Some comments on the terrorism
Neelam Soundarajan
The horrendous terrorist attacks of a couple of days ago have been
almost universally condemned, as indeed they richly deserve to be.
In this note I want to focus on a somewhat different point. Numerous
people have claimed that we need to turn to religion and prayer to
overcome such attacks in the future. I would like to argue that
religion, far from being the solution to such problems, is, if
anything, one of the root causes.
Some of you may think I am blaming Islam for these problems. I am
not. I am blaming ALL religions. The holy book of nearly every major
religion heaps so much hatred on non-believers that it is a surprise
that we do not have many more such events. I realize that many people
claim that "real religion" eschews violence and hatred but that seems
to me to be mere rationalization. Clearly the people who were involved
in the Crusades believed they were doing their God's work. And you
don't have to go far back in history to find examples of people
committing, in the name of religion, what all of us will agree are
evil deeds. The fairly wide spread justification of slavery on the
basis of religion was not all that long ago. And what, except
religion, is the justification for so many Arabs feeling that Israel
ought to be destroyed? Or for so many Israelis feeling that someone
from Russia or Poland, simply because he is a jew, has a far greater
right than a Palestinian to a piece of land that the Palestinian and
his ancestors have lived on for ages and ages? Or for millions of
hindus and muslims in India and Pakistan slaughtering each other? Or
for the continuing madness in Ireland? Or for Tuesday's terror? The
justification in each case is, of course, in their holy books. In
every case the groups can point to specific language in their
respective holy books to justify their beliefs and actions. How can we
possibly claim that all these people who spend so much time studying
their holy books don't "really understand" what their God tells them?
I do understand the need that people have, in times of great distress,
to have something to place their hopes in. So, given that we have all
been told how great God is and how wonderful he is and how he answers
our prayers, it is entirely understandable for so many of the victims'
family members to pray to Jesus or whoever their God is to save their
loved ones. What I am worried about is the preachers, or should I say
hucksters, who preach their complete nonsense with complete
confidence. Yesterday evening I caught a snippet of one of these
people on TV; I think this was at a prayer vigil in Columbus but I
didn't bother to note the details. The guy was claiming that in one of
the videos, he saw two doves next to the second plane that hit the
Trade Center; and he claimed that this was a sign from Jesus and so we
should all pray to God. Amazing, isn't it? Apparently this guy's God
could arrange to send a couple of doves as a sign right at the moment
that the plane was about to hit a big building and kill thousands of
people but couldn't, oh, I don't know, maybe have the plane veer away
at the last moment before hitting the building? Or arrange for a
couple of heart attacks among the hijackers when they were in the
process of hijacking the planes? Or even maybe just arrange for some
fog at Boston so the planes couldn't take off in the first place?
Heck, a couple of flat tires on the cars that the hijackers took to
the airports would have taken care of the problem. But apparently this
guy's God doesn't do the obvious thing. He has to kill thousands of
innocent people so He could send us a couple of doves as a sign of His
greatness? And we fall for this stuff? And our children listen to this
nonsense?
So what is my answer? I think a big part of the answer has to be for
all of us to accept the common humanity of all people. Not, "they" are
evil Arabs while "we" are wonderful Americans; not, "they" are mad
Jews while "we" are god-fearing Palestinians; not, "we" are God's
chosen people while "they" are infidels. We, as humanity, have
eliminated many evils of the past or at least recognized them as evil.
We have recognized slavery for the horror it is; we have recognized
the equality of women; we have recognized that there is no
justification for the colonization of one group of people by another;
one of these days we might even recognize that homosexuals have as
much right as heterosexuals to happiness. But we have to go all the
way; we have to learn to treat ALL people as individuals and should be
treated as we would want to be. And religions have most definitely
stood in the way. Racism is rightly condemned; "religionism", if I
may coin a word, meaning judging people on the basis of what God they
believe in or don't believe in, is as bad. Actually worse, because it
is justified on the basis of "holy" books. The solution to
religion-inspired terrorism and madness is not more religion. It is
for us to remember, and for us to teach all children, that the most
important rule is not to be pious but to treat others as you would
want to be treated.
I know I probably offended a lot of people. My apologies. That was
certainly not my intention. But I do believe that the religions of the
world are truly standing in the way of human progress as indeed they
have over hundreds of years, and we have to get beyond them. Surely
there will be evil people in the world even if there were no
religions; we can at least eliminate the evil that religions are
responsible for.
--Neelam.