We all need to confront religious fanaticism
 Wahe guru ji ka khalsa wage guru ji ki fateh
 Please see a short article I have penciled below  in response to concerns I have had
 for some time about the growth of religious fanaticism in the UK and further afield.
 Comments  are most welcome. Publishers please note I am happy for you to publish as
 appropriate.
 Dr Gurnam Singh, Coventry University, UK
 g.singh@coventry.ac.uk<mailto:g.singh@coventry.ac.uk>
 6th Sept 2013
 There is no doubt that minority groups in the UK and further afield are still havi to
 mobilise against many forms of racism and discrimination, and such struggles will 
 continue until society is rid of such distasteful beliefs and practices. However,there
 is another equally important task for all faith groups to contend with; that is 
 religious fanaticism.  The reality is religious fanatics of whatever persuasions have
 developed a disproportionate influence over many of our youth and institutions.
 This is a real problem because fanatics tend to hold views that are not only
 incompatible with the essence of their own faith but are undermining the struggles 
 of the vast majority of people of faith to live of peace and justice.Whilst faith is 
 as old as human existence, organized and institutionalized form of religion are subject
 to the social, economic and political currents of history.
 Since the European Enlightenment and the assent of science, although disproportionally
 spread through the world, supernatural belief is in decline everywhere.
 Most people prioritise material and social needs over the pursuit of ‘God’. And 
 increasingly, especially for educated professionals, a commitment to a secular or 
 social spirituality has displaced the (blind) pursuit of miraculous divine 
 intervention, which is often the primary motivation for fanatics. It is a belief that
 problems, be they personal, familial, social or political can only be solved through
 divine intervention. And this can only be possible if one invokes the power of God,
 which can be done by rejecting a world, which has become polluted, and returning to 
 an assumed ‘puratan’ or old lifestyle that was lived by their respective prophets.
 That said, I think religious fanatics are anything but ‘puratan’ and their appeal to
 the past is simply a clever maneuver to establish authority, which would be difficult
 to challenge. That is because their authority to claim to speak the truth does not
 come from being elected or selected but through being chosen or blessed by the
 almighty. Titles such as ‘Sant’, ‘Brahmgiani’, ‘Baba’, ‘mahapurak’ … are freely
 dispensed to further mystify and cement their authority amongst naive followers, who
 are often seeking peace and solace from the everyday problems of life. Whilst there
 are many noble, learned and deeply pious spiritual leaders from all faiths who do
 provide positive and constructive guidance to their followers, sadly, they are 
 massively outnumbered by the many who, as gurbani warns us, are simply ‘thaggs’ or
 conmen.
 It is this rejection of the present and a return to a glorious ‘puratan’ past, which
 has a common thread amongst religious fanatics of all faiths. At one level, there is
 nothing wrong with holding such beliefs, and to some degree, we all share nostalgia
 about the past as a way of dealing with problems in the present. Although, delving
 into the past may offer some pointers for the present and future, the problem is that
 all groups develop a selective amnesia and a tendency to portray the other as bad. 
Take for example the sixth Mogul Emperor Aurangzeb; for Sikhs he epitomizes an 
oppressive tyrant responsible for the murder of many of Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s family 
members. However, if one looks at Muslim accounts he was a deeply pious Muslim who
 lived a frugal life and condemned his brothers for drinking alcohol and womanizing.
There is little doubt that if it suits their ends religious fanatics, consciously and
 un-consciously, endorse or encourage violence. I am certain, stripped of the outward
 trappings and symbolism of their respective religions, they would simply be rendered
 as dangerous fascists.  You see fanatics, by definition, are people who have 
 internalised the view that they have discovered 'the truth' within their tradition.
  From this self delusion they conclude that that those who choose to follow no path
  or a path other than the one they believe to be the correct path are at best 
 mistaken, or at worst enemies of (their) God, Kaffirs, unbelievers, manmukhs… etc.
