Just look at the mass delusion of religion, its the embarrassing dark age fiction through which people put faith in and justify their actions. As cognitive and behavioral imperative, religion was born to understand the phenomenon of the nature. It was built around the primitive knowledge and has intermixed the myths and facts with the deep human experiences. With the more and more use of logic in the ours quest for explaining nature, we observe religion on a hundred fronts losing the argument with science. Also, a class of people have became priestly clan in the religious camps and grow on the basis of collective fear and paranoia of masses. Thus, religion became authorizing in its claim of knowledge and truth, and there starts its fall.
What can be canceled, logically, must have once had value. And thus there can be reforms with new generation as new logic will emerge on the basis of time and new human experiences. That's why fraudulent practices or wrong theories are corrected in science through scrutiny with the time. When the religions are aware of the limits of their claim to the truth, when they allow doubt, the chance of reforms develop from inside.
Religion does not grow in the ideology that continuously goes through scrutiny of several groups and individuals. Any ideological bias can be extreme but they are backing it with the reason. Logic is there in the development of all these ideology. What mankind often does with religion is often more self-serving and abominable as they are mere unproven beliefs. They are treated as factual by many religions and the extremes to which some followers have taken them. Religion takes the path of extremism without any basis of reason.
Nadeem F Paracha summarized about Extremism extremely well : Extremism is nobody’s friend. It only deals in might gained from coercion. It does not rest after it has defeated its ideological opponents because then it goes on to destroy even those supporters whom it deems too soft or moderate.
Perhaps the world can come to realise that the real war is between those who believe in the ultimate sanctity and value of a human life and those who do not. If you are not willing to seriously investigate your faith and ask questions then you are at the mercy of others who will define it for you. Isn't searching for truth personally better than bracing false hopes in existing answers ? Science, constructive doubt and investigation are the tools while faith is positive suspension of critical thinking.
I will produce here a thought about Dharma perceived by Buddhist monk : Excessive faith without sufficient wisdom leads to the blind faith, while excessive wisdom without sufficient faith leads to undesirable cunning. Too much energy combined with weak concentration leads to restlessness while strong concentration without sufficient energy leads to indolence. But as for Mindfulness (sati), one can never have too much of it, it is never in excess but always in deficiency. We need to cultivate Mindfulness.
Showing posts with label Religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Religion. Show all posts
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Reforming the Hindus -1
In Indian society one is surrounded by false values right from birth irrespective of religious background. Rare People try to change the notion of modernism and put reforms in this plural democratic nation. Today, the language of secularism and equality is different from ground realities.
Despite faith based flaws of Abhrahmic religion, it considers all humans equal. While Hindu considers and see people in hierarchical manner. Leave this old theoretical aspect of religion and culture aside. Look into Hindu Law (not obsolete and biased Manu Smriti) through insight of an excellent article of Ramchandra Guha :
Those who want to explore the details of these changes are directed to Mulla's massive Principles of Hindu Law (now in its 18th edition), or to the works of the leading authority on the subject, Professor J.D.M. Derrett. For our purposes, it is enough to summarise the major changes as follows; (1) For the first time, the widow and daughter were awarded the same share of property as the son; (2) for the first time, women were allowed to divorce a cruel or negligent husband; (3) for the first time, the husband was prohibited from taking a second wife; (4) for the first time, a man and woman of different castes could be married under Hindu law; (5) for the first time, a Hindu couple could adopt a child of a different caste.
BJP is termed as Brahmin Bania party in public and it has gained popularity with economic reforms and growing Hindu nationalism. It always jumps on proving the role of Hindus as reform supporting and secular. That is indeed true but not because of them for sure. Now, our RSS and BJP supporter guys should be asking for the constructive role of their party in the Hindu law reforms. I will tell that also ( same source as before) :
In the vanguard of the opposition was the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). In a single year, 1949, the RSS organised as many as 79 meetings in Delhi where effigies of Nehru and Ambedkar were burnt, and where the new Bill was denounced as an attack on Hindu culture and tradition.
A major leader of the movement against the new Bill was a certain Swami Karpatri. In speeches in Delhi and elsewhere, he challenged Ambedkar to a public debate on the new Code. To the Law Minister's claim that the Shastras did not really favour polygamy, Swami Karpatri quoted Yagnavalkya: "If the wife is a habitual drunkard, a confirmed invalid, a cunning, a barren or a spendthrift woman, if she is bitter-tongued, if she has got only daughters and no son, if she hates her husband, (then) the husband can marry a second wife even while the first is living." The Swami supplied the precise citation for this injunction: the third verse of the third chapter of the third section of Yagnavalkya's Smriti on marriage. He did not however tell us whether the injunction also allowed the wife to take another husband if the existing one was a drunkard, bitter-tongued, a spendthrift, etc.
Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and B.R. Ambedkar are the reformers who pushed the limits of high caste and class oriented Hindus towards reforms. There was opposition from upper caste leaders of congress but that were brushed aside by charismatic and soft dictatorial nature of Jawaharlal Nehru. Again quoting the same article:
These three great reformers were Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and B.R. Ambedkar. Gandhi and Nehru, working together, helped Hindus make their peace with modern ideas of democracy and secularism. Gandhi and Ambedkar, working by contrasting methods and in opposition to one another, made Hindus recognise the evils and horrors of the system of untouchability. Nehru and Ambedkar, working sometimes together, sometimes separately, forced Hindus to grant, in law if not always in practice, equal rights to their women.
I will like to express one more blow on the defenders of new Hindutva forces. Like any other religion, they also shed their brains in the matter of faith (as defenders of Islamic forces shouted on the ban of the veil in France). Around 1987, BJP insisted, that if a widow volunteers to burn herself on her husband’s pyre, her choice should be respected. Look in the Hindu article for details.
It is most difficult to enact resides where our old, entrenched interest have grown deep, stubborn roots. The strength of any culture will always be reason and flexibility, not dogma and posturing. That had helped in past and will guide Hindus in the future also. Hindus don't have to be brilliant to see this but must be committed towards equality of gender and cast, seeing the initiative through. And upcoming this requires massive popular will. The inability to argue out issues without being tagged with labels has allowed a cobweb of ad ideas to persist in our approach to democratic discussion. Don't know what I will be tagged as after this post. :)
Despite faith based flaws of Abhrahmic religion, it considers all humans equal. While Hindu considers and see people in hierarchical manner. Leave this old theoretical aspect of religion and culture aside. Look into Hindu Law (not obsolete and biased Manu Smriti) through insight of an excellent article of Ramchandra Guha :
Those who want to explore the details of these changes are directed to Mulla's massive Principles of Hindu Law (now in its 18th edition), or to the works of the leading authority on the subject, Professor J.D.M. Derrett. For our purposes, it is enough to summarise the major changes as follows; (1) For the first time, the widow and daughter were awarded the same share of property as the son; (2) for the first time, women were allowed to divorce a cruel or negligent husband; (3) for the first time, the husband was prohibited from taking a second wife; (4) for the first time, a man and woman of different castes could be married under Hindu law; (5) for the first time, a Hindu couple could adopt a child of a different caste.
BJP is termed as Brahmin Bania party in public and it has gained popularity with economic reforms and growing Hindu nationalism. It always jumps on proving the role of Hindus as reform supporting and secular. That is indeed true but not because of them for sure. Now, our RSS and BJP supporter guys should be asking for the constructive role of their party in the Hindu law reforms. I will tell that also ( same source as before) :
In the vanguard of the opposition was the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). In a single year, 1949, the RSS organised as many as 79 meetings in Delhi where effigies of Nehru and Ambedkar were burnt, and where the new Bill was denounced as an attack on Hindu culture and tradition.
A major leader of the movement against the new Bill was a certain Swami Karpatri. In speeches in Delhi and elsewhere, he challenged Ambedkar to a public debate on the new Code. To the Law Minister's claim that the Shastras did not really favour polygamy, Swami Karpatri quoted Yagnavalkya: "If the wife is a habitual drunkard, a confirmed invalid, a cunning, a barren or a spendthrift woman, if she is bitter-tongued, if she has got only daughters and no son, if she hates her husband, (then) the husband can marry a second wife even while the first is living." The Swami supplied the precise citation for this injunction: the third verse of the third chapter of the third section of Yagnavalkya's Smriti on marriage. He did not however tell us whether the injunction also allowed the wife to take another husband if the existing one was a drunkard, bitter-tongued, a spendthrift, etc.
Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and B.R. Ambedkar are the reformers who pushed the limits of high caste and class oriented Hindus towards reforms. There was opposition from upper caste leaders of congress but that were brushed aside by charismatic and soft dictatorial nature of Jawaharlal Nehru. Again quoting the same article:
These three great reformers were Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and B.R. Ambedkar. Gandhi and Nehru, working together, helped Hindus make their peace with modern ideas of democracy and secularism. Gandhi and Ambedkar, working by contrasting methods and in opposition to one another, made Hindus recognise the evils and horrors of the system of untouchability. Nehru and Ambedkar, working sometimes together, sometimes separately, forced Hindus to grant, in law if not always in practice, equal rights to their women.
I will like to express one more blow on the defenders of new Hindutva forces. Like any other religion, they also shed their brains in the matter of faith (as defenders of Islamic forces shouted on the ban of the veil in France). Around 1987, BJP insisted, that if a widow volunteers to burn herself on her husband’s pyre, her choice should be respected. Look in the Hindu article for details.
It is most difficult to enact resides where our old, entrenched interest have grown deep, stubborn roots. The strength of any culture will always be reason and flexibility, not dogma and posturing. That had helped in past and will guide Hindus in the future also. Hindus don't have to be brilliant to see this but must be committed towards equality of gender and cast, seeing the initiative through. And upcoming this requires massive popular will. The inability to argue out issues without being tagged with labels has allowed a cobweb of ad ideas to persist in our approach to democratic discussion. Don't know what I will be tagged as after this post. :)
Friday, July 23, 2010
Understanding Islamic Culture -2
Continued from the Part 1,
When there is no cultural, political or social movement in a country, alternative forces emerge. That's why I believe that the intellectual life of the Islamic republic has virtually ground to a halt. The fear of causing offence has helped undermine progressive trends in Islam and strengthened the hand of religious bigots. Secular Muslims have come to be regarded as betraying their culture, while radical Islam has become not just more acceptable but, to many, more authentic. There is less need to quote Quran and Hadith again and again for better understanding of Islamic doctrines. This trend has led to cherry-picking whichever paraphrase or translation supports whatever point one attempts to convey through holy book.
Here, we have to understand the relationship between the Muslim and the non-Muslim world. The idea of two separate worlds divided from one another is wrong and violent repression is the seed of terror and militant Islamism in the Islamic world. Let us continue with more practical deabtes happening about Islam in different part of the world.
1- Understanding Islamic Feminism: Interview with Ziba Mir-Hosseini. In this interview with Yoginder Sikand she talks about the origins and prospects of Islamic feminism as an emancipatory project for Muslim women and as a new, contextually-relevant way of understanding Islam.
2- Has Islam a Place in a Modern World? : Bettina Robotka discuss about the question of whether there is any positive role for Islam or for religion as such in a modern world is gaining urgency in the light of an ongoing “War against (Islamic) terror” and the spread of militant and conservative interpretations of Islam.
3- Democratic Change Must Come from Within: The prominent political scientist Amr Hamzawy tells Bassam Rizk why democratic change and the strengthening of civil society in the Arab world can only come from within. Interview by Bassam Rizk.
4- The Acceleration of History: Contrary to the European experience, secularization in the Islamic world preceded a religious reformation – with profound negative consequences for political development in Muslim societies. An essay by Nader Hashemi on Islam and democracy.
5- Re-Inventing the Taliban: Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, a young director originally from Pakistan, traveled back to her country to document the growth of Islamic fundamentalism there. Silke Kettelhake reports.
