Official definition :
The Bahá'í Faith upholds the
unity of God, recognizes the
unity of His Prophets, and inculcates the principle of the
oneness and
wholeness of the entire
human race. It proclaims the necessity and the inevitability of the
unification of mankind, asserts that it is gradually approaching, and claims that nothing short of the transmuting
spirit of God, working through His chosen Mouthpiece in this day, can ultimately succeed in bringing it about. It, moreover, enjoins upon its followers the primary duty of an
unfettered search after truth,
condemns all manner of
prejudice and
superstition, declares the
purpose of religion to be the
promotion of
amity and
concord, proclaims its essential
harmony with science, and recognizes it as the
foremost agency for the
pacification and the
orderly progress of human society. It unequivocally maintains the principle of
equal rights,
opportunities and
privileges for
men and women, insists on
compulsory education, eliminates
extremes of poverty and wealth, abolishes the
institution of priesthood, prohibits
slavery,
asceticism,
mendicancy and
monasticism, prescribes
monogamy, discourages
divorce, emphasizes the necessity of
strict obedience to one's government, exalts any work performed in the
spirit of service to the level of
worship, urges either the creation or the selection of an
auxiliary international language, and delineates the outlines of those institutions that must establish and perpetuate the
general peace of mankind.
~
Shoghi Effendi to the United Nations Special Commission on Palestine (1947)
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