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Religion plays a
major role in any human conflict
“It is an undeniable fact that religious reforms have never been
accomplished successfully in Islam and therefore it remains as a
medieval religion. Unlike other religions, which have ‘theological
beliefs' and ‘sociological beliefs' as separate entities, Islam has
never learned to look at it differently. Thus, Islam remains a
fundamentalist religion, which denies integration with people of other
faiths. Through the ages, those who tried to reform or call for change
to orthodox Islam have been killed as heretics or infidels. Thus it is
felt that the sociological dictates of orthodox Islam, in many ways, are
still mired in medieval thinking and dogmatic backwardness and are
comparable to the days of pre-Reformation Christianity. Those were the
days of the Dark Ages.
It logically follows that it is the business of the modern world at
large to interpret, question, and challenge those fossilised aspects of
a religion that take a position concerning outsiders. If I am the
subject of some other religion's doctrine, and such a doctrine states
how I am to be treated as a kafir (unbeliever), what is to be done to
me, what I may or may not do freely, then, even though I am not a member
of that religion, it does matter to me and becomes my business to probe
these doctrines and even to demand a change as an outsider if abuse and
violence on my person and well-being is the outcome. On the other hand,
if a religion minds its own business, and has little to say pertaining
to me as an outsider, then I should respect its right to be left alone.
In other words, Islam's right to be left alone by outsiders or
unbelievers should be reciprocal and contingent upon its social and
moral responsibility to leave outsiders alone.
Thus, this special demand of ‘Islamic exclusivism' and imposition of
harsh Islamic laws and beliefs upon the public sphere is the root cause
of terrorism in our post-Sept 11 world. We are not interested to fight
their jihad wars but if they transgress beyond the limits of human
restraint, it is our duty to subdue them and change their religion for
them. It becomes our business to open their eyes and minds pointing out
for them the myths and lies of their religious dogmas. It is not
uncommon to note that wherever Muslims live, they start demanding
special status, privileges and treatment and a separate identity for
Muslims once their population in a given region crosses a threshold in
numbers or on achieving critical mass. It is this ‘external'
sociological issue of exclusivism that led the ‘threshold' numbers to
make assertive demands for self-determination and political secession.
If left unchecked, it would not be surprising if one day the United
States of America will have a similar experience and face similar
separatist demands from American Muslims in the next few decades. Thus,
the Kashmir problem is not merely a real-estate issue belonging to India
and Pakistan alone to solve, but a ‘religious' one belonging to the
entire world. It is a front-line ideological battle between modern-day
pluralism vs. Islamic medievalist exclusivism. In every country of the
world where Muslims form a sizeable proportion of their minority
population, religion is the root cause of their secessionist conflict -
in China, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Chechnya, to name
just a few.”
Marc Johan, December 10, 2002 at 02:09
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