The Golden Rule, a foundation and framework for a principle of justice that is universally shared, expresses the deepest aspirations of humanity: “the sum of all righteousness” in the Hindu tradition; “the whole of the Torah” in the Jewish faith; “the sum total of all righteousness” in the Buddhist tradition; “the one principle upon which one’s whole life may proceed” in the Confucian tradition; “the law” in Christianity; and, “the noblest expression of religion” in the Muslim tradition.

But it is not specifically identified as the foundation for a principle of justice until Baha’u’llah’s Revelation, in the mid-nineteenth century. Has justice evolved over the centuries, keeping up with changing times?

All indications are that our understanding of justice evolves as social interactions become more complex, as well as through the release of spiritual energies in each age. The Golden Rule is now the basis for a system of global justice.

Justice, the sign of compassion in action in the world, finds its fulfillment in a standard of unconditional love. This is the one means capable of creating global harmony. A universal system of global justice—a standard of equity and fairness implying no preferential treatment and ultimate regard for the welfare of humanity as a single community—is a prerequisite for the realization of the promise of world peace.

Justice, too, has its own evolutionary path, or developmental stages. A few millennia of societies characterized by limited, inequitable, and incomplete justice systems have given way to an age of social justice on the largest scale possible. Following universal human rights, it is no longer acceptable not to have an inclusive, equitable global system of justice.

What was seen as justice, or even a “right,” in 1790 may not be appropriate today. We have made great strides toward cultural and social equity; yet we still have quite a ways to go in achieving universal human rights in all aspects of life.

With each domain of human rights achieving an equitable stature in society, another domain rises to the surface. Economic justice, in the form of the Occupy Movement, has become the much-needed social rallying cry of the 2nddecade of the 21stcentury, thrusting the spiritual principle of the elimination of extremes of poverty and wealth to the forefront of all injustices facing humanity.

Poverty is now understood as but one symptom of an out-of-balance, unjust system of social and economic relationships that promote the interests of a few over the many. Remedies to this social ill must address the harmful “values” at the center of those attitudes, behaviors, and decisions that contribute to economic injustices.

Global poverty, and its related problems, like AIDS, have become recognized for what they are: everyone’s concern everywhere in the world, as musician and social activist Bono emphasized in his 2005 TED talk: “This is about justice… The fact that ours is the first generation that can look disease and extreme poverty in the eye, look across the ocean to Africa, and say this, and mean it, ‘We do not have to stand for this. A whole continent written off—We don’t have to stand for this.’”