freedom – a place in your head.

I was talking to friend yesterday and we had quite a big discussion about my opinions on justice in the world. Obviously I believe a lot of injustice does take place and I criticize that in this blog quite a bit I think. My friend believed (…and I think this is an opinion of very many youth in my generation) that the injustice and inequality in the world is evidence for non-existance of God, or for a God that “doesn’t care about the planet and has betrayed us”

I understand the difficulty to believe in an All-Powerful God, when a child dies every three seconds. Any person with a sense of justice feels there stomach knot together when he reads or sees on television how immense the amount of poverty still is in the world.

But I personally believe that the root of all the issues in the world are man-made. If children are starving in other parts of the world, then it is because of our ignorance. If wars are still taking place, it’s because the peaceful countries have not been able to withstand trouble-making ones. If other countries aren’t developing as we are, then it’s because we have submitted and are too egoistic. We hazard the consequences that we have excess of food and luxury. And if all these problems are man-made, then they cannot be beyond humanity to fix them.

Apart from those, there are the personal problems all people have everyday . These are tests and if trying to be a good person in our society payed off straight away, then what would be the value of it? If it was easier to act altruistically than egoistically, it would still be kind of egoistic I think. The action wouldn’t be worth as much.

Abdu’l-Bahá spent many years in exile and 40 years(!) imprisoned with horrific circumstances. When Isabel Fraser once told him she was glad he was free again, he answered:

“Freedom is not a matter of place. It is a condition. I was thankful for the prison, and the lack of liberty was very pleasing to me, for those days were passed in the path of service, under the utmost difficulties and trials, bearing fruits and results.
Unless one accepts dire vicissitudes, he will not attain. To me prison is freedom, troubles rest me, death is life, and to be despised is honour. Therefore, I was happy all that time in prison. When one is released from the prison of self, that is indeed release, for that is the greater prison [...] The afflictions which come to humanity sometimes tend to centre the consciousness upon the limitations, and this is a veritable prison. Release comes by making of the will a Door through which the confirmations of the Spirit come.”

degraded by disunity

Spending the last 2 weeks in Israel, my interest to the history of the country, which is now dominated by disunity, was aroused. Israel is a beauiful country, and it’s riots and violent past doesn’t change it’s historical importance, especially in relious history.

Approximately 2.000 years ago, during the times of their imperialism, the Romans invented the name “Palestine” for a country they had taken from the Jews after a long and torturous war. This land had been acquired by the Jewish people around 450 BC and according to the book of Exodus in the Old Testemant, the Jewish population were lead from the chains of slavery under the Egyptians to freedom in the land of Israel by Moses.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, son of the founder of the Bahá’í Religion, says: “The children of Israel were in bondage and captivity in the land of Egypt four hundred years. They were in an extreme state of degradation and slavery under the tyranny and oppression of the Egyptians. While they were in the condition of abject poverty, in the lowest degree of abasement, ignorance and servility His Holiness Moses suddenly appeared among them. Although He was but a shepherd, such majesty, grandeur and efficiency became manifest in Him through the power of religion, that His influence continues to this day. His prophethood was established throughout the land and the law of His Word became the foundation of the laws of the nations.” (Baha’i World Faith – p. 271)

After the claim of Israel by the Romans, many Jews fled to Europe and other countries, but ever yearning for a country that they owned and they could live in peace in.
1880 onwards, many Jews returned to Palestine, which was to this time dominated by Arabs. These managed to live peacefully side by side, but the consequences of the first world war were that Palestine was to be governed by Great Britain. The Jews were promised the right to continue living there.

During the second world war, so many Jews flew back to Palestine, that the Land was split up into different territories, Jewish and Arabian, never any unity existing.

In 1948, with the ending of the British assignment to govern Palestine, the state Israel was founded by the politician Ben Gurion, causing the Arab-Israeli war. This war resulted in Israeli victory a year later. Since then there is supposedly a cease-fire between Israel and the parts of the country that are inhabited by Palestinians. The so-called “Green Line“ now seperates these parts, the Gaza strip and Westjordan, from the rest of Israel.

So much for the stuff you probably already knew :) Traveling through Israel, from Tel Aviv all the way south to Eilat and then all the way north to Haifa and Akká and seeing it’s beauty, made me think about how wonderful this country would be if, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá also says, the countries would disarm for universal peace and replace the thoughts of hatred towards eachother with thoughts of love to all citizens of humanity.

