The Pastor and the Imam

The Christian pastor in Florida has finally given up the idea of burning the Quran. His insistence of going ahead with his plan in spite of international condemnation was baffling to everyone, except perhaps, to himself and his congregation. Better sense has prevailed and he has decided to do the world a favour, after basking in the sun for a few days.

However bizarre the whole episode, it should make all right thinking people to pause and think. There are many factors in this matter that should worry every rational person because this brings to the fore many of the inadequacies in society that is cause for many of the current social turbulence that we are unwittingly subjected to.  

We have seen the interplay of religious fundamentalism and cultural insecurity, both feeding from one another out of ignorant and false misinterpretations of the unworthy religious leaders. These leaders, not unlike most of our politicians, are eager to widen their reach and influence. They come out with "populist" interpretation of religion and culture which the ignorant cultural “have-nots” gobble up. The very fact that this non-entity of a pastor has now basked in the limelight of international attention for a brief moment, must have given many a lunatic fringe-man great ideas to grab humanity by it's neck and shake it up!

Now that this guy has relented, and there is a collective sigh from the world at large, let us examine some of the social debris this has brought to the surface.

·        An Imam wants to build a community centre near “ground-zero” to which there is widespread opposition from a large cross-section of people. What should this Imam, being the custodian of a great religion which claims “peace” to be central to its ideology do? Either, he should try and convince and win the community’s consent or he should give up his idea and relocate the centre to a more congenial environment. This will surely earn him and the religion more respect and tolerance from the society he is living in.

·        By being adamant and stubborn, he has not only compromised the ideals of his own faith, he has antagonized a wider section of people not only to the idea of the community center – but to the tenets of Islam.

·        Another religious man, from across the land, a pastor seizes this opportunity to take the world stage and announce the burning of the most holy book of Islam. “Jesus would approve his plan”, he announces – as if, he is earning approval ratings from Jesus!

·        The world took notice, because this was an unthinkable act. An act that could snowball and evoke a lot of passion and violence. If some crank wanted to burn the bible symbolically, perhaps nobody would have actually cared. That should have been the reaction, but the media whipped up passions and made it a burning issue. Where there are ready-made guys who are willing to blow themselves and his fellowmen up in the name of Jihad, then everyone and their dogs and governments take notice.

·        So, some started sharpening knives. Few got ready to watch the fun and profit from it. Many were concerned and helpless.  It was the fodder the media thrives on. Every world leader and many other worthies added their own sound bites to this din. Every one, from Obama to Salman, and Tom to Lalu Prasad condemned the act obviously. However, the underlying fear expressed was “retaliation” from the Islamic world, in terms of escalated violence from the extremists. One fearing for the American citizen, the other eying the vote bank!

·        This, in effect, demolished the very theory that Islam is a religion of “Peace” and gives credence to the perception that Islam is a religion of reactionaries.

·        While canceling his plans to burn the Quran in his obscure Church the “good” Pastor said that he is relenting as the Imam has agreed to relocate the community center. Right or wrong, if this was a step-down platform the pastor had created to save face, the Imam could have used the same pedestal to take a moral high ground to make a very significant and telling statement.

·        Instead, the Imam was quick to issue a rebuttal.  “We are not going to toy with our religion or any other. Nor are we going to barter. We are here to extend our hands to build peace and harmony," he said – meaning the plans for the community center stays as scheduled.

·        By saying this, he has again compromised not only his position, or his community’s but he is showing his own faith in a bad light. By taking a stubborn position, he is all out to shatter the very peace and harmony he professes.

·        History is behind us. We cannot alter what has happened, nor can we ever completely compensate the victims of real or perceived historic injustices. What is possible is to ensure that we do not do anything to vitiate the present to such an extent that future generations will reap the fruits of mistrust and hatred we sow.

·        Let not the religious and communal fervor climb such heights that it isolates and marginalizes the community as a whole – especially in a democratic country that is honor bound to protect everyone’s rights, and grants everyone equal opportunities. The only way forward is to live in peace and harmony – and do everything to promote it, without going into contentious issues that can only satiate individual egos.

This whole episode highlights the stark truth in the quote "With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."  — Steven Weinberg

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