The founder of the Bahai faith offered this rather childish advice:
“The Great Being, wishing to reveal the prerequisites of the peace and tranquility of the world and the advancement of its peoples, hath written: The time must come when the imperative necessity for the holding of a vast, an all-embracing assemblage of men will be universally recognized. The rulers and kings of the earth must needs attend it, and, participating in its deliberations, must consider ways and means as will lay the foundations of the world's Great Peace amongst men. Such a peace demandeth that the Great Powers should resolve, for the sake of the tranquility of the peoples of the earth, to be fully reconciled among themselves. Should any king take up arms against another, all should unitedly arise and prevent him. (Bahaullah, Gleanings from the Writings)
“The fifth candle is the unity of nations – a unity which in this century will be securely established, causing all the peoples of the world to regard themselves as citizens of one common Fatherland.” (Abdul Baha, Tablet of Seven Candles)
The Montreal Daily Star newspaper reported:
"Are there any signs that the permanent peace of the world will be established in anything like a reasonable period?" `Abdu'l-Bahá was asked. "It will be established in this century," He answered. "It will be universal in the twentieth century. All nations will be forced into it." Abdu'l-Bahá in Canada (Ontario: Bahá'í Canada Publications, 1987, p. 35)
"... It must, however long and tortuous the way, lead, through a series of victories and reverses, to the political unification of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, to the emergence of a world government and the establishment of the Lesser Peace, as foretold by Bahá’u’lláh and foreshadowed by the Prophet Isaiah." (Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith, 1947)
Shoghi Effendi is viewed by the Haifa Baha’is as infallible. According to his prophecy we should have witnessed:
1- the political unification of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres
2- emergence of a world government
3- the establishment of the Lesser Peace
Obviously none of these has happened.
“The raising of this Edifice will in turn herald the construction, in the course of successive epochs of the Formative Age of the Faith, of several other structures, which will serve as the administrative seats of such divinely appointed institutions as the Guardianship, the Hands of the Cause, and the Universal House of Justice. These Edifices will, in the shape of a far-flung arc, and following a harmonizing style of architecture, surround the resting-places of the Greatest Holy Leaf, ranking as foremost among the members of her sex in the Bahá’í Dispensation, of her Brother, offered up as a ransom by Bahá’u’lláh for the quickening of the world and its unification, and of their Mother, proclaimed by Him to be His chosen “consort in all the worlds of God.” The ultimate completion of this stupendous undertaking will mark the culmination of the development of a world-wide divinely-appointed Administrative Order whose beginnings may be traced as far back as the concluding years of the Heroic Age of the Faith.
This vast and irresistible process, unexampled in the spiritual history of mankind, and which will synchronize with two no less significant developments—the establishment of the Lesser Peace and the evolution of Bahá’í national and local institutions—the one outside and the other within the Bahá’í world—will attain its final consummation, in the Golden Age of the Faith, through the raising of the standard of the Most Great Peace, and the emergence, in the plenitude of its power and glory, of the focal Center of the agencies constituting the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh. The final establishment of this seat of the future Bahá’í World Commonwealth will signalize at once the proclamation of the sovereignty of the Founder of our Faith and the advent of the Kingdom of the Father repeatedly lauded and promised by Jesus Christ. (Shoghi Effendi Messages to the Bahá’í World: 1950–1957 dated November 27, 1954)
This lays out the following sequence:
1- Completion of the construction of the Arc
2- culmination of the development of a world-wide divinely-appointed Administrative Order
3- Lesser Peace
Only the construction work was completed and nothing else came to be.
“It is true that ‘Abdu’l-Baha made statements linking the establishment of the unity of nations to the twentieth century. For example: “The fifth candle is the unity of nations — a unity which, in this century, will be securely established. (Messages of Universal House of Justice (UHJ) 1963-68, Page 281)
“Abdu’l-Baha anticipated that the Lesser Peace could be established before the end of the twentieth century.” (Messages of UHJ April 15, 1976)
These two messages say:
1- Unity of nations will happen in the twentieth century
2- Lesser Peace established before end of 20th century
These certainly have not happened.
