On Existentialism: The Entire Universe Is Called Into Being

Rather than seeing humankind as ‘thrown’ into existence, a view that in the case of Sartre and Camus, leads to the judgment that existence is somehow absurd and inherently meaningless, the Bahá’í Writings view man and indeed, the entire universe as called into being. The view that we are ‘thrown’ into existence is a consequence of failing to take into account the fact that the universe and all its inhabitants are the creations of a supreme Being who called everything into being for a particular purpose in the evolutionary world process. We only feel ‘thrown’ when [we] foreshorten our vision and ignore the existence of God. Whereas ‘thrown’ connotes a disorderly, haphazard, undignified and even violent arrival which might easily lead to sense of worthlessness, carelessness and despair, being called suggests that each thing is wanted, has a place and a task, is invested with the natural dignity and possesses inherent value.

Ian Kluge, “The Call into Being: Introduction to a Bahá’í Existentialism”