Almighty and the Electorate

The most raging topic of discussion in the world right now is secularism and the role of religion in the affair of the state. Even important things like poverty, democracy etc. have been pushed down the list of priorities by the world leaders and the intellectuals in our countries.

There is a notion that the more "advanced" western countries are secular and have clearly delineated the state from religion. And, there is also a notion that the southern countries (especially in Asia) are too much controlled by religious fundamentalists. Of course, these impressions originate from the advanced western countries.

It was wonderful to read a recent article by P.Sainath on this issue on September 12, 2008 in The Hindu.

"Barack Obama made sure his eyes looked unblinking into the television camera as he said : 'I believe Jesus Christ died for my sins, and that I am redeemed through him.' Barely an hour later, John McCain said from the very same platform (into the same television cameras) that being a follower of Christ 'means I am saved and forgiven. We are talking about the world. Our faith encompasses not just the United States but the world'.

They were reaching out to audiences of millions, but were basically aiming at a large religious constituency. Both knew what they had to say and how to say it. Neither had a problem with the idea that two potential Presidents of the U.S. could submit themselves to very public interviews (and seek absolution ?) on a religious platform of one faith.

This was in U.S. which was probably one of the first among modern nations to have a written Constitution making a strong and sharp separation of the church and the state.

Sainath goes on to say what the US would have said if the same thing had happened in some other muslim dominated countries, say Pakistan.

Let's say Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif or whoever, had had their opening debate moderated by mullahs at a mosque. You would never have heard the end of it in the U.S. media. It would have been the 'aha' proof, if any were needed, of religious zealotry, bigotry, fundamentalism and the rest of it.

In India, in spite of the Hindu religious BJP trying to push its Hindu agenda in every sphere of our social lives and state institutions, inflation is a bigger God during the time of election. And, we have caste considerations, electoral arithmetics, and what not !

Sainath concludes the article with an unique situation in our Indian politics right now thus :

"We still have a Hindu woman for President, a Muslim man as Vice-President, a Sikh as Prime Minister, a Dalit as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and an atheist as Speaker of the nation's parliament. That is apart from the fact that the leader of the country's ruling party is a Christian. As complex and confusing as it gets.

Though perhaps logical when politics is seen as a mix of so many diverse streams. In the U.S., which was the first modern nation to legally separate the church and the state, it is different !

See, this multi-religious tree is an example !