Civilization as Weapon

REFLECTIONS AT THE TIME OF WAR

Sanal Edamaruku

The war, so far, was no success. What is worse: it created a situation, in which terrorism and fundamentalism grow best…To fight terrorism and fundamentalism, to weaken its base and to minimize its potential to harm us in future, we have only one effective weapon: civilization. We have to defend, strengthen and share its values and achievements. They are not accidental like luxury in good times, but existential, indispensable, at the core of our life and cannot be separated from it.

THE WAR, SO FAR

Millions of tons of heavy armory have been shifted from one side of the globe to another, millions of dollars are being burnt every day since several weeks now, the entire population of a country has been driven into misery, starvation and death. It is time we stroke the balance: What results could the US-led alliance accomplish in their war against worldwide terrorism so far? And what price we had already to pay?

If it was the aim to bring those responsible for the terrorist attacks of September 11 to justice, the efforts have not been successful. The "prime suspect", who could still not be made available, has turned a super hero, the ultimate incarnation of all kinds of anti-American feelings. Millions of Muslims around the world worship him as the executor of the Prophet, a confused western Left as a new Che Guevara. He is becoming a legend and can be expected to inspire generations of future psychopaths to try for global glory in the field of terror.

If it was the aim to demonstrate how groups or states sheltering terrorists are punished and isolated by the international community, the efforts have not been successful either. The outsider sect of the Taliban, who did not have many friends even among hardcore Muslims earlier, is hailed and celebrated in mosques the world over, since the first American bombs fell on Afghanistan. They now even enjoy the solidarity of "progressive" intellectuals with short memories: The Taliban's past seems to be forgotten, buried deep down in the debris of Afghanistan.

THE CRIMES OF THE TALIBAN

Can one forget that fast how this bunch of armed fanatics seized power in Kabul in 1996 and turned life a nightmare? In the name of Islam they opened an unprecedented war against women, which sent a chill through the civilized world including liberal Muslim states. Suddenly all women of Afghanistan were prisoners. They were banned from any form of public life, forbidden to leave the house without male "protection", forbidden to drive a car, forbidden to speak in public. They were excluded from any kind of education and from any kind of work. For thousands of war widows and their children this was a condemnation to utmost poverty and starvation. Women were also practically excluded from medical care, because they couldn't take the help of a male doctor and female doctors had stopped practicing. And may be the worst of all: women lost their identity. Blindfolded almost, buried alive, they were forced to hide their faces under burquas - living under the permanent threat of being attacked and disfigured with acid, if skin would happen to come to light. The Taliban's record of cruelties and perversities has not been limited to women. A long sequence of "religious edicts", the most recent ones being the total ban of music and of celebration of anything but religious occasions, characterizes the climate under their regime as does the recent barbaric destruction of the Bhamiyan Buddhas, which represented a landmark of humanity's cultural heritage. The Taliban are terrorists in the truest and gravest sense of the word and they have destroyed much more innocent lives than the WTC bombers. The plan of the US-government, to identify the "moderate elements" among them to make them rule Afghanistan again is more than absurd - it is mockery at the Taliban's victims and mockery at the ongoing crusade against worldwide terrorism itself.

THE CYCLE OF VIOLENCE

The war, so far, was no success. What is worse: it created a situation, in which terrorism and fundamentalism grow best. The bombing of Afghanistan unfastened a storm of fury all over the Islamic world and became the common rallying point, for which many had waited since long. Styled into an attack on Islam, it opened the floodgates of religious hatred. The world is in danger to split into two camps these days. But there will not be, as intended, some deserted Taliban on one side and the US-led rest of the world on the other. Instead America and its friends will come to stand against worldwide-incensed Islamic fanaticism (supported by something which calls itself "Left"). The terrorist attacks of September 11 did not bear any visible strings of religion, but America's saber rattling answer - against its intention - unleashed a worldwide religious bush fire. To create this dangerous and highly explosive situation may have been the real objective behind the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

