{"id":86856,"date":"2025-02-03T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/?p=86856"},"modified":"2025-03-10T02:03:40","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T09:03:40","slug":"justice-its-not-just-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/justice-its-not-just-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Justice: It\u2019s Not Just Us"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A group within my community has asked me to give a talk about social justice. While pondering and researching this concept, I\u2018ve concluded that justice <\/em>cannot exist until people realize that there\u2019s more than just us <\/em>out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, I know that\u2019s a simple play on words, but I do think that the truth lies within those two similar-sounding concepts in our language. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED: Creating Social Justice in Your Own Community<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think about it: what if we made our decisions, planned our policies, governed ourselves, and managed resources with the guiding principle being that it\u2019s not just us<\/em>? What if justice included everyone?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unity of humanity, one of the fundamental teachings of the Baha\u2019i Faith<\/a>, has me thinking about how unity relates to justice. Clearly, if we were to value the essential oneness of all people rather than emphasize superficial differences, suitable actions could become apparent \u2014 and justice achieved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In decision-making and policy planning, those in a position of influence and power need to consider that it\u2019s not just us<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I must not take for granted my own relatively comfortable life, nor overlook the injustices that surround me. To the contrary, as an individual and as a member of organizations and institutions that operate within this society, I want to be increasingly cognizant of those who might be disenfranchised. The question \u201cWho is missing from the conference table?\u201d should prompt a reminder to include them, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, those people deserve disproportionately more consideration since exercising justice can also be a means to redress the injustices of the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meeting material needs, providing universal access to education, aligning every level of our society to promote economic and social justice \u2014 these are essential elements, although they are not sufficient unless public will, as articulated through its governance, is in accord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thinking now about governance, I have observed countless times that divisive, partisan politics work against rather than for justice. The Baha\u2019i International Community has described an alternative approach and what it can achieve:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u2026 a world federal system, guided by universally agreed upon and enforceable laws, will allow nation states to manage cooperatively an increasingly interdependent and rapidly changing world, thereby ensuring peace and social and economic justice for all the world\u2019s peoples.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

If such a system can bring about social and economic justice for all, then the time and effort required to create it will be more than worthwhile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering the Earth\u2019s natural resources, surely they do not belong to people who just happen to be born nearby, nor do they belong to people who have the financial muscle to exploit and control them. Both extremes are a just us <\/em>approach. On the other hand, through applying the principle of justice, we can manage resources globally with a view toward long-term sustainability and equitable distribution. The Baha\u2019i teachings point out that the planet\u2019s natural resources belong to all humanity, not just a few. Moving from the notion of ownership to that of stewardship, we would protect resources in the interest of all peoples and not hold anyone hostage to short-sighted politics and private financial interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED: How Can Art Promote Social Justice?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until both the material and the spiritual needs and aspirations of individuals are acknowledged, development efforts will largely continue to fail. Human happiness, security, social cohesion, and economic justice are not by-products of material success. Rather, they result from complex and dynamic interactions among the satisfaction of physical requirements, social needs, and the spiritual fulfillment of the individual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a speech he gave at the Brotherhood Church in New Jersey in 1912, Abdu\u2019l-Baha<\/a> promised<\/a> that we are approaching the day when: \u201c\u2026 justice will become manifest in human conditions and affairs, and all mankind will find comfort and enjoyment in life.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this assurance that the future will be just, the challenge is to get from here to there. To fulfill this vision for a unified and peaceful world, ideally, everyone will contribute \u2014 not just us. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A group within my community has asked me to give a talk about social justice. While pondering and researching this concept, I\u2018ve concluded that justice cannot exist until people realize that there\u2019s more…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":611,"featured_media":86857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2948],"tags":[2978,3027],"series":[1856],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86856"}],"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\/611"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86856"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87236,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86856\/revisions\/87236"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86856"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=86856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}