Arena of democracy at the very root of society’ links individual to collective processes

Developing the Nineteen Day Feast
‘Arena of democracy at the very root of society’ links individual to
collective processes
This is the sixth in a series of articles in The American Bahá’í looking at the
remarkable statements in the Bahá’í writings about the potential of the Feast for
individuals, communities and Assemblies and how Bahá’í communities in the
United States are enhancing their Feast experience.
By the Office of Governance Studies
The Universal House of Justice has referred to the Nineteen Day Feast as “an arena of
democracy at the very root of society.”
What does this mean? How can 12 Bahá’ís sitting around a living room constitute an
“arena of democracy”? In a community of 100 friends, in what ways is Feast consultation
a democratic process? What will it be like when every city has dozens or hundreds of
neighborhood Feasts?
The Universal House of Justice describes the society-building significance of the
Nineteen Day Feast as follows:
“Moreover, because of the opportunity which it provides for conveying messages
from the national and international levels of the administration and also for
communicating the recommendations of the friends to those levels, the Feast becomes a
link that connects the local community in a dynamic relationship with the entire structure
of the Administrative Order. But considered in its local sphere alone there is much to
thrill and amaze the heart. Here it links the individual to the collective processes by
which a society is built or restored. Here, for instance, the Feast is an arena of democracy
at the very root of society, where the Local Spiritual Assembly and the members of the
community meet on common ground, where individuals are free to offer their gifts of
thought, whether as new ideas or constructive criticism, to the building processes of an
advancing civilization. Thus it can be seen that aside from its spiritual significance, this
common institution of the people combines an array of elemental social disciplines which
educate its participants in the essentials of responsible citizenship.” —Letter dated Aug.
27, 1989, quoted in A Wider Horizon, Selected Messages of the Universal House of
Justice, 1983–1992, p. 68
The best of each system
If we think of “democracy” only as a political system in which candidates put
forward by political parties compete for money and votes, it is hard to imagine what
relevance it has to the Bahá’í Administrative Order. We must look further.
Shoghi Effendi has explained that the Bahá’í system “embodies and blends with the
spiritual verities on which it is based the beneficent elements which are to be found” in
various governance systems, while avoiding the defects in each:
“Neither in theory nor in practice can the Administrative Order of the Faith of
Bahá’u’lláh be said to conform to any type of democratic government, to any system of
autocracy, to any purely aristocratic order, or to any of the various theocracies, whether
Jewish, Christian or Islamic which mankind has witnessed in the past. It incorporates
within its structure certain elements which are to be found in each of the three recognized
forms of secular government, is devoid of the defects which each of them inherently
possesses, and blends the salutary truths which each undoubtedly contains without
vitiating in any way the integrity of the Divine verities on which it is essentially
founded.” God Passes By, p. 326
What might be the “salutary truths” to be found in modern democratic systems?
In the secular world today, among those who harbor some optimism for the future of
humanity, many base their hope on the remarkable global spread in recent years of
democracy and so-called “democratic values.” Setting aside the debates about how
profound or lasting some of these changes have been, and about the mixture of political
and economic motives inspiring different groups of democratization advocates, it is
generally recognized that a major shift has occurred worldwide in people’s expectations.
In some quarters democracy itself is now claimed to be a fundamental human right.
More than just voting
Democracy advocates of all stripes agree that “democracy” is not just about going to
the polls every few years. More fundamentally, it is about participation and
responsibility. It is about all citizens—wealthy and poor, majority and minority, the
powerful and the vulnerable—having a voice that is heard. It is about putting the wellbeing
of all citizens and their right to participate in shaping their own future at the heart
of the governing process. It is about orderly, peaceful change in the political and
economic life of a society. It can be inefficient and chaotic, but it is a means to work
towards social justice.
It is recognized, of course, that even nations that have had democratic systems for
generations still have longstanding social inequities to overcome, but solutions are sought
through deepening the democratic process, not replacing it.