6- Mr. Tarek Fatah joined Globe and Mail opinion piece to take questions about Islamic radicalism, the doctrine of jihad, Pakistan and the global tide of extremism.
7- Full Equality before the Law for All Religions: French political scientist Olivier Roy is one of the foremost European experts on Islam. Eren Güvercin spoke with Roy about the current Islam debate in Europe;
When there is no cultural, political or social movement in a country, alternative forces emerge. That's why I believe that the intellectual life of the Islamic republic has virtually ground to a halt. The fear of causing offence has helped undermine progressive trends in Islam and strengthened the hand of religious bigots. Secular Muslims have come to be regarded as betraying their culture, while radical Islam has become not just more acceptable but, to many, more authentic. There is less need to quote Quran and Hadith again and again for better understanding of Islamic doctrines. This trend has led to cherry-picking whichever paraphrase or translation supports whatever point one attempts to convey through holy book.
Here, we have to understand the relationship between the Muslim and the non-Muslim world. The idea of two separate worlds divided from one another is wrong and violent repression is the seed of terror and militant Islamism in the Islamic world. Let us continue with more practical deabtes happening about Islam in different part of the world.
1- Understanding Islamic Feminism: Interview with Ziba Mir-Hosseini. In this interview with Yoginder Sikand she talks about the origins and prospects of Islamic feminism as an emancipatory project for Muslim women and as a new, contextually-relevant way of understanding Islam.
2- Has Islam a Place in a Modern World? : Bettina Robotka discuss about the question of whether there is any positive role for Islam or for religion as such in a modern world is gaining urgency in the light of an ongoing “War against (Islamic) terror” and the spread of militant and conservative interpretations of Islam.
3- Democratic Change Must Come from Within: The prominent political scientist Amr Hamzawy tells Bassam Rizk why democratic change and the strengthening of civil society in the Arab world can only come from within. Interview by Bassam Rizk.
4- The Acceleration of History: Contrary to the European experience, secularization in the Islamic world preceded a religious reformation – with profound negative consequences for political development in Muslim societies. An essay by Nader Hashemi on Islam and democracy.
5- Re-Inventing the Taliban: Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, a young director originally from Pakistan, traveled back to her country to document the growth of Islamic fundamentalism there. Silke Kettelhake reports.
6- Mr. Tarek Fatah joined Globe and Mail opinion piece to take questions about Islamic radicalism, the doctrine of jihad, Pakistan and the global tide of extremism.
7- Full Equality before the Law for All Religions: French political scientist Olivier Roy is one of the foremost European experts on Islam. Eren Güvercin spoke with Roy about the current Islam debate in Europe;
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Religulous
I have became a big appreciator of Bill Maher for his commentary on various social, political and religious issues. Here is his brilliant take on apocalyptic vision of religion in the must watch documentary Religulous:
It seems peaceful, but this is where a lot of people believe the world will end. The irony of religion is that because of its power to divert man to destructive courses, the world could actually come to an end. The plain fact is, religion must die for mankind to live. The hour is getting very late to be able to indulge in having in key decisions made by religious people. By irrationalists, by those who would steer the ship of state not by a compass, but by the equivalent of reading the entrails of a chicken. George Bush prayed a lot about Iraq, but he didn't learn a lot about it.
Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking. It's nothing to brag about. And those who preach faith, and enable and elevate it are intellectual slaveholders, keeping mankind in a bondage to fantasy and nonsense that has spawned and justified so much lunacy and destruction. Religion is dangerous because it allows human beings who don't have all the answers to think that they do.
Most people would think it's wonderful when someone says, "I'm willing, Lord! I'll do whatever you want me to do!" Except that since there are no gods actually talking to us, that void is filled in by people with their own corruptions and limitations and agendas. And anyone who tells you they know, they just know what happens when you die, I promise you, you don't. How can I be so sure? Because I don't know, and you do not possess mental powers that I do not. The only appropriate attitude for man to have about the big questions is not the arrogant certitude that is the hallmark of religion, but doubt. Doubt is humble, and that's what man needs to be, considering that human history is just a litany of getting shit dead wrong.
This is why rational people, anti-religionists, must end their timidity and come out of the closet and assert themselves. And those who consider themselves only moderately religious really need to look in the mirror and realize that the solace and comfort that religion brings you actually comes at a terrible price. If you belonged to a political party or a social club that was tied to as much bigotry, misogyny, homophobia, violence, and sheer ignorance as religion is, you'd resign in protest. To do otherwise is to be an enabler, a mafia wife, for the true devils of extremism that draw their legitimacy from the billions of their fellow travelers. If the world does come to an end here, or wherever, or if it limps into the future, decimated by the effects of religion-inspired nuclear terrorism, let's remember what the real problem was that we learned how to precipitate mass death before we got past the neurological disorder of wishing for it. That's it. Grow up or die.
It seems peaceful, but this is where a lot of people believe the world will end. The irony of religion is that because of its power to divert man to destructive courses, the world could actually come to an end. The plain fact is, religion must die for mankind to live. The hour is getting very late to be able to indulge in having in key decisions made by religious people. By irrationalists, by those who would steer the ship of state not by a compass, but by the equivalent of reading the entrails of a chicken. George Bush prayed a lot about Iraq, but he didn't learn a lot about it.
Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking. It's nothing to brag about. And those who preach faith, and enable and elevate it are intellectual slaveholders, keeping mankind in a bondage to fantasy and nonsense that has spawned and justified so much lunacy and destruction. Religion is dangerous because it allows human beings who don't have all the answers to think that they do.
Most people would think it's wonderful when someone says, "I'm willing, Lord! I'll do whatever you want me to do!" Except that since there are no gods actually talking to us, that void is filled in by people with their own corruptions and limitations and agendas. And anyone who tells you they know, they just know what happens when you die, I promise you, you don't. How can I be so sure? Because I don't know, and you do not possess mental powers that I do not. The only appropriate attitude for man to have about the big questions is not the arrogant certitude that is the hallmark of religion, but doubt. Doubt is humble, and that's what man needs to be, considering that human history is just a litany of getting shit dead wrong.
This is why rational people, anti-religionists, must end their timidity and come out of the closet and assert themselves. And those who consider themselves only moderately religious really need to look in the mirror and realize that the solace and comfort that religion brings you actually comes at a terrible price. If you belonged to a political party or a social club that was tied to as much bigotry, misogyny, homophobia, violence, and sheer ignorance as religion is, you'd resign in protest. To do otherwise is to be an enabler, a mafia wife, for the true devils of extremism that draw their legitimacy from the billions of their fellow travelers. If the world does come to an end here, or wherever, or if it limps into the future, decimated by the effects of religion-inspired nuclear terrorism, let's remember what the real problem was that we learned how to precipitate mass death before we got past the neurological disorder of wishing for it. That's it. Grow up or die.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
The Necessity of Blasphemy - 3
“Those who cannot attack the thought, instead attack the thinker.” (Paul Valery 1871-1945)
A true questioning spirit is always introspective in nature, not accusatory. Verified doubt is scientific and it lays the foundation for merit-based trust. The advantage of a questioning spirit is that it is the opposite of an inquisition. Reason and free inquiry are the only effectual agents against errors and dogma. Voice of reason asks for the justification of each a religious doctrine that is proclaimed as true without proof. This creates a conflict in the society as people wants to be in their comfort zones of tradition. It is falsehood alone which needs the support of religion. Truth can stand by itself.
The Judeo-Christian tradition began with the Hebrews but the goal was to extend the "faith" to the entire world over time. Judeo-Christian tradition has taken civilization back many years when scientific records and journals were destroyed in the name of being blasphemous. Christianity has a long history of persecution of non believers. And West has came through Dark ages through Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific Revolution and Age of Exploration. Despite major challenges to Roman Catholic dogma, however, enlightenment occurred in Europe.Today, Christian Theology - excluding those fundamentalist churches whose aim is to reassert doctrinal truths - has likewise softened many of its ontological claims, due to increased exposure to both scientific insights and the contrasting theological claims of other faiths.
Dissent is taken as disloyalty and infidelity in Islamic nation these days. And, such reformers are forced to exile and degenerated as declared a ‘blasphemer,’ ‘liberal apologist’ and an undercover [CIA, RAW, MOSSAD] agent. Like, Egyptian Farag Foda, who was killed by an Islamist group in 1992, or those of the Sudanese scholar Mahmud Mohammed Taha, who was hanged in 1985. Pakistan’s outstanding, moderate Islamic scholars, Javed Ahmed Ghamdi, has had to fly out of the country into a self-imposed exile. Ghamdi was facing a number of threats from certain puritan and violent Islamic groups. His sin? He stood out as a mainstream Sunni Muslim scholar who banked on reason and an interpretive take on the Quran, eschewing the myopic literalism of the puritan groups that espouse a violent, political view of Islam.
Today, progressive countries like Malaysia and Turkey are developing due to western education. And the Arab culture, the cradle of Islam is lacking any scientific development. A simple question of liberal mind : why are liberal Islamic (Malaysia and Turkey) or non Islamic nation moving forward while strictly Islamic nations are being left behind? And the answer lies in the concept: “the resignation of the mind.”
Koran should be openly, freely and publicly subjected to the kind of historical and philological scholarship. There are hundreds of [Koranic] psalms and hadiths urging Muslims to value war and to fight. It doesn't mean that all Muslims literally follow them. Instead of taking decision based on the logic, experience and prevailing circumstances, when we see through the eyes of a Koran only things go wrong.
When same book is quoted again in both ways to inflect war on non-believers (infidels) and proving Islam as religion of peace, something is wrong with the book only. The contradictory teachings are not discarded and taken with the matter of absolute faith had damaged the image of Muslims everywhere. The same religious text is interpreted in two different ways. Some interpret it to preach peace while others interpret it to preach hate and both the sections are convinced about their interpretations. When people are mere loyal to the words in the thousand old year book, there will be wrong done in the name of good also. Those defending religions has got fair share of rational education that led for this ability to question own’s logic, experience and prevailing circumstances.
When everyone wears their religion on their sleeves, making callous remarks such as comparing gods, and that "my god is better than your god", the kind of mockery and insults thrown around that is bound to warrant irrational responses, even if they are thrown about today by careless groups seeking to provoke. There is oft quoted verse “There is no compulsion in religion”. From the behaviour of most religious people, it seems that there is supposed to be compulsion on everyone to follow what the upholders of religion want them to follow.
Today, there is an urgent need for creating an environment in which people feel free to ask questions, and in which diverse reactions are tolerated, is essential to social debate and paves the road for the acceptance of diversity that is so desperately needed in all our societies. A firm ‘no’ to all forms of bigotry and discrimination – religious, ideological, regional and sectarian – is an imperative. Until theologists had to saw the questions raised by Blasphemer as a challenge, not as a threat, the problem of religious conflicts is not going to be solved.
Hence, I will end my essay on the necessity of blasphemy with words of Rational Fool who concludes correctly about religions : It's disingenuous, therefore, to claim any religious origin for scientific advancement. Crediting Islam with Algebra, or for that matter, Christianity with the Copernican revolution, is like crediting the Czar with the Bolshevik revolution.
A true questioning spirit is always introspective in nature, not accusatory. Verified doubt is scientific and it lays the foundation for merit-based trust. The advantage of a questioning spirit is that it is the opposite of an inquisition. Reason and free inquiry are the only effectual agents against errors and dogma. Voice of reason asks for the justification of each a religious doctrine that is proclaimed as true without proof. This creates a conflict in the society as people wants to be in their comfort zones of tradition. It is falsehood alone which needs the support of religion. Truth can stand by itself.
