The order of the world has been disrupted, and severe and
numerous convulsions have shaken its foundation. Conditions worsen daily,
confusion and fear have gripped mankind, and the pain and difficulties
experienced by the generality of peoples have greatly increased. The
destructive forces of materialism dominate both the East and the West and have
brought about a quagmire of injustice and prejudice that has sullied and
rendered powerless the wings of society, whilst the human spirit, which is
created to ascend towards the divine realm, has been enslaved in the talons of
greed and wilfulness and become deprived of the bounty of the light of true
religion. The problems of the world—which are clearly evident in the arenas of
politics, economics, social conditions, and the environment—confront humanity’s
future with inescapable dangers and yet its leaders remain unaware of their
fundamental causes, are unable to remedy them, and are fearful of their
consequences. The situation of the world
calls to mind the following statement of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “Chaos and confusion are
daily increasing in the world. They will attain such intensity as to render the
frame of mankind unable to bear them. Then will men be awakened”.
- The
Universal House of Justice (From an authorized translation of a letter dated 24 October
2018, to the believers in the Cradle of the Faith)
