Dear Mr. Imran Khan, in your article entitled “Why the West craves materialism and why the East
sticks to religion”, you made a few sweeping statements that I felt needed to
be addressed.
“Science
had replaced religion and if something couldn’t be logically proved it did not
exist”.
Sir,
I beg you, read up on positivism and post positivism. Should we also start
blaming all mental and social disorder on Jinns and evil spirits? Should we also
tell our psychologists that they are incorrect and all their wards need is a
good dose of the Holy Books? Also, your statement is indeed sweeping. Can we
see emotions? You wear yours on your sleeve but we can’t physically see them.
Yet, science says they exist. We cant measure emotions, we cant put physical
values on them and yet we know emotions are the reasons you appeal to your
voter base using religion.
“Philosophers
like Darwin, who with his half-baked theory of evolution had supposedly
disproved the creation of men and hence religion, were read and revered”.
Again
Sir, read up on the latest breakthroughs in proving Darwinism before you call
his work half-baked. What is your basis for calling it half-baked? Is it
because you feel less special if your forefathers emerged from a chaotic
cesspool of chemicals and eventually turned into something remotely resembling
you? If you wish to believe in creationism, at least do not be judgmental of
people who do not. Sir, you call yourself a good man, someone who is not
arrogant, but your self-professed moral superiority makes you more arrogant
than not.
“…humans
need to be intellectually convinced”. Sir, when have you used intellectual
prowess to convince anyone of anything? Your article uses nothing but religion
and your personal beliefs. It also states facts that cannot be verified. Your beliefs can never be universal which is why
enlightened people rely on empiricism to win arguments. I really hope when you
came across the word you will not need to look it up in a dictionary.
You
go on to state that 60% of Americans go to psychiatrists, are you suggesting
people in the Arab world and Asia are not depressed? Sir, please, look around
you. Maybe not around your Banigala palace atop a hill, but the kachi abadis
where the elderly find themselves homeless or sickly. Do you not think these
people would happily go to psychiatrists if they had access to them or knew
what psychiatrists were? Secondly, where do you get your facts and figures? I
personally could not find this 60% of all Americans are depressed or disturbed
claim anywhere. But what do I know? I am only a lowly researcher and lecturer. I
am not a famous sports personality who because a political rock star by spewing
anti Americanisms, or appealing to the lowest common denominator by using
religion to get votes.
“Since
all morality has it roots in religion, once religion was removed, immorality
has progressively grown since the 70s. Its direct impact has been on family
life. In the UK, the divorce rate is 60 percent, while it is estimated that
there are over 35 percent single mothers”. Sir, this statement sounds a bit
like David Cameron’s when he told Britain to embrace its Christian values. Firstly, on behalf of families everywhere with divorced
relatives, UP YOURS you divorced hypocrite! Equating divorce to immorality is disgusting. Your clearly patriarchal views
offend many of us. Single mothers in the UK do not give birth to mass murdering
terrorists the same way many married mothers tend to in Pakistan. But you don’t
seem to care about that side of things do you sir? After all, the TTP doesn’t
want to take over tracts of land from Pakistan, all it wants to do is eject
Americans from Asia. Well sir, do you not remember Swat? Do you not read about
Taliban strong holds all over specific areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan? Sir,
your disregard for those who have become victims of terrorists activities is
most upsetting. You choose to bemoan a child born out of wedlock in Britain
because for you, that seems more immoral that shooting a 14-year-old Malala in
the face.
Sir,
your article was offensive for anyone with half a brain. Maybe that is why you
personally were not offended by it but many of us were. I respect your religious view and your right to believe in anything you want. But sir, you have gone on to make your religion into a
political tool for your own means. You use it to prove your worthiness to be a
ruler. You use to whip up support, you use to make people forget that the PTI
has a terrible track record of governance so far. Your hypocritical statements,
your attacks on the Sindh, Punjab and Pakistani governments so people wont see
PTI’s failures and corruption (that’s right, your PTI is not entirely
corruption free as you allege from the tax evasions of the KP ministers to
lying about not having officially financed residences). What of the terrorist prison breaks? When it
happens in KP its suddenly the fault of the agencies that warned your province
something big was going to go down but when its under the PPP or PMLN, prison
breaks are the fault of the ruling party.
Sir,
once more, glorifying Islam in this age of phobias is an excellent way to make
people be more tolerant. However, using it as a way to win cheap points is not
only deplorable but does a disservice to your people and your religion.
