Riven by Religion, we need Secular States

The controversies of our modern day and age resulting from differences of opinion in matters of religion have compelled me to sit down and write this article. There is much conflict and intolerance in places ranging from Iraq to Saudi Arabia to the USA and certainly Malaysia. I wish to make the case that for peace and harmony between people and nations, religions should be left out of state hands and by extension, the constitution and law. The state must be secular. At most, states should merely act to prevent harm caused by excessive religiosity. And since my limited knowledge applies only to my home of Malaysia, that will be the bounds of my theoretical discussion even though I will use other countries as examples.

“History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.”

-Thomas Jefferson to Alexander von Humboldt, Dec. 6, 1813.

Have you ever known a deeply religious country that was prosperous, free and powerful? I doubt it, for there were none. I will refrain from using examples of ancient kingdoms and sultanates for they are irrelevant to our discussion since a monarchy is no longer a viable system of government. Instead we see that in contemporary society, wherever religious fervour runs deep, so too does blood.

I will illustrate the perils of a religious government with two examples.
I begin with Israel. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the pre-eminent poster child for religious conflict. Outwardly it presents itself as a territorial dispute because Palestinians want an independent nation. That obscures the fact that Israelis and Palestinians are essentially the same people, be it historically, genetically or culturally. The only difference between them is religion. The Jewish state that was promised after World War 2 by Britain could not be authentically Jewish if large groups of Palestinians were allowed to obtain Israeli citizenship, hence the problem of stateless Palestinians. This is surely the most severe case of religious bigotry in our modern human history.

The mental image that we have of Sri Lanka is surely a mild one. It is not a place we associate with religious conflict and oppression, but that is precisely what is experienced on a daily basis by a very large minority of Sri Lankans. In 1983, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam began their deadly 23 year war that has killed over 60,000 people. The ultimate reasons for this sorry state of affairs is the institutional racial and religious discrimination practiced by the ruling Sinhalese majority government. Even today, the constitution gives Buddhism a “foremost position” but with respect for the practice of different beliefs. This respect was inconsistent though, and in many instances, courts have ruled against minority religions where the Sinhalese Buddhist majority were perceived to be susceptible to conversion to other religions.

In an all too brief two paragraphs, I’ve given legitimate examples to demonstrate that a religious government can do more harm than good.

However, examples by themselves do not make a case. There is the small matter of logic to contend with.

I would venture to suggest that religion by its very nature is static. Religious texts do not promote social or political change. They only prescribe an old moral code that we are expected to follow and obey. This is anathema to progress. Human societies haven’t progressed because of religion, they have progressed in spite of it. We have not abolished slavery, adopted universal suffrage and given education to our women because an old book says so, rather it is the exact opposite.

I hope this essay gives pause to those who would clamour for more religiosity in our lives. Religion may be comforting or inspiring, but it is not and never will be a good basis for government. I hope we can all recognize that.

Muar Madness!

I felt I just had to share this. Its good to know I can feel so close to home even though I'm in Singapore. (Ok its not strictly home but Muar is pretty darn close to JB)

Guns, Germs and Steel: intermission

Sorry everyone, I've been totally and irreparably defeated by the sheer scale of the task that I originally set out to do. Even by my own rather dismal standards, giving up at this point marks a new low. Fortunately I've little ego and even less shame so I can do as I please. Damn society's judgment.

I'm putting this project officially on hold and will only resume writing the summary after my exams and when I muster enough fresh motivation.

In the meantime I will turn my attention to the inane and the quirky. This serves a dual purpose. First I get to take my weary mind off of my exams and secondly everybody gets entertained. Its a win-win situation.

All right then, till next post.