Page 13 - Prayers and Extracts from the Baha'i Writings

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Regarding reciprocity and cooperation, each member of the body politic should live
in the utmost comfort and welfare because each individual member of humanity is a

member of the body politic, and if one member is in distress or is afflicted with some
disease, all the other members must necessarily suffer. For example, a member of the

human organism is the eye. If the eye should be affected, that affliction would affect
the whole nervous system. Hence, if a member of the body politic becomes afflicted,

in reality, from the standpoint of sympathetic connection, all will share that affliction
since this [one afflicted] is a member of the group of members, a part of the whole. Is

it possible for one member or part to be in distress and the other members to be at
ease? It is impossible! Hence, God has desired that in the body politic of humanity
each one shall enjoy perfect welfare and comfort.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace

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The world of politics is like the world of man; he is seed at first, and then passes by

degrees to the condition of embryo and foetus, acquiring a bone structure, being
clothed with flesh, taking on his own special form, until at last he reaches the plane
where he can befittingly fulfill the words: “the most excellent of Makers.” Just as this

is a requirement of creation and is based on the universal Wisdom, the political world
in the same way cannot instantaneously evolve from the nadir of defectiveness to the

zenith of rightness and perfection. Rather, qualified individuals must strive by day
and by night, using all those means which will conduce to progress, until the
government and the people develop along every line from day to day and even from

moment to moment.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Secret of Divine Civilization

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