The Judeo-Christian tradition began with the Hebrews but the goal was to extend the "faith" to the entire world over time. Judeo-Christian tradition has taken civilization back many years when scientific records and journals were destroyed in the name of being blasphemous. Christianity has a long history of persecution of non believers. And West has came through Dark ages through Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific Revolution and Age of Exploration. Despite major challenges to Roman Catholic dogma, however, enlightenment occurred in Europe.Today, Christian Theology - excluding those fundamentalist churches whose aim is to reassert doctrinal truths - has likewise softened many of its ontological claims, due to increased exposure to both scientific insights and the contrasting theological claims of other faiths.
Dissent is taken as disloyalty and infidelity in Islamic nation these days. And, such reformers are forced to exile and degenerated as declared a ‘blasphemer,’ ‘liberal apologist’ and an undercover [CIA, RAW, MOSSAD] agent. Like, Egyptian Farag Foda, who was killed by an Islamist group in 1992, or those of the Sudanese scholar Mahmud Mohammed Taha, who was hanged in 1985. Pakistan’s outstanding, moderate Islamic scholars, Javed Ahmed Ghamdi, has had to fly out of the country into a self-imposed exile. Ghamdi was facing a number of threats from certain puritan and violent Islamic groups. His sin? He stood out as a mainstream Sunni Muslim scholar who banked on reason and an interpretive take on the Quran, eschewing the myopic literalism of the puritan groups that espouse a violent, political view of Islam.
Today, progressive countries like Malaysia and Turkey are developing due to western education. And the Arab culture, the cradle of Islam is lacking any scientific development. A simple question of liberal mind : why are liberal Islamic (Malaysia and Turkey) or non Islamic nation moving forward while strictly Islamic nations are being left behind? And the answer lies in the concept: “the resignation of the mind.”
Koran should be openly, freely and publicly subjected to the kind of historical and philological scholarship. There are hundreds of [Koranic] psalms and hadiths urging Muslims to value war and to fight. It doesn't mean that all Muslims literally follow them. Instead of taking decision based on the logic, experience and prevailing circumstances, when we see through the eyes of a Koran only things go wrong.
When same book is quoted again in both ways to inflect war on non-believers (infidels) and proving Islam as religion of peace, something is wrong with the book only. The contradictory teachings are not discarded and taken with the matter of absolute faith had damaged the image of Muslims everywhere. The same religious text is interpreted in two different ways. Some interpret it to preach peace while others interpret it to preach hate and both the sections are convinced about their interpretations. When people are mere loyal to the words in the thousand old year book, there will be wrong done in the name of good also. Those defending religions has got fair share of rational education that led for this ability to question own’s logic, experience and prevailing circumstances.
When everyone wears their religion on their sleeves, making callous remarks such as comparing gods, and that "my god is better than your god", the kind of mockery and insults thrown around that is bound to warrant irrational responses, even if they are thrown about today by careless groups seeking to provoke. There is oft quoted verse “There is no compulsion in religion”. From the behaviour of most religious people, it seems that there is supposed to be compulsion on everyone to follow what the upholders of religion want them to follow.
Today, there is an urgent need for creating an environment in which people feel free to ask questions, and in which diverse reactions are tolerated, is essential to social debate and paves the road for the acceptance of diversity that is so desperately needed in all our societies. A firm ‘no’ to all forms of bigotry and discrimination – religious, ideological, regional and sectarian – is an imperative. Until theologists had to saw the questions raised by Blasphemer as a challenge, not as a threat, the problem of religious conflicts is not going to be solved.
Hence, I will end my essay on the necessity of blasphemy with words of Rational Fool who concludes correctly about religions : It's disingenuous, therefore, to claim any religious origin for scientific advancement. Crediting Islam with Algebra, or for that matter, Christianity with the Copernican revolution, is like crediting the Czar with the Bolshevik revolution.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Islam and Muslims
Does an innocent Muslim has to share blame of terrorist activity if it was done in the name of Islam ? Absolutely not. And people shouts that Islam is the religion of peace and these persons are doing this for their own greed and evil motives. This is where I didn't agree a bit with all of them. Then, you have to see countless videos on youtube with people proclaiming their religion as best and elimination of Jews from the earth in the name of Islam. The point of difference is that these so called terrorists don't act barbaric for their own good but perform it voluntarily for bringing reign of Islam. Don't even get me started over hate teaching education to next generation.
Of course, one has to distinguish between Islam and Muslims. The source of the problem is in Islamic doctrine, and not in cultural accretions. Stereotyping all Muslims as backward thinking is wrong way to have an opinion on Islam. Islam became rigid in hands of Mullahs that want to define every walk of life through religion only. The identification with Islam have became in such an ethical orientation flow pattern, which is largely about the theological concepts haram - the Forbidden - and halal - the Permitted - structured. These prohibitionists made a serious miscalculations: they reacted to their failure by demanding the laws be tightened even more.
It is the fear of understanding the other and eventually becoming the other. For if Muslims understood their motivations, they would have to accommodate their worldview in themselves and that would be very problematic indeed for Mullahs army dictating Koran. Mullahs calls for punishment or at best, forgiveness, but never understanding.
When Mullahs ban a popular addiction (sex, alcohols) that millions of people want, it doesn't disappear. I have not even started about books, painting, kite flying or any other entertainment stuff. Instead, it is transferred from the daily life into the hands of criminals. Even the attempts done on moralistic approach fails because they were, beneath all the blather, a war on human nature.
We must not forget that too much divine power in a priest’s hands would corrupt him as much as that in any other individual’s hands. Zealous priests who can preach deliverance cannot rule.
Of course, one has to distinguish between Islam and Muslims. The source of the problem is in Islamic doctrine, and not in cultural accretions. Stereotyping all Muslims as backward thinking is wrong way to have an opinion on Islam. Islam became rigid in hands of Mullahs that want to define every walk of life through religion only. The identification with Islam have became in such an ethical orientation flow pattern, which is largely about the theological concepts haram - the Forbidden - and halal - the Permitted - structured. These prohibitionists made a serious miscalculations: they reacted to their failure by demanding the laws be tightened even more.
It is the fear of understanding the other and eventually becoming the other. For if Muslims understood their motivations, they would have to accommodate their worldview in themselves and that would be very problematic indeed for Mullahs army dictating Koran. Mullahs calls for punishment or at best, forgiveness, but never understanding.
When Mullahs ban a popular addiction (sex, alcohols) that millions of people want, it doesn't disappear. I have not even started about books, painting, kite flying or any other entertainment stuff. Instead, it is transferred from the daily life into the hands of criminals. Even the attempts done on moralistic approach fails because they were, beneath all the blather, a war on human nature.
We must not forget that too much divine power in a priest’s hands would corrupt him as much as that in any other individual’s hands. Zealous priests who can preach deliverance cannot rule.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Ten Issues - 4
1- Half-life of the Coal Child : Not many know that the dangerous and suffocating rat mines of Meghalaya are worked by 70,000 child miners. Following them into hellish pits, Kunal Majumder exposes the dark veins of an exploitative industry.
2- Glory, piety and politics : With Pakistan’s two main political parties looking exhausted by being made to play a continuous game of cat and mouse with the establishment, the new generation of young Pakistanis began to look elsewhere.
3- A Short History of Rebellion" : TSI discovers that most fade away or come back ‘home’. Some do make history–for better or worse.
4- Interview of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad given to the famous journalist Shorish Kashmiri for a Lahore based Urdu magazine, Chattan, in April 1946.
5- Of grids and groups: An alternative view of "open" and "closed" societies.
6- Over 200,000 Narmada Dam oustees still to be rehabilitated; A crime that goes unpunished for 25 years.
7- Killings of Ahmadis unleashes fresh soul-searching over Pakistan’s identity : The soul-searching is particularly acute given that the suppression of the Ahmadis is officially endorsed by the state.
8- The 7 Habits of Highly Ineffective People : The thing about habits is that for good and bad they require no thinking.
9- Invisible environmentalists : They forage the city, collecting and sorting often hazardous waste when the city sleeps and by day they are gone. Most of them are women and we have no long-term policy in place that looks at their welfare or health, writes Kalpana Sharma.
10- The Great Bhopal Killing : Read here complete history of Disaster.
In Between, Abhishek Singhvi who is the spokesperson of Congress is also the legal representative of DOW Chemicals (the company that purchased Carbide). Not only that, he is also a member of the committee that is supposed to investigate the Bhopal incident. So on the one hand he is an investigator, and on the other, he protects the legal interests of DOW. What a wonderful world !
2- Glory, piety and politics : With Pakistan’s two main political parties looking exhausted by being made to play a continuous game of cat and mouse with the establishment, the new generation of young Pakistanis began to look elsewhere.
3- A Short History of Rebellion" : TSI discovers that most fade away or come back ‘home’. Some do make history–for better or worse.
4- Interview of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad given to the famous journalist Shorish Kashmiri for a Lahore based Urdu magazine, Chattan, in April 1946.
5- Of grids and groups: An alternative view of "open" and "closed" societies.
6- Over 200,000 Narmada Dam oustees still to be rehabilitated; A crime that goes unpunished for 25 years.
7- Killings of Ahmadis unleashes fresh soul-searching over Pakistan’s identity : The soul-searching is particularly acute given that the suppression of the Ahmadis is officially endorsed by the state.
8- The 7 Habits of Highly Ineffective People : The thing about habits is that for good and bad they require no thinking.
9- Invisible environmentalists : They forage the city, collecting and sorting often hazardous waste when the city sleeps and by day they are gone. Most of them are women and we have no long-term policy in place that looks at their welfare or health, writes Kalpana Sharma.
10- The Great Bhopal Killing : Read here complete history of Disaster.
In Between, Abhishek Singhvi who is the spokesperson of Congress is also the legal representative of DOW Chemicals (the company that purchased Carbide). Not only that, he is also a member of the committee that is supposed to investigate the Bhopal incident. So on the one hand he is an investigator, and on the other, he protects the legal interests of DOW. What a wonderful world !
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
The Necessity of Blasphemy - 2
For Starters, Abhrahmic religions are primary monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam practised in the West. They are more based on faith and blind submission than free will. Eastern religions have Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism,Shinto, Taoism and Confucianism.
Let us start over with an analogy. Eskimos have nine names for snow because they know different kinds of snow. Now no other language can have nine names for snow; Same is true for Eastern religions. That's because they have deep understanding due to analysis on the human consciousness and religion. Now the West has all the words for science. In the East we have to coin words for scientific terminology; East don’t have it. Since a lot of metaphysical scrutiny has been done on human consciousness and nature, eastern religions have evolved more than their Western counterparts.
As far as religion is concerned the whole world will have to follow the East, because East has worked deep down into the interior most being. The 2nd evolved phase of scrutiny will start then after. There is nothing like Blasphemy in Eastern religions. If blasphemy was considered as a crime, then Buddha would be hanged in the first place. West regards any attack on religion as a sign of sin. That's why eminent atheist like Richard Dawkins, Sama Harris, Bill Maher and Christopher Hitchens attacks on Abhrahmic religion with logic and rational reasoning. Since human nature has not been studied by theirs religious priest, they look completely out of place in defending institutions of Islam, Judaism and Christianity.
I don’t have anything against any specific Muslim, Hindu or christian individual.I hold my defiance against Islam, Hinduism and Christianity. A society where one lives as an individual and not as a community is the answer to several of our social ills. Its the struggle between Individual Vs Institutions. Eastern religions are individual oriented while Western religions defend Institutions. An individual is a basic unit that can be changed with love, tolerance and compassion. The institutions have to be made, demolished and recreated with the time. People defend their faith without analyzing it completely and gives no place to doubt. Doubt is the important part of human nature through which trust is developed by testing the nature of person or religion. West waits for Judgement day at the end of linear time and East goes on the cyclic nature of time. The circular nature of time makes Eastern religion dynamic and rigidity in the interpretation is lost.
