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Op/Ed:
Two Kinds of IED that Destroy
Civilizations and Religions
 Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati 

 
We hear much these days from media and leaders of how IEDs or Improvised Explosive Devices are symbols of terrorists trying to destroy civilizations and religions. However, there is another kind of IED that is also extremely destructive, possibly even more destructive historically. It is an IED that the world has cyclically seen used for many centuries, and which seems to be on the rise in recent decades. This IED comes in many disguises, but also has as its goal the destruction of civilizations and religions. This IED is the Insidious Evangelical Device.

The users of this weapon have already successfully destroyed many civilizations and religions throughout Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia, and Europe over the past thousand or more years. They continue their onslaught today and there is no reason to believe that these IEDs will not continue to be used in the foreseeable future. Sometimes the proponents of this IED even refer to themselves as warriors or crusaders, leaving little room for doubt about their approaches and motives. Unlike an Improvised Explosive Device, which is a mechanical device, a bomb, this IED, the Insidious Evangelical Device, is itself a human being who invades the communities, countries, cultures and civilizations of other people, proselytizing that theirs is the only way.

As a man or woman may have eyes only for his or her own spouse, one may passionately love her or his chosen teacher, deity and religion. However, people thinking that theirs is the only valid, authentic, legitimate or true teacher, deity or religion is like people thinking that theirs is the only valid, authentic, legitimate or true spouse and marriage. When that limited view is coupled with a sense of duty to change and dominate other people, the result can be extremely destructive to civilizations and religions.

Unfortunately, many people of such views are in very high government and corporate positions, and use their power to overtly or covertly maneuver others to carry out their missions. The proselytizing and manipulative conversions are in effect government and corporate sponsored acts of aggression, violence, ignorance and arrogance. These politically powerful people easily navigate through the legal systems and world communities of governments in such a way that they create the appearance that it is others who are the religiously intolerant because of not sanctioning their conversion dogma.

To divert attention from their actions these extremists call the other extremists extreme; the radicals call the radicals radical. Unless wisdom comes to prevail, history may again be repeated, with millions more slaughtered because of these myopic Insidious Evangelical Devices who, although a minority, have a very loud, effective voice of destruction.

Improvised Explosive Devices are vicious weapons that need to be abandoned by the community of humankind. But Insidious Evangelical Devices are also vicious weapons that need to be renounced for the shared benefit of all peoples of the world. If humanity wants the world to be a better place, we will need to first set aside our ignorance and habits of mind that set the stage for both of these forms of IEDs.

People of religions and spiritual traditions that do not participate in conversion need to be more outspoken about this, rather than shrink in silence so as to not offend the proselytizers. People of religions and spiritual traditions that do promote conversions, but do not personally agree with these conversion philosophies, also need to be more outspoken about this, rather than timidly turn a blind eye so as to avoid the fear of being shunned by their religious peers.

All religions, cultures and civilizations evolve over time. Let the followers of the conversion religions, denominations and sects rethink their priorities and set aside their outdated habits, and reclaim the higher spiritual values of accepting and loving all, and excluding none. If there ever was a time in human history when a proselytizing, converting type of religion was of use, that time has passed, as our world has become so small due to communications and transportation.

We must see that we are all trees of the same forest, waves of the same ocean, stars of the same sky, and humans of the same humanity, though we may conceptualize this principle in vastly different ways. This does not mean that we need to merge all the religions into one mega-religion, or all the civilizations into one mega-civilization. Tolerance needs to mean not a mere grudging acceptance of a persistent annoyance, but a loving admiration for the diversity of civilizations and religions that exists within the unity of humanity. This may seem a mere dream, but we humans have done many amazing things that began as only dreams. Maybe through our dreams, devotion and efforts we can learn to live without either kind of IED.

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