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The term world community is used primarily in political and humanitarian contexts to describe an international aggregate of nation states of widely varying types. In most connotations, the term is used to convey meanings attached to consensus or inclusion of all people in all lands and their governments. [1]
World community often is a semi-personal rhetorical connotation that represents Humanity in a singular context as in "…for the sake of the World Community" or "…with the approval of the World Community".
The term sometimes is used to reference the United Nations or its affiliated agencies as bodies of governance. Other times it is a generic term with no explicit ties to states or governments but retaining a political connotation.
In terms of human needs, humanitarian aid, human rights, and other discourse in the humanities, the world community is akin to the conceptual Global village aimed at the inclusion of non-aligned countries, aboriginal peoples, the Third World into the connected world via the communications infrastructure or at least representative ties to it.
In terms of the World economy, the world community is seen by some economists as an inter-dependent system of goods and services with semi-permeable boundaries and flexible sets of import/export rules. Proponents of Globalization may tend to establish or impose more rigidity to this framework. Controversy has arisen as to whether this paradigm will strengthen or weaken the world as a community. See World Trade Organization
When considering Sustainable development and Ecology, the inter-dependence angle generally expands quickly to a Global context. In this paradigm, the planet as a whole represents a single Biome and the World's population represents the Ecological succession in a singular eco-system. This also can be recognized as the World Community.
Many religions have taken on the challenge of establishing a world community through the propagation of their doctrine, faith and practice.
In the Baháʼí Faith, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, successor and son of Baháʼu'lláh, produced a series of documents called the Tablets of the Divine Plan. Now in a book form, after their publication in 1917 and their 'unveiling' in New York in 1919, these tablets contained an outline and a plan for the expansion of the Baháʼí community into Asia, Asia minor, Europe and the Americas, indeed, throughout the planet. [2]
The formal implementation of this plan, known as 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan, began in 1937 in the first of a series of sub-plans, the Seven Year Plan of 1937 to 1944. [3] Shoghi Effendi, the leader of the Baháʼí community until 1957 and then the Universal House of Justice from 1963, were instrumental in the organization and design of future sub-plans. This led to the creation and establishment of a world community, with members of the faith estimated to have reached 5 to 6 million in the early 21st century, while also being the second most geographically widespread religion in the world (missing only North Korea and the Vatican City State). [4] [5]
In Buddhism "the conventional Sangha of monks has been entrusted by the Buddha with the task of leading all people in creating the ideal world community of noble disciples or truly civilized people." [6]
A Benedictine monk, Friar John Main, inspired the World Community for Christian meditation through the practice of meditation centered around the Maranatha mantra, meaning "Come Lord." [7]
The Lutheran Church in America had issued a social statement - World Community: Ethical Imperatives in an Age of Interdependence Adopted by the Fifth Biennial Convention, Minneapolis, Minnesota, June 25-July 2, 1970. Since then The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has formed and retained the statement as a 'historical document'. [8]
The term world community is often used in the context of establishing and maintaining world peace through a peace process or through a resolvable end to local-regional wars and global-world wars. Many social movements and much political theory deals with issues revolving around the institutionalization of the process of propagating the ideal of a world community. A world community is one which has a global vision, is established throughout the world, that is it has a membership that exists in most of the countries on the planet and that involves the participation of its members in a variety of ways.
The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the Middle East, where it has faced ongoing persecution since its inception. The religion is estimated to have 5–8 million adherents, known as Baháʼís, spread throughout most of the world's countries and territories.
The Universal House of Justice is the nine-member supreme ruling body of the Baháʼí Faith. It was envisioned by Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, as an institution that could legislate on issues not already addressed in the Baháʼí writings, providing flexibility for the Baháʼí Faith to adapt to changing conditions. It was first elected in 1963, and subsequently every five years, by delegates consisting of the members of Baháʼí National Spiritual Assemblies throughout the world.
In the Baháʼí Faith there are two covenants, deemed the 'greater' and 'lesser'. The greater covenant refers to an agreement of progressive revelation: that God will send messengers about every thousand years, and it is humanity's duty to recognize them and respond to their teachings. The lesser covenant is the agreement between the faith's founder, Baháʼu'lláh, and his followers, regarding the succession of leadership and the maintenance of unity.
