From Stella Assange:

Merry Christmas to everyone from Julian, Stella, and our kids, Gabriel and Max. May the new year bring a steadfast push for peace and dignity for all!

 

Haifa, Israel, at Christmas time. This picture is taken from Ben Gurion Avenue at the base of the Baháʼí Terraces on Mount Carmel with the Shrine of the Báb at the top with a Jewish Menorah, a Muslim Crescent and a Christmas tree at the bottom. Four Abrahamic religions represented at one time.

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'When Christ appeared, the Jews pronounced Him an enemy of Moses. Pharisaical rabbis of that age declared Him to be the destroyer of the Mosaic law and the institutes of the Torah. They proclaimed that He would bring great misfortune to the people of Israel, considering Him the violator of the holy Sabbath and destroyer of the Temple of Solomon. Therefore, they turned away from Him. Let us investigate this and discover whether such accusations were true or false. We will find that in reality Christ caused the name and prestige of Moses to become widespread. Through His efforts and teaching the Book of Moses, the Bible, became known everywhere. In fifteen hundred years there had been but one translation of the Old Testament, the Torah, which translation was made from Hebrew into Greek. But through the instrumentality of Christ’s message and teachings it was translated into six hundred tongues and spread to every part of the world. All the kings and prophets of Israel were unable to promulgate the teachings of Judaism and the name of Moses beyond the borders of Palestine, whereas through Christ Judaism became an established religion in Asia, Africa, Europe and the world generally. Through the message of Christ, Moses was everywhere proclaimed a Prophet of God and His Book the Book of God. Shall we consider this Personage an enemy or a friend of Moses?'

'Abdu'l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace

 

Custom 1953 Plymouth Suburban

Credit: Gagik Hovhannisyan

 

Women in Bar, Pablo Picasso 1902

 

"The unity of the human race, as envisaged by Bahá’u’lláh, implies the establishment of a world commonwealth in which all nations, races, creeds and classes are closely and permanently united, and in which the autonomy of its state members and the personal freedom and initiative of the individuals that compose them are definitely and completely safeguarded."

Facilitating this inevitable recognition of the unity of mankind, "A mechanism of world inter-communication will be devised, embracing the whole planet, freed from national hindrances and restrictions, and functioning with marvelous swiftness and perfect regularity."— Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha’u’llah, 1936