Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Claiming Superiority Breeds Violence

Claiming racial or religious superiority will leave no room for peace and stability and will threaten the peaceful coexistence in a society. “The scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind”, rooted in ethnocentric feelings and dogmatic ideology.
Religious fundamentalists are playing highly destructive role around the globe as they have been affiliated to terrorist networks. The ongoing regional conflict is the product of fundamental ideology, integrated with politics.  
Seeking to impose their warped mind on the public with the barrel of gun, religious fundamentalists resort to violence and violate the rights and freedoms of men and women. Claiming to establish the divine law on the surface of earth, the Taliban militants killed thousands of people during their regime (1996 – 2001) and continue their insurgency.
Nonetheless, violence is unlikely to lead to peace or stability. “Violence never,” the Nobel Laureate Martin Luther King said in his Nobel Lecture, “brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones. Violence is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding: it seeks to annihilate rather than convert.” He added, “Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue.”
Violence and conflict will simply cause pain and suffering for human societies and create “bitterness”. Violence will leave no space for the spirit of peaceful coexistence. But as kings used to rule people under religious terms and deemed themselves divine caliphs, religious fundamentalists, including the IS group and the Taliban, also claim to establish caliphate or divine rule on the surface of earth with the barrel of gun. So far, it has been proved abortive.
A vacuum for the spirit of brotherhood on the one hand, and a surge in radicalism on the other hand, have caused suffering for members of human family. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was endorsed to alleviate the anguish of mankind, as it is stated in its preamble, but since it has been marginalized, violence and carnage linger around the globe.
As historical war only brought about casualties and hostilities, the world needs to uphold non-violent mechanism. Practicing upon the international instruments, including the UN Charter and the UDHR, will mitigate the pain and suffering of members of human family. No individual or group has to be discriminated on the grounds of their caste, color, or creed.
The principle of non-violence will expand the space for peaceful coexistence. To pursue peace and stability, one has to adopt non-violent mechanism and resolve issues through communication rather than confrontation. In other words, to maintain peace and harmony, all nations have to advocate the fundamental rights, i.e., the rights to life, liberty and property, of all individuals as well as “the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion” which are stated in the UDHR.
Practicing upon the “golden rule” (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you) is a blueprint for building a peaceful community. The international principles say and the golden rule suggests that one must be treated on the basis of being human – no matter what faith and belief they cherish or which racial and ethnic backgrounds they belong to. This truth transcends nations and peoples and beats in the heart of billions.
The golden rule is highly significant in both individual and collective life. Members of human family have to practice upon this truth to build a utopian society and a civil community void of violence and conflict. In fact, acting upon this truth and ethical code will put an end to one’s ideological dogma and egotistic and ethnocentric mentalities and will necessarily pave the ground for tolerance, peace and harmony.
On the contrary, violating international principles and encroaching on an individual’s rights and liberties and discriminating them on the basis of their sex, color, and race will narrow the room for peaceful coexistence. Indeed, “contempt for human rights has resulted in barbarous acts” throughout the history and it should not be repeated.
To maintain regional and global peace, members of human family have to exercise tolerance, respect the inherent rights, dignity, and liberties of all individuals and treat one another with the spirit of brotherhood. They have to seek common ground and resolve their issues through dialogue. No one should claim racial, ethnic or religious superiority and treat people on the basis of being human.