Religion and control
Does multiculturalism mean religions have to be controlled?
Religion is often used to excuse conflict. So in a multicultural society should it be controlled by the state?
In theory, if you make people from different backgrounds live in the same neighbourhood they will learn to get on with each other. At least that's what happened as tribes migrated and settled across Europe in centuries past and as they subsequently settled amid each other and amid newly discovered cultures. It happens in cities as well, as people from all over the country of which the capital is capital and from elsewhere in the world congregate. We've all heard the word "melting pot" But it doesn't always work out peacefully.
Within a hundred yards of our house in an Eastern suburb of London in the UK there are two mosques, four churches of different denominations and at leats one synagogue; the three great Western religions all using the same bus-stops, the same streets and the same stores, with a smattering of specialist halal and kosher shops in between the pork and alcohol that many in the community are commanded to avoid, even to hate.
We get on. But most of us are the kind of people who get on generally. Most of us have come to London from the outside to improve our career opportunities and increase the intensity of our intellectual, sexual and social lives, so integration with people different from us has always been part of the plan.
That's all until Islamic extremists brought their anti western terrotist campaign to the streets of London and the battle against them around the world was intensified by a rather dimwitted Christian in the White House and a weak and publicity-paranoid openly Christian prime minister in the UK. And despite there being lots of other reasons for conflict, our helpless dependence on a certain black liquid that happens to lie under predominantly Islamic sands being just one of them, religion became the accepted reason for the growing "war".
There's been a call for a ban on organised religion from leading British rock star Elton John. Publicity stunt after a good night out from a man notorious for his tantrums maybe, but I can see why someone might think that banning organised religion would reduce or eradicate all sorts of so-called religious violence.
But maybe there's a better way. Maybe nothing needs to be banned in order to end this latest "war". Maybe all we need is transparency and open-ness to reduce the chances of conflict.
Churches, synogogues and mosques must all allow open access at all times to all people. Maybe keep non-worshippers away from worshippers during prayer times and major festivals, but nothing must be hidden so that extremism cannot grow. Of course the die-hards would meet in private anyway, but the chance of conflict would still be much less most of the time. Those die-hards would also continue to exist if organised religion were banned, so a ban would not achieve the required result.
Ban violent people from public office by all means. But don't ban the tools they decide to use as a vehicle for their violence, because in the right hands those tools can make life better for millions.
