Fundamentalism and Violence

Second you totally. To achieve this goal every one of us needs to look deep inside his soul before making any offensive move, saying any hurtful remark or even thinking of any stuff painful to other humanbeing. If we want our opinions to be accepted, we should be tolerant to others opinions; we want our believes and faith to be respected we should respect others faiths first. The first step towards world's peace and to end violence is so very much in our own hands.
"Whatever change you want to see in the world , be that change".
Love this old Pakistani song "Her aadmi alag sahee mager umang aik hai, juda juda hain sooratein lahoo ka rang aik hai"; which means in english that "though each one of us are different we harbour one spirit, we appear in various colurs but the colour of blood is same."
Nikhat Riaz

Very primitive work. Shall appeal to high school students.

Totally devoid of serious substance.

Waste of time for most chowkies.

If you read the interacts first then it is recommended that you skip the article completely (like many other times).

okhla99, khalid sohail is a brilliant man who has mortgaged his entire mind to the chimera of saintism - study of human beings as veritable saints.

Children below the age of 9 should definitely be forced to read his writings. Indian liberals and other adults wanting to be children will obviously need no invitation.

eklavvya yaar, instead of disparaging Sohail with things you cannot prove, try instead rebutting his assetions with things you can prove. I am still waiting for your criteria for religion, your assertions of numbers being the proof of religious validity and other non sensical musings. chop chop brother...

Khalid;

I really think you could pen a better one than this very simplistic column. Don't you think?

Kamath

Re: # 5
dear kamath...Bertrand Russell once said...it took me fifty years of hard work to write simple.
If I am writing to my psychoanalyst colleagues I can write in the language
...the libidinal cathexis of the ego has been repressed to the unconscious and then projected to the superego and then sublimated in socially acceptable activities.'
if you wish i can try that kind of language next time...smiles...when i write i try to share my views as clearly as possible. my goal is not to impress others with my scholarship. to me communication is of paramount importance. i know many scholars and philosophers who need a translater to share their ideas in simple language.
sorry i disappointed you.
the question is whether you agree or disagree with my ideas...?
sincerely, sohail

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Dr Sohail: like any communication that has some significant truth to present, your article is written in a simple, unpretentious manner.

I will only add that in treating these four schools of thought at par the article ignores the fact that the first three (religion, economic theory, political behavior) themselves rest on certain assumptions human psychology. And so, ultimately it is assumptions regarding human psychology on which the first three rest.

Traditional economic theory and analysis of political behavior often rests on incredibly simplistic assumptions regarding human behavior. Factors like inflated egos, tribal instincts, drive for self-preservation find no place in discussions on religion, politics, or economics (most economic theories, e.g., brushes these aside as "irrational" factors). And yet, to discuss religion, economic theory or politics without taking into account human psychology is to discuss play Hamlet without considering the prince Hamlet, or (an example closer home) Pakistani politics without Musharraf inflated ego.

Tahmed writes "I will only add that in treating these four schools of thought at par the article ignores the fact that the first three (religion, economic theory, political behavior) themselves rest on certain assumptions human psychology"

Another miserable shrink who also happens to be a major peon of the West, comments on the article. Let me remind both you shrinks that human psychology accounts for nothing when you're dealing with group phenomena. And even on the aberrant individual level there are no specific psychological traits that seperate the violent from the non-violent. Individual psychology itself gets molded from without given social structure, seeking explanations inside the individual or attributing them to "choice" is BS

masadi: O Piano of the East - Use this opportunity to ask Dr. Sohail for an appointment to try and fix your single tune harping.

{"...we realize that all these factors, whether religious or political, social or psychological, are significant and depending upon the special social and political circumstances, play the dominant role. In some areas religion is more important than politics and in other areas socioeconomic factors dominate the political factors. Human beings are conditioned by their families and communities and violent cultures produce violent people."}

Sohail Sahib,
You have a well-written essay here, but it is hollow, boring, and leaves one confused about your true motives. It comes across like that ordorless, colorless, boneless, tasteless, and clueless generic meat served in buffets and proclaimed as "chicken."

