Dealing with disagreements and differences in belief

Having understood the Baha'i concept of the oneness of religion, let's now see what all this means in practice, because clearly as we see today, the disagreements people have are indeed very real – and these differing viewpoints are often essential to people’s beliefs and identities. Now to understand how to deal with this, I propose that we think of two criteria – agreement, and truth. Based on this, we can categorize all the things people believe into one of three categories:

1. People agree about something that is either true/false – This case is easy to understand. The former includes statements like “The earth revolves around the sun”, which we all agree on and are also true. The latter includes statements like “The sun revolves around the earth” 5000 years ago – at that time, everyone believed this, but it was later shown to be false.
2. People disagree, and some of them are right, some are wrong – An example of this situation would be the alarmingly large number of literalists who claim the Earth was created 6000 years ago, in 7 days, and deny evolution; or those who believe that the fundamental purpose of their religion is to kill those who are disbelievers. Clearly these are situations where people disagree, and one side is wrong and another right. A lot of these cases are represented by the extremes in any religious system/sect.
3. People disagree, and they are all right from their own perspective – This is where the hard part comes – a large proportion of what people believe, claims the Baha’i Faith, fall in this category. And understanding this might be the most challenging task of all. Reality in general is so multi-dimensional and complex that no single human being has the faintest hope of understanding it perfectly. We are all within our own Platonic caves, grasping at shadows. The picture is akin to the famous story of the blind men and the elephant, where each person touches a different part of the elephant and draws a different conclusion about what an elephant is – so the one who touches the trunk thinks it’s a snake, the one who touches its leg thinks it’s a tree, etc. One of the pre-eminent Baha’i scholars, Paul Lample, puts this extremely well in one of his books:

Although the statement, "if I believe something to be right, then he whose opinions differ from mine must be wrong" passes the tests of formal logic, and although it is applicable in countless situations, its usefulness vanishes once the object of discussion becomes relatively complex. It is not that "A" and "not A" can both be true, but that the vastness of truth does not allow most matters of belief, if there is any depth to them at all, to be reduced to such comparisons. The only options this simplistic posture finally leaves open are either religious and ideological fanaticism or the brand of relativism that does away with faith, embraces skepticism, and idolizes doubt.
-- Paul Lample, Revelation and Social Reality

The Baha’i teachings therefore urge one to make efforts to figure out which of the above categories people’s beliefs fall into, and tread extremely carefully when it comes to cases where people disagree, for a vast majority of differences arise from the different points of view people have, and our inherent subjectivity in viewing objective reality.

It is clear that the reality of mankind is diverse, that opinions are various and sentiments different; and this difference of opinions, of thoughts, of intelligence, of sentiments among the human species arises from essential necessity; for the differences in the degrees of existence of creatures is one of the necessities of existence, which unfolds itself in infinite forms.
-- Abdu’l Baha

Diversity of opinion, therefore, is a natural part of existence, and the Baha’i Faith in no way attempts to achieve uniformity of thought and opinion. Rather, there is a strong appreciation of the value of unity in diversity. Therefore what is desired is really the preservation of the richness and texture of human diversity within the umbrella of conviction in the oneness of the essence of humanity. What is called for, in the words of Shoghi Effendi, is a “wider loyalty”, and the development of a self-identity that is first founded on one’s humanity, and then on one’s nationality, religious affiliation, gender, etc. What we should all seek, therefore, is harmony, not uniformity. And this can only be achieved if we always understand that our opinions should be subservient to the truth – so if we realize the truth in a situation, we should be willing to let go of any opinions that go contrary to that truth. This will help, over time, eliminate situations that fall in category 2, and help us live largely in categories 1 and 3.

Consider the flowers of a garden. Though differing in kind, color, form and shape, yet, inasmuch as they are refreshed by the waters of one spring, revived by the breath of one wind, invigorated by the rays of one sun, this diversity increaseth their charm and addeth unto their beauty. How unpleasing to the eye if all the flowers and plants, the leaves and blossoms, the fruit, the branches and the trees of that garden were all of the same shape and color! Diversity of hues, form and shape enricheth and adorneth the garden, and heighteneth the effect thereof. In like manner, when divers shades of thought, temperament and character, are brought together under the power and influence of one central agency, the beauty and glory of human perfection will be revealed and made manifest. Naught but the celestial potency of the Word of God, which ruleth and transcendeth the realities of all things, is capable of harmonizing the divergent thoughts, sentiments, ideas and convictions of the children of men.
-- Abdu’l Baha