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Shortly before His ascension in 1892, Baha'u'llah warned that the arms race, if not halted, could lead to 'strange and astonishing' weapons of unthinkable horror: 'These things are capable of changing the whole atmosphere of the earth and their contamination would prove lethal.' These measured words must have sounded, to His generation, like the ravings of a madman. 'Abdul- Baha in 1911 advised a Japanese diplomat to pray that this 'stupendous force, as yet, happily, undiscovered by man... be not discovered until spiritual civilization shall dominate the human mind'. In the hands of unredeemed men, He added, 'this power would be able to destroy the whole earth'. The 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki announced to the world that Baha'u'llah and His successor knew whereof they spoke. (208:4) ..Baha'u'llah noted the rush by Western civilization to develop ever more deadly weapons of war. Explaining the urgency of His call for world peace, He declared: Strange and astonishing things exist in the earth but they are hidden from the minds and the understanding of men. These things are capable of changing the whole atmosphere of the earth and their contamination would prove lethal (TBH 69). (208:5) ..The reality of such a power was again affirmed in 1911 by 'Abdul- Baha: There is in existence a stupendous force, as yet, happily, undiscovered by man. Let us supplicate God, the Beloved, that this force be not discovered by science until spiritual civilization shall dominate the human mind. In the hands of men of lower material nature, this power would be able to destroy the whole earth (CH 184).
(209:2)
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