Stop, In the Name of God
By Mamoon Alabbasi
16/09/08 "ICH"
-- - A
top Saudi cleric is reported to have issued a religious
decree claiming that it is "lawful to kill" owners of Arab
television networks broadcasting "depravation and
debauchery".
Saleh al-Luhaidan, responding to a question by a caller in a
radio phone-in programme regarding 'immoral' content in
Arabic television, is reported to have said that if lesser
punishments fail, then those responsible "can be put to
death."
The
issue here is very serious and goes beyond arguments
pertaining to censorship, social taboos, or morality.
The
decree is an example that provides further demonstration how
religion can be misused to justify the killing of others in
a casual way.
And
this time, it is not carried out by some underground
extremist desperate for support or legitimacy, but by a
religious authority who is supposed to set an example for
tolerance and wisdom.
Killing is not an issue that should be taken lightly.
Only few days ago, during the seventh anniversary of 9/11,
we were reminded of how a group of criminals had set out to
highjack Islam by murdering thousands of innocent civilians
in the name of God.
Today, this dangerous trend, though by no means new, is
growing internationally at an alarming rate, and it is
certainly not exclusive to a few deluded Muslims.
Earlier this month, the Iraq war, arguably the biggest mass
murder expedition of the twenty-first centaury, was branded
by Republican vice-presidential pick Sarah Palin as a "task
that is from God."
The
fervent Christian evangelist has implied that the
slaughtering of hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi
civilians, as well as the displacement of more than four
million others is actually "God's plan."
Similarly, a growing number of Jewish extremists in occupied
Jerusalem and the West Bank are becoming more and more vocal
in expressing their desire to subject the Palestinians – the
original inhabitants of the land – to a second campaign of
ethnic cleansing because God is alleged to have promised
"His chosen people" the said land for them alone.
How
can the message of peace and justice at the heart of the
monotheist religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – be
distorted in such a way that renders it the exact opposite
of what was intended?
Any
justification of murder, invasion, or ethnic cleaning using
religion or any other ideology is something that we should
be extremely worried about.
At
a time when events seem to suggest that we are heading for a
possible third Word War, we could learn a lot from quotes
from the man who started the previous Word War.
He
combined mass murder, invasions, and ethnic cleansing in the
most despicable way known in modern history.
It
was Adolf Hitler who was quoted as saying:
"I believe today that my conduct is in accordance with the
will of the Almighty Creator."
"What we have to fight for is …. the freedom and
independence of the Fatherland; so that our people may be
enabled to fulfil the mission assigned to it by the
Creator."
"My feelings as a Christian points me to my Lord and Saviour
as a fighter."
"The national Government sees in both Christian
denominations [Catholic and Protestant] the most important
factor for the maintenance of our society."
"The [Nazi] party as such represents the standpoint of a
positive Christianity, without owing itself to a particular
confession."
If
Hitler has allied himself to the religion of the symbol of
peace and love – Jesus – then we should not be surprised to
see others turn messages of peace into excuses for murder or
domination.
However, Hitler was not a madman living in isolation; he had
the blessings of many churches at the time. And today, his
ideas are still shared – in one way or another - by many
followers of different faiths and ideologies.
If
the comments attributed to the Saudi cleric are true, then
Muslims must protest such un-Islamic remarks.
Imposing one's own style of morality and threatening those
who do not abide by it with death will not work. Ask the
German who tried it before:
"We
want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit ...
We want to burn out all the recent immoral developments in
literature, in the theatre, and in the press - in short, we
want to burn out the poison of immorality which has entered
into our whole life and culture as a result of liberal
excess."
Morality – or the lack of it – should not be imposed with
the edge of a sword or at the barrel of a gun, and certainly
not with a gas chamber.
Isn't the sanctity of human life a moral cause in its own?
Mamoon Alabbasi is an editor
for Middle East Online and can be reached
mamoon@meo.tv
