[Paul Lismore] THE TERRIBLE DANGERS OF MIXING POLITICS WITH RELIGION IN A MULTI ETHNIC SOCIETY

No true democracy can thrive unless the people living in that society are able to freely and intelligently debate and express their opinions.

History has shown us again and again that no good can come out of mixing politics with religion, and often leads to tension and conflicts simply because too many people make the quite weird and strange conclusion that if you don't believe and pray to MY God, then you will never be 'one of us'...an assumption, which you will hopefully admit, is based on a childish attachment to a belief and which denies all the wonderful things that underpins the great sentiments that should unite us and which are based on friendship, personality, intelligence, and an objective assessment of the way things really are.

Taken to its logical conclusion, this engenders the fanaticism that we see all too often these days, and which ignores the nastiness and brutish nature of some people simply because they are nou bann, and ignores or treats with contempt the truly humane and praiseworthy qualities of others simply because they are 'bann  la sa'...The reality is there are good people and bad people in ALL religions, and only absolute idiots will treat people based solely on the religious beliefs that they may or may not espouse. 

As a rule of thumb, I never trust anyone who spends his/her days trying to force feed us with quotes from their religious books.

First of all, it shows a terrible contempt for people in the belief that they are too stupid to open a book by themselves and read and understand the excerpts which some idiot wants to foist on every one else.

Secondly, it ignores the wishes of a growing number of people around the world who have given up on religion and on a God who seems incapable to do anything worthwhile for us when we are alive and perhaps suffering from a terrible illness, but who will do wonderful things for us when we die, and will either roast us in Hell or provide us with delicious things seemingly on tap in Paradise.

I could never understand this: When we are alive, we know it is real, because we can feel and see Life and all our senses are aroused, but when we are dead?

Apart from religious people telling us about two places that no one has ever been able to report back to us that they actually exist, and which will apparently be our final places of abode, Paradise and Hell, no one has been able to come back to earth and to warn us: Paradise is wonderful for nice people, but if you are a thieving politician or a bad bastard, Hell is really quite terrible because I have seen it!

Talking about thieving politicians:

Have you noticed how the really bad ones always wear their religion as a badge of honour in public? How they look so serene and pious at religious ceremonies, and so many are impressed with that thoroughly false appearance that they will vote for the thief again, simply because "ene croyant sa, et li koir dan nou Bon Dier"?

The more cynical amongst us of course look at them pretending to be so serious and so eager to connect with God that we immediately know that the bastard is simply closing his eyes in order to imagine more inventive ways to add to the loot he has already stashed away...If he is married, the 'devoted' husband that he likes you to believe he is in public will be closing his eyes and imagining him and his mistress(es) in various positions that you will not find in any Holy Book...

The clearest example of why politics and religion should never mix is in the enforcement of the so called blasphemy laws, which necessarily rely on the notion of causing offence, which is subjective and vague; outrage and insult are inexact concepts which create legal uncertainty and encourage an unhelpful degree of subjectivity. 

Apart from being subjective in nature, what is also glaring is that despite the fact that blasphemy laws tend to apply to all religions, they are being disproportionally used against religious minorities in countries where such laws exist. In Pakistan, for example, the vast majority of those convicted under blasphemy laws are religious minorities, especially the Ahmadiyya and Christian minorities. Blasphemy laws there are not being used to prosecute genuine claims of blasphemy, but are instead used to persecute religious minorities for daring to live in accordance with their religious beliefs. 

I'll give you 3 examples of how the blasphemy laws, brought in by corrupt politicians wishing to placate their loud religious leaders, have been nothing but tools of persecution against religious minorities:

1/ Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian Minister, was killed in an ambush for attempting to reform the blasphemy laws.
2/ The house of Shahbaz Gormani, a lawyer defending a university lecturer accused of blasphemy Junaid Hafeez, was raided by gunmen on motorcycles warning him to withdraw from the case.
3/ The lawyer of Asia Bibi, Saif-ul-Mulook, had to flee the country in fear of his life. Read up on the case of Asia Bibi to see how fanatics can use God in order to get the courts to try to murder someone...

In Mauritius, our politicians apparently are all God fearing, devout individuals. They all grab any opportunity to be seen with the parasites who claim to be representatives of God.

If they win power, it gets worse, folks! They will use our money to reward the notorious arselickers who incidentally also happen to be the darlings of our quite corrupt press. Hence the nomination of the Dulthaidiot again to the Board of the Banque de Developpement, where his katora will be bulging with notes for attending some crap meetings to decide which soucerre's loan they will support in the next 5 years. He remains the prime example where our Prime ministers have shown incredible stupidity and myopia in appointing prized idiots to positions of great responsibility. Navin Ramgoolam had also appointed the parasite in the past and if you want to know why the IBA is a completely useless waste of space, remember that the Dulthaidiot used to sit on its board too....

But he is not the only arsehole tolerated, feted, and rewarded by our hypocritical politicians. The all singing, all dancing 'priest' Gregoire, Maulannas/Imams, Pandits, Missionaires, etc all get their due rewards for making the PM of the day their guest of honour at Eid, Divali, etc festivals that go on months after the special days are over. In our beautiful island, we give hundreds of millions of our rupees every year to these groups, but our Prime Minster still has to be the leader of any Task Force created for the celebration of any religious festival....Think of all the juicy contracts that will go to his friends, all paid for by you the taxpayer of course.

There has been one noble attempt by only one politician to try to keep religion out of politics in Mauritius. Nita Deerpalsing tried to drag this country kicking and screaming into the 21st century by asking for the word 'secular' to be included in our Constituion, but unfortunately, she was kicked and screamed at by Navin Ramgoolam and people in her own party. Pou perdi votes ar sa, they screamed, too concerned about the reaction of the self appointed representatives of God and their farcical mots d'ordre at election time....

As Archbishop Kwashi of Nigeria once said,"Religion by its very nature and content appeals not so much to reason. It's a heart matter and carries with it huge emotions."

The use of religious affiliation as a campaign tactic is both manipulative and irrelevant to an individual's leadership qualifications and potential. A candidate could be a devout Muslim or a morally righteous Christian, or a pious looking Hindu, but also a terrible and thoroughly selfish leader, looking out for his interests only. 

 The average Mauritian is devoutly religious, and therefore becomes an easy target for deceptive tactics by politicians who are looking to secure the perks of holding office. While religion in itself might not incite conflict between different factions, politicians hungry and desperate to get into office will use the divide to their advantage.    

And that is why, despite all our pretensions, most Mauritians still vote for the candidate who shares the same religious views as them. It is the same in EVERY constituency, and only idiots will try to differentiate between the urban and non urban areas

In this respect, when we say "Zot tou parey" when we talk about politicians, we should be honest and also say "Nou tou parey kan nou vote pou sa ban parasites la, mai ki pou fer? Nou bann sa"...