 I think the main source of the problem is the way that scripture is read. If you read
 things in an unthinking and literal sense you can easily come to the kinds of 
 conclusions that the fanatics come to. Simplistic minds look for simplistic 
 explanations and those who seek to question such beliefs are rapidly classified as
  enemies of the faith. And the consequences for those can be serious, as we saw, for
  example, in the case of the Pakistanis School girls Malala Yousafzai who was shot in
  the head by a group of religious fanatics in Pakistan for advocating education for
  girls.
  So, just like all groups, Islam has many differences. Putting aside the Sunni/Shia
  divide, what we to do is make a distinction between militant Islamism, and in 
  particular Wahhabism, and the extremely pious, humanitarian and inclusive traditions
  associated with, for instance, Sufi Islam – which incidentally is very much a part 
  of the Sikh tradition reflected in the writings of Farid, Kabeer and Nanak in 
  particular.  Amongst the Sikhs, we have our own version of Wahhabism in the form of
  certain groups who claim their authority as direct decedents of Guru Gobind Singh
  Ji. Amongst Hindus, as noted above, we have a militant Shiv Senna and Hindutvaits.
  Amongst Jews we have Zionists …and so on with most other traditions.           
  So the struggle and fear is not really about different faith groups dominating, but
  more accurately about how we can marginalise the hate mongers, who tend to get much
  more publicity simply because they either shout the loudest or simply or simply have
  more time on their hand. The reason why they are getting away with their hate 
  mongering is two fold. First, thanks to the 'race relations lobby' the authorities
  are afflicted with 'political correctness', which renders them overly fearful of 
  being accused of being racist, or simply they have no clue how to respond. 
  I think the recent failure of the authorities to recognize a real problem amongst a
  certain strata of Pakistani Muslim young men and the issues of sexual grooming of
  Sikh girls as highlighted in the BBC documentary ‘Inside Out’ on the 2/9/13 serves
  as a good example. I think the liberal left (and I include myself amongst this
  category) does need to wake up and realise that the kinds of race relations
  discourse around in the 70's – 90's is no longer of much relevance today.
  Today, if we are to develop a discourse to tackle the real problems that out
  communities face, we must avoid going down the path of a separatist religious
  agenda. This will simply lead to a modern version of colonialism, of a divide and
  rule strategy, with one group being played off against another. The way forward for
  all faith groups to deal both with the fanatics within our fold and the authorities
  that have historically failed to take our concerns seriously is an inclusive human
  rights agenda approach that emphasises common universal principles.
  That is not to say that religious minorities should not be defended or protected; to
  the contrary, organisations like the Sikh Council UK, the Muslim Council of Britain
  and the Hindu council have a crucial role to defend the interests of their community,
  but this should not simply be restricted to 'crying wolf' every time to member 
  organisation or individual claims to have been unjustly treated. Yes, they are there
  to defend their respective religious interests, but they are also there to contribute
  to building a collective/inclusive vision of society, which will be the ultimate
  guarantor of freedom. Indeed, much of the life, work and sacrifice of the Sikh Gurus
  was devoted to such a vocation which is magnificently embodies in the gift of the
  Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji to the whole of humanity. I am sure most
  religions would be make similar claims to a message of love, peace and justice as
  most it seems to me, leaving aside the hate mongers, most faiths preach such
  universal ideal. What we need to do is to devalue the currency of the fanatics that
  elevate certain hateful practices and beliefs, often dispensed in a deceptive sugar
  coating of piety and humility, over higher-level principles of tolerance, freedom
  of expression and non-violence.
  As a Sikh I am very comfortable with changing and abandoning those cultural practices
  that may come into conflict with my higher-level responsibilities to my fellow human
  beings. Indeed, there is a line in the Guru Granth Sahib Ji that invoked us all to
  burn those practices that undermine our efforts to achieve higher universal
  consciousness (i.e. To become united with the primal loving being). 
  We need to recognise that no religious group is immune of extremism and fanaticism.
  We all have our own versions of the BNP or EDL and so the fight is/should not be
  between religious groups but between thinking tolerant humanitarian individuals and
  the unthinking, fanatics.