New compilation gives greater insight into social action
The National Spiritual Assembly writes:
We are happy to inform you of an extensive new compilation on social action that has just been released by the Universal House of Justice. A letter on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to all National Spiritual Assemblies on 10 August 2020 announced the compilation as follows:
We are pleased to share with you, at the request of the Universal House of Justice, the enclosed compilation on social action, which is drawn from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, the Writings and Utterances of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the writings and letters of Shoghi Effendi, and the messages of the Universal House of Justice and letters written on its behalf. The compilation, prepared by the Research Department at the request of the House of Justice, contains 253 extracts, thematically arranged, several of which appear in English translation for the first time. It is the hope of the House of Justice that this new compilation will enhance the friends’ understanding of the distinctive Bahá’í approach to this important field of endeavour.
The document can be accessed at: https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/compilations/social-action/. The page at the link provides versions in PDF, HTML, and DOCX (Word) formats, and an online reading option. As soon as the compilation is published and made available in New Zealand in book form from the Bahá’í Distribution Service, a notice about this will be shared in Bahá’í Aotearoa.
The main topic headings of the 79-page compilation are:
Underlying Concepts and Principles
The Nature of Bahá’í Social and Economic Development
Methods and Approaches
Selected Themes Pertaining to Social and Economic Development
Arts, Media, and Technology
The National Assembly encourages everyone to study this most inspiring guidance, which is particularly pertinent during a period when the pandemic is once again making its presence felt in Aotearoa. As the guidance is applied to the reality of conditions in neighbourhoods and communities in various parts of the country, the first stirrings of social action arise as a natural outcome from the community building processes in these settings.
Update —print version out now
(2 September 2020)
The compilation is now available in a printed book from the Baha'i Distribution Service, for $5.00, at this link: https://bds.bahai.org.nz/products/social-action
Those who would like to print their own copy of the print version can obtain the PDF file from the button below. (The print version has been formatted as a 76 page A4 book, compared with 100 pages for the original version.)
