Religion and politics
Kurdishaspect.com - By Peter Stitt
In response to the report: "Kurdish Parliament Pushed Through Disputed Religion Law" I must say that religion and politics should be kept very far apart in any society that wishes to behave in a rational manner in its treatment of its citizens.
It is one thing for a political leader to have certain religious convictions but to enshrine such views in a constitution is suicidal madness.
I remember Tariq Aziz the "Christian", and his uneasy relationship with Saddam as Saddam realised he had to pretend to be a Muslim in order to gain support within Arab states. I have seen the atrocities carried out in the name of God in Iran and Afghanistan.
As a man with strong religious convictions myself, I believe wholeheartedly in secularism. You cannot run a national health service, an economy, a ministry of defence etc on religious lines. That is crazy, that is Iran, a redundant backward country that relies upon natural resources to make up for the lack of innovation and imagination of its leadership.
When challenged about such issues Jesus responded "Give to Caesar what
is due to Caesar, give to the Father (God) what is due to the Father." Even two thousand years ago there was a realisation that the secular and the religious should be kept separate. Are the Islamists contradicting the words of one of their most celebrated prophets?
This law should be repealed immediately. Church is church, state is state. When the two come together it invariably ends up with the persecution of minorities, chaos and economic disaster, and international alienation and isolation.
I will gladly pray with Sunni or Shia brothers but I would never subject people to my own beliefs of what is religiously right or wrong. I have no right to do so, I cannot judge another human being. By putting religion into law making people are judging and going against the teaching of Jesus, and Jesus' teaching was precious to Muhammad, peace be upon him.
Can we not learn the lessons they had already learned 2,000 years ago? PUK and PDK, what are you thinking of? You are taking your people backwards.
