ty, and consists in this: that man should not prefer himself to
others, but rather should sacrifice his life and property for others. But
this should not be introduced by coercion so that it becomes a law and man
is compelled to follow it. Nay, rather should man voluntarily and of his
own choice sacrifice his property and life for others, and spend willingly
for the poor, just as is done in Persia among the Baha'is.

And among the teachings of His Holiness Baha'u'llah is man's freedom: that
through the Ideal Power he should be emancipated and free from the
captivity of the world of nature; for as long as man is captive to nature
he is a ferocious animal, as the struggle for existence is one of the
exigencies of the world of nature. This matter of the struggle for
existence is the fountain-head of all calamities, and is the supreme
affliction.

And among the teachings of Baha'u'llah is that religion is a mighty
bulwark. If the edifice of religion shakes and totters, commotion and
chaos will ensue and the order of things will be utterly upset, for in the
world of mankind there are two safeguards that protect man from
wrongdoing. One is the law which punishes the criminal; but the law
prevents only the manifest crime and not the concealed sin; whereas the
ideal safeguard, namely, the religion of God, prevents both the manifest
and the concealed crime, trains man, educates morals, compels the adoption
of virtues and is the all-inclusive power which guarantees the felicity of
the world of mankind. But by religion is meant that which is ascertained
by investigation and not that which is based on mere imitation, the
foundation of divine religions and not human imitations.

And among the teachings of Baha'u'llah is that although material
civilization is one of the means for the progress of the world of mankind,
yet until it becomes combined with divine civilization the desired result,
which is the felicity of mankind, will not be attained. Consider! These
battleships that reduce a city to ruins within the space of an hour are
the result of material civilization; likewise the Krupp guns, the Mauser
rifles, dynamite, submarines, torpedo boats, armed aircraft and bombing
aeroplanes--all these weapons of war are malignant fruits of material
civilization. Had material civilization been combined with divine
civilization, these fiery weapons would never have been invented. Nay,
rather human energy would have been wholly devoted to us