PRACTICAL DIVISION BETWEEN RELIGION AND POLITICS
As far as the political and social commandments of religion are concerned, they should not be taken up until the entire society might become conducive to them. No practical steps should be taken to enforce them as long as a society collectively is not in favour of this.
Very often, religion is invoked in communal conflicts. Repeatedly, political and communal controversies are turned into religious controversies, and then people’s religious passions are roused, leading to confrontation and violence between members of different religious communities. Because of this, many people have become opponents of religion itself. They say that human beings do not need religion at all and that, hence, religion must be destroyed. Without this, they contend, social unity is impossible.
This, however, is an extremist response to an extremist stance, an extremist reaction to religious extremism, which is neither possible nor useful. The fact is that religion in itself is not a problem. On the contrary, religion is a vital part of human life. The political exploitation of religion by some opportunist elements is the problem. Hence, the exploitation of religion, rather than religion itself, must be overcome.
Religion has two dimensions: personal and collective. The personal dimension of religion includes beliefs, worship, morality, and spirituality, while the collective dimension of religion includes its political and social commandments. In this matter, the right approach would, under general conditions, be to only stress the personal dimension of religion. The entire focus should be on enkindling the spirit of religion for the spiritual growth of individuals. As far as the political and social commandments of religion are concerned, they should not be taken up until the entire society might become conducive to them. These commandments can be established only through the collective consent of the entire society. That is why no practical steps should be taken as far as these rules are concerned as long as the collective consent of the society is not in favour of this.
This approach can be termed a practical division between religion and politics. This is the wise approach to adopt in this matter.
