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Sep-21-2009
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The Part I (Evolution) of three part series addressed the issue that the idea of reverting to past for a utopian world is inconsistent with evolution of human nature of thinking, creativity and innovation. The Part II (Non-Violence to Warlordism) of the essay reviewed select history of anti-war non-violent movements to show that non-violent movements were popular backlashes to warlordism and acts of bloodiest wars resulting in tens of thousands of deaths.
Part III describes political paradigm shifts from warlordism to democracy. Warlordism is a Third World way, the way it plays out in nations that follow political Islam of the Arab lands. Latin American and communist nation"s politics is also not democratic, but they are not a part of this discussion. Unlike in lands with leaders and clerics held infallible and rulers are dictators, elected or not, in democracy leaders are not infallible or a breed apart. The democratic leaders are not held in thrall by people.
State sponsorship led to spread of Buddhism outside India without firing a single shot. Buddhism with its emphasis on non-violence has survived more than two millenniums as it remained a religion without state sponsorship other than that of King Ashoka (3rd century). In contrast the non-violent movement of Jesus with a message of "love, mercy and forgiveness" that gave birth to Christianity suffered a setback once Christianity was made a state sponsored religion by Roman Catholics (4th century). Islam (born 6th - 7th century) effectively neutralized spread of Roman Catholicism to Arabs of Middle East and Africa. Warlords and their appointed clerics of both Christians and Islamic faith fueled clashes of civilization.
Europeans did and Muslims did not experience Renaissance that led to modern science and technology. Recent developments in sciences and technologies opened up new economic opportunities leading to a steady evolution of political science. New paradigms surfaced to shift some lands from the warlordism for economic growth and spread of religion to constitutional democracies to protect freedoms and pursue growths through developed human resources.
Abrahamic Monotheism and an Era of Clashes of Civilizations
Religion is made complicated and politicized by instituting infallibility of clerics - Popes, Imams, Ayatollahs, etc - aligned with warlords. The distortions of any religious belief systems occurs if
1. The political activism is linked to absolute conformity to a state sponsored belief system and
2. Clerics and warlords are declared infallible to silence the innovative and creative minds.
Like Indian subcontinent, rest of the world was also dominated by feudal warlords before Christ (BC). In Europe, by about a century or two BC, the Greek dominance was waning and Roman Empire was ascending. Having dominated most of the southern Europe from Greece to the Iberian Peninsula or lands north of Mediterranean sea Romans were in a process of moving into lands south of Mediterranean sea, which was home to Semitic Jews and Arabs.
In Europe, Middle East and Africa the Abrahamic monotheism derived religions dominated. A non-violence movement of masses initiated by Jesus to spread Christianity lasted for less than three centuries before the Roman warlordism took deep root.
For Roman warlords, in a sense, conversion to Christianity started out as a political convenience. Romans after conversion to Catholicism continued wielding sword against Semitic Jews and Arabs until Islam arrived in tribal Arab lands. The on-going clashes of civilizations between Semitic Arabs and Greco-Roman Catholicism dominated Europeans lasted for many more centuries starting 7th century. For three centuries (8th to 11th century) Arabs ruled Iberian Peninsula. With Reconquista campaigns launched by Roman Popes Muslims were forced to withdraw from lands west of Middle East.
Muslims from Central and North Eurasia then rampaged eastwards, starting with Buddhist Afghanistan and then Indian subcontinent. In light of these developments, in 21st century the nations that follow non-violence if they remain militarily weak they are doomed unless they invest heavily by preparing to defend against the potential invasions by ambitious powers for global domination or hegemony.
Indian subcontinent was repeatedly invaded by radical Islamists from Central and North Eurasia starting 950 AD. India was colonized and Mogul Empire established that lasted for four centuries (15th to 19th century). Moguls were followed by Europeans and the British India Empire lasted until 1947. British left after partitioning British India into a Muslim majority Pakistan and a Hindu majority India. Factors contributing to withdrawal of British from India included a collapsed economy and military power, which was left in shambles at the end of WWII and a non-violent mass uprising organized by Mahatma Gandhi and the leadership of Congress party that passionately practiced non-violence. Mahatma Gandhi was a social reformer and political activist and his nonviolence movement shifted political paradigm from military activism to a nonviolent political disobedience movement to free British India of colonial rule. It laid the foundation of democracy in India.
