Some of the chief dark forces of our time described by Mr. Hooper Dunbar are listed below:
The force of Irreligion:
“A primary force of darkness is irreligion. It ribs us of our understanding of the very purpose of life. It gives rise to materialism. It closes the door to the sources of power and well-being for humanity. Irreligion and materialism promote other dark forces. Whenever people lose their authentic religious foundation, their spiritual fibre, there is little left but the physical shell of their beings, their animal selves. Their whole focus becomes the outer, ephemeral benefits of life and how to acquire them: they lose sight of their innate nobility and the heights of spiritual development to which human beings can aspire. This turning away from the higher nature and towards the lower nature spurs the growth of forces of darkness.
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“It is important to make a distinction between true religion, a living force that connects human with God while bringing light and unity into the world, and what is often taken for religion, consisting mainly of form and ceremony, with much of the original teaching having become misunderstood or lost sight of. This state of affairs has come about in the winter of each cycle of religious renewal. Fanaticism, superstition, priestcraft, orthodoxy, narrowness and sectarian tendencies of whatever denomination are all forces of darkness that have long since lost connection with the spirit of the divine Messengers whom they claim to represent.”
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"This is not to say there are no good intentions remaining among the followers of past religions, There appears to be many sincere people in groups of all kinds, both religious and secular; however ‘Abdu'l-Bahá explains that in order to produce the desired result, sincere intention needs to be accompanied by volition and action, as well as requisite knowledge. When the aim is to change attitudes and human behavior, good intentions need to be supported by clear understanding and connected to a powerful source of dynamic energy capable of generating both volition and action. The Word of God, always divinely tailored for the needs of humankind at its current stage of development, provides that unique motive energy.”
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“Irreligion comes in variety of forms, one of which has been termed functional atheism. We see a lot of this in the world today. A person may think that God exists but believe that human nature, economic forces or political traditions are the reason that things are, inevitably, the way they are. Generations of people have, understandably, failed to find much relevance to what passes under the name of religion, have come to consider it as a spent force and have basically adopted a secular, atheistic view of reality. Their whole tendency is not to believe, or to see God as pertinent only to the individual and not to society as a whole.”
Mr. Dunbar then concluded that “irreligion, secularism and the belief that political or economic forces alone animate humanity are spiritual illnesses. They act as veils or clouds, hindering and delaying the influence and action of the divine spirit of Bahá'u'lláh in human affairs.”
to be continued...
The force of Irreligion:
“A primary force of darkness is irreligion. It ribs us of our understanding of the very purpose of life. It gives rise to materialism. It closes the door to the sources of power and well-being for humanity. Irreligion and materialism promote other dark forces. Whenever people lose their authentic religious foundation, their spiritual fibre, there is little left but the physical shell of their beings, their animal selves. Their whole focus becomes the outer, ephemeral benefits of life and how to acquire them: they lose sight of their innate nobility and the heights of spiritual development to which human beings can aspire. This turning away from the higher nature and towards the lower nature spurs the growth of forces of darkness.
...
“It is important to make a distinction between true religion, a living force that connects human with God while bringing light and unity into the world, and what is often taken for religion, consisting mainly of form and ceremony, with much of the original teaching having become misunderstood or lost sight of. This state of affairs has come about in the winter of each cycle of religious renewal. Fanaticism, superstition, priestcraft, orthodoxy, narrowness and sectarian tendencies of whatever denomination are all forces of darkness that have long since lost connection with the spirit of the divine Messengers whom they claim to represent.”
…
"This is not to say there are no good intentions remaining among the followers of past religions, There appears to be many sincere people in groups of all kinds, both religious and secular; however ‘Abdu'l-Bahá explains that in order to produce the desired result, sincere intention needs to be accompanied by volition and action, as well as requisite knowledge. When the aim is to change attitudes and human behavior, good intentions need to be supported by clear understanding and connected to a powerful source of dynamic energy capable of generating both volition and action. The Word of God, always divinely tailored for the needs of humankind at its current stage of development, provides that unique motive energy.”
…
“Irreligion comes in variety of forms, one of which has been termed functional atheism. We see a lot of this in the world today. A person may think that God exists but believe that human nature, economic forces or political traditions are the reason that things are, inevitably, the way they are. Generations of people have, understandably, failed to find much relevance to what passes under the name of religion, have come to consider it as a spent force and have basically adopted a secular, atheistic view of reality. Their whole tendency is not to believe, or to see God as pertinent only to the individual and not to society as a whole.”
Mr. Dunbar then concluded that “irreligion, secularism and the belief that political or economic forces alone animate humanity are spiritual illnesses. They act as veils or clouds, hindering and delaying the influence and action of the divine spirit of Bahá'u'lláh in human affairs.”
to be continued...
