races are abhorrent to God, and condemned by Him.
In truth you will govern and subdue the world, and
all men shall become your slaves.
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`Do not profane yourselves by consorting with
people who are not of your own religion, make not
friends of such men.'
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When the Rabbi had finished his eloquent discourse,
his hearers were filled with joy and satisfaction. It
is impossible to describe to you their happiness!
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Alas! It is misguided ones like these who are the
cause of division and hatred upon earth. Today there
are millions of people who still worship idols, and the
great religions of the world are at war among themselves.
For 1,300 years, Christians and Mussulmans
have been quarrelling, when with very little effort their
differences and disputes could be overcome and peace
and harmony could exist between them and the world
could be at rest!
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In the Qur'án we read that Muhammad spoke to his
followers, saying:
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`Why do you not believe in Christ, and in the
Gospel? Why will you not accept Moses and the
Prophets, for surely the Bible is the Book of God? In
truth, Moses was a sublime Prophet, and Jesus was
filled with the Holy Spirit. He came to the world
through the Power of God, born of the Holy Spirit and
of the blessed Virgin Mary. Mary, His mother, was
a saint from Heaven. She passed her days in the Temple
at prayer and food was sent to her from above. Her
father, Zacharias, came to her and asked her from
whence the food came, and Mary made answer, "From
on high." Surely God made Mary to be exalted above
all other women.'
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This is what Muhammad taught His people concerning
Jesus and Moses, and He reproached them for their
lack of faith in these great Teachers, and taught them
the lessons of truth and tolerance. Muhammad was
sent from God to work among a people as savage and
uncivilized as the wild beasts. They were quite devoid
of understanding, nor had they any feelings of love,
sympathy and pity. Women were so degraded and
despised that a man could bury his daughter alive, and
he had as many wives to be his slaves as he chose.
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Among these half animal people Muhammad was
sent with His divine Message. He taught the people
that idol worship was wrong, but that they should
reverence Christ, Moses and the Prophets. Under His
influence they became a more enlightened and civilized
people and arose from the degraded state in which He
found them. Was not this a good work, and worthy of
all praise, respect and love?
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Look at the Gospel of the Lord Christ and see how
glorious it is! Yet even today men fail to understand
its priceless beauty, and misinterpret its words of
wisdom.
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Christ forbade war! When the disciple Peter, thinking
to defend his Lord, cut off the ear of the servant of the
High Priest, Christ said to him: `Put up thy sword
into the sheath'.
[1]
Yet, in spite of the direct command
of the Lord they profess to serve--men still dispute,
make war, and kill one another, and His counsels and
teaching seem quite forgotten.
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But do not therefore attribute to the Masters and
Prophets the evil deeds of their followers. If the priests,
teachers and people, lead lives which are contrary to
the religion they profess to follow, is that the fault of
Christ or the other Teachers?
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The people of Islám were taught to realize how
Jesus came from God and was born of the Spirit, and
that He must be glorified of all men. Moses was a
prophet of God, and revealed in His day and for the
people to whom He was sent, the Book of God.
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Muhammad recognized the sublime grandeur of
Christ and the greatness of Moses and the prophets. If
only the whole world would acknowledge the greatness
of Muhammad and all the Heaven-sent Teachers,
strife and discord would soon vanish from the face of
the earth, and God's Kingdom would come among
men.
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The people of Islám who glorify Christ are not
humiliated by so doing.
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Christ was the Prophet of the Christians, Moses of
the Jews--why should not the followers of each prophet
recognize and honour the other prophets also?
If men could only learn the lesson of mutual tolerance,
understanding, and brotherly love, the unity of the
world would soon be an established fact.
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Bahá'u'lláh spent His life teaching this lesson of Love
and Unity. Let us then put away from us all prejudice
and intolerance, and strive with all our hearts and souls
to bring about understanding and unity between
Christians and Mussulmans.
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Notes
1. [St John xviii, 11.]
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