“It is true that `Abdu'l-Bahá made statements linking the establishment of the unity of nations to the twentieth century. For example: "The fifth candle is the unity of nations--a unity which, in this century, will be securely established, causing all the peoples of the world to regard themselves as citizens of one common fatherland." And, in The Promised Day Is Come, following a similar statement quoted from Some Answered Questions, Shoghi Effendi makes this comment: "This is the stage which the world is now approaching, the stage of world unity, which, as Abdu'l-Bahá assures us, will, in this century, be securely established." (Letter of UHJ 29 July 1974)
Abdul-Baha assured his followers that World unity will be securely established in the 20th century. Some 22 years after the 20th century, we are witnessing horrific wars in various corners with much bigger ones likely in the next year or two.
“We know, however, that peace will come in stages. First, there will come the Lesser Peace, when the unity of nations will be achieved, then gradually the Most Great Peace--the spiritual as well as social and political unity of mankind, when the Bahá'í World Commonwealth, operating in strict accordance with the laws and ordinances of the Most Holy Book of the Bahá'í Revelation, will have been established through the efforts of the Bahá'ís.” (Letter of UHJ 31 January 1985)
This lays out the sequence:
1- Lesser Peace
2- Unity of Nations
3- Most Great Peace
None of these have happened.
“They must make the Cause of Peace the object of general consultation, and seek by every means in their power to establish a Union of the nations of the world. They must conclude a binding treaty and establish a covenant, the provisions of which shall be sound, inviolable and definite. They must proclaim it to all the world and obtain for it the sanction of all the human race. This supreme and noble undertaking—the real source of the peace and well-being of all the world—should be regarded as sacred by all that dwell on earth. All the forces of humanity must be mobilized to ensure the stability and permanence of this Most Great Covenant. In this all-embracing Pact the limits and frontiers of each and every nation should be clearly fixed, the principles underlying the relations of governments towards one another definitely laid down, and all international agreements and obligations ascertained. In like manner, the size of the armaments of every government should be strictly limited, for if the preparations for war and the military forces of any nation should be allowed to increase, they will arouse the suspicion of others. The fundamental principle underlying this solemn Pact should be so fixed that if any government later violate any one of its provisions, all the governments on earth should arise to reduce it to utter submission, nay the human race as a whole should resolve, with every power at its disposal, to destroy that government. Should this greatest of all remedies be applied to the sick body of the world, it will assuredly recover from its ills and will remain eternally safe and secure.” (Abdul-Baha, The establishment of a global commonwealth of nations 1875)
Abbass Effendi explained what is the Lesser Peace:
1- Binding treaty for peace
2- Get it approved universally
3- Mobilize all the forces of humanity to ensure the stability and permanence of this peace
4- Clearly fix the limits and frontiers of each and every nation (Good luck with that!)
5- Lay down principles underlying the relations of governments
6- All international agreements and obligations ascertained
7- Strictly limit the size of the armaments of each government (Countries are lining up to agree)
8- If any government violates any one of its provisions, all the governments on earth should destroy that Government (NATO alliance is one such effort in this failed recipe for peace)
Obviously none of these happened. Just one single disagreement is the South China Sea (an area of 3 million square kilometres) is claimed by seven sovereign nations. Wikipedia lists 254 territorial disputes. I just learnt that even the US and Canada have seven ongoing disputes about territory!
“The holding of this mighty convocation is long overdue. With all the ardour of our hearts, we appeal to the leaders of all nations to seize this opportune moment and take irreversible steps to convoke this world meeting. All the forces of history impel the human race towards this act which will mark for all time the dawn of its long-awaited maturity. Will not the United Nations, with the full support of its membership, rise to the high purposes of such a crowning event? (UHJ, The Promise of World Peace, October 1985)
Answer: No, the United Nations cannot and will not rise to the high purpose of such a crowning event.
The twentieth century ended 22 years ago and NONE of these prophecies came true, except the construction of some buildings by the Bahais in Haifa, Israel. There is no world Government. No Lesser Peace. No Unity of Nations. No political unification of the East (think Middle East or China) and the West (think USA). Even the holding of that mighty convocation did not take place. These prophecies were nothing but a series of pipedreams for which many people gave their lives in the service of Bahaism. Maybe it is time for the leadership to show some integrity and disband this religion and stop making more false promises.
There are many, many more false promises in the Bahai writings and in relation to peace but time and space is limited.
NOTE: Abbass Effendi gave himself the title of AbdulBaha, so the two names are used interchangeably
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