Let "Them" Accept Secularism First

It has become a common declaration among many of our people whenever they are confronted with the issue of secularism. "If 'they' accept secularism, then we would be happy to have a secular country." That is, they justify their sectarian mentalities and feign support for secularism by claiming that it is the other sects that refuse to accept secularism and therefore they have no choice but to embrace sectarianism. This is of course a bogus argument intended merely to rationalize their deeply embedded sectarian sentiments and their vehement opposition to secularism.

To claim that the only thing keeping you from accepting secularism is "their" sectarianism and "their" rejection of secular principles demonstrates a clear, unambiguous sectarian, divisive mentality, as you divide our people into "us" and "them." There is a clear matter of principle that we have to decide. Do we view our nation as one society and one people with one interest and one life? Or do we treat our nation as a collection of sects with differing and competing interests? If your position is in line with the former, then you should, under this principle, reject any notion of "us" vs. "them" and apply your ideals equally to the nation as a whole. If you believe in the latter, then no amount of explanations and rationalizations can disguise your inherent sectarian view of society.

As for the very logic behind such statements, its nonexistence is clear to the astute and conscious citizen. An individual who claims that he/she cannot embrace secularism until the "other side" does so first is merely a declaration that he/she does not wish to let go of his/her sectarian attitude. And just who is this individual expecting to embrace secular principles? There are citizens of our nation of all backgrounds who have adopted secular ideals, so who is this individual referring to when they proclaim that "they" must first accept secularism? They are in reality astoundingly implying that sectarian groups from other sects must accept secularism before sectarian groups from this individual's sect can be expected to transform into secular organizations. Such an outrageous condition is placed knowing full well that no sectarian organization is ready to tolerate, much less promote, secularism, or they wouldn't be sectarian to begin with.

Until we forever drop all divisive thoughts from our mindset, we can continue to expect to experience woes and disasters. The categorization of our people into "us" and "them" is representative of a diseased mentality of which the nation must rid itself. The only solution to all our ailments is the realization that we are one nation with one interest in life.