How religious are we, anyway

Is religion a threat to world peace? This question demands an answer as frequent terrorist attacks continue worldwide, and nearer home our own indigenous cow-rakshasas unleash their unique brand of Hindu terrorism. Does religious extremism or the practice of religion itself endanger the freedoms promised to us by our Constitution? A cursory glance at world history reveals that only a handful of wars were fought in the name of religion. Greed and aggrandisement spawned all the conflicts that have occurred since man began to record his exploits. The crusades happened several centuries ago. Babur did not come to India to spread Islam. Even the two world wars were not about religion. Hiroshima and Nagasaki weren't about religion either.

Yet the 21st century seems to be all about jihad, about killing-machine caucuses, about lone wolf warriors working out bizarre schemes for random executions, all in the name of an illusory Islamic State and Allah. It just doesn’t make sense. When Allah is most beneficent and most merciful why are some of his followers so barbaric? After all, the purpose of every religion is the good of man. But when a manual for the good life becomes a proclamation with diabolic overtones, when interpretations of holy books are monopolised by the likes of Zakir Naik, what is the way open to a true believer? Should he purge his religion of the more extreme tenets and most extremist preachers, or throw the baby out with the bathwater?

How religious is homo sapiens anyway? A global survey by the leading market research organisation WIN/ Gallup International in 2015 showed 63 per cent of people in 65 countries claiming they were religious, 22 per cent declaring they were irreligious, and 11 per cent announcing they were atheists. Interestingly, the least religious country was China with 61 percent atheists, 29 per cent irreligious persons and only 7 per cent believers. In Hong Kong, Japan and the Czech Republic, atheists make up more than 30 per cent of the population. In the West, the Swedes are the least religious, with 78 per cent claiming to be either irreligious or confirmed atheists. In Israel this figure is 65 per cent (Zionism notwithstanding).

The most religious regions are Africa and MENA-- Middle East and North Africa-- (86 percent and 82 percent respectively). In Thailand, Armenia, Bangladesh, Georgia, Morocco, Fiji and South Africa, over 90 percent of respondents said they were religious. Interestingly, younger people (below age 34) tend to be more religious than older people. Apart from religion, education appears to have a direct bearing on religiosity, as those without a formal education are the most religious. Another significant marker is income. Of those with high or medium high incomes, less than half claimed to be religious, whereas 70 percent of those with lower incomes were staunch believers.

In a recent poll by the same organisation, 61 per cent of respondents across 64 countries said they were ready to fight for their country. Ninety-four percent of Moroccans, 89 per cent of Pakistanis, 86 per cent of Bangladeshis, 75 per cent of Indians and 71 per cent of Chinese said they would gladly go to war for their country. In contrast only 44 percent of Americans, 30 per cent of Canadians, and 27 per cent of British expressed such willingness. Citizens of countries that had been at the receiving end during World War II such as Japan and Germany showed a marked disinclination to fight. Only 11 per cent of Japanese and 18 per cent of Germans expressed their willingness to do battle. The highest rates of eagerness to fight (83 per cent) were found in the MENA region where Islam happens to be the predominant religion. Globally 78 per cent of Muslims said they were willing to fight for their country.

What conclusions can be drawn from the results of these surveys? It would be naive to infer that the citizens of the third world are more patriotic or more aggressive than their counterparts in the developed world - as a simplistic interpretation of the statistics would indicate. We need to consider whether hate campaigns and negative nationalism have a role to play in fostering hostility and belligerence. Are the citizens of poorer nations more amenable to violent conflict? Is militarism a guiding factor? Is religion a factor that impels men to battle? What impact has the jihadist ideal had on the psyche of Muslims worldwide? We need more focused studies on these lines, but the surveys undoubtedly reveal significant behavioural trends. It appears that peace is just not valued enough. Nor is freedom, human rights, equality and a host of other liberal values.

(The author is a writer and IT professional)