Democracy and Religious Harmony

By T.S. Khanna, March 13,2008.



Globalizing of the planet with diverse belief systems now requires a new paradigm to resolve the conflicts of religious identity and particularism in the pluralism of belief systems. Traditional ways of self-presenting or perceiving others is inadequate and becoming outright dangerous in view of the enhanced potential of the modern technology..

To attain religious harmony in a democracy, a well organized, publicly funded, and sustained effort is now called for. Adoption of a progressive solution to control and gradually root out religious conflicts is an imperative in democratic societies. Pursuit of religious harmony would require modification in some traditional religious beliefs as well as in some democratic values.

Based on my observations and experience, some suggestions to trigger critical thinking in pursuit of religious harmony in democratic societies are offered:

• Sermons;

It is a common practice in every religious institution to weave in smoothly the exclusivity and superiority of its religion’s theology. Quite often, obliquely, and, at times, expressly, it is sermonized that other religions are inferior, ignorant, or even satanic forces. For the faithful in attendance, the sermon induces an intoxicating feeling to experience an illusion of real connection with God through the only truth available and to them only. The experience also fortifies the conviction of the false or satanic path of others. Such sermons, repeatedly delivered, sow the seed of hostility in the young minds and in the adults strengthen the feelings of superiority and exclusivity over other religions. Subconsciously, their sense of righteousness urges them eventually to correct others as a sacred cause.
Sermons may be modified and monitored to remove the sting against other religions.

• Proselytization;

The missionary impulse of proselytization (conversion of others into one’s own religion) is encouraged by most religious institutions. Conversion techniques include (a) personal contact by missionaries, (b) economic incentives, and, (c) force.
The success of conversion missions generates hostilities among the followers whose number is reduced.
To improve inter-religious relations, advocacy techniques may be replaced by the technique of “charm envoy” or “soft power”, i.e., lead by setting a precedent of exemplary lifestyle for others to follow voluntarily by admiration.

• Religious Myths and Miracles;

Some religious leaders and their in-groups fabricate fictitious events to support surreal myths as evidence of their prophets’ or their own power of miracle. The false images projected as reality to the gullible faithful holds them in awe and locks their minds into a blind faith. The faithful are then exploited emotionally, financially, and, at times, physically. They are programmed into giving up everything and even die for the cause defined by the religious leaders in the name of God. Fabricated myths and miracles are used to prove the leaders’ direct connection with the anthropocentric image of God..
All religious leaders may be instructed to encourage self-thinking among the followers. “False truths” or “surreal truths” in currency may be identified and excluded from religious teachings. False assurances and hopes generated by pretentious teachings to exploit the faithful may also be forbidden.




• Tax Deductible Religious Donations;

Tax deductible donations are quite often misused, not conforming to the intent of the law. Government ends up subsidizing some religious activities that divide people and promote religious groups politically.
The use of tax-deductible donations may be strictly restricted and monitored to (a) search for rational verification of the traditionally held truths, and, (b) promote harmony with other religions.


• Religious Majority v/s Minority;

People of religious majority make disparaging remarks and degrading jokes about minority religions. They pick on minorities to feed the human weakness to feel superior to others without having to prove so. At the cost of damaging the inter-religious goodwill, they gratify their sadistic desire under the umbrella of majority power without any fear of reprisal.
The blasting foul tongues eventually become the architect of the template for type casting a degrading image of religious minorities. Over a period, such practice alienates the minorities, especially their children with long lasting effects. In mindset of the majority, typecasting or stereotyping of the minorities starts becoming a justification to consider minorities as a negative force in the society. Political leaders exploit the ready made opportunity with disastrous results. Note the treatment of Jews in Germany during the WWII.
Disparaging remarks, degrading jokes, or typecasting of religious minorities may be forbidden and enforced by law.

• Inter-religious and intra-religious Ignorance;

Majority of people of different faiths are not fully familiar with the esoterica of their own faith and quite ignorant of other faiths. This is one of the significant factors in causing alienation and religious conflicts.
To open up the young minds, high school education curriculum may include mandatory courses introducing all mainstream religions of the society, including their origin, philosophy, theology, customs, sanctities, and traditions. Internship at the institutions of the mainstream religions may also be required to gain first hand knowledge.

• Religious Identity;

In a society with stereotyped religious communities, when a person’s religion is identified by his/her name, appearance, signs, symbols, dress, or lingo, ready made hostilities kick in and influence his/her merit as an individual. At times, with a backlog of cumulative hostilities, the meetings take place at near flashpoint. People do not communicate, understand, or appreciate each other’s merit or potential because of the visible religious differences.
To minimize the inter-play of ready made hostilities, measures may be adopted to discourage the disclosure of religious identity by appearance or lingo. Encourage downplaying of religion in public and making it more of a private and personal matter.

• Religious Morality;

Varying standards of morality are a bone of contention for the faithful. On top of that, democratic constitution imposes a spiritual-value-neutral morality based on equality and freedom. The law courts establish the morality norms. The conflict is not only between the religions but also between the constitution and the religions on this issue.
Traditional religious morality norms are male-gender-favored, unacceptable to the liberated female gender.
Identify, define, and incorporate appropriate morality norms in the Constitution of democratic government.

• Secular Institute of Religions (SIR);

Religions have inspired the best of human behavior as well as the worst. Some inspired people do a tremendous good to the humanity while the inspirations for some others are a cause of immeasurable harm to the humanity.
For a scholarly, rational, and nuanced understanding of human religiosity and the changing needs of humanity due to globalization, a systematic study of religions to identify and resolve the roots of religious conflicts is essential.
Establish publicly funded Secular Institute of Religions. Functions of the Institute may include but may not be limited to
1. Bring out, analyze, and openly discuss esoterica of the mainstream religions of the society,
2. Identify the roots of religious conflicts and explore alternative resolutions,
3. Evaluate periodically the political flashpoints of the various religious groups in the society to recommend means of averting the potential conflicts,
4. Test rationally (with accepted standards of reliability and validity) the perceived truths of religions and identify the non-testable truths (felt truths, not final truths) causing religious conflicts,
5. To serve the common goal of religions and science in finding the irrefutable, verifiable facts or truths, establish a link between religion and science.
6. Identify the common values of the mainstream religions and educate the citizens with emphasis on common values,
7. Develop principles of a secular religion, supported by the mainstream religious values, and,
8. Establish places of worship for the secular religion to encourage its adoption by the citizens without having to abandon the religion of their choice.