Secularism Is the Answer, Always

The world has been mesmerize with the popular uprisings and the events in the Middle East over the course of the last months. There is nothing more moving than watching a people risk their lives and join a mass movement to demand freedom, equality and all the other rights that everyone deserves to enjoy. I'm wishing the people of Egypt success. But I can't ignore the part of my brain that is also afraid that we may see religion and state mix in the aftermath of this beautiful show of unity and camaraderie by the Egyptian people. I hope that doesn't happen, but it is a possibility.

Friends have said to me, we should let them choose, who are we to tell them what government they should have. I see that point. I'm still greatly concerned, because we have seen revolutions that started on similar principles turn completely around and use religious ideals to create new forms of oppression and brutality. Religion is a private matter, it is a guide for people to lead good and virtuous lives - if chosen freely, because forcing religion on people is as bad a tool for tyranny as any other. Religious principles can govern individual lives, but governing a country by those principles can ONLY lead to suppression of those that don't have the same belief system, or those that interpret the same principles differently. It becomes another form of state control.

So in the end, I'm not trying to force my beliefs onto anyone. But, I have to say what's on my mind. I am overjoyed by the victory that the Egyptian people have achieved (I am praying for similar victories against all oppressive regimes in the region). All I can say to Egypt is please choose wisely. Your future, the future of generations of Egyptians to come will depend upon it.