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Flora Teckie Correspondent
The International Day of Peace on 21 September is an opportune time to reflect on the influence family has in the achievement of global peace.

It is in the family unit where good morals and attitudes towards peaceful co-existence can be developed. As a microcosm of our societies, the family is a key instrument for the advancement of civilisation and the establishment of peace.

A loving, unified, vital and joyful family can provide the ideal conditions for the well-being of its members in all facets of life — physical, spiritual, emotional and mental.

Families also lay the foundation for society’s advancement and cohesion. Healthy family relationships are of utmost importance to the well-being of the entire human race.

The Universal House of Justice, the governing council of the Bahá’í international community states: “The family unit, the nucleus of human society, constitutes a space within which praiseworthy morals and essential capacities must be developed, for the habits and patterns of conduct nurtured in the home are carried into the workplace, into the social and political life of the country, and finally into the arena of international relations”.

It is within the family that character is developed, moral and spiritual attitudes are formed and where one should learn to serve the common good; it is within the family where the values of tolerance, peace and social responsibility can be initiated and taught; and it is in the family where sense of responsibility and of values such as loving, caring and sharing are developed.

Raising children to be promoters of peace

“The family”, in the Bahá’í view, “is the best and most effective institution to teach the concept of the oneness of humanity and to rear our children to live a life of unity and to become unifiers in all dimensions of their lives”.

It is within the family that children can be encouraged to associate with people of all races and religions and learn to appreciate the different cultures and the contributions different people have to make.

It is within the family that they learn to respect the ideas of others and to have open minds.

The governing council of the Bahá’í international community states that “It is the duty of all parents to exert their utmost to ensure the spiritual education of their children and to provide them with the training needed to live a fruitful life of service to their country and, indeed, to all of humanity.

“Success in this crucial matter requires fostering a loving and constructive environment at home, based on the love of God and adherence to His laws. This entails abandoning all forms of prejudice, rejecting entirely the odious habit of back biting, stressing the vital importance of the oneness of mankind, and inculcating the spirit of selfless service”.

The social and spiritual values that our children learn at home will apply not only in the context of the family, but outside in the local and national community, as well as in the wider world itself.

The governing council of the Bahá’í international community states: “Children must be so raised as to regard every soul, irrespective of religion, ethnicity, or any other affiliation, as a fellow human being and to hold dear the words that capture the spirit of the age: “The tabernacle of unity hath been raised; regard ye not one another as strangers. Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch.

“The family unit provides an environment within which such lofty and world-embracing principles can be taught and nurtured. It is the matrix in which generation after generation can be reared in the conviction that the well-being of the individual is inextricably bound to the progress and well-being of others”.

Education for peace starts in the family.

Raising children who can assume responsibility for both their own intellectual and spiritual growth and participate in building a better world is a fundamental role of the family.

We need to nurture our children with love for all people and instil in them tolerance of differences. Our children should grow up with a sense of justice, and empathy for others. The vision held by a family should be a global one and one of unity of humanity.

Our children need to learn from young ages that in order to build a peaceful world, gender equality is a necessity.

As the governing council of the Bahá’í international community states: “Only as women are welcomed into full partnership in all fields of human endeavour will the moral and psychological climate be created in which international peace can emerge”.

Education required for promoting peace must begin in the family, where children from the earliest age learn about the fundamental oneness of humanity and overcoming prejudices that divide us — whether based on race, nationality, religion, class or gender.

The concept of world citizenship, and love for humanity as a whole, can be integrated into our educational programmes, empowering our children to see beauty and harmony in diversity, and to become the promoters of global peace.

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Website: www.bahai.org