To fight terrorism and fundamentalism, the ongoing war is no suitable mean. It did not help to control or douse the fire, but rather escalated the situation. If we do not stop the cycle of terror and counter-terror here, it will swing up to new heights, we warned in an earlier statement. The adequate and considered answer of a civilized state to destruction and murder of innocent people, perpetrated by a handful of terrorists, cannot lie in more destruction and murder of more innocent people, we submitted before the bombing and called for restraint and prudence in reacting to the monstrous attack. While more destruction and murder of more innocent people, as they are unavoidable in a war, are bound to inflame wider parts of the world, terrorists and fundamentalists are immune against military strikes.

DANCE OF DEATH

Some journalists from different countries were given an opportunity to visit the Taliban occupied part of Afghanistan these days, which is otherwise strictly off limits for the international media since the beginning of the air strikes. Watching a bomb attack from their hotel near Kabul, they could see Taliban soldiers welcoming the falling bombs with ecstatic dancing and laughter. They did not show any fear or worry and were mocking at the attackers and at their own fate, while some of them were hit and dropped dead - an unreal and gruesome scene.

Pilots who crash head on into the WTC, soldiers who perform a dance of death under bomb showers, refugees who chose to starve burning down the only available food: heaps of sky dropped "Satanic" biscuits - they all seem to be out of our common reality. With fear of death and fear of pain unplugged, they are in a sense invulnerable and invincible. They may die, but there is no way to deter them by inflicting fear on them. Their capacity to reconsider their destructive and self-destructive goals is that of cruise missiles.

But fear looms large on the other side: The September 11 attacks have cast a giant black shadow over the western world, which would not go but spread its wings wider and wider. Life cripples reflexively as soon as something touches the shadow and the big fear wakes up again. E-mail rumors about danger lurking at Halloween parties, a letter with or without white powder are enough these days to cause mass panic. The terrorists have been quite successful in throwing a major part of the world out of gear.

THE SPLIT-VALUE SYNDROM

To fight terrorism and fundamentalism, to weaken its base and to minimize its potential to harm us in future, we have only one effective weapon: civilization. Bombs and missiles do not help to isolate fundamentalists, as the wide support front for the Taliban shows. But strengthening and sharing of civilization's values and achievements does. It also serves to heal the wounds, which terrorism and fundamentalism have already slain, in America as well as in Afghanistan. And it equips us to brave and overcome possible further onslaught. Values and achievements of civilization are not accidental like luxury in good times, but existential, indispensable, at the core of our life and cannot be separated from it. There is no point in saving our lives beyond civilization, because there is no use in surviving without it, if you are not a Taliban.

Here lies the basic problem of trying to cure destruction and murder of innocent people with more of the same. Operating beyond civilization, militarily or other wise, has its price and it should be considered with utmost care, if it is worth paying. "Where lives are at stake", I once heard a pensioner declare in a German pub, "democracy has lost its rights!" His view seems to be shared by the highest places of power. While we are striving for a global consensus about global ethical values, the worldwide power monopoly lies with those who prefer to take this chapter easy.

Giving Human Rights a break in times of war, administering them in lower dose to the economy-class travelers of the world, switching ethical values on and off as it suits convenience - these pattern of world politics seem to gain more and more respectability, even in the economy-class. Accepting them places us centuries back and far behind the Enlightenment, which propagated liberty, equality and fraternity.

AVANTGARDE FOR A BETTER WORLD

Rationalists have over the centuries and under different nomenclatures given lead to the struggle for civilization. In the Belle Epochs of history carried and nurtured by enlightened majorities, it survived all times of growing barbarism thanks to the heroic struggle of courageous rationalist fighters. Throughout history, rationalists have taken the side of reason, progress, knowledge, freedom, beauty and compassion. As an avantgarde of civilization, they have paved the way for a better world to come.

