RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM Vs RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
Religion is a set of organized beliefs, practices and systems that most often relate to the worship of a controlling force such as a personal God or another supernatural being. It gives a meaning and purpose to life, promotes physical and social well - being, controls social behaviour, motivates people to work for a positive social change and reinforces social unity and stability. The fundamental teaching of all major religions is always based on tolerance and none of them actually advocates the persecution of followers of other religions. However, these formerly noble principles have been distorted through the different interpretations by the ‘God-men’ over the centuries and has led to the conflict between different religious groups followed by the persecution of weaker group of the region by the stronger ones. The followers of each religion are convinced by their religious leaders that their conviction on God and spirituality is correct while those of others are fundamentally flawed and deceiving. This has created virtual barriers between different groups and it has become a matter of ‘Us’ and ‘Them’ for all religions nowadays thereby causing disunity and enmity between communities following different religions.
The religious engagement is expressed along a continuum from moderate to extreme and the distinction does not go far enough in unpacking this continuum. A variety of terms have been used to describe such an engagement with religion such as religiosity, religious fundamentalism, radicalism and/or extremism. Although these terms are sometimes used interchangeably and sometimes contested, each term connotes a definitive meaning that has a larger impact not only upon the follower but upon the society and finally nation too. The religiosity has been linked to the positive outcomes such as higher well-being and life satisfaction while religious fundamentalism and extremism have been linked to more negative outcomes such as prejudice, hostility, or even armed conflict. The religious fundamentalism refers to the rigid interpretation of scriptures while the political beliefs and actions have been the primary focus of religious extremism. Most of the political parties have used religious extremism as a weapon to promote the adoption of their norms through laws or force.
Although the discourse of religious extremism has mostly been related to the political context, there are other non-political contexts like social, ritual and theological dimensions that also define extremism. On the theological aspect, the extreme groups characterise God as an authoritarian image rather than a gracious one leading into rigid interpretations and coercion to suppress different narratives. An authoritarian image has historically been associated with apocalyptic narratives to attract people to convert into their group. On the social and ritual dimension, the extremists have a hostile view of other faiths, blame others for in-group disadvantage and deliberately reject the collaborative effort of others as they perceive inter religious dialogue as part of a conspiracy to weaken the faith in their religion. Thus, any change is a threat to religion and it urges religious institutions to act against them. Such kind of fanatical supporters of a religion always consider themselves as men of God, feel guilt-less of their deeds and perform any kind of crime in the name of God. This finally poses a huge risk to the freedom and liberty of the people of various other faiths.
There are hardly any parameters to assess the progression from being moderate in religion to being extreme, yet the five warning signs that are early indicators of religious extremism include belief in absolute truth, endorsement of blind obedience, a quest to establish utopia, belief that the end justifies the means and a declaration of holy war. As we are witnessing increased manipulation of the religious texts and outrageous interpretation of its tenets by people who wield religious power and authority, more and more people across the world are falling in the trap of this extremism. The moral purpose of religion is getting diluted day by day and is being replaced by villainous, offensive, dissolute and evil minded characters posing a threat to humanity at large.
In present times of extreme stress and cut-throat competition where more and more people are ready to forego morals and values to achieve their goals, religion tries to instil high morals and values. It brings unity and social harmony, inward and outward peace and most importantly a hope and sense of purpose in life. It continues to play an inseparable part in human life, sends a message of love and morality to several of its followers and also binds the people together through common rituals, practices and beliefs. This kind of right religious teaching should be sought from the childhood and the corrupt interpretation of religion by the self-styled God-Men along with the blind faith of its followers, which has done more harm to the mankind than the supposed benefit, should be abandoned altogether. Even if one feels an urge to follow religion to the extent of extremism, he/she should try best to avoid intermingling of politics in religion and work with one single motto of - ‘Serving the Humanity rather than the Religion alone.’
Dr. Pawan Suri
Chief Cardiologist
SGL SuperSpeciality Hospital
Jalandhar, Punjab
Email: psuricardio@gmail.com
Comments
Post a Comment