Don't Let Your God Or Leader Become A Fuehrer
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
2 September
2023
Indeed, intolerance is essential only to
monotheism; an only God is by nature a jealous God who will not allow another
to live. On the other hand, polytheistic gods are naturally tolerant, they live
and let live.
Arthur Schopenhauer
This famous
statement of the great German philosopher and the Father of Pessimism Arthur
Schopenhauer is always quoted by the votaries while defending polytheism. While
I reject both monotheism and polytheism as I've no faith, the social, political
and psychological significance of this quote cannot be denied.
Contextualise
it in the current political milieu of the country. One megalomaniac at the helm
(no prizes for guessing) labours under the misconception that he's the Alpha
and Omega of Indian politics. Just like the morbidly megalomaniac god of all
three monotheistic Semitic faiths, he (the political leader) believes that he's
the monarch of all that he surveys, to paraphrase William Cowper.
When all
powers are telescoped into one person or a single agency, jealousy, one upmanship,
megalomania, despotism and extreme cruelty are bound to crop up. This is what
we call 'concentrated intensity' which is always less desirable than 'diluted
intensity.' There's virtually no significant political parties and
personalities in the country at the moment. So, one man has emerged as the
undisputed and unopposed 'God'. This happened in Nazi Germany, when Hitler became
the Fuehrer.
Projecting
a leader or a god as the one and only, can spell disaster. There must always be
a democratic system of inclusiveness in social, political and religious
systems. Since, inclusion (roughly 'Shirkat' in Arabic) is seen as shirk
(sacrilege) in Islam, Christianity and Judaism, you can jolly well see how much
mayhem and bloodshed these megalomaniac gods caused through their violent
scriptural proclamations and exclusive teachings in Quran, Bible and Torah.
That still goes on, albeit mainly through Islamic Allah.
Don't let
your god or leader become a Fuehrer. To be exclusive is to become an extremist.
Avoid this for the sanity and peace of already battered mankind. Live and let
live.
----
A
regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative
religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the
world's premier publications in several languages including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/god-leader-fuehrer/d/130586