On September 11, 2001, in New York City, and, more recently, on November 26-29, 2008, in Mumbai, India, the world bore witness to the sort of havoc and carnage that a small group of dedicated religious fundamentalists were able to wreak on civilized society—even with limited resources at their disposal. The reality, however, is that these people were not merely highly committed extremist fanatics driven to their cause to the exclusion of all else. There were, rather, zombies, indoctrinated to the point of mindlessness, with no free will of their own and no appreciation of the value of human life.
Karl Marx claimed that "religion is the opiate of the masses." Though I am no Marxist, I agree, to a degree, with this assessment of religion—it can definitely be a powerful narcotic, robbing individuals of their free will and capacity to think and reason for themselves. And in certain forms, namely, ultra-orthodox, ultra-conservative extremism, such as the brand of Islam embraced by the Taliban in Afghanistan, can be such a powerful influence on an individual's attitudes as to render one completely submissive to the suggestions of theocrats—even to the point of committing indiscriminate murder and suicide, as evidenced by recent, ongoing acts of terror and violence worldwide.
The real threat posed by such behavior extends far beyond the innocent lives destroyed or psyches traumatized by such actions. It extends to a society's very response to terrorism. The real danger is that, consciously or unconsciously, civilized society gradually begins to adopt, in reaction, the very mindset of the attackers, assuming the very cultural traits of the perpetrators of violent terrorism.
Consider the Taliban, for example—the sponsors of the Al Quaeda terrorist organization, the perpetrators of 9/11. If there ever was an organization or entity more committed to bigotry, misogyny, ultra-orthodoxy and dogma, I have yet to hear of it. The real threat posed by this society and the terrorist acts it sponsors is not so much the direct threat as the reactionary one—that their inhuman actions provoke in civilized society and in well-intentioned civilians the same sort of bigotry, chauvinism, misogyny, religious orthodoxy, literal-minded fanaticism, extremism and paranoia that characterizes the Taliban.
The long shot is that gradually, before our very eyes, all humanity seeps out of our society, leaving us as a culture of mindless, indoctrinated zombies, not unlike the Taliban themselves. The loss of human values rooted in Christianity is the biggest danger posed by any form of extremism or fanaticism.
In my mind, Jesus Christ is the ultimate humanist. He always argues for inclusion and compassion, often standing at odds with the orthodox religious establishment of his day. Christ places value on human relationships rather than on religious dogma, maintaining that the "Kingdom of Heaven" is to be found in everyday human interactions rooted in love, compassion and humanity, not so much in religious orthodoxy or mysticism or cults. Everywhere in his life and works, Christ argues for the value of humanity and humaneness and is especially critical of people who use religion as a justification for inhumanity.
The democratic values that are the basis of the United States constitution as well as that of several other great democracies worldwide are all rooted in the value of human life and the principle that all human beings are equal in the eyes of God. This humanism is necessary for any civilized discourse to occur in society and, indeed, for civilization itself to survive and thrive.
The other option is brigades of mindless zombies, indoctrinated into the religious observance of some arbitrary worldview, wreaking indiscriminate havoc and destruction, much like the alien "Borg Empire" in the film Star Trek: First Contact. The real question we should be asking ourselves is whether we are losing our very souls, our humanity, in the face of all the tragic, traumatizing catastrophe and carnage that we have been forced to witness in recent times.
Horizon Cybermedia is committed to preserving humanist, civilized values in tragic times. Please check out our website at http://www.explorationtheseries.com for continually updating media content, including our flagship film series, Exploration with Uday Gunjikar.
Wishing you the very best,
Uday Gunjikar,
Founder and CEO,
Horizon Cybermedia, Inc.
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