• Patricia Wilcox

16. Unity in Diversity; Viewing Humanity with Compound Vision.

Updated: Aug 6

Lots of people get really aggravated when others don't see things in exactly the same way - THEIR way. But if we truly hope to live as one peaceful global community we need to allow for diversity. I will have certain views and you will have others. And that's ok.

Diversity is good. Imagine a garden where all the flowers were the same colour. Or, if you're no gardener, a wardrobe where all your dresses and accessories were identical. Or, to be fully gender-neutral, trying to find your car in a parking lot where all the cars were the same.

But it is also a big challenge. When you're a small animal in a world of big voracious ones, it's important to be able to quickly distinguish MY species (where 'us' equals 'friend') from THEIR species (who may plan to put 'us' on the menu). Such primitive drives - 'us' and 'them' - are pretty much what still motivate a lot of people today.

A lot of hate and ignorance festers behind those intentions. But ignorance is curable. It is overcome by education, by knowledge that leads to association, familiarity and eventually kinship; when we realise that - both genetically and spiritually - we are one family.

Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of NZ, recently popularised the phrase "They are Us" in responding to the deadly terrorist attack on a Mosque in Christchurch. It gradually became a part of the national - and eventually, international - lexicon, most recently reinforced by the killing of innocent black man George Floyd, which swiftly provoked a new level of reaction and outrage centred around the 'Black Lives Matter' movement.

These actions demonstrate the depth of feeling around racism and religious prejudice but we need more than passionate reaction. We need real answers; solutions leading to enduring change in the way that people think, believe and act. This change can only take place through education. This is the role of true education; to foster mutual love that leads to change and unites hearts.

Over a century ago Abdu'l-Baha described the need for the teachings of Baha'u'llah to address all racial, religious, and national antipathies and rivalries;


This is our challenge today; to engage in a process of collective consultation and education that will address and overcome racial antipathy, religious animosity, and national rivalries. We must educate both ourselves and others, that differences and animosities due to racial, religious and national diversity may end.

The increasing maturity of humanity enables us to recognise diversity as a valued source of enrichment. Ongoing practice of the 'art' of mutual consultation supports the development of skills and capacity necessary to unify our diverse views and skills. Understanding and collaborating with others enables us to perceive the reality of things; not from one single viewpoint but with the compound vision enabled by many perspectives.

"Unity, in its Bahá’í expression, contains the essential concept of diversity, distinguishing it from uniformity. It is through love for all people, and by subordinating lesser loyalties to the best interests of humankind, that the unity of the world can be realized and the infinite expressions of human diversity find their highest fulfilment." ---Universal House of Justice to the Baha'is of the world. 18 January 2019.