The Tablets of the Divine Plan collectively refers to 14 letters (tablets) written between March 1916 and March 1917 by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá to Baháʼís in the United States and Canada. Included in multiple books, the first five tablets were printed in America in Star of the West - Vol. VII, No. 10, September 8, 1916, and all the tablets again after World War I in Vol. IX, No. 14, November 23, 1918, before being presented again at the Ridván meeting of 1919.
The leadership of the Baháʼí Faith has created goal-oriented Baháʼí teaching plans, spanning 1–10 years each, to spread the Baháʼí Faith. The plans began in the 1930s and 1940s as teaching goals for certain countries and in 1953 became coordinated globally, often with a focus on sending travelling teachers to new countries. Shoghi Effendi initiated the plans before his death in 1957, and the Universal House of Justice has initiated the plans since 1964. From 1964–2000, there were six international Baháʼí teaching plans of varying lengths.
The Baháʼí Faith teaches that the world should adopt an international auxiliary language, which people would use in addition to their mother tongue. The aim of this teaching is to improve communication and foster unity among peoples and nations. The Baháʼí teachings state, however, that the international auxiliary language should not suppress existing natural languages, and that the concept of unity in diversity must be applied to preserve cultural distinctions. The Baha'i principle of an International Auxiliary Language (IAL) represents a paradigm for establishing peaceful and reciprocal relations between the world's primary speech communities – while shielding them from undue linguistic pressures from the dominant speech community/communities.
Unity of humanity is one of the central teachings of the Baháʼí Faith. The Baháʼí teachings state that since all humans have been created in the image of God, God does not make any distinction between people regardless of race or colour. Thus, because all humans have been created equal, they all require equal opportunities and treatment. Thus the Baháʼí view promotes the unity of humanity, and that people's vision should be world-embracing and that people should love the whole world rather than just their nation. The teaching, however, does not equate unity with uniformity, but instead the Baháʼí writings advocate for the principle of unity in diversity where the variety in the human race is valued.
The history of the Baháʼí Faith is often traced through a sequence of leaders, beginning with the Báb's declaration in Shiraz on the evening of May 22, 1844, and ultimately resting on an Administrative Order established by the central figures of the religion. The Baháʼí Faith had its background in two earlier movements in the nineteenth century, Shaykhism and Bábism. Shaykhism centred on theosophical doctrines and many Shaykhis expected the return of the hidden Twelfth Imam. Many Shaykhis joined the messianic Bábí movement in the 1840s where the Báb proclaimed himself to be the return of the hidden Imam. As the Bábí movement spread in Iran, violence broke out between the ruling Shiʿa Muslim government and the Bábís, and ebbed when government troops massacred them, and executed the Báb in 1850.
Baháʼí literature covers a variety of topics and forms, including scripture and inspiration, interpretation, history and biography, introduction and study materials, and apologia. Sometimes considerable overlap between these forms can be observed in a particular text.
The Baháʼí Faith in South Africa began with the holding of Baháʼí meetings in the country in 1911. A small population of Baháʼís remained until 1950 when large numbers of international Baháʼí pioneers settled in South Africa. In 1956, after members of various tribes in South Africa became Baháʼís, a regional Baháʼí Assembly which included South Africa was elected. Later each of the constituent countries successively formed their own independent Baháʼí National Spiritual Assembly. Then in 1995, after a prolonged period of growth and oppression during Apartheid and the homelands reuniting with South Africa, the Baháʼí National Spiritual Assembly of South Africa was formed. In 2005 Baháʼís were estimated at about 240,100 adherents.
The Baháʼí Faith in Denmark began in 1925, but it was more than 20 years before the Baháʼí community in Denmark began to grow after the arrival of American Baháʼí pioneers in 1946. Following that period of growth, the community established its Baháʼí National Spiritual Assembly in 1962. In 2002, Baháʼí sources indicate about 300 Baháʼís, including both Iranian Baháʼí refugees and Danish converts. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated some 1,200 Baháʼís in 2005.