“There is nothing so heart-breaking and terrible as an outburst of human savagery!

I charge you all that each one of you concentrate all the thoughts of your heart on love and unity. When a thought of war comes, oppose it by a stronger thought of peace. A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love. Thoughts of war bring destruction to all harmony, well-being, restfulness and content.

Thoughts of love are constructive of brotherhood, peace, friendship, and happiness.

When soldiers of the world draw their swords to kill, soldiers of God clasp each other’s hands! So may all the savagery of man disappear by the Mercy of God, working through the pure in heart and the sincere of soul. Do not think the peace of the world an ideal impossible to attain!” (Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 29)

Finally one of my favourite quotes by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:

“When you meet a Persian or any other stranger, speak to him as to a friend; if he seems to be lonely try to help him, give him of your willing service; if he be sad console him, if poor succour him, if oppressed rescue him, if in misery comfort him. In so doing you will manifest that not in words only, but in deed and in truth, you think of all men as your brothers.What profit is there in agreeing that universal friendship is good, and talking of the solidarity of the human race as a grand ideal? Unless these thoughts are translated into the world of action, they are useless.The wrong in the world continues to exist just because people talk only of their ideals, and do not strive to put them into practice. If actions took the place of words, the world’s misery would very soon be changed into comfort.A man who does great good, and talks not of it, is on the way to perfection.The man who has accomplished a small good and magnifies it in his speech is worth very little.” (Paris Talks, p. 16)

9/11. a little late.

Zapping through television the last 24 hours, it was impossible not to be reminded of the terrible incidents that happened 7 years ago in New York. 3.015 people died during the terrorist attacks and I wanted to emphasize my sympathy for them and their families, before I continue.

3015 sounds like a big number, so 9/11 is an important date. But I hope, after 7 years, I will be allowed to wonder why the 1/9 isn’t at least just as important? After all, the second world war cost an estimated 55-60 million lives. But maybe that’s just too long ago.

But what about 20/3? The Iraq War has cost estimated 100.000 lives and this was 2003, two years after 9/11.

What I have most problems with understanding is: Why are there more documetaries about 9/11 on television, than about Somalia, where 70% of the population don’t have access to clean drinking water or medical care? Or about Ethopia, where 49% of the population are malnourished? Is it because countries that have had horrific circumstances since centuries don’t shock us anymore? Have we lost interest in them, because it could never happen to us, contrary to terrorist attacks?

Out of sight out of mind they say, and I guess that’s what has happened to us. We’ve heard so much, but yet too little on the sufferings of those unluckier than ourselves. We choose to ignore it and keep ourselves busy with our own demands, wishes and dreams, as I have in the past months. Who likes to think about the one in eight* people in the world, that don’t have access to clean water, when they’re drinking their cool ice tea? And who enjoys thinking about the 1,5 million children* every year (5.000 a day!) that die as a result of diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation, whilst taking a long soak in their bath tub?

We are all not aware, that we belong to the luckiest on the planet, and we waste time not appreciating the oppurtunities we have, the education, the medication, the freedom of speech and publication. I believe we owe it to the ones less lucky than we are, to use these oppurtunities to support and help them.

In the words of my favourite historical figure of all time: “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?”**

*statistics: wateraid.com

**Martin Luther King, Jr.

global visions

In my social studies class, I had an argument with a more or less close friend of mine. He got me quite angry actually

I can’t write neutrally about this. I’m realllly annoyed. How can people be so visionless? How can somebody waste his life, breathing on materialism and not letting these earthly things go? How can people live their lives with the only vision of earning as much money as they possibly can? How could that ever be fulfilling?
I must admit I’m not the selfless person I try to be. My mind is consumed by worry and concern for others, because it makes me feel better knowing I care.

I just don’t understand others. Maybe I’m just a freak. Yes, that indeed.

