America: Between Politico-Religious Separation And The Fear Of Terror

By

Jibo Nura

E-mail jibonura@yahoo.com

 

The concept of politics and religion are differently conceived and interpreted among various contemporary societies. This can be viewed from two angles; first, there are those who consider the terms as inseparable. Second, are those who regard politics as exercising of individuals’ freedom and rights, which is distinct from belief and moral values. But morality in itself, if carefully observed, has something to do with the way people conduct their affairs-be it cultural, social, or spiritual whereby the outcomes may be negative or positive, depending on the level of restraint and conformity with the moral teachings and ethics.

 

In 1984, Ronald Reagan, the 40th American President, remarked at an ecumenical prayer Breakfast for 17,000 citizens in the state of Texas, that “Those who created our country-the Founding Fathers and Mothers-understood that there is a divine order which transcends the human order. They saw the state, in fact as a form of moral order and felt that the bedrock of moral order is religion. I believe that faith and religion play a critical role in the political life of our nation-and always has-and that the Church-and by that I mean all Churches, all denominations-has had a strong influence on the state. And this has worked to our benefit as a nation”.

 

The main purpose of Reagan’s remarkable speech was just to heed some note of warnings to American citizens so as not to flash back to the 1962 Supreme Court’s ruling at New York that banned the saying of compulsory prayers. The speech was also meant to draw the attention of, and remind the American people of the jungle justice being arrived at stopping the United States children from reading Bible in public schools in 1963, which in turn started breeding immorality in their home ground. And that was perhaps, the beginning of serious confrontation between the Champions of Separatist theory and religious clerics who vehemently oppose the removal of the words “under God” and “In God we trust” from the U.S.A’s pledge of allegiance and public documents and currencies. Since then, a lot of criminalities, assaults, violence and civil unrest are daily on the increase among the American populace, because religion is made vulnerable. Therefore, the dichotomy between these two divergent schools of thought (religious advocates and separatist theoreticians), is probably what made the country went wild on anything that has to do with religion. It made majority of U.S’s policy makers see religion and morality as opium for only those who chose to identify with the divine order-God’s men. Those policy makers are the ones who make sure that voluntary prayers, sound moral values and religion are not returned to the dictates of their national life. They do this in the name of tolerance, freedom, peace and open-mindedness. But the question is: Are they tolerant-free, fair and just society after all? In fact, the United State’s peace mission accolades and initiatives are a complete mismatch of the ideal situation on ground. For instance, when one critically observes some of her activities outside her own territory, one wonders what brought such a ‘peace lover’ invade innocent countries like Guatemala, Dominican Republic and Grenada. Equally disturbing were the Panama and Libya humiliating attacks in 1989. Where former President, General Manuel Noriega, was flimsily accused of blocking the U.S ships from ferrying across Panama Canal and was therefore provocatively charged with drug related offences, which led to his arrest even against the international laws. Also, Muammar Ghaddafi’s presidential palace was unilaterally raided by the U.S air force of the led Republican government of Bush, the senior, with the lousy excuse that Libya supports TERRORISM and that it was responsible for the trap bombing of U.S marines in a West German discotheque. Does that mean for bombing soldiers in a disco joint, the revenge mission should be targeted at the presidential palace of the suspected country even without proof? This was really a contravention of the common law slogan that says “whoever wants to go to equity should go with clean hands”.

 

 Again, if peace maker really have the fear of God and loves the best for all, why should a violence or anarchy be his/her driving force? The ravaging of a sovereign and independent country like Iraq, even without evidence of weapons of mass destruction should have really mattered. Though, the most pathetic situation here is the way the U.S has succeeded in spoiling the long standing neighborhood among Arab nations thereby painstakingly putting a demarcation line between their solidarities on the negotiated settlement of the crises in the Middle East.

 

Therefore, terrorism to all intents and purpose is just a relative term. It all depends on how it is viewed. But nonetheless, it comes as a result of total derailment from the doctrines and teachings of our moral values and norms. And the truth is, provided people like Manuel Noriega will keep being in Florida prison or Saddam Hussein will remain under the U.S. custody, then it is very much doubtful if the world can witness an end to terror.

 

Inasmuch as America fails to understand the simple and empirical arithmetic that: politics and religion are inseparable. One compliments the other, because they are mutually related. While religion serves as a guide to our political life, our governments need to open rooms for tolerance. We need the mosques and churches, because as one time former U.S president said “only those humble enough to admit they’re sinners can bring democracy the tolerance it requires in order to survive.” Also, George Washington, an ardent believer of political and religious ‘wedlock’ affirmed that “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.

 

The crux of the matter in Washington’s explanation was to let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion.

 

Therefore, the United States of America should be ready to accept the above realities and at the same time have a rethink over the clarion call, i.e. “A State is nothing more than a reflection of its citizens; the more decent the citizens, the more decent the state. If you practice a religion, whether you are a Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish or guided by some other faith, then your private life will be influenced by a sense moral obligation, and so, too will your public life. One affects the other. Without God, there is a coarsening of the society. And without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure. If we ever forget that we are nations under God. Then we will be nations gone under”.

 

Jibo Nura,

Opinion analyst,

Desert Herald Newspaper,

No.6 North road,

Abakpa. Opp. NEPA district office,

Red-cross building, G.R.A. Kaduna

State, Nigeria.

E-mail: jibonura@yahoo.com