uch an
obligation, to which the special circumstances resulting from an excessive
and enervating materialism now prevailing in their country lend particular
significance, they must play a conspicuous and predominant role. All of
them, be they men or women, must, at this threatening hour when the lights
of religion are fading out, and its restraints are one by one being
abolished, pause to examine themselves, scrutinize their conduct, and with
characteristic resolution arise to purge the life of their community of
every trace of moral laxity that might stain the name, or impair the
integrity, of so holy and precious a Faith.

A chaste and holy life must be made the controlling principle in the
behavior and conduct of all Baha'is, both in their social relations with
the members of their own community, and in their contact with the world at
large. It must adorn and reinforce the ceaseless labors and meritorious
exertions of those whose enviable position is to propagate the Message,
and to administer the affairs, of the Faith of Baha'u'llah. It must be
upheld, in all its integrity and implications, in every phase of the life
of those who fill the ranks of that Faith, whether in their homes, their
travels, their clubs, their societies, their entertainments, their
schools, and their universities. It must be accorded special consideration
in the conduct of the social activities of every Baha'i summer school and
any other occasions on which Baha'i community life is organized and
fostered. It must be closely and continually identified with the mission
of the Baha'i youth, both as an element in the life of the Baha'i
community, and as a factor in the future progress and orientation of the
youth of their own country.

Such a chaste and holy life, with its implications of modesty, purity,
temperance, decency, and clean-mindedness, involves no less than the
exercise of moderation in all that pertains to dress, language,
amusements, and all artistic and literary avocations. It demands daily
vigilance in the control of one's carnal desires and corrupt inclinations.
It calls for the abandonment of a frivolous conduct, with its excessive
attachment to trivial and often misdirected pleasures. It requires total
abstinence from all alcoholic drinks, from opium, and from similar
habit-forming drugs. It condemns the prostitution of art and of
literature, the practices of nudism and of companionate marriage,
infidelity in marital relationshi