The conflict within

So


Its difficult for me to pinpoint when it all started. Lets just say, it may have been part of the questioning attitude that we adopted during our first encounter with philosophy. Add to that my interest in history. So I became acquainted with socialism and its crude derivative communism. As part of the questioning attitude, I questioned some of the basic things that I had grown to accept as an adult. In the initial stages, though I questioned, but never challenged. So to say never crossed the threshold. Perhaps I was afraid of the chaos that would ensue if I couldn’t find the right answers. Then one day during an informal talk with a scholar, I felt as if I was not alone. Perhaps this was more of a stage of life that many in quest of knowledge passed through. And how can I forget that reply from my mentor when I shared my dilemma with him. It was something to the effect of “CONGRATULATIONS sonny. You have come of age”,
Then came that email that someone gave to me. Oh but have I have yet not divulged the troubling issue. It was the need for religion, the Existence of God; and but perhaps the root of it all; what is God?
Before I had stumbled upon that last question, my inquiries always led me to a negative result. The theory that everything came into being as an accident seemed more and more plausible after each enquiry.
But it seemed painful to accept the hollowness of that, entire one had been vehemently advocating earlier. The first threat that I saw was a life outside the communal setup, a setup that I had learnt to cherish.
Could it be that all the prophets, sages and the wise men had tricked the masses into believing that there really was some God. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that man has always wanted to believe in the super natural. It seems that somehow by nature man loves the supernatural. Thus we may ridicule the Stone Age man regarding the forces of nature as God. Perhaps that was beyond his comprehension. But we in this 21st century are doing exactly the same. All that our Mind fails to answer or dare not question yet, is attributed to God.
So why religion? So far I have not been able to come up with a more plausible answer than the fact that it was a design to bring order in place. It was a necessity for civilization. And perhaps that’s the reason that organized religion perhaps grew once real civilizations were born. Before that, man not living together, was so fully occupied battling the forces of nature for survival that he could not spare the enterprise to formulate religion. This reminds me of the paradox I read somewhere, whether “God created man, or Man create God?”
But just today a few hours ago a thought crossed. It had actually been showing some glimpses earlier, but today perhaps it was able to manifest itself most clearly. God perhaps is no single entity in itself. It is actually the forces in nature. Quran says “Allah is the nur of the earth and the heavens”. My understanding of the Arabic word “Nur” here here is the spirit or essence of everything. So perhaps it is the name of all the forces in nature. Most scriptures would claim that he is just. Being just, would imply following an established rule of law. Yes nature does follow its established laws. Humans may not have completely understood its complete implications, but yes there are laws in nature, and nature does follow it religiously.

Local Culture and Why it is loosing ground.

The following idea took its concrete shape in a discussion with my dear friend Nazish Bin Sadruddin on the 20 May, 2004. Nazish usually expresses his reservations about my ideas, which probes me to think even more clearly and come up with responses to his reservations. But on this occasion he did not have any reservations, which was surprising and encouraged me to pen down this idea, before I forgot it in the routines of everyday life. I don’t think I have heard or read this before, but the absolute simplicity (read common sense) of the argument leads me to think that most probably it might have been thought of and expressed before me (as this is what has been happening to me all my life). Anyways, enough of the introduction crap, lets get to the idea straight.


There are few civilizations in the world, which can boast, of 4000-5000 years of history behind them. This long history gives birth to a culture, which is essentially the best practices, drawn over the thousands of years of trial and error experiences. Techniques for survival as well as preparing accessories are developed crudely first, but then undergo improvement for thousands of years. These tend to be essentially local in nature, as they were developed in the local context, addressing the local needs, using the locally available resources. Some however might have been brought to other areas through travelers (traders, soldiers and slaves etc). But many might not have been feasible in the new environment because of the different conditions as well as the difference in the materials as well as the different need or motivation behind the technique. Many might have evolved to suit the local environment.

Take the example of the local farming methods or even crops. Or maybe the techniques for starting a fire, or desert survival (e.g. Apache Indians in South America). (One or two case studies here would provide greater insight).

We see today that the value of culture, especially in societies with a rich cultural history, is fast declining. I believe one of the major reasons for this debacle is that the advent of the global media and a powerful Western notion of “modernity” have quite drastically changed the local (especially perceived) conditions. There have been changes in the climatic and physical (e.g. preferred diet) conditions as well, which in the first place gave birth to this culture. Thus as the pre-conditions which begot the culture and were essential for its survival are gone, so does this seem to be an alien or archaic culture. It is just as a fresh water fish has some how been conditioned to live in a salty environment (the salt being the values and concepts originating from the other influencing cultures), now finds the fresh water environment alienating.

Take the example of the western imposed modern culture throughout the world. Today from Rome, to Athens, to Calcutta to Beijing to Tanzania to Lahore; Coca Cola and Mc Donalds are household names. The preferred daily apparel of most middle and upper middle class youth is jeans………

The question whether the past few generations undergoing this change (that is forgoing their culture in favor of a highly “modern” culture) in response to this change in the environment is a bane or a boon still remains to be answered. The proponents would argue that the local culture itself was an answer to the prevailing conditions, and as the prevailing environment has changed, the current generation is very well adapting to the new enviornment