The Baha’i community of Lake Oswego is horrified by the attacks against the Asian community in our country. These hateful acts of violence, together with the many similar acts against our African American brothers and sisters, call for the urgency of working to build communities where our diversity is a cause for celebration, where service and promotion of unity are our surest weapons against these forces that threaten to divide us.
“Ultimately, the power to transform the world is effected by love, love originating from the relationship with the divine, love ablaze among members of a community, love extended without restriction to every human being. This divine love,… is disseminated by enkindled souls through intimate conversations that create new susceptibilities in human hearts, open minds to moral persuasion, and loosen the hold of biased norms and social systems so that they can gradually take on a new form in keeping with the requirements of humanity’s age of maturity.” –Baha’i Writings
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The Bahai Community of Lake Oswego
Dear Lake Oswego neighbors,
In light of the tragic racial incidents of the last several months and their growing aftermath, the Baha’i community of Lake Oswego feels the urgent need to address our fellow community members.
We believe that the tensions, divisions, and injustices that currently beset America are symptoms of a deep spiritual disorder, manifested in rampant materialism, widespread moral decay, and a deeply ingrained racial prejudice. As a result, millions of our fellow Americans, subject to systemic injustices, are prevented both from making their full contribution to society and from partaking in its benefits. No one is immune: we are all members of an interconnected society and we are all affected by its illnesses.
We grieve with all those who are suffering. At the same time we are animated with hope and confidence for the future of our country and of the world. We affirm, with the great spiritual traditions of the planet, that love is the generative cause and ultimate goal of creation. We recognize the innate nobility of every human being and their boundless spiritual potential. We acknowledge the organic unity of the human race and celebrate its infinite diversity. And we believe that its unity is unattainable unless it is raised upon a foundation of justice.
We are united with Respond to Racism and all others in Lake Oswego who, in the words of the superintendent of the Lake Oswego schools, “stand in collective support of the beautiful and growing diversity among us…and are committed to working every single day with others to make our schools and community places for each and every member of our community thrive and prosper.”
With grieving but hopeful hearts,
The Bahai Community of Lake Oswego
