Enlightened people desire to forge a world of diversity ruled by peace and justice for everyone, says Abdul Rashid Hanafi.
It isn’t reasonable to disavow politics just because politics is capable of creating extremism, just as we cannot ignore religion or our capacity to be religious simply because religion can facilitate extremism.
If there is a recognisable root of extremism it may not be religion. But obviously it must be something that religion and politics have in common. It is all simply a matter of dogma.
It is one thing to deal with sane people doing crazy things. It is quite another dealing with crazy people doing crazy things. Most times the sane ones can be reasoned with; the crazy ones are unreachable, and that is horrifying indeed.
Sane people can be reachable, teachable; they are capable of thinking independently, of questioning. Doubt is the greatest gift we can give to one another. It is the gift of enlightement.
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It is through doubt that knowledge is advanced. We owe the progress, growth and development of our modern civilisation to men and women who doubted. They were the pioneers; they were the leaders of thought – scientists, philosophers, inventors and discoverers.
Blind faith breeds ignorance. Bigots advocate blind obedience and disdain men of “little” faith…
Good words are a dime a dozen. If words are not accompanied with deeds they are worthless. In fact, the difference between a great person and a con artist is in the measure that their words and deeds differ. Religious hypocrites are hell-bent on thinking of nothing but imposing their stone-age system on our society.
Many of those who speak of God as the God of love and mercy may actually be living a despicable life of hate, crime, murder, corruption and deceit themselves. There is no justification for their misdeeds, and all their arguments totally collapse because they are using moral relativity instead of moral objectivity.
Islam doesn’t need reform. It is the Muslims who give a bad name to Islam who need to be reformed.
Enlightement is when we think we know everything but then realise we have learned nothing. The first step towards enlightenment is to admit we still have a lot to learn; otherwise, we are screwed up in our values.
We, the enlightened people, desire to forge a world of diversity ruled by peace and justice for everyone.
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
People who doubt are people who think. People who doubt are people who take a full account of what come out from their thought. People who doubt are people who seek truth instead of subscribing to dogmatism. It is fascinating that people who doubt are people who doubt themselves and their very judgment. As such, their judgement get refined and sharpened along the way. As such, it makes them to become humble and mundane. Some say, people who doubt are people who are down to earth. I say this is the essence of humanity. It is the humanity that we all ought to learn for being born as a human.