ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE AT THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHÁ’IS
ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE AT THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHÁ’IS OF DUBLIN CITY
I am delighted to have this opportunity to join with the Baha’i community in Dublin – and to celebrate with you the fiftieth anniversary of the founding in Dublin of the first local Spiritual Assembly in Ireland. It is indeed a great occasion for you - and all the more so now - coming at the beginning of “Rizvan” your most holy festival which started yesterday and which celebrates the anniversary of your founder, Bahá’u’lláh’s 1863 declaration - or “vision” - that he was the messenger of God who had been prophesied by Mirza ‘Ali Muhammad – himself founder of the Bábi faith in 1844.
In 1918, when George Townsend – the Church of Ireland clergyman - declared his belief in the Bahá’i faith – Ireland was a vastly different place than it is now. At the end of the First World War Ireland had a very strong Christian ethos – but with the different denominations keeping very much to themselves – it was before the turmoil of the Treaty and the Civil War and the deep religious divisions that ensued. It was essentially a rural society – a place where deviation from the norm would have met with a certain degree of suspicion and intolerance – it was the year in which Brindsley Macnamara’s novel “The valley of the squinting windows” was published and caused such a storm of controversy.
Since then the Baha’i religion has increased its following in Ireland – as it has done elsewhere throughout the world. Being a very new religion - it has attracted followers of other persuasions to its fold - and has become enriched in the process. From very small beginnings in Ireland there are over one thousand members of the community spread over some 40 localities around Ireland. Most people who know little of the faith and basis of the Bahá’i religion would have become aware of their plight in places where they are not welcome – and where they have been persecuted. Ireland has consistently sought to ensure that the difficulties encountered by Bahá’is are given full prominence at both the UN General Assembly and the UN Commission on Human Rights. I am aware that one of my predecessors Dr. Patrick Hillery in 1986 received the statement “The Promise of World Peace” – which was presented to many world leaders – and which set out the Bahá’I principles for the establishment of peace and prosperity – one of which was the eradication of prejudices based on race, creed, class or nationality.
At this time in Ireland - such a principle has a profound significance as we all hope and pray for the resolution of a conflict that has polarised communities – which has meant so much suffering and grief to so many – and which causes us all to look towards our own religious ethos – whatever that might be – to guide us to opening up our hearts and minds to others who hold different viewpoints and different beliefs. We must realise that the peace we strive for starts with the individual act of respect and generosity for the other.
In order to flourish, peace needs an environment in which there is respect at all levels for other people. Creating that environment means equipping people with the mindset to recognise and accommodate the ‘otherness’ of others. It involves an acceptance that we are all, to some extent, blinkered by perceptions, prejudices, beliefs - and sometimes, plain misinformation. The task is to condition minds and hearts – to move towards a generous, sharing Ireland that encompasses many traditions and cultures - that creates a space for all of its people - where the richness of diversity is not just a virtue, but a profound necessity.
A healthy society is one which celebrates diversity rather than suppresses it; where cultures, creeds and traditions draw on each other rather than try to bury each other. As we acknowledge this great reality of diversity, and demand our space it in – we also need to acknowledge in our deepest being, the right of all others to their space too. It behoves all of us to look at what we say – at what we practice – at what we profess. Surely the real place for all religions is as wagers of peace – of removers of barriers and divisions. Each of us on this island should look firstly to ourselves – and then to our religion – to see if change is required – and how we might make that change.
Time brings change with it. It stands to reason therefore, that we should be prepared to change in the light of new experiences and new thinking. As John Henry Newman said, “to live is to have changed, but to be perfect is to have changed often”. Part of our learning experience is the building up of a capacity to change – to reach out and co-operate with others - to take full advantage of opportunities offered – to make new friendships – and to establish new links. As we approach a new millennium – as we are on the brink of a new set of relationships between the people of these islands – it is timely for all of us to find a place in our hearts for others – for those with different views and opinions – for those whom we have been told are ‘not on our side’.
In fifty years time, when the Bahá’i community gather to celebrate the centenary of the founding of the first local Spiritual Assembly in Ireland, it will be a new millennium. My great hope is that discrimination and division - based on religious practice and belief – will be a thing of the past for all believers and all religions.