Role of Religion in Politics in Pakistan - Verdict of the people

Re: Role of Religion in Politics in Pakistan - Verdict of the people

It is my suspicion that many survey participants answer YES due to a fear of offending God if they said NO rather than really thinking things out.

The moment you accept this as the verdict, which it is not since no modern constitution is ever the result of a mere majority vote, you end up with impractical contradictions such as which version of Islam, whose interpretation, where to draw the line etc.

Finally I'd also argue that people turn to religion when things get worse. That is not exactly an endorsement of religion in politics but rather a no vote on current state of affairs

Name one religious state which allows liberty. Liberty and a religious state are incompatible. Religious states are horrible when it comes to liberty. See the examples of Iran, Afghanistan, the brief mini-Taliban state in Swat, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, etc. Look at the countries with the most liberty. All of them are very secular. Also, look at every successful country in the world. They are all secular. Religious states have not been successful in centuries. Time--and most of the world--have passed religious states by.

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for examaple i want to listen music in loud but the few of my neigbour have issue wid it and rest is ok wid it.

someone wanna sex on some public places.

u dont want to pay taxes on ur income but are comfotable to pay indirect taxes and taxes associated wid the utility services u receive.

who will define the boundaries of indivdual liberty.

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Countries with liberty have no problem with those things. They are not real issues. The basic concept is "your rights end where mine begin." For example, loud music infringes upon neighbors hence is not allowed. Contrast that to states where music is banned, confiscated, or certain songs are censored. None of these things happen in lands of liberty. No one wants absolute liberty for that would lead to anarchy. When people speak of liberty they speak of a liberty which guarantees basic freedoms, i.e. freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of religion. None of these things are allowed in religious states.

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I do agree that a lot of so called religious people may not be qualified to give a sane and balanced opinion, but to think religious people should not have an opinion how a state should be run is an absurd idea to say the least.

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Of course religious people can express opinions, vote, and run for office in democratic secular states. What secularism does is separate religion from the affairs of the state. A preacher can be elected president in US; he cannot impose religious law, create a religious police, a religious apartheid system, etc. This is what I believe the OP was talking about.

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2ndly there are gud and ppl in every field ................ is not it

doctors, accountant lawyers etc. ............ but u make affort to find the best one is not it.
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Accountants have not created an ideological movement that has as tenets things such as suppression of women and minorities; many imams are involved in such a movement. Islamism is an ideology and most imams subscribe to some variant of it. For example, notice how rarely you hear imams talk about equal rights for religious minorities (unless they are in a country where they are in the minority!)...

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It is my suspicion that many survey participants answer YES due to a fear of offending God if they said NO rather than really thinking things out.
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Religion is a slogan in a country like Pakistan. Of course if you ask people in Pakistan if they want more religion they will say yes. However, if you ask them if they want what more religion entails and provide them details you will get a different result. Are most Pakistanis Islamists? No, which is why Islamists--like they have done in numerous other places--are using violence to attempt to achieve their ends. I do think a significant minority of Pakistanis are Islamist (largely because few people in Pakistan understand what Islamism actually is), though, and when you combine them with non-Islamist social conservatives Pakistan is indeed a very socially conservative country.

Politics should not be bannned on anyone including very religious people provided they keep their religion to their personal self and do not indulge in politics to get their religious views imposed on others.

Any kind of political entity which practices religious apartheid should not be allowed. For example any political party which does not allow every citizen of Pakistan including people from different sects, religions or different idea of religious morality to become their members should be totally banned from practising this kind of apartheid. Sunni muslim, shia muslim, christain political parties who indulge in religious apartheid shaould be banned from main stream politics of the country. Religious apartheid is no lesser evil than racial apartheid !!!

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I am sorry you have or had very limited exposure to religious people in life who just loved to eat halwa or had one foot long beard or if you have limited vocabulary. That is not a problem of those who have brain, and observing minds.

Your idea of religion is very very narrow.

My suggestion: Get out a little more. Hang around in a different crowd! :-)
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It is not a question of piety or stupidity of the religious people... It's very simple that if anyone indulges in politics to get his personal religious views imposed on others should not be allowed to do so...

To our friend Euridition :

First of all I don't believe that these surveys prove that people of Pakistan want any specific religious views to be forcibly imposed on entire population of Pakistan as they never vote religious parties during the general elections, may be they just want a certain religious freedom in the country to follow their own personal relgious belief as I understand from the survey... secondly let's for argument sake agree to your notion that majority of the people of Pakistan want to impose their religious ideas to be forcibly enforced on minority of the people... do you think majority should be allowed to create a religious apartheid in the country.

I agree imposing should not be allowed, however, majority should be able to practice the way they want as well as minority. What does this mean keeping to personal level? Should they not have any opinion or suggestion for the govt.? They should. Like I said, it should be up to the state to agree with them or not.

Not agreed. Aggression or force however should not be allowed.

Yes. Minority should be allowed and has been allowed. SC judge was a hindu.
Please do not give examples of 'news' here, if you are planning to. Very much discussed already.

Again do not agree. Everyone should be allowed to voice their opinion through proper channel of politics. People should be allowed to see what is out there to choose ultimately.

Racial bigotry should not be compared to religious freedom. One is based on artificial man made difference, other is based on well known, bona fide ideology and how people would like to see certain laws implemented in light of the religion.

Actions of few extremists, illiterate people should not make religious ideology be questioned at all.

Off course I must repeat, imposing religious ideology on someone or stopping someone from acting upon religious practices should not be allowed. The 'secular' extremists do this all the time. :-)

I already answered that.