The Rise of Militant Religious Right in Latin America

Wayne MADSEN

The recent coup d’état in Bolivia that overthrew President Evo Morales was not merely a standard right-wing putsch aided and abetted by the US Central Intelligence Agency but also placed into power politicians affiliated with a rising fundamentalist Protestant movement in Latin America that can be termed “Christo-fascist.” Many of the far-right and out-of-the-mainstream Protestant sects that have gained power in Guatemala, Colombia, Brazil, and, now, Bolivia have decried traditional Roman Catholicism in Latin America as heretical to their religious ideology and even pro-Communist. As for mainstream Protestant religions, the fundamentalist sects view them as hopelessly liberal, as well as heretical.

The recent military coup in Bolivia that ousted democratically-elected President Evo Morales from office involved senior active duty and retired high-ranking officers of the Bolivian armed forces, some of whom were trained and indoctrinated at the infamous US “School of the Americas,” known since 2001 as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), located in Fort Benning, Georgia. One of the School of the Americas trainees is General Williams Kaliman, the now-former commander of the Bolivian armed forces who ordered Morales to step down as president. Kaliman’s service to the coup was not very appreciated its ringmasters, the fundamentalist Christians, among whom is the current acting president of Bolivia, Jeanine Áñez Chávez. One of Áñez’s first moves after she seized power was to dismiss Kaliman as the head of the armed forces and replace him by General Carlos Orellana. Áñez was the Second Vice President of the Senate and assumed the Bolivian presidency after Morales and the senior members of the line of succession in the governing Movement for Socialism (MAS) party were forced to resign by the military.

In keeping with the tenets of Christo-fascism in Latin America, Áñez not only rejects Roman Catholicism but also the traditional beliefs of the indigenous Aymara people of Bolivia as “satanic.” Morales was the first native Aymara to be elected president. During his tenure, Morales improved the living conditions of the Aymara and other poor people in Bolivia who had historically been treated as second-class citizens by the country’s wealthy white European population. Under the direction of the Christo-fascist coup leaders, the homes of Morales and other MAS officials were ransacked by rioters and pro-Morales government and media officials were physically attacked. Bolivia TV, Nueva Patria Radio, and newspapers supporting Morales were shut down by the putschists. Bolivia’s Wiphala flag, which served as Bolivia’s second official flag and represents the 36 indigenous tribes of the country, was burned by the coup-supporting rioters.

The planning for the coup in Bolivia was reportedly backed by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, President Donald Trump’s first director of the Central Intelligence Agency and a Christo-fascist member of the right-wing breakaway from the Presbyterian Church, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

Other School of the Americas alumni were identified among the key Bolivian coup plotters. These include Manfred Reyes Villa, a former military officer, presidential candidate, mayor of Cochabamba, and governor of the Cochabamba Department, as well as General Remberto Siles Vasquez, Colonel Julio César Maldonado Leoni, Colonel Oscar Pacello Aguirre, and Colonel Teobaldo Cardozo Guevara.

One of the major Christo-fascist politicians who supported the coup against Morales is Luis Fernando Camacho, the head of a dubious “civic association” in Santa Cruz. The Bolivian media has described Camacho as “extremely right-wing” and a “Christian fascist.” Camacho has also been linked to Croatian-Bolivian Branko Marinko, who fled to the United States in 2009 after he and other plotters attempted to overthrow the MAS government and assassinate Morales. Camacho’s questionable business activities was exposed in the release of the “Panama Papers,” which showed that he owned an offshore Panamanian company called Navi International Holding S.A.

Bolivian government officials who remain loyal to Evo Morales, who was forced to seek political asylum in Mexico, claim the coup was also supported by several foreign far-right and right-wing politicians, including Colombian President Ivan Duque; his political puppet master, former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe; Brazilian neo-fascist President Jair Bolsonaro, and US Senators Marco Rubio (Republican-Florida), Rick Scott (Republican-Florida), Ted Cruz (Republican-Texas), and Robert Menendez (Democrat-New Jersey). All the senators are closely linked to right-wing Cuban expatriate oligarchs who, for the most part, live in south Florida.

The putsch against Morales began within the Policía Nacional de Bolivia (PNB) ranks. The commander of the police who ordered the police revolt is Colonel Vladimir Calderón, who has strong ties to a CIA-influenced group based in Washington, Police Attachés of Latin America in the United States of America (APALA). Just prior to the launch of the coup, Trump spoke to the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Annual Conference and Exposition in Chicago, another CIA liaison and recruiting ground for police assets, including those in Latin America. In 2018, the IACP welcomed Colonel Calderon, the initial coup leader, to its membership. It is also noteworthy that one of the financiers of the IACP is 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg’s Bloomberg Foundation.

