How To Eradicate Religious Extremism Peacefully Efficiently And Permanently

---

 HOW TO ERADICATE RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM - PEACEFULLY, EFFICIENTLY AND PERMANENTLY
It begins with the important fact that religion is not based on any logic, evidence or scientific proof.  Religion is nothing more than 'What I tell you'. This is Rule No. 1. Keep this in mind.
And the most dangerous religion-killer in the entire universe are just three letters, WHY? 
As I have said before, let the fellow talk for half an hour. Then just ask him WHY?  After he has finished answering, ask him again WHY? You keep repeating WHY and they will run away from you. Because they cannot answer WHY.
This simple word "WHY" is a religion killer. It is the silver bullet.  (The term "silver bullet" evokes a potent image: a single, decisive solution that vanquishes a seemingly insurmountable problem. This powerful metaphor has roots in folklore, particularly the legend of the werewolf. In countless stories, a silver bullet is the only weapon capable of slaying the mythical beast.)
Do you see why they thought up things like Sedition Acts, Blasphemy Laws, Les Majeste laws etc. To keep people like me safely locked up, away from them.

Sometime ago I got into an online conversation with some religious people from Texas (?) USA. They were Mat Sallehs.  They were trying to convince me of all their virtues. (There were NONE). I let them say what they wanted, then I posted the silver bullet  : WHY? I kept repeating this. After just a couple of days (there was a group of them, against me just one person) they were all at their wits end. They could not answer.

Folks, you should all try this. Just as an honest experiment. Ask them WHY?  Three simple letters W..H..Y.. which can slay any werewolf.I digress. OK back to the topic.
In his brief and really powerful book 'Power', Bertrand Russel the 20th century British philosopher and genius of logic, described both the priests (religion) and the kings (monarchy) as being sustained by the "power of tradition".  (I also read it as the "power of suggestion").
Russel pointed out that the priests (religion) and the kings (monarchy) have no real power over anything.   Some people simply hold them in awe, it is just a tradition which the ordinary people followed - without questioning WHY. But that was enough for the priests and kings to cari makan.

At least the kings used to have soldiers who could kill you if you did not pay taxes to the king. But even that was not always the case. Often the kings borrowed money and borrowed soldiers from their nobles. This is why throughout history, so many kings 'lost their heads'. 
But the priests of religion survived purely on hocus pocus. Theirs was purely the power of suggestion. 'If you do not obey me, you will suffer eternal damnation' (WHY?)
Not only could the priests NOT explain WHY but they could not provide any scientific proofs for their threats. 
This is why religion has never had a permanent grip on the human mind. What do I mean by this? New religions keep popping up here and there, all the time throughout history. In Egypt they used to worship crocodiles. And each time a new religion pops up, it will take away some market share (aka believers) from other religions. Every religion claims a monopoly over truth but no religion can claim a monopoly over the entire human race. There is no such thing.
 ll وَلَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ لَجَعَلَكُمْ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً وَلَٰكِن يُضِلُّ مَن يَشَاءُ وَيَهْدِي مَن يَشَاءُ ۚ وَلَتُسْأَلُنَّ عَمَّا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ ll

which means :  (Sahih International  Surah 16:93 - 'And if Allah had willed, He could have made you [of] one religion, but He causes to stray whom He wills and guides whom He wills. And you will surely be questioned about what you used to do.')
Therefore to insist on this idea called "one religion" or "one community" is just not going to be a 'happening thing'. 
And herein lies the solution how to eradicate religious extremism. 
Just let everyone speak their minds about religion. Just let them all talk.They will all cancel each other out. Its just 'my hocus pocus versus your hocus pocus'.  Throw in a few WHYs here and there and the solution will be final. Religious extremism will go away. Recall that video  I posted recently where the mufti of Perlis sort of crashed into some panel discussion and quite obviously contradicted the Panel members. It was an awkward moment. But if you can watch that video again, pay attention to the people in the audience. They all look confused. Why? Because they could see one "religious expert" disagreeing and contradicting another "religious expert".  If this keeps up, eventually the people will lose interest in all these so called 'religious experts'. The people will realise that they do not gain anything from listening to these fellows bickering among themselves.

This is what I mean when I say let everyone speak freely.Its a one way street. They will end up nowhere. The people will get fed up with their bickering.Before (until about early 2000s) there was only one flavour of religion that was dominant in this country. All other flavours had to take two steps back or had to operate 'underground' (like those labelled ajaran sesat etc). 
Until the Wahabi / Salafi appeared in some numbers in Malaysia. The Wahabi / Salafi have been around from much earlier but it was only quite recently that they have become more prominent. And aggressive. They have a different way of looking at the religion.
I dont agree with the wahabi / salafi either but I really like to listen to different viewpoints. I think everyone should be allowed to say what they want to say. 

My view is let them all talk and let them say what they want. But make sure the people listen to all their different viewpoints. The people will really get fed up.
I hope some of you readers will get an idea to host regular video podcasts  (through YouTube, Facebook, Twitter etc) featuring debates by  wahhabi / salafi, other traditionalists plus other flavours of religion sitting in the same panel.
Let them debate freely with each other.
Only one rule should apply : They must always  observe proper decorum and ikut cara intellectual dan akademik.No shouting at the top of the lungs or being rude.In no time the people will get fed up with their contradicting and confusing arguments.
Here is the Terminator asking WHY?


The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.
By Syed Akbar Ali 

---