Everyone understands – or at least should understand – that religious beliefs are for many an important aspect of their being/value system. But in secular states with its multicultural/ethnic compositions where religious freedoms are guaranteed/protected and where religious beliefs/orientations do not infect/influence social and/or political structures – this phenomenon is becoming more of a theory rather than reality. The reality we’re beginning to experience – for some years now as I mentioned in many previous posts – is that the political establishment is being grossly infected by religious zealots both within the establishment itself as well as beyond in the form of national and/or foreign unaccountable power brokers. The secular governance model is disappearing quickly, deliberately and quietly and if you don’t believe it just assess religious groupings within political parties left, right center and their funding sources; UK Labour is by no means an exception but rather a glaring example. For all intents & purposes democracy in westerns societies in this day and age is being systematically undermined by religious influences/biases from within many of which may seem at face value about religion but are in fact purely about political hit jobs, but irrespective of that. So my question here is quite simple; why can’t we try and help the future generation get a better deal out of life than what we’ve all experienced through racial/religious harmony by keeping them far away of politics and more importantly by protecting our core value base and by extension our secular governance model? If there is indeed racism/discrimination – and there’s plenty of that going around – let’s deal with it consistently without consideration to form and having zealots take on the cause. Why? Well the other options aren’t pretty both nationally as well as at an international level as we’re beginning to see when some unscrupulous leaders begin playing the religious game card for political gains that will end up in the debit column for many if we’re not careful where religious conflicts may be normalized both within and beyond our borders. We are after all a multicultural/multiethnic society (even if some are more comfortable ignoring it) and we need a governance model designed to deal with racism while protecting our Democracy – we’re not there yet but we’ll face an uphill struggle if we continue to resist. A good place to start is considering a long overdue but incremental overhaul to our political eco system and it’s governing regulations under a dedicated process designed to assess/fix vulnerabilities creating a system that is by design adaptable/allowed to evolve with time. I guess politics ain’t easy in these dangerous times which is why we need wise politicians and effective regional powers like the EU to help collaboratively balance the situation through a shared value system that now more than ever needs strengthening; well that’s my theory anyway!
Does that make sense?