The Baháʼí Faith in Norway began with contact between traveling Scandinavians with early Persian believers of the Baháʼí Faith in the mid-to-late 19th century. Baháʼís first visited Scandinavia in the 1920s following ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's, then head of the religion, request outlining Norway among the countries Baháʼís should pioneer to and the first Baháʼí to settle in Norway was Johanna Schubartt. Following a period of more Baháʼí pioneers coming to the country, Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assemblies spread across Norway while the national community eventually formed a Baháʼí National Spiritual Assembly in 1962. The 2008 national census reported around 1,000 Baháʼís in the country however the Association of Religion Data Archives estimated some 2700 Baháʼís in 2010.
The Baháʼí Faith first arrived in Scotland during the first decade of the 20th century, and in 1913 'Abdu’l-Bahá made a three-day visit to Edinburgh at the invitation of Mrs Jane E. Whyte, wife of Dr Alexander Whyte, Moderator of the General Assembly Free Church of Scotland. Over the following decades the Baháʼí Faith spread across Scotland, with Baháʼi communities now established in most cities across the country and many of the Scottish islands, including Orkney, Shetland, Skye and Isle of Lewis.
The Baháʼí Faith in Slovakia dates from about 1916 with an appeal by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá that Baháʼís should take the religion to the regions of Europe including Slovakia, then part of the empire of Austria-Hungary. It is unclear when the first Baháʼís entered Slovakia, but there were Baháʼís in what is now Czechoslovakia by 1910. As the communist period was ending, there is evidence of activity in Slovakia starting around 1989. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in late 1991, Baháʼí communities and their administrative bodies started to develop across the region formerly under the influence of the Soviet Union, including Czechoslovakia. In 1991 Slovakia's first Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assembly was elected in Bratislava, which is also home to the Forel International School. Separate national assemblies for the Czech Republic and Slovakia were formed in 1998. While registration with the national government of Slovakia is not required it is required for many religious activities as well as owning property. In 2007 representatives of the Baháʼí Faith submitted 28,000 signatures of supportive citizens to the government of Slovakia, gaining official recognition as a registered religious community. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated some 680 Baháʼís in 2005.
The Baháʼí Faith in Uruguay began after ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, then head of the religion, mentioned the country in 1916. The first Baháʼí to enter the country was Martha Root in 1919. The first pioneer to settle there was Wilfrid Barton early in 1940 and the first Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assembly of Montevideo was elected in 1942. By 1961 Uruguayan Baháʼís had elected the first National Spiritual Assembly and by 1963 there were three Local Assemblies plus other communities. By 2001 there was an estimated 4,000 Baháʼís in Uruguay.
The Baháʼí Faith in Angola begins after ʻAbdu'l-Bahá wrote letters encouraging taking the religion to Africa in 1916. The first Baháʼí pioneered to Angola about 1952. By 1963 there was a Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assembly in Luanda and smaller groups of Baháʼís in other cities. In 1992 the Baháʼís of Angola elected their first National Spiritual Assembly. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated some 2,000 Baháʼís in 2005.
The Baháʼí Faith in Hungary started in various mentions of the religion in the 19th century followed by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's trip to Hungary in 1913 when Hungary's first Baháʼí joined the religion. The community suffered from World War II and communist rule until the 1980s. The National Assembly was elected in 1992 and in 2002 Baháʼí sources claimed 1100 and 1200 Baháʼís in Hungary, many of which are Roma. In 2010 the Association of Religion Data Archives estimated 290 Baháʼís in Hungary.
The history of the Baháʼí Faith in Africa dates back to the lifetimes of the three individual heads of the religion, Baháʼu'lláh, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi, each of who was in Africa at least once. The Association of Religion Data Archives lists many larger and smaller populations in Africa with Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa and Zambia among the top ten numerical populations of Baháʼís in the world in 2005, and Mauritius highest in terms of percentage of the national population. There are Baháʼí Houses of Worship in Uganda and Kenya, and one is under construction in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Baháʼí Faith is a relatively new religion teaching the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people, established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th-century Middle East and now estimated to have a worldwide following of 5–8 million adherents, known as Baháʼís.
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, son of Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, visited the United States and Canada in 1912. Baháʼí Houses of Worship were completed in Wilmette, Illinois, United States in 1953 and in Panama City, Panama in 1972.
the second most geographically widespread religion in the world after Christianity. The countries which did not have followers of this religion by the year 2008 were only North Korea and the Vatican City.