Any religion must be tolerant enough not sticking to a yardstick principle. You can criticise your own kind, but not foreigners, because they are unbridgeable different to you. The argument that outsiders should not be allowed to criticise any religion is being used more and more to thwart campaigns for reform. Hence, abolition of blasphemy laws and human rights should be included in interpretation of any faith based teachings. People everywhere, it turned out, want the same basic rights – and in every culture, there remain thugs who will try to take those rights away.
*Orthodoxy does not protect truth — it protects lies, for only lies need protection. Truth can stand on its own.*
Let us start over with an analogy. Eskimos have nine names for snow because they know different kinds of snow. Now no other language can have nine names for snow; Same is true for Eastern religions. That's because they have deep understanding due to analysis on the human consciousness and religion. Now the West has all the words for science. In the East we have to coin words for scientific terminology; East don’t have it. Since a lot of metaphysical scrutiny has been done on human consciousness and nature, eastern religions have evolved more than their Western counterparts.
As far as religion is concerned the whole world will have to follow the East, because East has worked deep down into the interior most being. The 2nd evolved phase of scrutiny will start then after. There is nothing like Blasphemy in Eastern religions. If blasphemy was considered as a crime, then Buddha would be hanged in the first place. West regards any attack on religion as a sign of sin. That's why eminent atheist like Richard Dawkins, Sama Harris, Bill Maher and Christopher Hitchens attacks on Abhrahmic religion with logic and rational reasoning. Since human nature has not been studied by theirs religious priest, they look completely out of place in defending institutions of Islam, Judaism and Christianity.
I don’t have anything against any specific Muslim, Hindu or christian individual.I hold my defiance against Islam, Hinduism and Christianity. A society where one lives as an individual and not as a community is the answer to several of our social ills. Its the struggle between Individual Vs Institutions. Eastern religions are individual oriented while Western religions defend Institutions. An individual is a basic unit that can be changed with love, tolerance and compassion. The institutions have to be made, demolished and recreated with the time. People defend their faith without analyzing it completely and gives no place to doubt. Doubt is the important part of human nature through which trust is developed by testing the nature of person or religion. West waits for Judgement day at the end of linear time and East goes on the cyclic nature of time. The circular nature of time makes Eastern religion dynamic and rigidity in the interpretation is lost.
Any religion must be tolerant enough not sticking to a yardstick principle. You can criticise your own kind, but not foreigners, because they are unbridgeable different to you. The argument that outsiders should not be allowed to criticise any religion is being used more and more to thwart campaigns for reform. Hence, abolition of blasphemy laws and human rights should be included in interpretation of any faith based teachings. People everywhere, it turned out, want the same basic rights – and in every culture, there remain thugs who will try to take those rights away.
*Orthodoxy does not protect truth — it protects lies, for only lies need protection. Truth can stand on its own.*
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Understanding Islamic Culture -1
Today Muslim world is deeply divided along the lines of separation between passionate liberalism and firm conservatism. Most of the Muslims do not debate with Non believers on Islam. They react and then huddle up behind flimsy and lopsided historical and national narratives about what being a Muslim is all about. That doesn't solve the problem of stereotyping of Muslims. I personally assume, Muslims as individuals capable of accepting cultural norm of others very easily and Islam as an institution going towards reform very slowly. This article is not be beginners guide for learning about Islamic cultural aspect. It is the first part of our essay that is focusing on current cultural environment in Islamic world. For beginners [History of Islam]
Arab world is the cradle of Islam and all the problems emerged in Islam can be studies better by understanding the mindset of Arab region. Arab countries are depending too much on religious books and have failed to educate a generation on rational and scientific thinking. When there is no cultural, political or social movement in a country, alternative forces emerge. That's the reason the Arab's secular renaissance has failed to take hold. Let us begin with few interviews :
1- In an exclusive interview, Tayyib Tizini, Professor of Politics and Philosophy at the University of Damascus, holds the view that the current strength of radical Islamist movements in the Arab world is the product of a lack of freedom.
2- In an exclusive interview, Tariq Ali, author of "The Clash of Fundamentalisms" and renowned critical intellectual, talks about Islam and the West and about reforms in the Islamic world.
3- The Arab world is marked by polarisation: between the elites and the masses, between town and country, between rich and poor. Development will not be possible as long as this polarisation exists. As the Lebanese writer Karam al-Helou notes, this blockade of progress threatens to destroy the Arab world from inside.
4- In a January 2008 interview with the London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Georges Tarabishi, a prominent liberal Syrian intellectual living in France, spoke about democracy in the Arab world, the fundamentalist challenge, and secularism. He argued that just as secularism emerged in Europe as a remedy to Protestant-Catholic sectarianism, so it is needed in the Arab world to overcome sectarian divisions and pave the way for a democratic future.
5- Are Sharia Laws and Human Rights Compatible? In their correspondence, Emran Qureshi (journalist and expert for Islam and human rights) and Heba Raouf Ezzat (lecturer for political science and womens' rights activist) discuss the role of the sharia in Islamic countries and in how far sharia laws are compatible with human rights.
Arab world is the cradle of Islam and all the problems emerged in Islam can be studies better by understanding the mindset of Arab region. Arab countries are depending too much on religious books and have failed to educate a generation on rational and scientific thinking. When there is no cultural, political or social movement in a country, alternative forces emerge. That's the reason the Arab's secular renaissance has failed to take hold. Let us begin with few interviews :
1- In an exclusive interview, Tayyib Tizini, Professor of Politics and Philosophy at the University of Damascus, holds the view that the current strength of radical Islamist movements in the Arab world is the product of a lack of freedom.
2- In an exclusive interview, Tariq Ali, author of "The Clash of Fundamentalisms" and renowned critical intellectual, talks about Islam and the West and about reforms in the Islamic world.
3- The Arab world is marked by polarisation: between the elites and the masses, between town and country, between rich and poor. Development will not be possible as long as this polarisation exists. As the Lebanese writer Karam al-Helou notes, this blockade of progress threatens to destroy the Arab world from inside.
4- In a January 2008 interview with the London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Georges Tarabishi, a prominent liberal Syrian intellectual living in France, spoke about democracy in the Arab world, the fundamentalist challenge, and secularism. He argued that just as secularism emerged in Europe as a remedy to Protestant-Catholic sectarianism, so it is needed in the Arab world to overcome sectarian divisions and pave the way for a democratic future.
5- Are Sharia Laws and Human Rights Compatible? In their correspondence, Emran Qureshi (journalist and expert for Islam and human rights) and Heba Raouf Ezzat (lecturer for political science and womens' rights activist) discuss the role of the sharia in Islamic countries and in how far sharia laws are compatible with human rights.
Monday, May 24, 2010
The Necessity of Blasphemy - 1
I try to understand the phenomenon constituting of violence, power, truth and justice in the daily happenings. Blasphemy is must for progress of the civilization. Ideas behind traditions must be challenged to know if they are true and relevant — and if we cannot challenge an idea, we cannot know validity of following the traditions in the society. Today, I want to publish without fear or favour and look at the world without the filter of 'faith'.
USA administered Guantanamo Bay or Abu Ghraib in Iraq, Soviet suppression through Gulag, Hitler's cruelty in the Holocaust, Islamic persecution of Bahai faith, Ahmadiyya community and non Muslims, discrimination in hindus on the basis of caste, Israel's action against Palestine, South African apartheid with root of racism, fight of Christianity against evolution theory and countless other struggles shows the dark side of the world in last 60 years only.
They are the recent events existing in the minds of last generation. They are still not tampered enough or vanished out by the propagandist of religion or patriotism. Milan Kundera was spot on in observing this: The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting. It's a pity though that argument doesn't cut it - we have to wait for inhumanity to reach its crescendo (Spanish Inquisition, Slavery, Holocaust, Apartheid, Guantanamo) before the scales fall from people's eyes and they recognise the error in their dogma.
There can be no democracy without secularism, since only under secularism can one free oneself from religious or sectarian mentalities, and as a consequence think and choose with one's mind. What is happening is that extremist leaders who have absolutely no clue about solving the country’s problems are promising a heaven that they cannot deliver, on condition that a certain section of the country is either eliminated or pushed into the ghettos.
Any statement or work of art may be good or bad, the essential test is whether they are worth seeing or not and the authority to decide lies with the viewers and not with any self proclaimed leaders of the society, state or religion. Its not one cause which makes one a terrorist but ones method which makes one a terrorist.
The plea that nobody should offend the conservative elements’ sensibilities should be thoroughly discussed. Up to a point the argument is valid, then its used to drag down backwards to the society where power dictates. There is a ridiculous 'respect' demanded by religious people for their unsupportable superstitious beliefs.
Take the Burqa case only. Societies having people with diverse religious backgrounds are bound together partly by informal chance relations between strangers – people being able to acknowledge each other in the street or being able pass the time of day. The anonymity of the burqa takes the uniqueness of face away from the woman. That is my greatest objection to it. Burqa is a symbol of submission in the eyes of progressive religion (progressive on the basis of emergence of people who questioned authority of religion over an individual);
Women's choice should be governed by their own will. And the right of choice comes through free and rational thinking. And a person avoiding rationalism due to belief in an unquestioned faith is harmful for society, be it christian or any other religion. And don’t justify anything because its written in the religious books thousand year ago. The rational education given to you has led for this ability to question own’s logic, experience and prevailing circumstances. A decision should not be governed by the blind faith and ideological enslavement to a society, state or religion of the birth and upbringing.
I don’t see this as a ban but the freedom of woman to overcome a barrier thrown by a stone age society; We all owe Europe for its secular notion and rational thinking. And they had history of bitter fight with church and life of many good people were ruined along the way in order to define for human rights, equality, freedom and other cherished values of European enlightenment. And, That's why these value are precious; The organic growth and spreading of European secularism happened through out the world due to its universal appeal. I will end this part of essay with a dialogue from the movie Agora : You don’t question what you believe, or cannot. I must.
USA administered Guantanamo Bay or Abu Ghraib in Iraq, Soviet suppression through Gulag, Hitler's cruelty in the Holocaust, Islamic persecution of Bahai faith, Ahmadiyya community and non Muslims, discrimination in hindus on the basis of caste, Israel's action against Palestine, South African apartheid with root of racism, fight of Christianity against evolution theory and countless other struggles shows the dark side of the world in last 60 years only.
They are the recent events existing in the minds of last generation. They are still not tampered enough or vanished out by the propagandist of religion or patriotism. Milan Kundera was spot on in observing this: The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting. It's a pity though that argument doesn't cut it - we have to wait for inhumanity to reach its crescendo (Spanish Inquisition, Slavery, Holocaust, Apartheid, Guantanamo) before the scales fall from people's eyes and they recognise the error in their dogma.
There can be no democracy without secularism, since only under secularism can one free oneself from religious or sectarian mentalities, and as a consequence think and choose with one's mind. What is happening is that extremist leaders who have absolutely no clue about solving the country’s problems are promising a heaven that they cannot deliver, on condition that a certain section of the country is either eliminated or pushed into the ghettos.
Any statement or work of art may be good or bad, the essential test is whether they are worth seeing or not and the authority to decide lies with the viewers and not with any self proclaimed leaders of the society, state or religion. Its not one cause which makes one a terrorist but ones method which makes one a terrorist.
The plea that nobody should offend the conservative elements’ sensibilities should be thoroughly discussed. Up to a point the argument is valid, then its used to drag down backwards to the society where power dictates. There is a ridiculous 'respect' demanded by religious people for their unsupportable superstitious beliefs.
Take the Burqa case only. Societies having people with diverse religious backgrounds are bound together partly by informal chance relations between strangers – people being able to acknowledge each other in the street or being able pass the time of day. The anonymity of the burqa takes the uniqueness of face away from the woman. That is my greatest objection to it. Burqa is a symbol of submission in the eyes of progressive religion (progressive on the basis of emergence of people who questioned authority of religion over an individual);
Women's choice should be governed by their own will. And the right of choice comes through free and rational thinking. And a person avoiding rationalism due to belief in an unquestioned faith is harmful for society, be it christian or any other religion. And don’t justify anything because its written in the religious books thousand year ago. The rational education given to you has led for this ability to question own’s logic, experience and prevailing circumstances. A decision should not be governed by the blind faith and ideological enslavement to a society, state or religion of the birth and upbringing.
