Bahá'í beliefs about unity, equality and human rights. Bahá'u'lláh taught that world unity is the final stage in the evolution of humanity.
Unity and equality
Last updated 2006-08-04
Unity of humanity
One world ©The central theme of Bahá'u'lláh's teachings is that humanity is a single race which should now be united in one global society.
He taught that as humanity evolved physically and adapted socially, so world unity is the final stage in the evolution of humanity.
Human beings originally lived in isolated family groups, then became tribal, moving into city states and then nations.
Bahá'ís believe that humanity must now move forward to global maturity, recreating itself as a single human family:
The reality is that there is only the one human race.
We are a single people, inhabiting the planet Earth, one human family bound together in a common destiny, a single entity created from one same substance, obligated to 'be even as one soul'.
Official Bahá'í statement, August 2001
Bahá'u'lláh stated this key Bahá'í principle very simply over 100 years ago:
The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.
Bahá'u'lláh
Equality
Equality and inequality
Bahá'í teaching makes it clear that no group should regard itself as superior to any other and that any law or practice that causes a group of human beings to be at a disadvantage is fundamentally immoral and wrong.
Bahá'ís believe that prejudice and racial distinction are not part of God's plan and are unnatural additions to the natural order of things.
Bahá'ís are expected to work within their own countries for elimination of discrimination.
Diversity
Although Bahá'ís hate racism and see humanity as a single race, they do not disapprove of ethnic and national heritage and culture, except where it disparages others.
The concept of 'Unity in Diversity' acknowledges that the wealth of cultural diversity is vital to the development of the human race.
Abdul-Bahá illustrated this by saying that a garden would be worthless if it did not feature a variety of flowers, and that the harmony of a musical chord depends upon the diversity of notes within it.
Inequality
Bahá'ís also believe that inequalities such as poverty are equally immoral and should be reduced, both by charitable giving and by government action.
Gender issues
Bahá'í teaching has always been that women and men are equal. It commands Bahá'ís to educate women and give them the opportunities that they need in order to take advantage of that equality.
Human rights
The Bahá'í community has been particularly active in the field of human rights and believes that the world should create a 'culture of human rights'.
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