The events in the world these days baffle both the learned and the ignorant, confuse the young and the old, and perplex people of all ideologies and religions.
People ask what I think about the world’s seemingly unresolvable problems. I tell them that Baha’is believe humanity’s future is bright and that humanity cannot resolve these upheavals using ideologies of bygone days or even today’s digital database solutions.
I tell them the root cause of problems is the lack of morality and lack of spirituality.
Humanity has lost its moral compass, and even human history cannot help us find our way out because the rate of change has accelerated so fast that we have no historical reference point for it. But we do know how many times humanity has reached the point of no return and has found a way out of seemingly impossible situations. World War II is an excellent example of when everything seemed very dark and hopeless, yet the forces of good managed to prevail.
Regardless of history, though, it’s hard to deny the gravity of our present world situation: the plight of millions of refugees who are running from terror and economic misery; the extreme nationalism leading to the election of governments throughout the world that enforce strict border controls, leaving migrant populations to endure in demeaning conditions; climate change that threatens the existence of the world to the point that the young generation wonders if it has a future; the religious fundamentalism and fanaticism spreading in every corner of the world, the glut of misinformation and propaganda that has replaced decency, respectful discourse and facts.
I see the present situation in the world as one in which humanity has turned its back to spirituality and morality and has chosen materialism to achieve its goal.
"That nothing short of the fire of a severe ordeal, unparalleled in its intensity, can fuse and weld the discordant entities that constitute the elements of present-day civilization, into the integral components of the world commonwealth of the future, is a truth which future events will increasingly demonstrate." –
Humanity today stands at a crossroads, and every individual has the privilege to be part of the plan to lead it towards unity and harmony.
So I tell my friends that though they have an accurate picture of the problems in the world, they are wrong to give up and accept defeat while the struggle between the forces of construction and destruction plays out all around us. These upheavals send us signals so we can play our part in preparing for a new spiritually-based system of global governance.
As for the present time trends, it seems that in most cases, kindness and cooperation towards our fellow man have taken a back seat to nationalism and self-interest. I believe that these trends are the “last hurrahs” of the decaying old order, whose followers are making a desperate attempt to hold on to political control. Yes, the changes in the world are rapid and confusing, and most of the people in charge of making policies and laws cling to short-sighted goals instead of working for the betterment of the conditions of the world in all areas of life.
But all of this upheaval provides us with the opportunity to re-examine our values, to take hold of the vision of a united and peaceful world, and become a powerful part of its construction of a better future.
Badi Shams is a Baha’i and a mystic at heart, whose field of interest is in economics. He has published a compilation "Economics of the Future", and also more recently the book "Economics of the Future Begins Today". He is retired from the educational system. You can read more of Badi's materials on his website
You can read more articles on our interfaith blog, Spiritually Speaking, here /blogs/spiritually-speaking