For historical reasons the rationalist commitment to beauty and personal freedom as the capacity to enjoy life has at times not been as outspoken and determined as the commitment, for example, to science. Its special importance, however, can be seen in the mirror of the Talibans' ban and furious destruction of human (especially female) beauty, music, art and celebration.

I would like to end these reflections, calling upon everybody, who wishes to strengthen the rationalist voice in these times of aggression and confusion, to actually make up his or her mind to do so. If you plan to establish a rationalist group in your city/country/university or in whatsoever frame and need advice, don't hesitate to contact us. Contribute in your personal way to the rationalist cause.

Lewis Wolpert speaks at International Rationalist Conference

Professor Lewis Wolpert, well known British rationalist, scientist and author, will be one of the main speakers of the Third International Rationalist Conference scheduled to be held at New Delhi, the capital of India, on 8-12 February 2002.

Lewis Wolpert, an Honorary Associate of Rationalist International, is professor of Biology as Applied to Medicine in the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology of University College, London. His research interests are in the mechanisms involved in the development of the embryo. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1980 and was awarded the CBE in 1990. In 1999, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Prof. Wolpert has presented science on both radio and TV and he was for five years Chairman of the Committee for the Public Understanding of Science. The Unnatural Nature of Science was published in 1992. Malignant Sadness and The Anatomy of Depression in 1999. He also writes a column for 'The Independent'. (A photograph of Prof. Wolpert is attached to this bulletin.)

Prof. Wolpert will speak on Biology of Belief. About his speech, he writes:

"While all events which people wish to understand have causes, in the vast majority of cases the true causes are hidden. Animals do not have causal beliefs and the origin of belief in human evolution may have to be related to making complex tools. Once there was a concept of cause because belief in all sorts of causes became essential because lack of explanation about fundamental questions is intolerable. This is the origin of religion…. There is no society without well-established beliefs in paranormal phenomena. A number of psychiatric conditions generate beliefs, which are clearly false. Many medical treatments work because of the placebo effect. Psychoanalysis provides a nice example of almost paranormal explanations of human behavior and mental illness, which are quite untestable, but have the advantage of satisfying need to understand. Religion is the belief in culturally postulated suprahuman beings. All societies have a belief in how the world was created and what happens after death. It may have been an evolutionary advantage to have such beliefs."

Listen great lectures. Meet interesting people. Enjoy a memorable visit to India, the land of Taj Mahal and other monuments of breath-taking beauty.

We welcome you to join rationalists, humanists, atheists and secularists from all parts of India and around the world in the mega event: International Rationalist Conference. For more details and a downloadable registration form, please visit www.rationalistinternational.net.

Iain Middleton now an Honorary Associate

We are pleased to announce that Iain Middleton, leading New Zealand humanist, rationalist and well-known Human Rights activist, has joined Rationalist International as an Honorary Associate. Middleton is an author of a wide range of articles and edits the journal New Zealand Humanist News.

Creative Rationalism

THIRD INTERNATIONAL RATIONALIST CONFERENCE

New Delhi, India: 8-12, February 2002

Registration Open Now

Registration for The Third International Rationalist Conference is open now.

Join Rationalists -- Atheists, Freethinkers, Humanists, Secular Humanists and Skeptics -- from around the world. Meet rationalist thinkers and fighters who influence social change. Exchange ideas, views, experiences and visions. Identify the creative dimension of Rationalism. Discuss the potential of transforming societies. Set the course for the future of enlightenment and humanism. Witness history.

Creative Rationalism

THIRD INTERNATIONAL RATIONALIST CONFERENCE

At New Delhi from 8 to 12 February 2002

We need to keep setting high goals and achieving them.

An interesting, thought-provoking conference.

For more details about the International Rationalist Conference, tentative schedule of events, flight information, a downloadable registration form and all that you want to know about the conference, please visit: http://www.rationalistinternational.net/conferences/2002/conference.htm.