Diversity of thought
Do not allow diversity of thought to separate you from fellowmen or be cause of dispute in your hearts[edit]
"Do not allow difference of opinion, or diversity of thought to separate you from your fellowmen, or to be the cause of dispute, hatred and strife in your hearts.
"Rather, search diligently for the truth and make all men your friends."
- (Attributed to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 53)
Contrary opinions and thought can be reconciled; one kind of diversity relates to annihilation, the other to perfection and bestowals of God[edit]
"A critic may object, saying that peoples, races, tribes and communities of the world are of different and varied customs, habits, tastes, character, inclinations and ideas, that opinions and thoughts are contrary to one another, and how, therefore, is it possible for real unity to be revealed and perfect accord among human souls to exist?
In answer we say that differences are of two kinds. One is the cause of annihilation and is like the antipathy existing among warring nations and conflicting tribes who seek each other's destruction, uprooting one another's families, depriving one another of rest and comfort and unleashing carnage. The other kind which is a token of diversity is the essence of perfection and the cause of the appearance of the bestowals of the Most Glorious Lord."
- ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, section 225, pp. 290-291))
Diverse shades of thought under one agency (of Word of God) allows revealing of human perfection[edit]
"...Diversity of hues, form and shape, enricheth and adometh the garden, and heighteneth the effect thereof. In like manner, when divers shades of thought, temperament and character, are brought together under the power and influence of one central agency, the beauty and glory of human perfection will be revealed and made manifest. Naught but the celestial potency of the Word of God, which ruleth and transcendeth the realities of all things, is capable of harmonizing the divergent thoughts, sentiments, ideas, and convictions of the children of men.
- ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, section 225, pp. 291-292))
The Law of Bahá'u'lláh does not attempt to suppress diversity of thought; diversity of thought brings beauty of human perfection; needs Word of God to harmonize[edit]
"Let there be no misgivings as to the animating purpose of the worldwide Law of Bahá'u'lláh...It does not ignore, nor does it attempt to suppress, the diversity...of thought and habit, that differentiate the peoples and nations of the world."
- (Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, pp. 41-42 passim)
