Read the next chapters on Baha'u'llah and also watch the short video posted of Karen Armstrong discussing her vision of compassion as a theme that unites religious traditions. Does the faith developed by Baha'u'llah reflect this vision, or contradict it? Give specific passages from the biography that give some idea as to how Baha'u'llah might relate to the ideas of Karen Armstrong.
If we simply compare the main statements of this video to some of the main teachings of Baha'u'llah, we find that they agree very well. The video supports compassion and global peace and unity. We find support of this in Baha'u'llah's writings as well. For instance, we find him "laying down the conditions of peace for the world" (Momen, p. 80). His message is about the unity of all religions, and that his is the one for this age.
I was not very impressed with the video. Maybe it is just my own life experiences, but I have grown up seeing people supporting world peace, tolerance, and unity... and still behaving just like humans always have in history. I have seen the cruelest treatment toward others, on a personal level, from the same people who have peace stickers on the back of their car. It seems that, when we are dealing with people we know, it is a lot harder to always be compassionate.
Tell me one religion or philosophy that does not support justice. I do not think it is possible. Tell me one that does not want to see the world united. Tell me one that does not in some way support peace. Tell me one that never gives compassion.
I think it is easy to find a support of all these things in any belief-system, because they are fundamental to what we are seeking as human beings. However, this does not indicate a real similarity in beliefs, in fact, it emphasizes how little these words or goals define a religion. The way one defines and understands justice can differ hugely. The amount of compassion that should be given can differ largely - we all like the idea, but even the most compassionate in our class, I would suspect, have been in situations where they were not compassionate because they thought a person deserved whatever their misfortune was. Are we compassionate to those who are actively opposed to us? And is that just? Is world peace defined the absence of physical and verbal war, or is it the eventual agreement on what good ethics are? (For those are quite possibly mutually exclusive.)
The quest for peace and compassion is absolutely nothing new, and to claim it as one's own (and to have the solution) shows crass ignorance of history and different worldviews.
The doubts you seem to have about universal compassion seemed to be centered on ontological questions of what compassion really is. You mention the fact that it seems to be harder to be compassionate to those people we know. However, I would offer the idea we often show more compassion to those we know and eliminate the idea from our heads that there are those we cannot see or experience suffering. I think to be truly compassionate is a lifelong struggle, not just to be compassionate to those you know, but to actively seek out those in need of it. I also think this goal can be uniquely achieved through different kinds of compassion emphasized by different religions. Religions facilitate compassion because there is a need for it. The way we meet this need for compassion may change through history, but we must always be attentive to our own compassionate needs as well as others in the now.
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