I don’t see this as a ban but the freedom of woman to overcome a barrier thrown by a stone age society; We all owe Europe for its secular notion and rational thinking. And they had history of bitter fight with church and life of many good people were ruined along the way in order to define for human rights, equality, freedom and other cherished values of European enlightenment. And, That's why these value are precious; The organic growth and spreading of European secularism happened through out the world due to its universal appeal. I will end this part of essay with a dialogue from the movie Agora : You don’t question what you believe, or cannot. I must.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
In the age of reason
We defend peoples right to say something, it doesn't mean that you have to agree with it or even respect it. Culture and religion is much too important a matter to be disposed of in ritual routine or lost in an inconclusive debate. This post is dedicated to the Indianhomemaker conclusion on the free speech demand : Whenever we think we are stopping someone from hurting our sentiments by curtailing their freedom of expression (right or wrong), we also empower someone (e.g. the government, extremists, or even religious leaders) to shut our own mouths.
1- Olivier Roy is professor at the EHESS and I was quite impressed by his insight on the religious issues in this article . It emphasize that everyone is faced with the need to invent, define, and objectify what religion means to them. Olivier points out some interesting facts on the dependence of religion on the culture.
Today's religious revival is first and foremost marked by the uncoupling of culture and religion, whatever the religion may be. This explains the affinities between American Protestant fundamentalism and Islamic Salafism: both reject culture, philosophy, and even theology in favour of a scriptural reading of the sacred texts and an immediate understanding of truth through individual faith, to the detriment of educational and religious institutions.
In the countries of origin, religion is always embodied in a culture, and it is difficult, for the believer, to distinguish between what belongs to the cultural tradition – and to some extent to social conventions – and what belongs to dogma. A distinction between religion as a corpus of beliefs – as theology – and culture is not usually made by the man in the street, that is, by ordinary believers. But immigration has suddenly created a divide between religion and society, between religion and culture, to the extent that religious belief is lost sight of.
The first significant aspect of this phenomenon of people moving from one country to another, therefore, is the uncoupling of religion and culture, and the need to define a religion with criteria that are purely religious, and totally internal to the religious domain.
The real question is not an intellectual or a theoretical question about Islam; the real issue here is about the tangible practices of Muslims. What forms and religious beliefs are in circulation among young Muslims today? The forms of religiosity witnessed in Islam today are transversal, they are more or less the same as the ones found in the most popular Western denominations: Catholicism, Protestantism, even Judaism. In our contemporary world we are now witnessing the uncoupling of religion and culture, in other words, contemporary believers put far more stress on faith, on spiritual experience, on individual and personal rediscovery of religion, than on legacy, culture, transmission, authority, and theology.
Religion is easy to define: the corpus, the revealed texts, the interpretations, the theological debates, the dogmas, and so on. As for religiosity, it is the manner in which the believer lives his relationship to religion. And, today, religiosity, everywhere, is far more important than religion.
For example, in the United States, 80 per cent of Americans say they are believers and practicing churchgoers. At the same time, preachers, be they Protestants, Catholics, or Muslims, all say the same: "We live in an atheistic, materialistic, and pornographic society...", a society where 80 per cent of the people say that they are believers. Thus, either there is a contradiction, or they are right. And in my opinion they are right. In fact, societies are no longer religious, even if believers represent a majority in society. Societies are built on other forms of cultural representation, of modes of consumption, of norms, of values, of economy, of anything we care to think of. There is no religious evidence any longer, even in societies with religious majorities.
2- Let's Keep God out of Ethics have very good reason to support their view on morality:
There are two reasons behind dismissing religion in general and theology in particular from ethics: 1) there is no reason to think religion, god, holy texts are necessary for morality (indeed, I think they are often retarding of ethical deliberation) and, 2) religion only clouds already diluted waters.
Further Christopher Hitchens give us a challenge: Name an ethical statement or action, made or performed by a person of faith, that could not have been made or performed by a nonbeliever.
3- The Pope, the Prophet, and the religious support for evil by Johann Hari: It debates on this enforced 'respect' that has now extended from ideas to institutions.
Only you, the religious, demand to be protected from debate or scrutiny that might discomfort you. The fact you believe an invisible supernatural being approves of – or even commands – your behaviour doesn't mean it deserves more respect, or sensitive handling. It means it deserves less. If you base your behaviour on such a preposterous fantasy, you should expect to be checked by criticism and mockery. You need it.
1- Olivier Roy is professor at the EHESS and I was quite impressed by his insight on the religious issues in this article . It emphasize that everyone is faced with the need to invent, define, and objectify what religion means to them. Olivier points out some interesting facts on the dependence of religion on the culture.
Today's religious revival is first and foremost marked by the uncoupling of culture and religion, whatever the religion may be. This explains the affinities between American Protestant fundamentalism and Islamic Salafism: both reject culture, philosophy, and even theology in favour of a scriptural reading of the sacred texts and an immediate understanding of truth through individual faith, to the detriment of educational and religious institutions.
In the countries of origin, religion is always embodied in a culture, and it is difficult, for the believer, to distinguish between what belongs to the cultural tradition – and to some extent to social conventions – and what belongs to dogma. A distinction between religion as a corpus of beliefs – as theology – and culture is not usually made by the man in the street, that is, by ordinary believers. But immigration has suddenly created a divide between religion and society, between religion and culture, to the extent that religious belief is lost sight of.
The first significant aspect of this phenomenon of people moving from one country to another, therefore, is the uncoupling of religion and culture, and the need to define a religion with criteria that are purely religious, and totally internal to the religious domain.
The real question is not an intellectual or a theoretical question about Islam; the real issue here is about the tangible practices of Muslims. What forms and religious beliefs are in circulation among young Muslims today? The forms of religiosity witnessed in Islam today are transversal, they are more or less the same as the ones found in the most popular Western denominations: Catholicism, Protestantism, even Judaism. In our contemporary world we are now witnessing the uncoupling of religion and culture, in other words, contemporary believers put far more stress on faith, on spiritual experience, on individual and personal rediscovery of religion, than on legacy, culture, transmission, authority, and theology.
Religion is easy to define: the corpus, the revealed texts, the interpretations, the theological debates, the dogmas, and so on. As for religiosity, it is the manner in which the believer lives his relationship to religion. And, today, religiosity, everywhere, is far more important than religion.
For example, in the United States, 80 per cent of Americans say they are believers and practicing churchgoers. At the same time, preachers, be they Protestants, Catholics, or Muslims, all say the same: "We live in an atheistic, materialistic, and pornographic society...", a society where 80 per cent of the people say that they are believers. Thus, either there is a contradiction, or they are right. And in my opinion they are right. In fact, societies are no longer religious, even if believers represent a majority in society. Societies are built on other forms of cultural representation, of modes of consumption, of norms, of values, of economy, of anything we care to think of. There is no religious evidence any longer, even in societies with religious majorities.
2- Let's Keep God out of Ethics have very good reason to support their view on morality:
There are two reasons behind dismissing religion in general and theology in particular from ethics: 1) there is no reason to think religion, god, holy texts are necessary for morality (indeed, I think they are often retarding of ethical deliberation) and, 2) religion only clouds already diluted waters.
Further Christopher Hitchens give us a challenge: Name an ethical statement or action, made or performed by a person of faith, that could not have been made or performed by a nonbeliever.
3- The Pope, the Prophet, and the religious support for evil by Johann Hari: It debates on this enforced 'respect' that has now extended from ideas to institutions.
Only you, the religious, demand to be protected from debate or scrutiny that might discomfort you. The fact you believe an invisible supernatural being approves of – or even commands – your behaviour doesn't mean it deserves more respect, or sensitive handling. It means it deserves less. If you base your behaviour on such a preposterous fantasy, you should expect to be checked by criticism and mockery. You need it.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Ten Issues - 1
The first step in solving any issue is accepting the presence of the problem. A man convinced against will is of the same opinion still. So let us broadened our opinions about issues here -
1- Before the home ministry raises new paramilitary battalions, it needs to ask why the old ones are quitting in droves. raman kirpal reports on a brewing crisis : Soldiers of Misfortune .
2- Taking offense an be a competitive sport. Islam is forefront runner in this game : Not Even in South Park?
3- Opposition to reservations for women in Parliament have centred on at least four points. Step by step Vaijayanti Gupta rebuts the arguments and re-iterates the case for reservations. Women’s reservation Bill – the 2010 story .
4- Need tribal voices for their rights to counter corporate propagandist nationalism. The Fall Out Of Dantewada By Vidya Bhushan Rawat.
5- David Mumford reviews Kim Plofker's Mathematics in India ;
6- In this interesting paper [PDF], Lant Pritchett argues that India, despite its economic strides and democracy, is a "flailing" state:
7- Micro-foundations of Inclusive Growth [PDF]: The aim of this chapter is to go beyond these short-term and sector-specific concerns to broader questions of policy making in India and, at the same time, to focus on the relatively neglected subject of the micro-foundations of macroeconomic policy.
8- Remedial Education : Research by J-PAL affiliates has shown that providing remedial tutoring for children who have fallen behind academically can improve learning outcomes. Evidence from their study has contributed to the scale-up of NGO Pratham's Read India program in 19 states in India. In 2008-09, 33 million children benefited from remedial education through the Read India program.
9- Dropout engineering a hundred orphan dreams. Society needs person like Rajesh Singh as their role model. Thanks Vivek Padmanabham for the weblink.
10- Selections from Dalit Writing ; Let me close 10th section with an old Indian tale which maybe has some insights. A father used to read his child bedtime stories. One day the child asked the father, ‘Dad, how come in all the stories you read, the hunter always bags the tiger.’ The father thought for a moment and replied, ‘When the tiger learns to write you will hear that story.’
Thought of the Day: Conversations have three levels : people, incidents and ideas. The lowest form of conversation is about people. When we go up one rung we reach incidents which have a slightly larger spectrum than talking about people. But the conversation which really matters is when we talk about ideas, because they are universal and live beyond time and space. - Javed Akhtar
1- Before the home ministry raises new paramilitary battalions, it needs to ask why the old ones are quitting in droves. raman kirpal reports on a brewing crisis : Soldiers of Misfortune .
2- Taking offense an be a competitive sport. Islam is forefront runner in this game : Not Even in South Park?
3- Opposition to reservations for women in Parliament have centred on at least four points. Step by step Vaijayanti Gupta rebuts the arguments and re-iterates the case for reservations. Women’s reservation Bill – the 2010 story .
4- Need tribal voices for their rights to counter corporate propagandist nationalism. The Fall Out Of Dantewada By Vidya Bhushan Rawat.
5- David Mumford reviews Kim Plofker's Mathematics in India ;
6- In this interesting paper [PDF], Lant Pritchett argues that India, despite its economic strides and democracy, is a "flailing" state:
7- Micro-foundations of Inclusive Growth [PDF]: The aim of this chapter is to go beyond these short-term and sector-specific concerns to broader questions of policy making in India and, at the same time, to focus on the relatively neglected subject of the micro-foundations of macroeconomic policy.
8- Remedial Education : Research by J-PAL affiliates has shown that providing remedial tutoring for children who have fallen behind academically can improve learning outcomes. Evidence from their study has contributed to the scale-up of NGO Pratham's Read India program in 19 states in India. In 2008-09, 33 million children benefited from remedial education through the Read India program.
9- Dropout engineering a hundred orphan dreams. Society needs person like Rajesh Singh as their role model. Thanks Vivek Padmanabham for the weblink.
