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"If love and agreement are manifest in a single family, that family will advance, become illumined and spiritual; but if enmity and hatred exist within it destruction and dispersion are inevitable.." ('Abdul-Baha) (76:1) Marriage and the family should provide an open home for the community, a haven and a place of love for all, including those who are deprived and lost. This is the outward-looking family giving every opportunity for the spiritual growth of its members, and of those who visit it. This is the family setting the example of how a community should be.. (76:2) So rewarding are the fruits of marriage for the individual and for society in general that Baha'u'llah said that all should marry if they are able and can find the right partner. He specifically deplored professional celibacy which, though never advocated by any of the great Educators (Prophets), has become nevertheless a tradition in many religions. (76:3) "...Seclude not yourselves in churches and cloisters: come forth by My leave and occupy yourselves with that which will profit your souls and the souls of men... Enter ye into wedlock, that some one may fill your place.." (Baha'u'llah)
(76:4)
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