Baha\u2019u\u2019llah taught that an equal standard of human rights must be recognized and adopted. In the estimation of God all men are equal; there is no distinction or preferment for any soul in the dominion of His justice and equity. – The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 181<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This early, radical advocacy raised a truly global Baha\u2019i voice for guaranteed rights for all human beings. In his speeches, addresses and writings Abdu\u2019l-Baha repeatedly pointed out the sheer absurdity of national, racial and gender-based prejudices, which granted rights to some but denied them to others:<\/p>\n \u2026the world of humanity is one race, the surface of the earth one place of residence and these imaginary racial barriers and political boundaries are without right or foundation. Man is degraded in becoming the captive of his own illusions and suppositions. The earth is one earth, and the same atmosphere surrounds it. No difference or preference has been made by God for its human inhabitants; but man has laid the foundation of prejudice, hatred and discord with his fellowman by considering nationalities separate in importance and races different in rights and privileges. – The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 231<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Because of the strong Baha\u2019i emphasis on human rights, the elected institutions of the Baha\u2019i Faith have long made global human rights a high priority. The Baha\u2019i International Community works closely with the United Nations to extend human rights protections to everyone, including the extremely poor, prisoners of conscience, women and children, the disabled and those who belong to national, ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities. In 2010 The Universal House of Justice<\/a>, the democratically-elected governing body of the Baha\u2019is of the world, issued this statement on gay rights:<\/p>\n With respect to your question concerning the position Baha\u2019is are to take regarding homosexuality and civil rights\u2026 Baha\u2019is are enjoined to eliminate from their lives all forms of prejudice and to manifest respect towards all. Therefore, to regard those with a homosexual orientation with prejudice or disdain would be against the spirit of the Faith. Furthermore, a Baha\u2019i is exhorted to be \u201can upholder and defender of the victim of oppression\u201d, and it would be entirely appropriate for a believer to come to the defense of those whose fundamental rights are being denied or violated.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Baha\u2019is themselves, especially those in Iran and Egypt, have suffered terrible oppression and the denial of their most fundamental human rights since the earliest days of the Faith\u2019s existence. Because of the progressive Baha\u2019i teachings<\/a> on human rights-related issues and the essential unity of all religions, several governments have denied Baha\u2019is their rights to education, employment, housing and even burial. Iran\u2019s government has imprisoned, tortured and executed Baha\u2019is solely for their Faith. Hundreds of Baha\u2019is \u2013 including women, infants and the elderly \u2013 now languish in brutal Iranian prisons for no crime other than being Baha\u2019is.<\/p>\n Ultimately, the Baha\u2019is believe that the arc of universal human rights will inevitably bend toward justice:<\/p>\n The wrong in the world continues to exist just because people talk only of their ideals, and do not strive to put them into practice. If actions took the place of words, the world\u2019s misery would very soon be changed into comfort. My hope for you is that you will ever avoid tyranny and oppression; that you will work without ceasing till justice reigns in every land\u2026. – Abdu\u2019l-Baha<\/a>, Paris Talks, p. 16<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If all of human history had happened today, the concept of human rights for all would\u2019ve been born about two minutes ago. Scholars have determined that no language on earth…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":13414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[3140],"series":[268],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13395"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13395"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=13395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"The](\"https:\/\/media.bahaiteachings.org\/2013\/10\/The-Universal-Declaration-of-Human-Rights.jpg\" "\\"The")
<\/a>But almost a century before the UN developed and promulgated the UDHR, the Baha\u2019i Faith<\/a> became the first religion to call for universal human rights. Baha\u2019u\u2019llah<\/a> taught that every country must recognize the common global citizenship rights of all its peoples: \u201cThe earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.\u201d<\/strong> Abdu\u2019l-Baha<\/a>, speaking in Europe and North America in 1911 and 1912, reinforced the Baha\u2019i concept of universal human rights:<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/media.bahaiteachings.org\/2013\/10\/United-Nations-Building-with-flags.jpg\" "\\"The")
<\/a>Many of the world\u2019s governments, including the United Nations, have repeatedly condemned these shameless violations of basic human rights<\/a>, these crimes against humanity. Until the entire world adopts the Baha\u2019i view on human rights for all, however, the oppression, persecution and denial of fundamental rights will continue \u2013 not just for the Baha\u2019is, but for many oppressed peoples.<\/p>\n