Naturalism and Humanism: Antidotes against Fanaticism in South Asia

Naturalism and Humanism are the antidotes to fanaticism. Violence, cruelty, and exclusion, based upon caste, gender, religious or any exclusive identity are the byproduct of spiritual impoverishment. There is no better religion if it doesn't bring forth the idea and practice of love, harmony, and compassion. Religious fundamentalism in Greek caused the life of Socrates, a man of immense courage and wisdom, and in Europe, fanatics victimized great minds like Bruno, Galileo for their heretical proclamation, and Allan Turing in recent period because of his sexual orientation.

Similar cultural pattern is visible in South-Asia since colonial periods. One incident of violence creates smokes for fundamentalist to use it as a tool of propaganda to incite hatred and bigotry against a community at large. Few miscreants take the cultural differences as a standard to create an environment of hate-mongering and inculcate beliefs and prejudices, antithesis to humanism. Cultural differences are significantly important for the enrichment of human's life, otherwise cultural monotony is antithesis to progress in moral, political, and social life. No culture can claim its superiority over others. Every culture has merits and demerits. It is only in coming contact to each-other the possibility of progress is realized.

It is generally believed that when Alexander came to India, he was with some of the finest scholars of his time and those scholars learnt a great deal from Indian thoughts and practices. Milind Panho is a great example of cross-cultural enrichment, whereas the dialogues between Menander and Nagasen brought a new height of assimilation between Indian thoughts with Greek rationalism.

Moral progress is possible in a community if the members of it are open-minded and kind-hearted subjects, who are compassionate enough to listen the other voices. The meaning of real education is our own ability to listen self and others. Otherwise cultivated and conditions thoughts create an echo-chamber of narcissism.

Violence based upon religion was tackled in Europe though the development of sovereignty as a fulcrum of power to maintain law and order in the society. Secularism emerged as a governing principle and ideology to assimilate and enrich the cultural differences, but South Asia is still behaving like a child which has to learn from its own history that progress requires heretics, dissenters, and moody artists, who can imagine a new standard of humanism and naturalism for moral and political progress.

History has shown us that every downfall brings an era of hope. South Asia will overcome its tutelage and courageously emerge as a peaceful and harmonious place, free from religious bigotry and persecution. It will find its new dawn when people will realize the essence of life, i.e. love, peace, and harmony.

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