One response to the need for and expectation of greater citizen voice has been the
proliferation of nongovernmental organizations. These and other civil society
organizations are said to be assuming the role of mediating the relationship between
people and government structures, by promoting the needs and interests of marginalized
groups, facilitating collaboration among like-minded people for common goals,
advocating for policy change, etc. “People’s organizations” help individuals feel
connected to one another and provide a framework in which they can take active, shared
responsibility for their collective future.
Advocacy of grassroots democratic processes goes hand in hand with “participatory”
approaches to social and economic development. Participatory development work is
based on the understanding that the most fundamental and valuable aspect of
development is not material advancement but increasing the capacity of people to take
responsibility for their own future and to work in groups for common goals. Individuals
and communities are not “target populations” for development projects but are the
protagonists. While others can and should offer material, technical and other forms of
assistance, the most important learning in development takes place at the local level.
Civilizing purposes
The goals espoused by advocates of participatory development and deeper
democratization seem to be very much in accord with the civilizing purposes of
Bahá’u’lláh’s revelation:
“Throughout history, the mass of humanity have been, at best, spectators at the
advance of civilization. Their role has been to serve the designs of whatever elite had
temporarily assumed control of the process. … Bahá’u’lláh has come to free humanity
from this long bondage, and the closing decades of the twentieth century were devoted by
the community of His followers to creative experimentation with the means by which His
objective can be realized. The prosecution of the Divine Plan entails no less than the
involvement of the entire body of humankind in the work of its own spiritual, social and
intellectual development.” Century of Light, pp. 110-11.
So, what occurs—or should occur—during the consultative portion of a Nineteen
Day Feast, is profoundly “democratic,” in the best sense of the word.
It is a time for all members of the community to gather, frequently and regularly, on
a fully equal basis, to work on their own development. It is a time to examine what has
been learned, to propose new ideas, and to reaffirm shared values.
It is a time to identify community needs, to understand them in light of spiritual
principles, and to build on strengths.
It is a time to foster and nurture “co-partnership” and “mutual confidence” (both
terms used by Shoghi Effendi) between community members and their elected trustees,
the Spiritual Assembly.
Feast as a whole, in its devotional, consultative and social aspects, is a time to
exercise our most noble inclinations and to foster the love and unity upon which all other
progress depends.
Learning about consultation
Viewed in the long term, the most important outcome of a Feast consultation may
not be the particular suggestions or ideas put forth, but the learning that takes place about
how to consult. Feast is a time to cultivate “elemental social disciplines” essential to
“responsible citizenship.” What social discipline could be more basic to the collective life
of any group than consultation? “Consultation, frank and unfettered, is the bedrock of this
unique Order.” —Shoghi Effendi, from a letter dated Nov. 18, 1933
Consultation can be understood not only as a skill set, of course, but as a decisionmaking
method, as a process for resolving difficulties, as a framework for unifying
interaction with others, and even as a door to creative thinking and collective discovery!
The principles of consultation—including courtesy, respect, frankness, moderation,
selflessness and truth-seeking—define the most basic requirements for responsible
citizenship.
Thus, a Bahá’í community, large or small, by gathering regularly for Feast and
striving to apply ever more fully the principles of consultation, is engaged in the very
process that democracy and development theorists and practitioners around the world are
advocating as the most fundamental building block of a peaceful and prosperous human
future. Bahá’ís as individuals and in communities are taking an increasing share of
responsibility for their own future, for creating the conditions in which they wish to live.
They are building local institutions constitutionally committed to promoting equality,
individual initiative and justice. And they are doing this not within an NGO or
congregation of their choice but with the Bahá’ís who are their geographic neighbors,
whoever they may be, in their full array of diversity in background and temperament. At
the local level, at the very root of society, Bahá’ís are learning the disciplines necessary
to free humanity from its bondage.
If all this is not apparent at our local Feast, it is only because we can as yet barely
glimpse the first streaks of the promised Dawn of this “Day in which all that lay latent in
man hath been and will be made manifest.”