Clerics Corrupted by State Sponsorship
Misplaced faith fueled by power, both economic and political, associated with any dogma - be it religious or any popular isms associated with economic models such as capitalism, socialism and communism - can have devastating consequences. Misplaced faith in extreme can lead to abuse of human rights in states that insist on absolute conformity to the state sponsored religion.
Religious authorities and politicians who justify their actions invoking religion ignore that moral rules and ethical codes are values, not laws, for religiously inclined to uphold. Laws as in constitutional democratic nations tell us what we shouldn"t do to protect us from punishment if citizen breast the nation"s laws in a politically governed society. They are not the same as the religious moral rules and ethical codes. Moral rules and ethical codes tell us what we should do as man/woman seeking perfect ideal to connect to the God.
Moral rules and ethical codes for all religions are not identical and contrary to what clerics of any faith may claim they do not have to be conformed absolutely. The laws of any democratic nations that tolerate multi ethnic and multi religious population are required to maintain the law and order for well being and safety of all its citizens. In the information age the digital technology offers instant global exposures to radical pronouncements of clerics. Such clerics get immediately in trouble as soon as they use their office to present what are moral and ethical value choices as the laws dictated by the faith for absolute conformity.
Each religion is complimented by different regional social, cultural, economic and political norms. Constitutional secular democracies guarantee fundamental human rights to all citizens of both genders and followers of all faith. Unlike in the warlord dominated Islamic republics secular the democracies adopt growth strategies using developed human resources, invest in development of sciences and technologies to build defensive military power and an economy that is second to none.
Renascence
Unlike Islam of the medieval period Christianity experienced Renascence starting 15th century and infusion of scientific advances starting 18th century. The sciences and technology developments introduced industrial age (19th and 20th centuries) and now the age of digital technology powered by skilled knowledge workers for wealth generation.
Some Muslim leaders and clerics of 21st century have yet to understand that expansionist practices of up to 19th century are not applicable in 21st century. Unlike petrodictators of Arab lands and many other Muslim majority rulers who directly or indirectly need a constant infusion of petrodollars for survival, the Global powers of today need economic power based on knowledge workers trained to generate wealth.
Clash of Civilization
There is an on-going conflict between Islamist committed to the political Islam driven warlordism and democratic secular West. The conflict is an out growth of America having outsourced the Afghan War of 1980s to Dictator Ziaul Haq of Pakistan to free Afghanistan of Soviet occupation. America had helped train and arm a huge jihadi force with recruits from Arab lands, Central Asian Soviet satellite republics, Pakistan and Afghan refugees displaced to Pakistan.
After concluding the Afghan War (1980-89) the battle hardened jihadi forces guided by warlords of al Qaeda and Taliban got busy filling political vacuums; they began occupation of (1994) and ruled Afghanistan (1996 -2001) and continued destabilizing some Muslim dominated areas that were a part of USSR before it imploded in 1990s.
In an act of bravado a handful of Arabs, mostly Saudi Arabians, educated in the West and trained in terrorist camps of Afpakia high jacked four commercial airliners on September 11, 2001 and crashed them into two symbols of American power - a financial district and military headquarters. They destroyed New York"s World Trade center and seriously damaging Pentagon in Washington DC. America retaliated with War on Terrorism in response to Islamist initiated clash of civilization.
America is engaged in a war of civilization in Afpakia areas (2009 - present) after having concluded a similar engagement in Iraq (2003-08). The Iraq war was euphemistically called War on Terrorism and the 2009 Afghan a war is to destroy al Qaeda and Taliban that threaten global peace in general and American security in particular.
The clash of civilization has its origin in different norms followed by followers of Islam and non-Islamic believers. There is no middle ground between social, cultural, political and economic norms followed by Western powers and that Muslims dominated by the Arab tribal norms, who prefer to promote theocracy, gender based discrimination, religion based hate and intolerance, and economically impractical banking and financial practices, etc.
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References & Notes:
(An unabridged version with references and notes of three Part Evolution and Political Paradigms is available upon request from the author.)
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