Healthy scepticism sharpens the mind and gives one greater appreciation of both pitfalls and benefits of faith.
ISLAMABAD: This is with reference to the article by George Fulton “Losing my religion” (October 20). I find myself curiously able to believe and yet able to set aside my belief for the sake of rational arguments. I believe healthy scepticism sharpens the mind and gives one greater appreciation of both the pitfalls and the benefits of faith.
Unfortunately, identity politics follows from people’s need to form identity groups (based on religion, sect, language, ethnicity, football teams etc). Furthermore, democracy, more than any other form of governance, increases identity politics, as people will always use identity-labels to cast and elicit votes.
I have, however, come to the conclusion that if religion were to disappear, people would find some other form of identification to blow each other (or themselves) up.
Many international polls show that suicide bombing is driven more by political rage, and a sense of occupation, than by the contents of any religion. It is not the most religious, but the most politically radicalised people who will resort to extremism.
The Tamils invented modern suicide-bombing and they were not motivated by religion.
Arsalan Sheikh
Published in The Express Tribune, October 23rd, 2010.