10- Selections from Dalit Writing ; Let me close 10th section with an old Indian tale which maybe has some insights. A father used to read his child bedtime stories. One day the child asked the father, ‘Dad, how come in all the stories you read, the hunter always bags the tiger.’ The father thought for a moment and replied, ‘When the tiger learns to write you will hear that story.’
Thought of the Day: Conversations have three levels : people, incidents and ideas. The lowest form of conversation is about people. When we go up one rung we reach incidents which have a slightly larger spectrum than talking about people. But the conversation which really matters is when we talk about ideas, because they are universal and live beyond time and space. - Javed Akhtar
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Today, I am too minority...
I have a passion for watching movies around the world. My friends ask me whats the reason of watching an Iranian or Japanese film (with subtitles) with fair amount of effort. They vouch films for entertainment and I bet films as experience to grow beyond mine roots. Are we mere product of the social circle bounded by geographical or religious strain ? My answer is No.
The above paragraph gives the background of this article. An individual living in any part of the world feels same anxiety, fear and love towards other based on the local belief system. But this notion of local is expanding into global day by day. And staunch believers want to impose their faith forcefully on others without even understanding others. This group of believers (mainly religious) are threatening our co existence together with false tradition of casteist, racial and cultural supremacy over others.
Let me give an example: The idea "The earth is the center of the universe" was not a rational view but belief centered around the self importance. The claim of oldest civilization in the world is made by Greece, India and Chinese even today shows the strong ego centric claim of the society. An individual growing in this society will face heavy resistance if while investigating result comes opposite to the belief system.
If all religions are free to criticize each other, why could not a secular person do the same. One will be charged with blasphemous assault but never an action is taken against use of such religious verses. When religion is in the hand of state, the blasphemy is punished by law. There remains no chance for minority to survive in that society. State enforcing blasphemy laws will protect ideas from criticism by individuals rather than individuals from oppressive dogmas.
Taslima Nasreem, Salmaan Rushdie, MF Hussain and many others have been barred to express themselves either by state or religion. The 'Revolution is in the danger' slogan has also killed many liberals by the shrewed for the sake of power. The whole adrenaline rushing sacrifice for Nation comes from the hate of the enemy rather than love of the country. The belief of perseverance of caste, creed, culture and civilization from mixing is absurd and against the human nature.
The only guide to man is his conscience; Showing respect for other people’s ideas and beliefs is indeed sign of tolerance in the individual. There is an unwillingness to listen and to understand the other and accept general form of discrimination as societal norms. There is constant clash between faith and Voice of reason. People take tolerance as acceptance of their faith with no questioning. Voice of reason asks for the justification of each a religious doctrine that is proclaimed as true without proof. This creates a conflict in the society as people wants to be in their comfort zones of tradition. Here, we divide the world between us and others on the basis of identities. That's why in this globalizing world, the others is an foreign element that pollutes the local culture. The rejection of others and not treating others as equal merely on the old belief system is self harming. Admiring excellence no matter where it is produced and general attitude of openness makes a person rise above one's surrounding belief system. We never learn : Whatever we understand and enjoy in human products instantly becomes ours, wherever they might have their origin.
The above line is my answer to mine friends asking about my expedition in the realm of foreign cinema. To be vowing for pure, self praising and self righteous kills the scope of the learning and intermingling of people. In my opinion, religion is never an answer to anything but is a dividing force. Believers are idealists who see no reasons only their end goal conquered through quantum of leap of hope. Beliefs are what divide people. Doubt unites them. I doubt the dogmas that's why today, I am too minority in the world of believers.
The above paragraph gives the background of this article. An individual living in any part of the world feels same anxiety, fear and love towards other based on the local belief system. But this notion of local is expanding into global day by day. And staunch believers want to impose their faith forcefully on others without even understanding others. This group of believers (mainly religious) are threatening our co existence together with false tradition of casteist, racial and cultural supremacy over others.
Let me give an example: The idea "The earth is the center of the universe" was not a rational view but belief centered around the self importance. The claim of oldest civilization in the world is made by Greece, India and Chinese even today shows the strong ego centric claim of the society. An individual growing in this society will face heavy resistance if while investigating result comes opposite to the belief system.
If all religions are free to criticize each other, why could not a secular person do the same. One will be charged with blasphemous assault but never an action is taken against use of such religious verses. When religion is in the hand of state, the blasphemy is punished by law. There remains no chance for minority to survive in that society. State enforcing blasphemy laws will protect ideas from criticism by individuals rather than individuals from oppressive dogmas.Taslima Nasreem, Salmaan Rushdie, MF Hussain and many others have been barred to express themselves either by state or religion. The 'Revolution is in the danger' slogan has also killed many liberals by the shrewed for the sake of power. The whole adrenaline rushing sacrifice for Nation comes from the hate of the enemy rather than love of the country. The belief of perseverance of caste, creed, culture and civilization from mixing is absurd and against the human nature.
The only guide to man is his conscience; Showing respect for other people’s ideas and beliefs is indeed sign of tolerance in the individual. There is an unwillingness to listen and to understand the other and accept general form of discrimination as societal norms. There is constant clash between faith and Voice of reason. People take tolerance as acceptance of their faith with no questioning. Voice of reason asks for the justification of each a religious doctrine that is proclaimed as true without proof. This creates a conflict in the society as people wants to be in their comfort zones of tradition. Here, we divide the world between us and others on the basis of identities. That's why in this globalizing world, the others is an foreign element that pollutes the local culture. The rejection of others and not treating others as equal merely on the old belief system is self harming. Admiring excellence no matter where it is produced and general attitude of openness makes a person rise above one's surrounding belief system. We never learn : Whatever we understand and enjoy in human products instantly becomes ours, wherever they might have their origin.
The above line is my answer to mine friends asking about my expedition in the realm of foreign cinema. To be vowing for pure, self praising and self righteous kills the scope of the learning and intermingling of people. In my opinion, religion is never an answer to anything but is a dividing force. Believers are idealists who see no reasons only their end goal conquered through quantum of leap of hope. Beliefs are what divide people. Doubt unites them. I doubt the dogmas that's why today, I am too minority in the world of believers.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Disturbing Trend in Civilization -2
While I write about 2nd phase of article inquiring about disturbing trend in the civilization, I will emphasis on the countries governed by Islamic law. Personally, I don't see liberty, equality and a place for minority in the Islamic Law. This article is more based on the study of Pakistan that resembles us most in culture and traditions.
People who are ignorant to history can perish easily. That's why false notion of history creates a generation believing in conspiracy theories than scientic inquiry about religion. That what is happening to the generation of Muslim countries. And this excessive religious education corrodes the youth minds making them unaware of the worldly affairs. The tendency to see every act through the eye of religion tarnishes the viewpoint and starts the pointless debate to determine ‘true Islam’.
Romanticised version of Islam’s early history is constructed purely on memorised accounts. 'Glorious age of religious faith' is the imaginative concept of extremist. It baffles all rationality and history. Land of pure and one provides no space to diversity. This catalyzes the elimination of minority by extremist element in majority.
Meanwhile, Muslim countries continue to lag behind the rest of the world in almost every measure of human rights, scientific achievement, economic vitality, and standard of living. Take oil out of Arab countries and they would be the most corrupt and failed states. We all know about the reports of human rights violation in the countries governed by Sharia laws.
Tendency of feudal violence and gun culture is more seen in Islamic countries. The chance of fair discussion and democracy seems less feasible. Courts are overburdened with cases, land reforms pending, an Army that doesn't care about civilians and democratic leader chosen are either highly corrupt or elite. So majority of uneducated population has been left with no choice over all.
Propaganda of any religious group of the single correct path is a totalitarian act and that leads to the violent suppression of opposition camp. The competition in opposite camps is no longer a consensus-building exercise, but rather a zero-sum game. There is so much insecurity and mistrust that anyone criticizing with reason is consider as Zionist agent or atheist. The pursuit of only one religious view fuelled with elimination of other views lead by small faction of self righteous religious parties catalyzes the downfall of peaceful Islamic countries into chaos. There is a need to end the violent, psychopathic and totalitarian version of the faith.
There is a difference between getting people to think for themselves and telling them what to think. you can’t force people to acquire an opinion, they have to form their own opinion about issues. As in most conflicts, solutions can only come from within. There is lack of rational education in all Islamic countries governed under Sharia. And there is no distinction between teachings of the Quran and the anachronistic 7th century Arabian tribal customs. The solution to the turmoil gripping Muslim society today may be found in reintroducing ijtihad.
Ijtihad is a technical term of Islamic law that describes the process of making a legal decision by independent interpretation of the legal sources, the Qur'an and the Sunnah. It is not practiced in Sunni Islam anymore and notion that the "gates of ijtihad" were "closed" in the 10th century.
The ultimate clash is between the politicised Islam of a radical element which has turned to violence as a means of expressing itself, and the mainstream majority which remains largely silent defending Islam as religion of peace. Muslims as humans and individuals are obviously capable of changing their minds but no the Islamic Mullahs. We need to educate people about human rights, rational thinking and secular society for peaceful co existence.
Let me end the topic with talks of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Dutch intellectual & feminist activist Must Read Interview : Unlike other religions that allowed for criticism, Islam brooks no questioning, Ali said. "In Islam you submit your will to a force outside yourself, to a collective will," she said. Describing the Koran as a book written within a certain cultural context in the 6th century, she said many values are outdated. For instance, she said, in Islam, men and women are not equal, homosexual relations are not tolerated, women found guilty of adultery are required to be stoned to death, and the list of obligations under Islam have led to an environment of bigotry where believers are obliged to distance themselves from non-Muslims...
People who are ignorant to history can perish easily. That's why false notion of history creates a generation believing in conspiracy theories than scientic inquiry about religion. That what is happening to the generation of Muslim countries. And this excessive religious education corrodes the youth minds making them unaware of the worldly affairs. The tendency to see every act through the eye of religion tarnishes the viewpoint and starts the pointless debate to determine ‘true Islam’.
Romanticised version of Islam’s early history is constructed purely on memorised accounts. 'Glorious age of religious faith' is the imaginative concept of extremist. It baffles all rationality and history. Land of pure and one provides no space to diversity. This catalyzes the elimination of minority by extremist element in majority.
Meanwhile, Muslim countries continue to lag behind the rest of the world in almost every measure of human rights, scientific achievement, economic vitality, and standard of living. Take oil out of Arab countries and they would be the most corrupt and failed states. We all know about the reports of human rights violation in the countries governed by Sharia laws.
Tendency of feudal violence and gun culture is more seen in Islamic countries. The chance of fair discussion and democracy seems less feasible. Courts are overburdened with cases, land reforms pending, an Army that doesn't care about civilians and democratic leader chosen are either highly corrupt or elite. So majority of uneducated population has been left with no choice over all.
Propaganda of any religious group of the single correct path is a totalitarian act and that leads to the violent suppression of opposition camp. The competition in opposite camps is no longer a consensus-building exercise, but rather a zero-sum game. There is so much insecurity and mistrust that anyone criticizing with reason is consider as Zionist agent or atheist. The pursuit of only one religious view fuelled with elimination of other views lead by small faction of self righteous religious parties catalyzes the downfall of peaceful Islamic countries into chaos. There is a need to end the violent, psychopathic and totalitarian version of the faith.
There is a difference between getting people to think for themselves and telling them what to think. you can’t force people to acquire an opinion, they have to form their own opinion about issues. As in most conflicts, solutions can only come from within. There is lack of rational education in all Islamic countries governed under Sharia. And there is no distinction between teachings of the Quran and the anachronistic 7th century Arabian tribal customs. The solution to the turmoil gripping Muslim society today may be found in reintroducing ijtihad.
Ijtihad is a technical term of Islamic law that describes the process of making a legal decision by independent interpretation of the legal sources, the Qur'an and the Sunnah. It is not practiced in Sunni Islam anymore and notion that the "gates of ijtihad" were "closed" in the 10th century.
