Is religious freedom out of reach?

By admin-s Last updated Apr 2, 2015

It is easier for a devout Muslim to live in a liberal westernised society than it would be for a liberal Muslim to live in a religiously conservative society.

Ishmael Lim, FMT

The struggle for liberal democratic rights and religious freedom is seen as decadent and follows on the wings of a secular western way of thinking. This would be the religious conservative’s reaction to such freedoms expected in a fully functioning democracy. But what the devoutly religious person sees as liberal is just a state of normalcy to everyone else.

Freedom is a scarcity in any orthodox religious society. In this regard, all orthodox faiths are similar.

It is easier for a devout Muslim to live in a liberal westernised society than it would be for a liberal Muslim to live in a religiously conservative society. While the devoutly religious could expect to lead a life without interference in a liberal democracy, the liberal minded Muslim would have to tread cautiously in a conservative environment for fear of punishment.

Since time immemorial, blood has been spilled and all manner of atrocities committed in the name of religion. This is the justification. We see that it continues to this day because of the belief that the battle against evil takes place everywhere and will stop only at the end of time. It carried through much of the history of man. It is colliding on our shores in the here and now. In the verbal tradition of parables and verse, the ancient message is transmitting to the present from a time when storytellers were more prevalent than books.

The bows and arrows have been replaced by bullets and rifles. In place of horses and camels are now tanks and planes. The slaughter and torment in the name of all that is wholesome and good has become industrial in its efficiency. But the customary tool of choice still seems to be the blade. It’s a cultural thing.

With this moral certitude, the wielders of the sword of faith believe that the Hereafter is the real destination and the here and now merely a stepping stone to an eternal paradise. All logic and focus is turned to this end. There is a kinship in purpose if not in method when modern political parties quest on this ancient wave of history. The parallels are plain. This is the romance.

The end-game is still the same. However close one may believe it will ever get to being an Islamic Utopia, it is still merely wishful humans expressing the divine for the chance to carry the sword of authority in the land of the living. We really have no way of knowing what the Almighty has in store for each of us when we pass through the threshold to the afterlife. This is the mystery of faith.