Religious fundamentalism is the breeding ground for self-righteousness, arrogance, and intolerance. It does not foster a climate conducive for freedom, democracy, human rights, enlightenment, and, ultimately, spirituality. The main reason Christ was crucified was that he spoke strongly against the practices of his time that sacrificed humans and human values at the altar of religious fundamentalism and blind traditionalism.
The most vicious and oppressive systems of racism, casteism, and colonialism sanctioned by religions and enforced by the most immoral of civil laws governed humanity late into the 20th century. That we have passed the right kind of ethical laws does not mean that the spirit of these laws has permeated the heart of humanity enabling the celebration of freedom and equality.
The Islamic State that promotes and legitimizes extreme violence is reported to have roots in the Wahhabic strain of Muslim fundamentalism centered in Saudi Arabia. A Wiki-leaks cable quoting the former Secretary of State of the USA said “donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding for the Sunni terrorist groups worldwide… Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support for al-Qaeda, the Taliban, LeT, and other terrorist groups”. Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates beside the Saudis are also implicated in the memo. Muslim religion as a whole has problem with democracy, and would rather follow theocracy, and govern their countries through the religious Sharia law (the body of Islamic law). Muslim fundamentalism is intolerant of other religions as current state of affairs in the Muslim countries seems to indicate.
What about the oldest democracy, USA, and the biggest democracy, India? Conservative Republican governors in the states of Indiana and Arkansas in the United States influenced by the Christian fundamentalist groups are willing to sign (Indiana governor has already signed) bills presented by their respective legislatures in to law that discriminates persons based on sexual orientation. They are having second thoughts only due to economic reasons in the forms of significant pressures from big businesses and gay groups. The separation of church and state that used to be celebrated during the over 30 glorious years that I lived full time in the USA seems to be blurring as of late due to religious fundamentalism. In India after the coming of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) into power, fundamentalist Hindu elements want life in India their way. The state of Hariyana, for instance, wants to give a special place to Bhagavad Gita in education. There are other states that want to make beef-eating or killing cows illegal as these things hurt the sentiments of fundamentalist Hindus. Even though I am a vegetarian, I am against such laws as they denote intolerance in a secular country like India. India prides in sarva dharma sama bhava (equality of all religions) by integrating religions into the lives of people by respecting all religions for a harmonious nation.
What we need to constantly remind ourselves is that God gave us the precious freedom knowing that humans may misuse it even to the point of rejecting him/her. That act of God, for me, is the greatest act of God’s love. We do not need to micromanage the world. What we need to do is to provide sound guidelines, and live our lives to the best of our ability loving God and loving all humans, and leave the rest to God who makes everything right.
Swami Snehananda Jyoti
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