It’s has been several decades since the December 7 surprise attack was launched by Japanese forces on Pearl Harbor in 1941 plunging the United States full scale into World War II.
War in those days pitted nation against nation and military might against military might with clearly defined enemies and targets. How very different are the wars and battles fought today with the spread of terrorism redefining war. Subsequently after 911 the United States deployed fleets of military ships, jet planes and armored tanks to find one man on a horse – still at large – hundreds of thousands lives and multibillions dollars later. (There’s definitely something wrong with this picture.)
How does a nation strike back when the enemy is not a nation but a formless group of individuals that blends into the population? These and other crises in today’s confused society require solutions the present day order cannot provide through past methods.
Over a century and a half ago, the founders of the Baha’i Faith, Baha’u’llah, identified specific steps for the establishment of peace and order among nations. He called upon the rulers of all countries to create, through a binding treaty, world unity upheld by an international government. America is specifically singled out in the Baha’i sacred writings for a critical role in the formation of this new, more peaceful world order.
How timely that America’s high destiny in the promulgation of world peace is further visualized as we approach Human Rights Day (December 10), observed annually in commemoration of the universal declaration of Human Rights.
“In no other country is the promise of organic unity more immediately demonstrable than in the United States,” state the Baha’i Holy writings, as “this country is a microcosm of the diverse populations of the earth… America’s peace, prosperity and even her standing in the international community depends on healing the wounds of racism and building a society in which people of diverse backgrounds live as members of one family.”