The ultimate clash is between the politicised Islam of a radical element which has turned to violence as a means of expressing itself, and the mainstream majority which remains largely silent defending Islam as religion of peace. Muslims as humans and individuals are obviously capable of changing their minds but no the Islamic Mullahs. We need to educate people about human rights, rational thinking and secular society for peaceful co existence.
Let me end the topic with talks of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Dutch intellectual & feminist activist Must Read Interview : Unlike other religions that allowed for criticism, Islam brooks no questioning, Ali said. "In Islam you submit your will to a force outside yourself, to a collective will," she said. Describing the Koran as a book written within a certain cultural context in the 6th century, she said many values are outdated. For instance, she said, in Islam, men and women are not equal, homosexual relations are not tolerated, women found guilty of adultery are required to be stoned to death, and the list of obligations under Islam have led to an environment of bigotry where believers are obliged to distance themselves from non-Muslims...
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Disturbing Trend in Civilization -1
I am disturbed by trends happened in past or happening presently around me in the name of religion, race and caste. The trend of one's religion based on faith and love while another on irrationality and superstition is growing abruptly. Before starting this discussion, remember the warning: Civilization is an intellectual pursuit of leisure class.
1- I was watching a movie 'Before the Rain'. The movie shows the unending cycle of love and violence in the Macedonian region. There is a bitter division of orthodox christian and Albanians and it gives the hint of civil war like situation. I started thinking about root causes of this hate. West stick to the theory of "Clash of civilization". This clash is bound to happen due to rapid globalization that brings people together. Prejudice of superiority and purity are shattered by scholars. Extremists taking in the refuge of nationalism return into cocoon with mythical glorious past theories of the region.
European nation are taken aback Islamophobia. In Switzerland, it’s minarets. In France, it’s the veil, the burqa and the beard. As they fear that the population explosion of Muslims will disturb the social fabric of their society. What we are witnessing today is a shift from a Muslim to an Islamist identity. The religious self for individual Muslims is being shifted from the private to the public realm. Christopher Caldwell, a journalist who has been reporting on Muslims in Europe for over a decade goes on to voice a fundamental European concern: "It was not just that young Muslims were assimilating too slowly into European culture as the generations passed, it was that they were dis-assimilating."
Separation of religion from state is a distinct symbol of European enlightenment and culture, while Islam stands for joint duo politics and religion. Secularism is not the same as atheism. Secularism means respect for all faiths. While the fear is genuine due to history of Muslim population showing more loyalty to Islam than their nation in the secular state. At the same time, however, large numbers of Europeans even in the most secular countries still identify themselves as "Christian," pointing to an implicit, diffused, and submerged Christian cultural identity.
Islam is falling in the hands of pseudo theological mullahs who opposes any form of free speech as heresy. And, with Danish Cartoon controversy and Murder of Theodoor "Theo" van Gogh had given hardliners enough material to speak against Islam.
Oliver Ray examined in his essay about Islam in Europe: "It is a mistake to think that religious and political radicalism among European Muslims is a mere import from the cultures and conflicts of the Middle East. It is above all a consequence of the globalization and Westernization of Islam."
Free speech is a fundamental human right and a central tenet to any form of government. With the latest in a series of incidents in Europe, involving the clash of the idea of freedom of expression with the idea of blasphemy of Islam, I vouch for the expression 'Free speech' irrespective of religion and state principles.
Read a genuine line that impresses me: To Credit Islam with Algebra, Hinduism with Shoonya, Christianity with the Copernican revolution, is like crediting the Czar with the Bolshevik revolution.
1- I was watching a movie 'Before the Rain'. The movie shows the unending cycle of love and violence in the Macedonian region. There is a bitter division of orthodox christian and Albanians and it gives the hint of civil war like situation. I started thinking about root causes of this hate. West stick to the theory of "Clash of civilization". This clash is bound to happen due to rapid globalization that brings people together. Prejudice of superiority and purity are shattered by scholars. Extremists taking in the refuge of nationalism return into cocoon with mythical glorious past theories of the region.
European nation are taken aback Islamophobia. In Switzerland, it’s minarets. In France, it’s the veil, the burqa and the beard. As they fear that the population explosion of Muslims will disturb the social fabric of their society. What we are witnessing today is a shift from a Muslim to an Islamist identity. The religious self for individual Muslims is being shifted from the private to the public realm. Christopher Caldwell, a journalist who has been reporting on Muslims in Europe for over a decade goes on to voice a fundamental European concern: "It was not just that young Muslims were assimilating too slowly into European culture as the generations passed, it was that they were dis-assimilating."Separation of religion from state is a distinct symbol of European enlightenment and culture, while Islam stands for joint duo politics and religion. Secularism is not the same as atheism. Secularism means respect for all faiths. While the fear is genuine due to history of Muslim population showing more loyalty to Islam than their nation in the secular state. At the same time, however, large numbers of Europeans even in the most secular countries still identify themselves as "Christian," pointing to an implicit, diffused, and submerged Christian cultural identity.
Islam is falling in the hands of pseudo theological mullahs who opposes any form of free speech as heresy. And, with Danish Cartoon controversy and Murder of Theodoor "Theo" van Gogh had given hardliners enough material to speak against Islam.
Oliver Ray examined in his essay about Islam in Europe: "It is a mistake to think that religious and political radicalism among European Muslims is a mere import from the cultures and conflicts of the Middle East. It is above all a consequence of the globalization and Westernization of Islam."
Free speech is a fundamental human right and a central tenet to any form of government. With the latest in a series of incidents in Europe, involving the clash of the idea of freedom of expression with the idea of blasphemy of Islam, I vouch for the expression 'Free speech' irrespective of religion and state principles.
Read a genuine line that impresses me: To Credit Islam with Algebra, Hinduism with Shoonya, Christianity with the Copernican revolution, is like crediting the Czar with the Bolshevik revolution.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Let's make life interesting !!!
I don't know what to write today. The blank spaces between mine words have more meanings than this whole blog. Now, few words for world around me. When we win a match against Pak in Hockey World cup, certainly times appear good if we look at confident India. Then, three continuous defeats expose our inability to change and do vocal politics.
After acute crisis majority of people returns to sense, and then again going numb with time. The “His troubles, his miseries & his problems will fall on my head if I support him” is part of our whole system in the country. In a talk the famous historian Antony Beevor gave at the Galle Literary Festival recently,he made an interesting point. While bemoaning the lack of historical accuracy in much of the media, he said we had entered a “post-literate phase”. By this he meant that images had superseded the printed word as the vehicle for disseminating history. Consequently, TV and movies now determine which historical narrative is believed.
Personal Life: 'Let's make life interesting' and be more social in interaction with others. That was my motto of change. I had written in my diary one months ago that "Its so tough to push yourself for something you have never done. Preaching others about discipline and simplicity is much easier task but following it much tougher. I am trying to tame myself in discipline and a minimum level of presentableness. I am trying to change and each moment of transition is pain ." I failed somewhere in the transition and caught between my desires and goals like Trishanku. I was lacking will power but not motivation. Still, its consequences are devastating.
I want to return to old life of loneliness. I don't want to continue this life of extrovert and express my feelings completely. I tried to change and people misunderstood me. When you believe in open society, it reflects in your nature. People listen less, understand minimum and assume more. I am again back against wall alone. I want to drink Vodka and kill my consciousness some time. One person trusted me and believed that I can change. I changed but it is appearing futile now. I will again go back in my cave of silence and solitude. The world didn't need me, its better for me to keep mouth shut and die. I create myself in the mirror of others and now annihilating same personality. The death of the heart is the saddest thing that can happen to you. And, I died yesterday...
Thought of the Day :One of the first signs of the beginning of understanding is the wish to die. -Franz Kafka
Read few links for knowledge:
1- How an artist was shorn : Husain sees through an idol, giving it a form that may outrage some, but is not inconsistent with India’s aesthetic explain Salil Tripathi.
2- A university's tryst with rural health: The story of an anti-HIV/AIDS programme in Tamil Nadu's Namakkal district may hold many lessons for the health professional and policy-planner.
3- Allah’s Left The Building: Meant for Muslim welfare, Wakf lands are being sold for a song by its trustees.
4- Mr Chidambaram’s War: Arundhuti Roy opposes military action in Maoist affected areas.
5- Of all the voices that opposed the introduction of Bt brinjal, one was most significant — that of 84-year old T V Jagadisan, the former MD of Monsanto India. Interview with Tehelka reveal his view point.
After acute crisis majority of people returns to sense, and then again going numb with time. The “His troubles, his miseries & his problems will fall on my head if I support him” is part of our whole system in the country. In a talk the famous historian Antony Beevor gave at the Galle Literary Festival recently,he made an interesting point. While bemoaning the lack of historical accuracy in much of the media, he said we had entered a “post-literate phase”. By this he meant that images had superseded the printed word as the vehicle for disseminating history. Consequently, TV and movies now determine which historical narrative is believed.
Personal Life: 'Let's make life interesting' and be more social in interaction with others. That was my motto of change. I had written in my diary one months ago that "Its so tough to push yourself for something you have never done. Preaching others about discipline and simplicity is much easier task but following it much tougher. I am trying to tame myself in discipline and a minimum level of presentableness. I am trying to change and each moment of transition is pain ." I failed somewhere in the transition and caught between my desires and goals like Trishanku. I was lacking will power but not motivation. Still, its consequences are devastating.
I want to return to old life of loneliness. I don't want to continue this life of extrovert and express my feelings completely. I tried to change and people misunderstood me. When you believe in open society, it reflects in your nature. People listen less, understand minimum and assume more. I am again back against wall alone. I want to drink Vodka and kill my consciousness some time. One person trusted me and believed that I can change. I changed but it is appearing futile now. I will again go back in my cave of silence and solitude. The world didn't need me, its better for me to keep mouth shut and die. I create myself in the mirror of others and now annihilating same personality. The death of the heart is the saddest thing that can happen to you. And, I died yesterday...
Thought of the Day :One of the first signs of the beginning of understanding is the wish to die. -Franz Kafka
Read few links for knowledge:
1- How an artist was shorn : Husain sees through an idol, giving it a form that may outrage some, but is not inconsistent with India’s aesthetic explain Salil Tripathi.
2- A university's tryst with rural health: The story of an anti-HIV/AIDS programme in Tamil Nadu's Namakkal district may hold many lessons for the health professional and policy-planner.
3- Allah’s Left The Building: Meant for Muslim welfare, Wakf lands are being sold for a song by its trustees.
4- Mr Chidambaram’s War: Arundhuti Roy opposes military action in Maoist affected areas.
5- Of all the voices that opposed the introduction of Bt brinjal, one was most significant — that of 84-year old T V Jagadisan, the former MD of Monsanto India. Interview with Tehelka reveal his view point.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
The wind of freedom blows
1- What a country needs for development in a very long term ? Vigorous debate and absolute freedom of speech. And this makes America a great nation. The source lies in its first Amendment:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Atanu Dey puts his perspective very clear on comparison between America and India on free speech. The first amendment article and comments by readers form a very interesting read on this topic.
2- The Strange case of China and Russia: There is a denialism when an entire segment of society, often struggling with the trauma of change, turns away from reality in favor of a more comfortable lie. It has created a society where institutions are brazenly politicized, where violence has been legitimised, where the socialist state has been reduced to a narrow-visioned envy-filled individual whose dominant mindset is reverence of dead heroes and contempt for all contemporary success.
3- Pseudo Islamic countries like Pakistan falls to move towards the concept of democracy. Bernard Lewis states Islamic authorities have always had great difficulty in accommodating post-Islamic monotheistic religions such as the Bahá'í Faith, since the followers of such religions cannot be dismissed. Moreover, their very existence presents a challenge to the Islamic doctrine of the perfection and finality of Muhammad's revelation. What else can one expect from a society living in a curiously delusional state of denial, gleefully mistaking it as ‘patriotism’ and ‘concern.’ The problem with these countries is that they have people like Asma Jahangir is – they are hundreds of years ahead of their national consciousness.
