wfn.org | Baha'i news: Baha'is offer decision-making model at UN commission

[Sally Weeks <sweeks@bwc.org>]

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Baha'is offer decision-making model at UN commission

UNITED NATIONS, 16 February (BWNS) - A new model of decision-making among p eoples of different cultures would contribute to integration "at this time  of transition to a new social order," according to a new Baha'i statement.

The statement was prepared for the 48th United Nations Commission for Socia l Development, which concluded on 12 February. The commission is the chief  U.N. body charged with following up on the World Summit on Social Developme nt held in 1995 in Copenhagen, where world leaders outlined principles that  would characterize a new "society for all." These principles included resp ect for diversity and participation of all people.

The Baha'i International Community said in its statement that it was offeri ng its experience in the method of consultation used by Baha'i communities  around the world - a key component in creating unity among people.

The consultative process, the Baha'i statement said, rests on the understan ding that all human beings are essentially noble - "they possess reason and  conscience as well as capacities for inquiry, understanding, compassion, a nd service to the common good."

Mr. Ming H. Chong of Singapore, a delegate to the commission who presented  a summary of the Baha'i statement, said afterwards that understanding the n obility of all humans prevents people from dismissing others as needy rathe r than being in charge of their own development.

"If you start with (this) understanding, then you have a different perspect ive, one that avoids labels like 'marginalized' and 'poor,'" he said. He ex plained that he was a child of immigrants to Singapore and had learned that  such labels create the wrong impression of entire groups of people.

"Language shapes the way we think," he said. "It creates mental pictures of  how we see the world. Some of these mental pictures are not always positiv e - those that dehumanize migrants, for example."

The Baha'i statement to the U.N. commission suggested that the human body c an serve as a model for comparing the integration of the world's cultures a nd peoples. "Within this organism, millions of cells, with extraordinary di versity of form and function, collaborate to make human existence possible.  Every least cell has its part to play in maintaining a healthy body," the  statement said.

This image can be used to envision the world's peoples as one human family  and understand how each culture plays a part in the functioning of the whol e, Mr. Chong explained.

In consultation as practiced in Baha'i communities, great value is placed o n the diversity of perspectives and contributions that individuals bring to  the discussion.

"Actively soliciting views from those traditionally excluded from decision- making not only increases the pool of intellectual resources but also foste rs the trust, inclusion, and mutual commitment needed for collective action ," the Baha'i statement said.

A key feature of Baha'i consultation is that ideas belong to the group rath er than to individuals.

"Detachment from one's positions and opinions regarding the matter under di scussion is imperative - once an idea has been shared, it is no longer asso ciated with the individual who expressed it, but becomes a resource for the  group to adopt, modify, or discard," the statement said.

A diversity of opinions, however, is not sufficient - it "does not provide  communities with a means to bridge differences or to resolve social tension s," it continued.

"In consultation, the value of diversity is inextricably linked to the goal  of unity. This is not an idealized unity, but one that acknowledges differ ences and strives to transcend them through a process of principled deliber ation," the statement said. "It is unity in diversity."

To read a longer version of this article, with photograph, go to:
http://news.bahai.org/story/758

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http://news.bahai.org/