If your point is that British soccer fans or Boston Red Sox fans turn into suicide bombers, then I agree with you totally and am willing to dillute my cruel criticism. If you are pontificating that Osama's antics are justified by Pope Urban II's "not so urbane" Crusade, then you are spinning yarns across the centuries with no rhyme or reason. I condemn both the Crusades and today's crazy, senseless, and self-defeating plague of terrorism.

Let's see what else we can throw in your omelet of justifications - God's favoritism toward Abraham and his seed, destruction of the temple, Roman greed, too many barbarians, human sacrifice, the age of "exploration," colonialism, the failure of communism, neo-conservatism, lack of "Islamic" democracy, and AIDS?

Please come down to Earth instead of wasting your time defining social conditions in the Milky Way.

Re: # 11
Dear Salim Chauhan...If you like spicy food and like to add tabasca sauce that is wonderful. Such sauce leads to confrontation and contaversy and there is heated debate.
When i was reading about the topic i read many books and many articles and found that each writer and author focused on one issue and ignored others.
When i was reading Robert Pape's book...Dying to Win...he highlighted that there are many fundamnetalist Muslims in many Muslim countries but they are not militant or violent. He connected violence with political factors alongside religious factors. But even him being a sociologist ignored the psychological factors as highlighted by tahmed 22...we need to have a comprehensive approach and try to understand fundamentalism and its relationship with violence.
I am quite aware that some of the chowk readers love to have a heated debate and like most contravercial articles. They are disappointed in my articles. On the other hand there are many who like my simple but honest style and send me letters to discuss the psychology of
human sexuality
human creativity
human spirituality
psychology of suicide bombers
i share with chowk readers what i read and analyze and introspect. For your taste i will try to add tabasca sauce.
You are a well read man and I enjoy your insights in human condition. Share with me your insight in the relationship between fundamentalism and violence. I am a student and willing to learn more. sincerely sohail

Drsohail Sahib {"drsohail #12 {"am quite aware that some of the chowk readers love to have a heated debate and like most contravercial articles. They are disappointed in my articles. On the other hand there are many who like my simple but honest style and send me letters to discuss,,,"}

Dr. Sohail Sahib,
I apologize for any misunderstanding I may have created about your style of writing. Please understand that my criticism is not directed at you personally, your expertise, or even your style. I am objecting to the well-written article that leaves us with no real bases, no concrete factors, no real examples, and a sweeping attempt to forcibly connect dots that aren't even in the same plane. I am an avid reader of your articles and have enjoyed several of them. My complaint is that this particular essay is like drinking water from a Styrofoam cup - serves a purpose but not very uplifting aesthetically, spiritually, physically, emotionally, or even intellectually. Perhaps a few examples of behavior or events to enhance the credibility of the four generic schools could have helped. Also, please ditch that stale “…and Pakis have nukes” emphasis – it sounds too CNNish and extremely western, gora, and frankly, self-serving in an occidental sort of way. Coming from Pakistan, you could have at least used a suraahi ki mitti to make the water tastier. :)

Re: # 13
dear salim chauhan...thanks for your creative suggestions. i will keep them in mind in the future. you gave an analogy of clean water for my article...tasteless and bland. let me pursue your analogy further.
for me growing up in peshawar where there was no clean water to drink and i drank from a river where cows and humans swam together, driking clean water was a blessing and it was after reading mystic poetry i realized that the notion that water is odourless, tasteless and colourless was not true. it was a major disocery that water had a taste. when we get used to coke we lose taste of water. this is just a creative response to your creative letter...
kabir das said
every one can see drops of water in an ocean
only a few can see an ocean in a drop of water.
all the best...sohail

Methinks that me read some of the passages in some book. Where? Me wonders. Maybe the learned Dr could identify the source of the book.

Dr Sohail,

To me you are like a prophet of the modern age.

We do need psychologists, sociologists and therapists like you.

How can we wake up "gharibs" , oppressed ones of Pakistan...?? that is the main challenge.

Please write about some techniques / approaches which you may suggest to break this deadly and vicious cycle.

My kindest regards,