From Division to Unity: Changes We Can Make as Individuals and as a Society

In a time where division is the gravitational force in the United States, the teachings of the Bahá'í Faith provide a profound perspective on the importance of unity. The inherent oneness of humanity is a given, and we need collective action to overcome the divisiveness being served up across the political spectrum. As we fall victim to political, social, and cultural divisions, we need to recognize that collective progress and prosperity is elusive until unity becomes a shared experience.

Insights from Bahá'í Writings on Moving from Division to Unity

The Bahá'í Faith promotes unity as a fundamental principle essential for societal advancement. Bahá'í writings teach that the recognition of the oneness of humanity is not just a moral and spiritual imperative, but a necessity for addressing the complex challenges we face as a society. Humanity, as a whole, is emerging from our teenage years of turbulence and rebellion. Now is the time to unite, and rise together, into the new era of unity and justice.

Changes We All Can Make to Ascend from Division to Unity

1. Cultivate Empathy: when we seek to understand people who have different perspectives and experiences, we benefit from elevated conversations and exposure to diverse cultures. As humans, we are 99% similar and only 1% different. Listening to those around us and seeking to build connection is our everyday work.

2. Educate Yourself: seek to understand with your own eyes and not through the eyes of your neighbor. Read about all points of view, ask questions, listen actively, and practice forbearance. The essence of faith is fewness of words and abundance of deeds.

3. Activate: Engage in neighborhood activities that bring people from different backgrounds together, fostering a sense of shared purpose and community.

4. Practice Inclusive Leadership: In workplaces and communities, adopt leadership styles that value and integrate diverse voices, ideas, and talents.

5. Media Literacy: Develop the skills to discern and question sources of news and information, avoiding the perpetuation of divisive narratives. Expose yourself to the richness of other cultures through music, art, and food: meaningful pleasurable moments we share as humans.

6. Interfaith Dialogue: build bridges between diverse religious communities by discussing spiritual matters and finding common ground. Knowing the soul of another human results in deep connection, erasing feelings of loneliness and isolation.

7. Political Disengagement: Study the candidates and vote for the one who is most committed to societal advancement. Your vote is your political voice. Politics can be a side show that distracts us from our true path of unity.

8. Support Education for All: Advocate for comprehensive education opportunities for everyone, children through adults. Education is the key to human advancement and lack of educational opportunities result in oppression and exploitation. Education instills in us a sense of responsibility, ethics, the importance of collective well-being, and inspires us to take action.

9. Support Grassroots Action: How can working together with your neighbors improve the well-being of everyone in the community? Start an annual Night to Unite get together in your neighborhood, and find out what is on the minds of the people who live near you.

10. Personal Reflection: Take time for personal reflection to identify and overcome personal biases, prejudices, and preconceptions that may contribute to division. Take yourself to account. List what you have done that promotes unity, where you have made missteps, and how you can make small changes. "Meditate profoundly, that the secret of things unseen may be revealed unto you, that you may inhale the sweetness of a spiritual and imperishable fragrance, and that you may acknowledge the truth…so that light may be distinguished from darkness, truth from falsehood, right from wrong, guidance from error, happiness from misery, and roses from thorns." Bahá’u’lláh, Ki tab-i-Ian, p. 8

"If you wish the joy, happiness and the composure of the spirit and the peace of the conscience of ‘Abdu’l- Bahá, strengthen the bonds of union and harmony amongst yourselves so that all of you may become the waves of one sea, the drops of one river, the flowers of one garden, the links of one cuirass, soaring in the atmosphere and breaking forth into one glad song." ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

"Material civilization is like unto the lamp, while spiritual civilization is the light in that lamp. If the material and spiritual civilization become united, then we will have the light and the lamp together, and the outcome will be perfect. For material civilization is like unto a beautiful body, and spiritual civilization is like unto the spirit of life. If that wondrous spirit of life enters this beautiful body, the body will become a channel for the distribution and development of the perfections of humanity."

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 15