CHAPTER 4, THE PURPOSE OF LIFE IN THE FAMILY AND IN SOCIETY
UNITY AND COMMUNITY
Individuals and families function within the context of a
community, which in turn functions within a larger society, nation, and
world. The individual's and family's well-being is bound up with the
community's well-being, and likewise its well-being is inseparable from
the peace and prosperity of the society, the nation, and ultimately, the
world. Religious precepts undergird community by teaching the virtues
of cooperation, friendship, justice, and public-mindedness. These
create the spirit of unity by which community can thrive and prosper.
This section deals specifically with the theme of unity. The
opening texts indicate that unity is first of all a gift of grace--a
manifestation of the oneness of Ultimate Reality--reconciling those who
would otherwise be enemies. The passages that follow call for unity
among all members of the community--even to the unity of all
humanity--and condemn divisions. The section concludes with passages
which use the metaphors of a building and of the human body to depict
the varieties of tasks and social roles which should mutually support
each other to build a united community.
Israel's reconciliation with God can be achieved only when they are all
one brotherhood.
1.
Judaism. Talmud, Menahot 27a
The believers indeed are brothers; so set things right between your two
brothers, and fear God; haply so you will find mercy.
2.
Islam. Qur'an 49.10
3. Happy is the unity of the Sangha.
Happy is the discipline of the united ones.
3.
Buddhism. Dhammapada 194
4. I do not pray for these [my disciples] only, but also for those who
believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as
thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so
that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
4.
Christianity. Bible, John 17.20-21
Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they
ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or
three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
5.
Christianity. Bible, Matthew 18.19-20
If two sit together and the words between them are of Torah, then the
Shechinah is in their midst.
6.
Judaism. Mishnah, Abot 3.2
And when a company meets together in one of the houses of God to pore
over the Book of God and to study it together among themselves, the
Shechinah comes down to them and mercy overshadows them, the angels
surround them, and God remembers them among them that are His.
7.
Islam. Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 36
Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity!
It is like the precious oil upon the head,
running down upon the beard,
upon the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his robes!
It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
life for evermore.
8.
Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Psalm 133
Hold fast, all together, to God's rope, and be not divided among
yourselves. Remember with gratitude God's favor on you, for you were
enemies and He joined your hearts in love, so that by His grace you
became brethren. You were on the brink of the fiery Pit, and He saved
you from it. Thus does God make His signs clear to you, that you may be
guided.
Let there arise out of you one community, inviting to all that is good,
enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong: those will be
prosperous. Be not be like those who are divided amongst themselves and
fall into disputations after receiving clear signs: for them is a
dreadful penalty. 9.
Islam. Qur'an 3.103-5
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John 17.20-21: This is Jesus' prayer for the church to be united, as a
testimony to the world of God's presence in him. Cf. 1 John 4.12-13, p.
237; Pesikta Rab Kahana, p. 286. Matthew 18.19-20: Compare Qur'an 58.7,
p. 110, where the same image is used to describe God's omniscience, a
third party to every secret consultation. Psalm 133: Cf. Pearl of Great
Price, Moses 7.18, p. 287.
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It is because one antelope will blow the dust from the other's eye that
two antelopes walk together.
10.
African Traditional Religions. Akan Proverb (Ghana)
Meet together, speak together,
let your minds be of one accord,
as the Gods of old, being of one mind,
accepted their share of the sacrifice.
May your counsel be common, your assembly common,
common the mind, and the thoughts of these united.
A common purpose do I lay before you,
and worship with your common oblation.
Let your aims be common,
and your hearts of one accord,
and all of you be of one mind,
so you may live well together. 11.
Hinduism. Rig Veda 10.191.2-4
Abruptly he [King Hsiang] asked me, "Through what can the Empire be
settled?"
"Through unity," I said.
"Who can unite it?"
"One who is not fond of killing can unite it," I said.
13.
Confucianism. Mencius I.A.6
Let us have concord with our own people,
and concord with people who are strangers to us;
The Divine Twins create between us and the strangers
a unity of hearts.
May we unite in our minds, unite in our purposes,
and not fight against the divine spirit within us.
Let not the battle-cry arise amidst many slain,
nor the arrows of the War-god fall with the break of day. 14.
Hinduism. Atharva Veda 7.52.1-2
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Qur'an 3.103-05: God is one unity, and humankind should similarly be
united; this reconciliation comes through submission to God. The unity
of God, the unity of spirit and body within the individual, the unity of
society, and the ideal unity of all reality (cf. Qur'an 2.115, p. 109),
are encompassed in the Islamic concept of tawhid. Akan Proverb: Doing
good to each other is the basis of societal unity. Rig Veda 10.191.2-4:
Cf. Atharva Veda 3.30, pp. 255f.
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My children, war, fear, and disunity have brought you from your
villages to this sacred council fire. Facing a common danger, and
fearing for the lives of your families, you have yet drifted apart, each
tribe thinking and acting only for itself. Remember how I took you from
one small band and nursed you into many nations. You must reunite now
and act as one. No tribe alone can withstand our savage enemies, who
care nothing about the eternal law, who sweep upon us like the storms of
winter, spreading death and destruction everywhere.
My children, listen well. Remember that you are brothers, that
the downfall of one means the downfall of all. You must have one fire,
one pipe, one war club. 15.
Native American Religions. Hiawatha (Iroquois)
Separate not yourself from the community.
16.
Judaism. Mishnah, Abot 2.4
Maintain religion, and do not stir up any divisions within it.
17.