The coup in Bolivia followed the template of the initial presidential actions of Bolsonaro in Brazil. Bolsonaro is another fundamentalist Christo-fascist, who, since his inauguration, has worked to oust Morales from power. The first steps of the new Bolivian foreign minister, Karen Longaric, was to sever diplomatic relations with Venezuela, expel the Venezuelan embassy staff, recognize the CIA-backed opposition Venezuelan government of Juan Guaido, and expel several Cuban diplomats and arrest Cuban doctors. The actions taken against Cuban doctors mirrors that of Bolsonaro in Brazil and President Lenin Moreno in Ecuador, the latter having turned his country away from progressive policies to become a lapdog for the CIA and Pentagon.

The coup in Bolivia had an uncanny resemblance to the 2010 attempted putsch by the Ecuadorian National Police against President Rafael Correa, an ally of Bolivia’s Morales. Correa was held as a virtual hostage at the Police Hospital in Quito for the greater part of a day propr top his being freed by loyal Ecuadorian military personnel.

There is little doubt that the Bolivian coup involved disciples of the Virginia-based Brazilian Christo-fascist “guru” Olavo de Carvalho. Among Carvalho’s disciples are Bolsonaro, Brazilian foreign minister Ernesto Araújo, and Brazilian Education Minister Abraham Weintraub. Carvalho has identified himself as a fundamentalist Christian and an astrologer and not only doubts the Earth revolves around the sun but harbors a belief that the Earth is actually flat. Carvalho’s teachings about climate change being a “Marxist conspiracy” have directly influenced Bolsonaro’s policies on further destruction of the Amazon rainforest through unbridled industrial exploitation. Carvalho demonized Brazil’s two Workers’ Party presidents, Dilma Rousseff, who was impeached and removed from office on phony charges, and Rouseff’s popular predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was recently released from prison after he was convicted on trumped up charges by right-wing prosecutor Sergio Moro, who now served as Bolsonaro’s Justice Minister.

One of the first and most notorious Christo-fascist leaders in Latin America was Guatemala’s dictator, Efraín Ríos Montt, also known as “Brother Efraín,” who was a member of the Guatemalan chapter of the Gospel Outreach Church of Eureka, California. Montt and the church had close ties to US Christo-fascist leaders, including Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. Montt, who was militarily backed by the Ronald Reagan administration and Israel, carried out a genocidal scorched-earth war against Guatemala’s indigenous Mayan population. A favorite extermination target of Christo-fascists is the native indigenous population of the Western Hemisphere, who, as charged by Bolivia’s interim president Áñez, are “Satanists” because they continue to practice their traditional religious rituals.

As was the case in Bolivia, Christo-fascist fundamentalists have been mobilized against the progressive governments of Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba.

There is something else that binds the Christo-fascists that has little to do with religion and everything to do with making quick profits: narcotics smuggling. Rios Montt’s paramilitary death squads financed their operations by smuggling drugs, particularly cocaine. During Montt’s rule, Guatemala was a link in the chain of CIA drug smuggling operations that involved the Nicaraguan contras, Colombian narco-terrorist cartels, and Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega.

The narco-traffickers have been buoyed by the Christo-fascist takeover of Bolivia. Interim President Áñez is married to Héctor Hernando Hincapié Carvajal of the Colombian Conservative Party, an ally of the narco-terrorist-backed Duque administration and its political puppet masters, former President Uribe and his financiers in the Medellin-based Ochoa clan drug cartel. Ever since Morales legalized in Bolivia the production of coca leaves, used in traditional Aymara medicines and as a tea refreshment, Latin American drug cartels have seen their profits go into a tailspin. Bolivia was competing with the Colombian cartels as a source for legally grown coca leaves. The Christo-fascists may believe in the Bible, but they also understand that their religious movements can be supported by cash from the narco-trade.

A proper symbol for Latin America’s Christo-fascists would be the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro wearing a pair of ammunition bandoliers while standing on a couple of bricks of cocaine.

Wayne MADSEN

Investigative journalist, author and syndicated columnist. A member of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and the National Press Club

Praying at the Altar of the Titans

From the Vitruvian Man to Frankenstein

Amir Nour

[Amir Nour is an Algerian researcher in international relations, author of the book L’Orient et l’Occident à l’heure d’un nouveau Sykes-Picot (The Orient and the Occident in time of a New Sykes-Picot)1, Editions Alem El Afkar, Algiers, 2014.]

