Bahai Philosophy and the Question of the Environment

necessity is itself the particular reflection of nature as a divine reality at the level of human beings. The sacredness of nature requires a rejection of the mechanistic logic of reducing human action to material and selfish nature. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá makes it clear that while human obsession with animalistic impulses constitutes evil, there is nothing evil in an animal’s pursuit of its natural inclinations: “All sin comes from the demands of nature, and these demands which arise from the physical qualities, are not sins with respect to the animals, while for man they are sin.” xviii It is obvious from these three principles that human beings, characterized by self- consciousness and the ability for cultural and scientific development, have a unique potentiality and mission with respect to the natural environment. This affirmation of their higher station and potentiality does not imply the justification of domination and destruction of other species but precisely the opposite: As the embodiment of all divine attributes and endowed with higher potentialities, human beings must realize those potentialities, become progressively more caring, altruistic, and spiritual, and attain a higher degree of unity and harmony with all beings. That the human being is the “image” of God is no less than a call for human care and responsibility towards all creatures. It is in fact only when we recognize the reality of human transcendence from empirical nature that we can discover the ability and the mission of human beings to protect the environment. In contrast, the denial of human uniqueness can easily turn into a materialistic definition of human nature which legitimizes domination and destruction of both nature and culture. It is for this reason that Bahá’u’lláh in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas has criticized the hedonistic conception of freedom, arguing that authentic human freedom is inseparable from human commitment to spiritual and cultural values and principles. He affirms: “We approve of liberty in certain circumstances, and refuse to sanction it in others. We verily, are the All-Knowing. Say: True liberty consisteth in man’s submission unto My commandments, little as ye know it. Were men to observe that which We have sent down unto them from the Heaven of Revelation, they would , of certainty, attain unto perfect liberty.” xix We can conclude that the Bahá’í thesis of the transcendental character of human nature is another expression of the principle of the harmony of nature and culture. That is also compatible with the fact that in the Bahá’í writings for the first time a truly “organic” conception of nature and culture has been suggested. Although, as mentioned earlier, the premodern conceptions of nature and culture were also organic, they were in fact only partially organic. The premodern view emphasized the interconnectedness of all beings but lacked a historical and

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