Not Debate, but Consultation: A Talk at the Hotel Plaza, Chicago
'Abdu'l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, (1922), Bahá'í Publishing Trust · Read original
When in Bahá'í history
Chicago (today: Chicago, Illinois, USA)
On the second of May, 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá arrived at the Hotel Plaza in Chicago and was received by a gathering of friends eager to hear Him speak about the Bahá’í teachings on consultation. He had observed parliamentary debate during His travels — the cut and thrust of it, the speeches scored as victories or losses — and He wished the believers to understand that what He was asking of them was something different in kind.
Consultation must have for its object the investigation of truth. He who expresses an opinion should not voice it as correct and right but set it forth as a contribution to the consensus of opinion.
He spoke of the disciples of Christ, who, after His ascension, gathered to take counsel together. They did not stand on personal attachments. Each member contributing thoughtfully and accepting superior ideas without ego, one disciple proposed total detachment from the world, another proposed that detachment should not exclude family responsibility.
All the disciples replied, "Surely we will — it is agreed; this is right."
That, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said, was consultation: not opinions clashing, but truth being approached from many sides. The members of a spiritual assembly must carefully consider the views already advanced by others before speaking. The aim is not to win but to discover. The atmosphere is love, and the standard is the unity of the body once the conversation is done.
He warned the friends that an assembly governed by debate would forever require an outside judge to settle its disputes; an assembly governed by consultation would settle them itself, for it would not have generated disputes in the first place.
The talk has been a touchstone of Bahá’í community life ever since: spiritual conference in the attitude and atmosphere of love.
Source: 'Abdu'l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, talk of May 2, 1912 at Hotel Plaza, Chicago. Public domain text from the Bahá'í Reference Library.
Cite this story
'Abdu'l-Bahá. (1922). *The Promulgation of Universal Peace*. Bahá'í Publishing Trust. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/
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