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Opening Pandora's Box overseas
Q: The Chicago Council on Global Affairs is recommending that the U.S. government develop a strategy to make religion 'integral' to American foreign policy. Should U.S. foreign policy get religion?
The jump from the CIA defining the country's foreign policy to religious leaders is long and fraught with the same dangers. It is fine when the U.S. is dealing with a nation that represents only one religion -- the Arab countries, for instance -- but what will it do when dealing with a country like India with so many diverse religions to contend with?
I believe we are in a mess as far as international relations are concerned because we display the arrogance of being the only surviving superpower and that our role is to be the policeman of the world. The world is tired of bullies and arrogant attitudes. They want to be treated with respect and as equals.
I have been involved with interfaith dialogue in the U.S. and I sense the same arrogance displayed even in simple interfaith gatherings, which are dominated by Christians and Jews, and, since 9/11, the Muslims. All others are a minority in the U.S. but that does not mean they count for nothing. If the same attitude is going to be used in international dialogue then I can tell you now that that dialogue is going nowhere. Can the U,S, display humility? Can we move away from double standards -- one set of rules for the US and another for the rest of the world?
We have adequately displayed to the world that we are a "superpower" in terms of our military might (some may question this considering we have been fighting a rag-tag bunch of terrorists for eight years without a resolution). But the important question remains: Are we prepared to show the world the we can be a superpower in terms of our moral strength? That we are willing to forge a foreign policy that is based not on what is good for the United States, but what is good for the world?
Then there is the other important question: If we are going to allow religion to define the country's foreign policy, then how are we going to ensure that religion does not become a state policy and partisan religious groups allowed to define all policies? Are we not opening a Pandora's Box?
By
Arun Gandhi
|
February 25, 2010; 1:39 PM ET
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Posted by: justillthennow | March 3, 2010 3:07 AM
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Hello Yasser,
Are you there?
"The evolution of humanity as you call it is centrally linked to religion."
That is a big assumption as well. Religion is the formalization of a doctrine and belief of the form of the spiritual realm. They are all attempts to corral and define an overarching spiritual manifestation of life. Religion never could come first, as it is a human creation, not a divine one. Christianity, for instance, was the result of what came of the faith of the followers of Christ, after he died. They took what they understood of his teachings and formalized them. Likewise with Muhammad and Islam. and now, hundreds of years later, people make actions and think thoughts based on the interpretations of what they, and the priests or imams, say is the meaning of the voices of the Prophets.
Religion is the calcification of LIVING SPIRITUALITY. It is conditioned response. In that, livingness subsides and the conditioning takes over.
I have to assume that earlier humans had a far more vital and flexible spirituality than is required by present day religions.