Elimination of Prejudice

1.  Prejudice - an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.  -Dictionary.com

 

 

3.  Compassion and tolerance are not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength.
- Dalai Lama

 

4.  All prejudices, whether of religion, race, politics or nation, must be renounced, for these prejudices have caused the world's sickness. It is a grave malady which, unless arrested, is capable of causing the destruction of the whole human race. Every ruinous war, with its terrible bloodshed and misery, has been caused by one or other of these prejudices. The deplorable wars going on in these days are caused by the fanatical religious hatred of one people for another, or the prejudices of race or colour. Until all these barriers erected by prejudice are swept away, it is not possible for humanity to be at peace.                                

 -Abdul-Baha, Paris Talks

 

5.  Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilised by education: they grow there, firm as weeds among stones.                                                                                                                                                                                                         Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

 

6.  If we were to wake up some morning and find that everyone was the same race, creed and color, we would find some other causes for prejudice by noon.                                         ~George Aiken

 

7.  Prejudice is the child of ignorance. 

 

8.  I used to think anyone doing anything weird was weird. Now I know that it is the people that call others weird that are weird.                                 -Paul McCartney

 

 

9.  It is easy to point out the mistakes of others, while it is hard to admit one´s own mistakes. A man broadcasts the sins of others without thinking, but he hides his own sins as a gambler hides his extra dice.
- Dalai Lama

 

10.  In fact, the suffering inflicted on Native and Black Americans has not remained confined to those two races, but has become part of the collective American pain-body.  It is always the case that both victim and perpetrator suffer the consequences of any acts of violence, oppression, or brutality.  For what you do to others, you do to yourself.                                         -Eckhart Tolle

 

11.  Who are we that we should judge? How shall we know who, in the sight of God, is the most upright man? God's thoughts are not like our thoughts! How many men who have seemed saint-like to their friends have fallen into the greatest humiliation. Think of Judas Iscariot; he began well, but remember his end! On the other hand, Paul, the Apostle, was in his early life an enemy of Christ, whilst later he became His most faithful servant. How then can we flatter ourselves and despise others? Let us therefore be humble, without prejudices, preferring others' good to our own! Let us never say, 'I am a believer but he is an infidel', 'I am near to God, whilst he is an outcast'. We can never know what will be the final judgment! Therefore let us help all who are in need of any kind of assistance.                                                                                                            - Abdul-Baha, Paris Talks

 

 

 

14.  O CHILDREN OF MEN!  Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created. Since We have created you all from one same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest. Such is My counsel to you, O concourse of light! Heed ye this counsel that ye may obtain the fruit of holiness from the tree of wondrous glory.                                                                                                                                            -Baha'u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words

(MUSIC)

 

15.  Concerning the prejudice of race: it is an illusion, a superstition pure and simple! For God created us all of one race. There were no differences in the beginning, for we are all descendants of Adam. In the beginning, also, there were no limits and boundaries between the different lands; no part of the earth belonged more to one people than to another. In the sight of God there is no difference between the various races. Why should man invent such a prejudice? How can we uphold war caused by an illusion?   God has not created men that they should destroy one another. All races, tribes, sects and classes share equally in the bounty of their Heavenly Father. The only real difference lies in the degree of faithfulness, of obedience to the laws of God. There are some who are as lighted torches; there are others who shine as stars in the sky of humanity. The lovers of mankind, these are the superior men, of whatever nation, creed or color they may be.       - Abdul-Baha, Paris Talks

 

16.  I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!                                                                                                                              -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

17.  Political prejudice is equally mischievous, it is one of the greatest causes of bitter strife amongst the children of men. There are people who find pleasure in breeding discord, who constantly endeavour to goad their country into making war upon other nations - and why? They think to advantage their own country to the detriment of all others.                                                                                                                                               - Abdul-Baha, Paris Talks

 

18.  The working of the material world is merely a reflection of spiritual conditions and until the spiritual conditions can be changed there can be no lasting change in material affairs.                                                                                                                                         – Universal House of Justice

 

19.  First one must change. I first watch myself, check myself, then expect changes from others.
- Dalai Lama

 

20.  The very diversity of the human race is, in fact, a means for creating a world based on unity rather than uniformity. It is not by the suppression of differences that we will arrive at unity, but rather by an increased awareness of and respect for the intrinsic value of each separate culture, and indeed, of each individual. It is not diversity itself which is the cause of conflict, but rather our immature attitude towards it, our intolerance and misconceptions of others.                                                                                                    -www.bahai.org

 

21.  My message is the practice of compassion, love and kindness. Compassion can be put into practice if one recognizes the fact that every human being is a member of humanity and the human family regardless of differences in religion, culture, color and creed. Deep down there is no difference.
- Dalai Lama

22.  The major stumbling block which stands in the way of universal tolerance in matters of religion is the fact that the religions of the world are generally viewed as entirely separate entities. They are identified by their differences, rather than by their similarities, and this inevitably means that they are seen as being in conflict with one another. In the Bahá'í view, there is no conflict at all between the different religions of the world, for religious truth is essentially one. It is the voice of one God speaking to one humanity.                    -Baha'i International Community, 1993 Feb 18, Eliminating Religious Intolerance)

 

23.  Of all the factors which give rise to human rights violations throughout the world, prejudice -- simple prejudice -- is surely one of the most pervasive. And prejudice  -- whether of race, religion, nationality or sex -- is notoriously difficult to eradicate simply because it has no basis in logic or reason. It cannot be legislated out of existence. Even though enlightened legislation may prevent the gross and overt victimization of individuals or groups, it has no power to remove the seeds of prejudice from men's hearts -- and as long as those seeds of prejudice exist, the danger also exists that, sooner or later, they will produce the poisonous fruits of intolerance, discrimination, and even persecution.                                                                                 -Baha’i International Community

 

24.  In the view of the Bahá'í International Community, the only sure means of eradicating prejudice is through education, for education dispels ignorance, and blind ignorance is at the root of all prejudice                                               -Statement to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, 1993

 

25.  A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

26.  All men are equal before the law, which must reign absolutely.                                                      -Abdul-Baha, Paris Talks

27.  All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.                                                    -United Nations: Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1

28.  'O Son of Spirit! The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbour. Ponder this in thy heart; how it behoveth thee to be. Verily justice is My gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness. Set it then before thine eyes.'                                                                              -Baha'u'llah

Nobody knows the exact figure because records were not kept, but it seems certain that during a three-hundred-year period between three and five million women were tortured and killed by the “Holy Inquisition,” an institution founded by the Roman Catholic Church to suppress heresy.