to
whatever will bring light to the world and will further those qualities
which are acceptable at the Holy Threshold of God.

See then how wide is the difference between material civilization and
divine. With force and punishments, material civilization seeketh to
restrain the people from mischief, from inflicting harm on society and
committing crimes. But in a divine civilization, the individual is so
conditioned that with no fear of punishment, he shunneth the perpetration
of crimes, seeth the crime itself as the severest of torments, and with
alacrity and joy, setteth himself to acquiring the virtues of humankind,
to furthering human progress, and to spreading light across the world.

("Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha", Sec. 105, pp. 132-33)
[38]

"39: Among the safeguards of the Holy Faith is the training of children,
and..."

Among the safeguards of the Holy Faith is the training of children, and
this is among the weightiest of principles in all the Divine Teachings.
Thus from the very beginning mothers must rear their infants in the cradle
of good morals--for it is the mothers who are the first educators--so that,
when the child cometh to maturity, he will prove to be endowed with all
the virtues and qualities that are worthy of praise.

And further, according to the Divine commandments, every child must learn
reading and writing, and acquire such branches of knowledge as are useful
and necessary, as well as learning an art or skill. The utmost care must
be devoted to these matters; any neglect of them, any failure to act on
them, is not permissible.

Observe how many penal institutions, houses of detention and places of
torture are made ready to receive the sons of men, the purpose being to
prevent them, by punitive measures, from committing terrible
crimes--whereas this very torment and punishment only increaseth depravity,
and by such means the desired aim cannot be properly achieved.

Therefore must the individual be trained from his infancy in such a way
that he will never undertake to commit a crime, will, rather, direct all
his energies to the acquisition of excellence, and will look upon the very
commission of an evil deed as in itself the harshest of all punishments,
considering the sinful act itself to be far more grievous than any prison
sentence. For it is possible so to train the individual that, although
crime may not be completely done away with, still it will become ve