On January 22, Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi
consecrated the Ram Mandir, a massive new Hindu temple in Ayodhya.
Modi, whom his biographer presents as
"the high priest of Hinduism,"
gave offerings and blessings to an idol of the god Ram, one of the most revered Hindu deities, who was supposedly born at that sacred site.
The temple is also a powerful political symbol for Modi
and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP):
it was built on the ruins of a 16th century mosque,
which a mob of nationalist Hindus, incited by leaders of the BJP, demolished in 1992, triggering sectarian riots that left
2,000 dead.
Modi promises to create
a "new India"
— which for him means a Hindu India, where the country's more than 200 million Muslims would be seen as intruders.
In fact, this deliberate mixing of religion and politics is unconstitutional in the country.
Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru—an independent candidate—recognized, as did political and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi,
the potential explosiveness of religious conflict in a multiethnic and multireligious society.
Both insisted that India be a secular state.
The desire to undermine the secular state goes back long before Modi.
Mahatma Gandhi's assassin
was
a member of a Hindu nationalist paramilitary organization (the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or National Patriotic Association) linked to the BJP and which played an important role in the destruction of the Ayodhya mosque.
In 1986, Hindu agitators took advantage of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's misguided decision to bow to Muslim demands and allow Islamic law to override a Supreme Court ruling upholding the right of Muslim divorcees to receive alimony after 90 days of divorce.
Taking advantage of this exception to whip up burning Hindu resentment,
the agitators pushed Hindu nationalism from the margins to the center of Indian politics.
Alas,
Modi is not the only one who embraces this kind of religious politics.
No matter how unlikely it may seem that a foul-mouthed sexual predator will be the savior of Christianity, this is how his followers present former US President Donald Trump:
He will be the one to cleanse the country of leftists, feminists, homosexuals, immigrants, liberal elitists and other sinners
.
A promotional video recently posted on Trump's website, Truth Social, leans into this narrative, stating that "God needed someone willing to step into the vipers' nest. Fake news is betrayed by their tongues, sharp as those of "Snakes. Let's point them out! The venom of vipers resides in their lips. That's why God created Trump."
Pentecostal evangelicals, like reactionary Catholics, now believe that Trump is more than a political figure.
The former president was anointed by God with the mission of making
"America great again."
Yes, he is accused of sexually assaulting a woman, overturning an election through violence, and committing fraud, but that shows that he is a martyr persecuted by evil enemies, just like Jesus.
Religious politics is the biggest threat to democracy
, more so than social or economic inequality, lying politicians, and corruption (which are bad enough).
Liberal democratic institutions exist to resolve conflicts of interest: arguments over taxes, land use, agricultural subsidies, etc., can be resolved through argument and compromise between political parties... the
sacred questions However, no.
Divine truth is non-negotiable.
This is why a militant religious group like
Hamas cannot be a democratic political party
.
In a radical Islamic state
there is no room for debate or agreements.
The same goes for Israeli religious extremists, who believe that the Bible justifies their rights.
The point is not to try to cure humanity of their religious beliefs.
The desires to submit to a higher authority, to believe in life after death, to divide the world between believers and non-believers, to revile sinners and worship saints, and to celebrate the stages of life with rituals sacred are a universal human characteristic;
But those desires correspond to churches, temples, synagogues and sanctuaries, not political discourse.
Religious authority and politics should not overlap.
The reason so many democracies are now threatened by messianic politics is not because organized religion has gained strength;
in fact, the opposite has happened: at least in most Western democracies,
ecclesiastical authority has almost completely collapsed.
In many parts of Europe, where right-wing populism is gaining momentum,
the erosion of church authority that began in the 1960s left people who used to regularly go to church adrift.
Today they suffer anxiety and feel overwhelmed in the face of demographic, political, social, sexual and economic changes, and
they are looking for a savior to guide them towards a simpler and safer world, less uncertain.
There are more than enough power-hungry demagogues extremely willing to satisfy that desire.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2024.