u/Immortal_Scholar

Hello all, I have a curiosity that I'm sure doesn't have one singular simple answer, so I would really appreciate any help or input you have to offer. I think many of us as Bahá'ís have at one point or another thought about in what ways we should serve humanity best and what ways should be avoided. And when looking at what actions to avoid, we seek guidance from the Writings of the faith. Now I know that, regardless any good intentions, the faith doesn't view war and violence to be the answer to anything. So of course we can expect the surface-level answer that any civil war or revolutionary war would be somewhat frowned upon due to it being a war in the first place.

However, life is obviously more nuanced than that. While we may disagree with warfare, we can of course sympathize with those who are simply fighting back in order to save their lives from those who wish to take it. We may not have encouraged Bahá'ís to take up arms in WW2, but we can of course agree with the struggle to cease the cruel actions of the Nazi regime.

So my question is what is the view of the faith regarding periods in recent history (events during and after the life of Bahá'u'lláh) where citizens stood up against an oppressive force in efforts to demand justice and ensure the safety of their neighbors, such as the American Civil War, the Russian Revolution, India's fight for Independence, the Cuban Revolution, etc? We may have disagreements with specific extreme actions that were taken, but do we then disagree with the movements as a whole and that they shouldn't have happened? Or do we support the fight for justice and simply believe it can be accomplished through non-violent means as taught in the Bahá'í faith? And for those individuals who took partisan stances in these struggles, do we disagree with *all* forms of partisanahip in the struggle for justice, or do we simply hold that prohibition for Bahá'ís only since we're meant to be unifiers?

Thank you all. And Alláh'u-Abhá