Islam. Qur'an 42.13
Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house
divided against itself will stand.
18.
Christianity. Bible, Matthew 12.25
One thing, when it comes to pass, does so to the loss, to the
unhappiness of many folk... to the misery of the gods and humankind.
What is that one thing? Schism in the order of monks. When the order is
broken there are mutual quarrels, mutual abuse, mutual exclusiveness,
and mutual betrayals. Thereupon those who are at variance are not
reconciled, and between some of those who were at one there arises some
difference.
19.
Buddhism. Itivuttaka 11
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Atharva Veda 7.52.1-2: The Asvins, or divine Twins, symbolize perfect
unity of two. Cf. Rig Veda 2.39. Hiawatha: Hiawatha (Tekanawita, c.
1450), the legendary chief of the Onondaga tribe, unified the Five
Nations of the Iroquois. The Iroquois League became the most prosperous
and powerful of the Native American nations in what is now the eastern
United States. Qur'an 42.13: Cf. Qur'an 30.31-32, p. 448. Matthew
12.25: Hence for the sake of unity, members who are immoral and
rebellious may be expelled; see 1 Corinthians 5.9-13, p. 963. Itivuttaka
11: See Udana 55, p. 964, and Vinaya Pitaka 2.184-98, pp. 448f., the
story of the schismatic Devadatta. To make a schism in the sangha is
regarded as one of the Five Deadly Sins--see p. 185n.
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Let all mankind be thy sect.
20.
Sikhism. Adi Granth, Japuji 28, M.1, p. 6
Consider the family of humankind one.
21.
Jainism. Jinasena, Adipurana
My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
22.
Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Isaiah 56.7
All ye under the heaven! Regard heaven as your father, earth as your
mother, and all things as your brothers and sisters.
23.
Shinto. Oracle of the Kami of Atsuta
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is
neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
24.
Christianity. Bible, Galatians 3.28
O contending peoples and kindreds of the earth! Set your faces towards
unity, and let the radiance of its light shine upon you. Gather ye
together, and for the sake of God resolve to root out whatever is the
source of contention among you. Then will the effulgence of the world's
great Luminary envelop the whole earth, and its inhabitants become the
citizens of one city, and the occupants of one and the same throne.
25.
Baha'i Faith. Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah 111
To accomplish the gigantic historical task [of unification], you must
discover the extraordinary power of love, love that does not become the
circumstantial victim of society. Supreme love transcends every
national, racial, and cultural barrier. People have always talked about
love, but human love alone will never accomplish the task of universal
unification. Therefore, we rally around one love--the love and heart of
God.... The East and West are meeting here today, not merely because we
want to see each other for personal reasons, but because the heart of
God is linking us into one.
26.
Unification Church. Sun Myung Moon, 9-11-77
The pebbles are the strength of the wall.
27.
African Traditional Religions. Buji Proverb (Nigeria)
Abu Musa reported the Prophet as saying, "Believers are to one another
like a building whose parts support one another." He then interlaced
his fingers.
28.
Islam. Hadith of Bukhari and Muslim
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Oracle of the Kami of Atsuta: This notion that people are tied together
with the kami and things of nature in one universal family builds a
sense of community and respect for nature. Atsuta is a shrine in
Nayoya. Galatians 3.28: Cf. Ephesians 2.14, p. 555. Gleanings from the
Writings of Baha'u'llah 111: Cf. Gleanings 115, p. 515. Sun Myung Moon,
9-11-77: Cf. Sun Myung Moon, 10-20-73, p. 145; Wadhans, M.1, p. 239;
Ephesians 2:14, p. 555.
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Beware lest the desires of the flesh and of a corrupt inclination
provoke divisions among you. Be ye as the fingers of one hand, the
members of one body. Thus counsels you the Pen of Revelation, if ye be
of them that believe.
29.
Baha'i Faith. Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah 72
When one finger is sore you do not cut it off.
30.
African Traditional Religions. Njak Proverb (Nigeria)
When they divided the Supreme Being,
how many portions did they make?
What did they call his mouth? What his arms?
and what his thighs and his feet?
The Brahmin was his mouth, and
his arms were made the Kshatriya,
his thighs became the Vaisya, and
from his feet was the Sudra born. 31.
Hinduism. Rig Veda 10.90.11-12
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Njak Proverb: Dependent, unsuccessful relatives and friends are still
part of the community to be protected. Cf. Mencius IV.B.7, p. 979;
Romans 15.1-3, p. 979. Rig Veda 10.90.11-12: This famous passage is the
chief Vedic foundation for the caste system. It sanctions the
distinctions between castes as having originated with the creation
itself. Hence a person's caste, being defined by birth, is immutable.
Some contemporary Hindu thinkers would prefer to interpret this passage
to establish only a functional differentiation of social roles (as in 1
Corinthians 12, below). In that case, the various roles could be filled
by people regardless of their birth or parentage. More of this hymn is
found on pp. 868f.
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Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members
of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For by
one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or
free--and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the
foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,"
that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear
should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that
would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were
an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole body were an ear,
where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the organs
in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single organ,
where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
They eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the
head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, the parts
of the body which seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those parts
of the body which we think less honorable we invest with the greater
honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty,
which are more presentable parts do not require. But God has so
adjusted the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior part, that
there may be no discord in the body, but that the members may have the
same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together;
if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of
Christ and individually members of it. 32.
Christianity. Bible, 1 Corinthians 12.12-27
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1 Corinthians 12.12-27: Cf. Ephesians 2.19-22, p. 286.
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