In one of its annual Lenten campaigns to raise funds from the British public, the prayer became a focal point for thoughtful reflection on conflictual human relationships within religio-political contexts and other circumstances.

What continues to strike me about the prayer is its simplicity of sentiment amidst the furore of politicised discussions of religion and religious experiences.

It cautions us to be wary of truth-claims made by various individuals, groups and political organisations purportedly representing the best interests of particular religions and of the collective destiny of peoples.

Such truth-claims suggest that peoples, religious experiences, knowledge-systems, and civilisations are naturally opposed to one another - very much like forked roads heading in different directions.

These claims use the moral high ground to assert one�s understanding of the divine while devaluing, erasing, even demeaning the diverse experiences of the unfamiliar �other�.

Human history is replete with cases where the powers-that-be elevate certain kinds of religious experiences above others - and marginalise, penalise, and criminalise those others who differ from the prescribed path.

Indeed, one can argue that empires and governments have resorted to religious language and ritual to buttress what they claim as their moral right to conquer, rule, and civilise. Complex, malleable religious language has often been used to legitimise the troubled present through claims of reproducing the glorious past.

Alternatively, a religious vision of the future is used to justify the need to weed out and discipline the deviant in order to preserve the purity of the present.

Yet, the religious aspirations of individuals and communities at the daily level, while needing no less guidance from divine sources, are seldom triumphalistic in action. The entangled and negotiated nature of day-to-day relationships does not lend it easily to such grand projects.

Indeed, the general tenor is usually one of respectful ignorance or enlightened tolerance of other people�s experiences of the divine - even though theologians and priests may claim to have greater insight.

Unfortunately, history has provided ample evidence of how things can easily change when dominant religious groups and secularist powers assert themselves and undermine the principles that are fundamental to a civil society as we know it today.

Events since September 11 have been traumatic and foreboding. In the war of words, political and religious leaders from opposing sides have urged the world to take sides. Once again, the language used has been framed in the familiar idiom of religious obligation and moral outrage.

They give a stark black-and-white picture of the world, giving us few alternatives. They push us to the brink of an unnecessary radical polarisation that risks undermining the growing realisation that war and violence cannot resolve social, economic and political injustices.

Indeed, they continue to perpetuate human anguish, misery and suffering - experiences that do not recognise religious, national and ethnic divisions - among many millions of the ordinary faithful.

It is in this climate that the debate on the Islamic State has resurfaced within our own shores. How this particular episode will be played out remains to be seen.

But individual and community concerns have predictably drawn taut. Will the meshing of political and religious agendas greatly reduce our ability to appreciate the different - but equally valid - religious experiences of others? Will the aspirations of religious people who prefer a Malaysian society based on secular civil rights be jeopardised? Will opportunists use the current disturbing climate to resort to religious and cultural triumphalism?

These uncertainties, seen together with the larger trends, should push many Malaysians of faith to prayer. Prayer to the divine for peace, reconciliation, solidarity and understanding.

While we pray for others, we should also pray for ourselves - that we do not presume to claim the authority which is ultimately not ours to have.

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