The Bahá’í Writings contain references to the special place of America in the spiritual development of humankind. Valerie will be focusing on some of those Writings, including the letters to the Rulers of America and the Elected Representatives in Every Land in the Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh, the Spiritual Destiny of America and Some Answered Questions. She will then move forward in time through later works that reference Americans, such as The Priceless Pearl. Valerie will place these passages in historical context by examining prevailing views within the United States about American Indians during the time periods in which these Bahá’í passages were written. These prevailing American views were explicitly grounded in Christianity. A recurring thread that will run through Valerie’s analysis will be the pervasive influence of the Doctrine of Discovery (promulgated by Pope Alexander VI and explicitly relied upon within federal Indian law in the United States) and the 19th century doctrine of Manifest Destiny. She will bring that thread forward to the present-day, ending with an examination of the most recent letter written by the Universal House of Justice dated April 27, 2017 on social action, public discourse and non-involvement in political affairs.