Anyway, I can’t write more than that today. I’ve been feeling down and confused lately. So until next time. But in old fashion, a last word: “Real education should educate us out of self into something far finer; into a selflessness which links us with all humanity.”*

* Nancy Astor (1879 – 1964), British politician

financing for development

I found out today, that interestingly the most controversial country in the world concerning foreign affairs, actually “invented” development aid. The country who’s foreign policy in Iraq alone cost 74.312 lives and will cost taxpayers an estimated $1.9 trillion.* Development aid, as a matter of fact, originally emerged from the USAs foreign affairs commitment. So America, feeling as the superior mother of the world and initiator of God’s will, meddling with every single country and not leaving any country be, actually triggered something now indispensable.
A few decades ago it was satisfactory enough to debate on how much more money was needed in those countries. But today the problems in the developing countries are far beyond finance. In November 2005 the USA promised 18 states, mostly African ones, to lend them $ 40 billion*², but without the right reforms and the actual activation of a proper industrialisation and movement towards true development, the money is useless.
The biggest problem of today’s charitable and humanitarian help is that it’s sole purpose is to calm our conscience and give us the feeling we are doing the best we can do to help. Seeing that we’re not successful discourages most of us. We could be more successful, if we actually tried to help trigger a truly effective development strategy, that aids countries to go through the transformation process that we Europeans went through over a century ago. And it isn’t just technical in it’s modernisation, but also a spiritual, mental and intellectual transformation.
Already developed countries that vow humanitarian help, are in fact mostly dominated by their own interests and restrained by greed and materialism. Politics have become a dirty business, but our generation, the youth that will take on the future, must be motivated to change things. Our optimism must grow through the collective vision of a peaceful future, that results not only through cease-fire, but through an international understanding and unification of humankind.
As Shoghi Effendi*³ said: “The present condition of the world — its economic instability, social dissensions, political dissatisfaction and international distrust — should awaken the youth from their slumber and make them enquire what the future is going to bring. It is surely they who will suffer most if some calamity sweep over the world. They should therefore open their eyes to the existing conditions, study the evil forces that are at play and then with a concerted effort arise and bring about the necessary reforms — reforms that shall contain within their scope the spiritual as well as social and political phases of human life.”

* Source: wikipedia.org
*² Source: der überblick 4/2006 December
*³ appointed head of the Bahá’í Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957, Quote from “Lights of Guidance” p. 628

a higher level of awareness

I decided to start this blog because I felt like I had something to say. I thought I had thoughts people should reflect on, facts they should chew on. But as I started, I remembered a quote I once read, about how you can’t really teach anyone anything he doesn’t already know. And that is evidently true. I can’t tell you anything you haven’t already heard before, or known deep inside of you anyway. I could write about anything that occupies me, mostly it revolves around the desperation and the crisises in the world, concerning hunger, poverty, discrimination and missing development. But you all know about that…
I think it’s important, and that’s how the quote went on, to bring things to a higher level of awareness. I can’t teach you anything you don’t already know, I can only try and bring it to a higher level of awareness. So for my first blog entry, I’m going to give you a cross-section of what interests me, as in what I’m going to try to bring to a higher level of awareness.
You know about how religious discrimination takes place. So you probably know that elimination of religious minorities still takes place today.
The about 300.000 followers of the Bahá’í religion build Iran’s biggest religious minority. Seeing as it is historically younger than Islam, it isn’t a true religion, or so the fundamentalistic understanding of the Qur’án as the ideal, whole and complete word of God says. For the Bahá’i the Qur’án isn’t the last word of God, but there are words to follow. In the eyes of muslim fanatics this is an unforgivable heresy. But the religious persecution is denied. Instead the Bahá’ís are accused of being a political party aiming an overthrow of the islamic government. The right to higher education is denied to all Bahá’is and between 1979 and 1998 more than 200 Bahá’ìs were killed or executed and hundreds more were wrongfully imprisoned. Thousands were fired from their jobs without a reason, except for Membership in a religious community that isn’t in agreement with the islamic, fanatic understanding that prevails since the revolution.
Apart from all the racial and religious discrimination, that doesn’t have to take that degree (but also happens here in Europe), we are facing much larger problems today. Everyone knows about development aid, but it’s success is controversial. The European Union (EU) and it’s aid in African states south of the Sahara is failing miserably. It’s effort with regard to political diplomacy, financial economics and security and safety demand measures that are understandable, but difficult to collaborate with for the population. It’s not easy going through the technical, intellectual, spiritual and mental development we Europeans went through during industrialisation, whilst having soldiers with AK-47s roaming up and down your streets.
All forms of development and humanitarian aid have weaknesses and strengths, but we must deal with the problems that we are facing, or no change for the better is in sight. John F. Kennedy once said: “Our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings.”