Still Shackled

"Education and exposure to the world broaden the horizon and help people overcome age old prejudices and dogmas". These are jet-setting times with international citizens and all the information of and about the world available at the click of a button and yet a cursory glance around and on the world events blasts this thought to a thousand pieces.

The human race, in its long history, is in the current time and age at the "pinnacle of their civilization" and yet we see around us the same medieval or rather the dark ages thought, speech and action that plagued those sorry times.

The clash of the civilization, Islam vs. Christianity, continues to this day with the crusades being fought in Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia and a host of other front line Muslim and Christian nations and the empire being extended. There is no dearth of people in the west who consider the wars in the middle east as those against the infidels and a way to reduce their influence, not much different from the knights and courtiers of the 11th century Europe albeit dressed in extreme weather suites with capabilities of satellite communication to the nearest base rather than sporting the cross and brandishing a sword as was the mark of a religious warrior then.

The Muslims too see this multi front war as nothing less than an anglo-jewish conspiracy to keep the Muslim world under check and reduce the influence of the Islamic nations. Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in terms of followers and has made deep inroads into many western countries, bastions of the Christian faith, through its spread especially in the marginalized sections of the society to whom its promise of equality is a great appeal in their discriminated existence.

Also the Muslim communities in most of the Islamic countries have chosen to let religious leaders decide the fate of countries and their people. Religion and politics is always a deadly concoction and these leaders have given an entire new direction to countries and replaced traditional parameters of success for governments such as welfare and development with religion, its propagation and a stick adherence to rituals. They have on religious grounds shifted the focus and introduced laws and punishments befitting the 10th century but which make the current day civil society shudder to think of.

The similarities are too blatant and obvious to be ignored, Christians regained Spain from the Muslims in the 13th century, currently France and Switzerland are both fighting their own battles to make its Muslim population behave in a more Christian manner. The battles this time are not with a sword and mace because that is a law and order issue, which cannot be compromised and anyways that is a method best used in other countries where one's own Christian citizens are out of harm's way, but on the rights of the minority Muslims to follow the diktats of their religion even when these customs in no way interfere with the lives of other citizens. I am sure the French and Swiss inquisition is not too far away.

France has banned the 'Burqa' in the name of French values and there is already a hue and cry on halal meat being served in restaurants located in Muslim dominated areas. Switzerland has put a ban on Minarets which are an essential architectural feature of Mosques and ironically still has the gumption to call itself a secular state.

France and Switzerland may both preach other countries the benefits of a plural and tolerant society but when it comes to their own countries the lessons are easily forgotten in favor of set beliefs and dogmas.

The European Union has also gone one step ahead and elected as its President a person who openly holds views supporting a Europe for Christians and has put a question mark on Turkey's entry into the EU sighting the predominant Muslim composition of its population. Many may point out that the post of the EU President may not have much power and does not amount to much but nonetheless it is a strong indication of which way the water flows in Europe today.

With such events happening, governed by our combined thought which still languishes in the prejudices and impressions of the dark ages it is little surprise that despite of all the progress we have made technologically and otherwise we have not moved even a step to alleviating human suffering and misery which is the ultimate parameter of all progress.