Is religion just politics by another name?
To the editor:
Is religion just politics by another name?I think that the case can be made that this is so. True, there are some differences that I am sure will be used in contesting this statement but by and large, what do we have?
First, we have as population leaders Presidents, Kings, Popes, Chiefs and Prime Ministers to name a few. With the exception of royalty, the others are elected through some process of a voting/selection procedure. In rare occasions royalty may also be determined by a selection process but this is more the exception as opposed to being the rule. That voting can be by direct voting, as we have here, by the citizens or through a voting process of others that are already in a hierarchy within the system.
With Islam we find that there are different categories.
For example: there are theocratic leaders like Ruhollah Khomeini, Saddam Hussein was a dictator, and Benazir Bhutto was a democratic leader. Yet what they had in common was their use of their religion to identify and control their population. The differences cause problems in the governance of their country. If Sharia Law is used as a method of civil behavior it does so in stark contrast with countries that employs what can be considered as traditional civil control, where religion becomes more of a private matter. This allows for a country to have a homogenized population of diverse religious beliefs.
It is this control of the population, in matters outside of religious dictates where politics blends with religion for the purpose of population control. Church and state have a most difficult time in being and/or remaining to be separate in normal day to day activities.
Failure to abide by civil law may result in a punitive action such as a fine or imprisonment, even death. There are also similar punishments in some religions. Amputation and beheadings may also be imposed.
Early civilizations had a grand Poobah of some sort. However, some religions today control their believers like monks in a monastery.
With the movement today of large segments of various societies we are bound to have clashes of religious practices within areas where the strength and practice of religion varies on the level of obligation on the adherents as it relates to non religious dictates. European countries are experiencing such signs of discord, England and France to use for illustration. There are communities in some of the northern areas of this country where Sharia Law is being requested by some segments of the population, with the intent of displacing historical population control.
It will be most instructive to witness how political correctness, religious demands and the U.S. Constitution reconcile the possible, nay likely, civil upheaval. Our politics here have mostly been agreed to on the format now in place. Would we allow such a drastic reform to occur?
Joseph L. Kibitlewski, PhD
Cape Coral