Nadeem F Paracha put it as : Well, this is exactly what happens to a society that responds so enthusiastically to all the major symptoms of fascist thought. Symptoms such as powerful and continuing nationalism; disdain for the recognition of human rights; identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause; supremacy of the military; obsession with national security; the intertwining of religion and government; disdain for intellectuals and the arts; an obsession with crime and punishment, etc.
4- When a person migrates to the western countries, a new social riddle comes in the front of him. Either to be adopt in the melting pot society type structure or keep his motherland's intact with him. The 2nd generation dilemma of being dual nationality makes them to search for identity. Few acts of terrorism in the name of self righteousness also happen. This can be explained :
Generally coming from deeply conservative backgrounds, they are shocked with the free and easy lifestyle they encounter.Rather than encouraging their children to integrate, they seek to insulate them from Western values, thus causing a state of mild schizophrenia in second- generation immigrants.
Some of these young people become quickly radicalised, and seek clarity in the black-and-white world of religious extremism. Unfortunately, too many of them lack the education to realise that ultimately, no set of beliefs or values is inherently inferior or superior to another.
Morality, as we have seen, is not the monopoly of any faith: an atheist can be more ethical than a religious person. At the end of the day, what matters is that humans behave with consideration and decency, and avoid imposing their beliefs on others.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Atanu Dey puts his perspective very clear on comparison between America and India on free speech. The first amendment article and comments by readers form a very interesting read on this topic.
2- The Strange case of China and Russia: There is a denialism when an entire segment of society, often struggling with the trauma of change, turns away from reality in favor of a more comfortable lie. It has created a society where institutions are brazenly politicized, where violence has been legitimised, where the socialist state has been reduced to a narrow-visioned envy-filled individual whose dominant mindset is reverence of dead heroes and contempt for all contemporary success.
3- Pseudo Islamic countries like Pakistan falls to move towards the concept of democracy. Bernard Lewis states Islamic authorities have always had great difficulty in accommodating post-Islamic monotheistic religions such as the Bahá'í Faith, since the followers of such religions cannot be dismissed. Moreover, their very existence presents a challenge to the Islamic doctrine of the perfection and finality of Muhammad's revelation. What else can one expect from a society living in a curiously delusional state of denial, gleefully mistaking it as ‘patriotism’ and ‘concern.’ The problem with these countries is that they have people like Asma Jahangir is – they are hundreds of years ahead of their national consciousness.
Nadeem F Paracha put it as : Well, this is exactly what happens to a society that responds so enthusiastically to all the major symptoms of fascist thought. Symptoms such as powerful and continuing nationalism; disdain for the recognition of human rights; identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause; supremacy of the military; obsession with national security; the intertwining of religion and government; disdain for intellectuals and the arts; an obsession with crime and punishment, etc.
4- When a person migrates to the western countries, a new social riddle comes in the front of him. Either to be adopt in the melting pot society type structure or keep his motherland's intact with him. The 2nd generation dilemma of being dual nationality makes them to search for identity. Few acts of terrorism in the name of self righteousness also happen. This can be explained :
Generally coming from deeply conservative backgrounds, they are shocked with the free and easy lifestyle they encounter.Rather than encouraging their children to integrate, they seek to insulate them from Western values, thus causing a state of mild schizophrenia in second- generation immigrants.
Some of these young people become quickly radicalised, and seek clarity in the black-and-white world of religious extremism. Unfortunately, too many of them lack the education to realise that ultimately, no set of beliefs or values is inherently inferior or superior to another.
Morality, as we have seen, is not the monopoly of any faith: an atheist can be more ethical than a religious person. At the end of the day, what matters is that humans behave with consideration and decency, and avoid imposing their beliefs on others.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Irrational Faith -3
Note: [You can read my view points about religion hereto get the grasp of my thinking. ]
There is a film named 'The White Ribbon' directed by Michale Haneke. He expressed his views on the themes of the film: " I was interested in presenting a group of children who are taught absolutist values, and the way they internalize this absolutism. My point was to show the consequences – that is, all sorts of terrorism. If absolutism is applied to an ideal, then that ideal, either political or religious, becomes inhuman. I had considered calling the film "The Right Hand of God." These children believe they are the right hand of God: they have understood the laws, and follow it to the letter. This makes them become the punishers of the others, who do not obey the same ideals. This is how the terrorism originates. The film should not be considered as a comment on fascism alone." [Source]
These lines cane be source of brilliant debates for any society ready for introspection. Still unconsciously, I put this line in real life analysis in the case of 'Islam' only. One line discussed about this movie will make my point clear. 'The seeds of deadliest emotions are there in a society that allows for nothing except goodness.'
This tendency of looking to absolute and abolish all badness through strict punishment exist in Islamic countries. Any liberal act in art, dance , woman rights and minority rights is highly condemned by priestly clan in the power. Middle class in any Islamic countries are not strong enough to adopt the modern political ideologies of west like democracy, secularism, religious diversity and liberalism at a national level. Hence, the Islamic state has lost its authority to challenge the semi-literate & close minded maulvis who do more harm than good.
Excessive importance to religion and its principles is a hindrance in the expansion liberalism and tolerance, where individuals do not give undue importance to religion. It is not easy for any nation to contend with religious bigots and fundamentalists who are forcing on imposing the socio-religious ideology of middle ages on the society in 21st century.
Let us take few countries in analysis. Iran is a more democratic in all Islamic countries at grass root level with power held by clerics. Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey have military backed secular state model. Saudi Arabia is feudal state divided between tribes which does not hold any respect to human rights. And, such Islamic countries are way ahead in corruption index despite of imposition of laws based roughly on Sharia laws.
Ataturk tried to change his country through dictatorship but it shows wrong signals across other countries. Military approach can't solve the civil society problem. The days of revolution are gone. Unless you know how to govern a country, you cannot bring about peace in a country. The failure of Islamic countries on free voice is the major cause of their degradation in cultural and scientific fields. The failure to learn from our past mistakes and “blame India, Israel, America or West” mindset deny them from doing something constructive. And they fall as a pawn in the world politics.
The lack of progress in science and democratic values depicts the mentality of ruling class. Force, however strong, cannot and should not have the last word on any general consensus of the people. For the empowerment of democratic forces in any nation clear cut demarcation between religion and politics is necessary.
To give up power to majority is not easy task, it requires moral courage. Other countries with Christian, Jewish and Hindu population were able to do that because there leaders choose liberal values and democratic reforms for masses. I always admire J.L. Nehru despite of all controversies surrounding him. It was his autocratic rule without becoming Cesearian type that makes India what it is today. He saved us from becoming Hindu Pakistan.
There is a film named 'The White Ribbon' directed by Michale Haneke. He expressed his views on the themes of the film: " I was interested in presenting a group of children who are taught absolutist values, and the way they internalize this absolutism. My point was to show the consequences – that is, all sorts of terrorism. If absolutism is applied to an ideal, then that ideal, either political or religious, becomes inhuman. I had considered calling the film "The Right Hand of God." These children believe they are the right hand of God: they have understood the laws, and follow it to the letter. This makes them become the punishers of the others, who do not obey the same ideals. This is how the terrorism originates. The film should not be considered as a comment on fascism alone." [Source]
These lines cane be source of brilliant debates for any society ready for introspection. Still unconsciously, I put this line in real life analysis in the case of 'Islam' only. One line discussed about this movie will make my point clear. 'The seeds of deadliest emotions are there in a society that allows for nothing except goodness.'
This tendency of looking to absolute and abolish all badness through strict punishment exist in Islamic countries. Any liberal act in art, dance , woman rights and minority rights is highly condemned by priestly clan in the power. Middle class in any Islamic countries are not strong enough to adopt the modern political ideologies of west like democracy, secularism, religious diversity and liberalism at a national level. Hence, the Islamic state has lost its authority to challenge the semi-literate & close minded maulvis who do more harm than good.
Excessive importance to religion and its principles is a hindrance in the expansion liberalism and tolerance, where individuals do not give undue importance to religion. It is not easy for any nation to contend with religious bigots and fundamentalists who are forcing on imposing the socio-religious ideology of middle ages on the society in 21st century.
Let us take few countries in analysis. Iran is a more democratic in all Islamic countries at grass root level with power held by clerics. Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey have military backed secular state model. Saudi Arabia is feudal state divided between tribes which does not hold any respect to human rights. And, such Islamic countries are way ahead in corruption index despite of imposition of laws based roughly on Sharia laws.
Ataturk tried to change his country through dictatorship but it shows wrong signals across other countries. Military approach can't solve the civil society problem. The days of revolution are gone. Unless you know how to govern a country, you cannot bring about peace in a country. The failure of Islamic countries on free voice is the major cause of their degradation in cultural and scientific fields. The failure to learn from our past mistakes and “blame India, Israel, America or West” mindset deny them from doing something constructive. And they fall as a pawn in the world politics.
The lack of progress in science and democratic values depicts the mentality of ruling class. Force, however strong, cannot and should not have the last word on any general consensus of the people. For the empowerment of democratic forces in any nation clear cut demarcation between religion and politics is necessary.
To give up power to majority is not easy task, it requires moral courage. Other countries with Christian, Jewish and Hindu population were able to do that because there leaders choose liberal values and democratic reforms for masses. I always admire J.L. Nehru despite of all controversies surrounding him. It was his autocratic rule without becoming Cesearian type that makes India what it is today. He saved us from becoming Hindu Pakistan.
Monday, December 28, 2009
An army free world
Is brutality committed in the name of patriotism more justified than violence committed in the name of parallel ideologies, be it Maoism, Jehad, communalism, or Hindu nationalism? The Army is doing the same atrocities everywhere, be it Afghanistan, Kashmir or Palestine. But what is happening currently in Iraq ia much more than that. Read Letter to Young Muslimis by Tariq Ali & Kissinger's fantasy is Obama's reality by Pankaj Mishra.
Tariq Ali's lecture in an American University on Afghan War --- “Obama’s Afghan-Pak Syndrome"
For me, Patriotism means loving people not land.
Tariq Ali's lecture in an American University on Afghan War --- “Obama’s Afghan-Pak Syndrome"
For me, Patriotism means loving people not land.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Final Solution: Documentary on Gujarat Riot
Final Solution :-
Final Solution is a study of the politics of hate. Set in Gujarat, India, the film graphically documents the changing face of right-wing politics in India through a study of the 2002 genocide of Muslims in Gujarat. The film examines the aftermath of the deadly violence that followed the burning of 58 Hindus on the Sabarmati Express train at Godhra on February 27 2002. In “reaction” to that incident, some 2,500 Muslims were brutally murdered, hundreds of women raped, and more than 200,000 families driven from their homes. Borrowing its reference from the history of Nazism, the title of the film exposes what the film director calls 'Indian Fascism' and seeks to remind that “those who forget history are condemned to relive it." [Source]
Torrent Download Link
To know more about the film, please check this website.
Final Solution is a study of the politics of hate. Set in Gujarat, India, the film graphically documents the changing face of right-wing politics in India through a study of the 2002 genocide of Muslims in Gujarat. The film examines the aftermath of the deadly violence that followed the burning of 58 Hindus on the Sabarmati Express train at Godhra on February 27 2002. In “reaction” to that incident, some 2,500 Muslims were brutally murdered, hundreds of women raped, and more than 200,000 families driven from their homes. Borrowing its reference from the history of Nazism, the title of the film exposes what the film director calls 'Indian Fascism' and seeks to remind that “those who forget history are condemned to relive it." [Source]
Torrent Download Link
To know more about the film, please check this website.
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