I have written about the desirability of achieving one people from diverse origins. Let me explain. We humans may be truly one people, created by God. We are certainly one people living under the auspicious of the sun. Yet, we are divided by national borders – and necessarily so, for reasons of security, at least. Most regrettably, we are also divided by religious affiliation. Yet, each religion (or each sect within a religion) seeks only to guide its flock to God.
Since religions are artificial man-made ideational constructs, one would hope that, one day, those of us who are religious will accept that we are all reliant upon the one and only God of mankind to sustain us, if not to guide us; and that in our relationship with our Creator, it would be desirable, indeed necessary, to deny any divisive dogma derived from institutional religion.
I would doubt very much if there are any exclusive or unique paths to our Creator, as may be claimed, unlike those cemeteries which separate the dead by religious sect. I also doubt that there are people chosen by God over all others; there is no evidence of that. Thus, tribal differences, which reflect accidents of birth linked by mutual support, are temporary in their duration. What is known as history confirms that. Ethno-religious communities often signify little more than either geographical or politico-societal isolation at an earlier time.
In an immigrant-created and/or immigrant-sustained nation, societal integration then means the avoidance of exclusive zones of residence based upon ethno-religious differences. It also means that, united spiritually by co-creation, and linked to one another by a defining national border and its associated structures of governance, all the residents would desirably seek a certain unity. This unity would be one of proud belonging to a coherent over-arching polity subsuming ethno-cultural differences; all that while praying, eating, dressing, and celebrating one’s festivals according to one’s culture. This would be done without limiting the right of others to express their own cultural values and practices.
No one’s religio-cultural values can surely over-ride those of others in a multi-ethnic domain, as they often do now. In a comparable manner, those who do not need God, or those who are spiritual rather than religious, would be left in peace. None of us, none of our religio-political leaders, is qualified to dictate to others as to how they should express their relationship with their Creator. We may learn this one day through the operation of the Law of Cosmic Justice.
Societal integration would thus represent togetherness blended with mutual acceptance of surface differences, while each individual seeks that which his soul desires.
RAJA ARASA RATNAM 