On Existentialism: The Entire Universe Is Called Into Being

Today in a blog comment on another site I quoted the following from a paper on existentialism by Ian Kluge, a prolific Canadian writer whose various papers I find quite exhilerating. The conclusion to this work is extraordinary and has been excerpted previously. In this excerpt Kluge contrasts the views of atheist existentialist philosophers Sartre and Camus, whose pictures are below, with a perspective that can be obtained from a study of the writings of Baha'u'llah, the Lord of the Crimson Ark. The latter phrase which can be applied to Baha'u'llah served as the title for a book of poetry by Kluge.

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"