moral and ethical development

I do not think that mankind's future is inevitably doomed but it
has already been judged. When mankind turns again to religion
then there will be no ignorant masses because it will be the
obligation of the well-off to see to everyone's education and
they will.

"The moral and ethical development of man to his present
state, if due to any one cause, is due to religion.
Humanity has yet to find out whether the lofty emotions
which inspire man to-day will survive after a generation
or two of godlessness, and what sentiments materialism
will bring in its train. To all appearance, the reign of
materialism must needs entail the rule of selfishness; for
a cut and dried scheme for the equal division of wealth
will not inspire the noble sentiments which are to-day the
pride of man and which centuries of religion have instilled into
his very being. If the sanction of religion be removed to-day,
the ignorant masses and the masses must always remain ignorant
though they may be able to read and write a little will sink back,
gradually of course, into a state of savagery, while even those
who reckon themselves above the common level will no longer
feel the inspiration to noble and high ideals which only faith in
God can give."
(from The Religion Of Islam by Maulana Muhammad Ali)

New Freedom

This is a new time with a need to approach truth with a new freedom.
It seems that religious organizations have abandoned the search for truth.
With this new freedom we have a terrible responsibility.

"We must recognize the sun, no matter from what dawning point it may shine forth, be it Mosaic, Abrahamic or any personal point of orientation whatever, for we are lovers of sunlight and not of orientation. We are lovers of illumination and not of lamps and candles. We are seekers for water, no matter from what rock it may gush forth. We are in need of fruit in whatsoever orchard it may be ripened. We long for rain; it matters not which cloud pours it down. We must not be fettered. If we renounce these fetters, we shall agree, for all are seekers of reality. The counterfeit or imitation of true religion has adulterated human belief, and the foundations have been lost sight of. The variance of these imitations has produced enmity and strife, war and bloodshed. Now the glorious and brilliant twentieth century has dawned, and the divine bounty is radiating universally. The Sun of Truth is shining forth in intense enkindlement. This is, verily, the century when these imitations must be forsaken, superstitions abandoned and God alone worshiped. We must look at the reality of the Prophets and Their teachings in order that we may agree."

Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace (Willmete: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1982 Edition) p. 152. E-text from Ocean Library, http//: www.bahai-education.org

The Role of Jesus

A Muslim Speaks of Jesus and his treatment by the Jews.
(from The Spirit of Islam)

"The nation lived in hope, but the hope was mixed with rigid uncompromising bigotry on the one hand, and a voluptuous epicureanism on the other. Jesus had come and gone, without producing any visible effect upon them. The child of his age, he was imbued with the Messianic ideas floating in the atmosphere in which he lived and moved. The Book of Daniel, written during one of the greatest travails of the nation, with its hopes and aspirations, could not but make a deep impression on the mind of the Teacher mourning over the sight of his stricken people. The fierce intolerance of the Zealots seated in their mountain homes, the lifeless ceremonialism of the Sadducees, the half-hearted liberalism of the Pharisees, the dreamy hopefulness of the Essenes, with one hand extended towards Alexandria and the other towards Buddhistic India, the preachings and denunciations of the wild Dervish, whose life became a sacrifice to the depravity of the Herodian court, all appealed to the heart of Jesus. But the Eagle's talons were clutched on the heart of Judaea, and its legions crushed out all hope of a violent change. The quietism of Jesus, and his earnest anticipation of a kingdom of heaven, to be ushered in by the direct instrumentality of God, were the outcome of his age. Among a nation of furious and relentless bigots, he had come as the messenger of universal brotherhood and love. In the midst of a proud and exclusive race, he trod the paths of humility and meekness; kind and gentle to his immediate followers, devoted to the cause of all, he left behind him the impress of an elevated, self-denying spirit. Among the powerful, the rich, and the ruling classes, he had roused only feelings of hatred, fear, and opposition; among the poor, the despised, the ignorant, and the oppressed, the deep compassion of the great Teacher had awakened sentiments of gratitude and love. One bright sunny morning he had entered the stronghold of Jewish fanaticism full of hope in his ministry as the promised Messiah; before a fortnight had run out, he was sacrificed to the vested interests of his day."