Not a Tech Rant
It irks me to no end that the US with one hand will “bring” democracy to Afghanistan and Iraq (and possibly Iran and N. Korea), while supplying arms and aid to a country living under an authoritarian regime.
I have no problem with a country not being religiously secular. However, more Islamic nations should attempt to follow Indonesia’s example. With the largest Muslim population in the world (400 million) it has a Hindu minority in Bali, various Christian Chinese and a variety of other religions. There have been riots, and other “scares”, however, the government does not ban every form of media the second there is controversy.
In many respects I find the government of Indonesia even more progressive than India! India purports to be secular but unlike France it tries to harmonise the interests of all religions rather than banning all forms of religious identity. To this end major works of literature, art and film have been banned because they were deemed inappropriate to one minority or another.
The separation of Church (or synagogue, mosque, temple, gurdwara, etc) and State is an essential element of any functioning government, without which it becomes a mouthpiece for religious fanatics and fundamentalists.
I have no problem with a country not being religiously secular. However, more Islamic nations should attempt to follow Indonesia’s example. With the largest Muslim population in the world (400 million) it has a Hindu minority in Bali, various Christian Chinese and a variety of other religions. There have been riots, and other “scares”, however, the government does not ban every form of media the second there is controversy.
In many respects I find the government of Indonesia even more progressive than India! India purports to be secular but unlike France it tries to harmonise the interests of all religions rather than banning all forms of religious identity. To this end major works of literature, art and film have been banned because they were deemed inappropriate to one minority or another.
The separation of Church (or synagogue, mosque, temple, gurdwara, etc) and State is an essential element of any functioning government, without which it becomes a mouthpiece for religious fanatics and fundamentalists.
