When religion...
LEADERS OF OTHER FAITHS
Not only Buddhism but Islam has also been politicised in Sri Lanka. Political Islam is aggressive, ruthless and totally unethical. According to moderate Islamic experts, the status quo with regards to the Islamic religious background and infrastructure which guided the fanatics to carry out the Easter Sunday carnage is still very much active.the reason is that the fundamentalist Islamic clergy organisations which control militant extremist Islamic terrorist movements are receiving high political patronage and support.
Even the Catholic Church, led by the Cardinal is the latest entrant to this religiopolitical drama.the outspoken Cardinal who continuously used the Easter tragedy for political purposes has now been joined by the Bishops Conference.
LESSONS LEARNED
Our mixing religion with government and politics has been behind much of our own country’s disasters. Every single Government has failed to resist these radical and extremist religious organizations. Even though all Governments were aware about the possible damage these organisations might cause to the country’s multi-ethnic and multi-religious social fabric, they kept silent because those organisations were highly politicised.
Although religion has always played a vital and important role in our society, the greatest religious scholars were the ones who refused to have their ethical and moral dispositions determined by the needs of power. Instead, they served as a sort of check and balance to the policies of each government. they understood that when religious leaders play political roles, they corrupt both good governance and religious integrity. We need to recapture our past of the role of religious authority in the political affairs of society. If we learn anything from the past, from our own country and elsewhere, it should be that religion, reduced to political ideology, does little for one’s faith and even less for society. In principle, let the religion remain ready to offer political guidance and criticism, without seeking theocratic power or adherence to any type of dogmatic fundamentalism.