We all need to confront religious fanaticism

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 at 10:23 PM

This is a real problem   -Dr Gurnam Singh, Coventry University, UK

g.singh@coventry.ac.uk                                                    6th Sept 2013

There is no doubt that minority groups in the UK and further afield are still having to mobilise against many forms of racism and discrimination, and such struggles will continue until society is rid of such distasteful beliefs and practices. However, there is another equally important task for all faith groups to contend with; that is religious fanaticism.  The reality is religious fanatics of whatever persuasions have developed a disproportionate influence over many of our youth and institutions. because fanatics tend to hold views that are not only incompatible with the essence of their own faith but are undermining the struggles of the vast majority of people of faith to live of peace and justice. 

Whilst faith is as old as human existence, organized and institutionalized form of religion are subject to the social, economic and political currents of history. Since the European Enlightenment and the assent of science, although disproportionally spread through the world, supernatural belief is in decline everywhere. Most people prioritise material and social needs over the pursuit of ‘God’. And increasingly, especially for educated professionals, a commitment to a secular or social spirituality has displaced the (blind) pursuit of miraculous divine intervention, which is often the primary motivation for fanatics. It is a belief that problems, be they personal, familial, social or political can only be solved through divine intervention. And this can only be possible if one invokes the power of God, which can be done by rejecting a world, which has become polluted, and returning to an assumed ‘puratan’ or old lifestyle that was lived by their respective prophets.

That said, I think religious fanatics are anything but ‘puratan’ and their appeal to the past is simply a clever maneuver to establish authority, which would be difficult to challenge. That is because their authority to claim to speak the truth does not come from being elected or selected but through being chosen or blessed by the almighty. Titles such as ‘Sant’, ‘Brahmgiani’, ‘Baba’, ‘mahapurak’ … are freely dispensed to further mystify and cement their authority amongst naive followers, who are often seeking peace and solace from the everyday problems of life. Whilst there are many noble, learned and deeply pious spiritual leaders from all faiths who do provide positive and constructive guidance to their followers, sadly, they are massively outnumbered by the many who, as gurbani warns us, are simply ‘thaggs’ or conmen.

It is this rejection of the present and a return to a glorious ‘puratan’ past, which has a common thread amongst religious fanatics of all faiths. At one level, there is nothing wrong with holding such beliefs, and to some degree, we all share nostalgia about the past as a way of dealing with problems in the present. Although, delving into the past may offer some pointers for the present and future, the problem is that all groups develop a selective amnesia and a tendency to portray the other as bad. Take for example the sixth Mogul Emperor Aurangzeb; for Sikhs he epitomizes an oppressive tyrant responsible for the murder of many of Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s family members. However, if one looks at Muslim accounts he was a deeply pious Muslim who lived a frugal life and condemned his brothers for drinking alcohol and womanizing.

There is little doubt that if it suits their ends religious fanatics, consciously and un-consciously, endorse or encourage violence. I am certain, stripped of the outward trappings and symbolism of their respective religions, they would simply be rendered as dangerous fascists.  You see fanatics, by definition, are people who have internalised the view that they have discovered 'the truth' within their tradition.  From this self delusion they conclude that that those who choose to follow no path or a path other than the one they believe to be the correct path are at best mistaken, or at worst enemies of (their) God, Kaffirs, unbelievers, manmukhs … etc. 

I think the main source of the problem is the way that scripture is read. If you read things in an unthinking and literal sense you can easily come to the kinds of conclusions that the fanatics come to. Simplistic minds look for simplistic explanations and those who seek to question such beliefs are rapidly classified as enemies of the faith. And the consequences for those can be serious, as we saw, for example, in the case of the Pakistanig School girls Malala Yousafzai who was shot in the head by a group of religious fanatics in Pakistan for advocating education for girls.

So, just like all groups, Islam has many differences. Putting aside the Sunni/Shia divide, what we to do is make a distinction between militant Islamism, and in particular Wahhabism, and the extremely pious, humanitarian and inclusive traditions associated with, for instance, Sufi Islam – which incidentally is very much a part of the Sikh tradition reflected in the writings of Farid, Kabeer and Nanak in particular.  Amongst the Sikhs, we have our own version of Wahhabism in the form of certain groups who claim their authority as direct decedents of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Amongst Hindus, as noted above, we have a militant Shiv Senna and Hindutvaits. Amongst Jews we have Zionists …and so on with most other traditions.

So the struggle and fear is not really about different faith groups dominating, but more accurately about how we can marginalise the hate mongers, who tend to get much more publicity simply because they either shout the loudest or simply or simply have more time on their hand. The reason why they are getting away with their hate mongering is two fold. First, thanks to the 'race relations lobby' the authorities are afflicted with 'political correctness', which renders them overly fearful of being accused of being racist, or simply they have no clue how to respond. I think the recent failure of the authorities to recognize a real problem amongst a certain strata of Pakistani Muslim young men and the issues of sexual grooming of Sikh girls as highlighted in the BBC documentary ‘Inside Out’ on the 2/9/13 serves as a good example. I think the liberal left (and I include myself amongst this category) does need to wake up and realise that the kinds of race relations discourse around in the 70's – 90's is no longer of much relevance today. 

Today, if we are to develop a discourse to tackle the real problems that out communities face, we must avoid going down the path of a separatist religious agenda. This will simply lead to a modern version of colonialism, of a divide and rule strategy, with one group being played off against another. The way forward for all faith groups to deal both with the fanatics within our fold and the authorities that have historically failed to take our concerns seriously is an inclusive human rights agenda approach that emphasises common universal principles.

That is not to say that religious minorities should not be defended or protected; to the contrary, organisations like the Sikh Council UK, the Muslim Council of Britain and the Hindu council have a crucial role to defend the interests of their community, but this should not simply be restricted to 'crying wolf' every time to member organisation or individual claims to have been unjustly treated. Yes, they are there to defend their respective religious interests, but they are also there to contribute to building a collective/inclusive vision of society, which will be the ultimate guarantor of freedom. Indeed, much of the life, work and sacrifice of the Sikh Gurus was devoted to such a vocation which is magnificently embodies in the gift of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji to the whole of humanity. I am sure most religions would be make similar claims to a message of love, peace and justice as most it seems to me, leaving aside the hate mongers, most faiths preach such universal ideal. What we need to do is to devalue the currency of the fanatics that elevate certain hateful practices and beliefs, often dispensed in a deceptive sugar coating of piety and humility, over higher-level principles of tolerance, freedom of expression and non-violence.

As a Sikh I am very comfortable with changing and abandoning those cultural practices that may come into conflict with my higher-level responsibilities to my fellow human beings. Indeed, there is a line in the Guru Granth Sahib Ji that invoked us all to burn those practices that undermine our efforts to achieve higher universal consciousness (i.e. To become united with the primal loving being). We need to recognise that no religious group is immune of extremism and fanaticism. We all have our own versions of the BNP or EDL and so the fight is/should not be between religious groups but between thinking tolerant humanitarian individuals and the unthinking, fanatics.