“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind” – Albert Einstein

Lately, the British business magazine, The Economist, has received much international media attention; and understandably so. Nearer the end of each year it publishes an eagerly awaited special edition, which predicts major political, business, and social trends and events in the coming year. But unlike the past, the December 2018 issue titled “The World in 2019” distinguished itself by a unique and interesting characteristic of having had two successive and enigmatic covers. In the span of a few days, the cover photo of the 33rd edition of the magazine — partly-owned by the Rothschild family and reputed mouthpiece for the world’s elite and its global agenda2 — went from all black color to almost black magic!

And since the magazine’s official website is of little help in deciphering the enigmas of these two covers — more particularly the second version which displays a broad spectrum of cryptic images and symbols — one is left with the uncomfortable need to have recourse to esoteric, occult, and Masonic readings. Happily, an illuminating description of those mostly apocalyptic and Illuminati symbols has been provided in an eye-opening article3 on the website of The Vigilant Citizen whose motto is the quote attributed to Confucius, “Signs and symbols rule the world, not words nor laws.”

At the center of the cover stands the “Vitruvian Man,” one of the most important artistic masterpieces — besides the Mona Lisa painting — of Leonardo da Vinci, a genius albeit mysterious figure of the Renaissance era, whose 500th death anniversary has been commemorated, with all pomp and circumstance, in numerous Western countries this year.

In describing this main feature as posted by The Economist, the website explains that the “modern” Vitruvian Man,

…wears night-vision goggles, or maybe a VR headset […] In his hands, he holds a leaf of cannabis, a baseball, and a Smartphone. One could argue that all of these things are used to distract and pacify the modern man through drug companies, big tech, and entertainment. The Vitruvian Man also has two tattoos. On his forearm is a double-helix, the symbol representing DNA. This is most likely a reference to the intense research in DNA modification happening in the private sector. Was the Vitruvian Man’s DNA altered?

The article concludes with key observations from which two crucial questions are raised,

Overall, the modern Vitruvian Man appears to be blinded, weakened, distracted, and repressed. The circle around him that once symbolized the spiritual realm is now the Earth. Did the Vitruvian Man lose his soul? Is he now concerned only with Earthly matters?

It is worth noting that this Da Vinci drawing (circa 1490) was largely inspired by the works of Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, a famous ancient Roman architect, civil and military engineer, and author. In his treatise,4 translated from Latin as Ten Books On Architecture, Vitruvius showed that the “ideal” human body fitted precisely into a circle and a square — two fundamental geometric patterns of the cosmic order — thus illustrating the link that he believed existed between perfect geometric forms and the perfect body. More significantly, Vitruvius is considered to be among the most important “Grand Masters” and a central character — in addition to King Solomon of Israel, King Hiram of Tyre, and Hiram Abif, three biblical figures closely associated with the construction of King Solomon’s temple — of an allegory said to be presented during the third degree in Freemasonry5 whose single most identifiable logo combines two instruments used in architecture: a square and a set of compasses joined together, often with the letter “G” in the center.

In Masonic symbolism,6 the compass, as a tool, draws a circle; being with no beginning and no end, it signifies the soul (spirit or eternity). As for the square, it draws a four-sided figure; it is an age-old symbol of the body (physical and temporary) that epitomizes the material world with its four cardinal points, four seasons, four elements, and four states of matter. When placed together, however, they symbolize what is purportedly the ultimate goal of Freemasonry. That is, by squaring the circle — or harmonizing the opposite physical and spiritual world — to create the “perfect man,” and thus achieving godhood! It is no wonder then that Freemasonry is “open to men of any faith, but religion may not be discussed at Masonic meetings.”7

Isn’t The Economist’s new Vitruvian Man the same imaginary man as Friedrich Nietzsche’s Übermensch? The same “Beyond-man,” “Overman,” or “Superman” who was nowhere to be found, either by Zarathustra or by his German philosopher disciple, and who ultimately drove the latter to insanity and death?8 And is it not that exact same foolish, if not suicidal, quest that is still being sought — with yet more stubbornness and infinitely deeper scientific knowledge and more powerful technological means — in many laboratories across the “Silicon Valleys” of the “developed” world?

In his particularly frightening book, Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies — “highly recommended” by Bill Gates — Nick Bostrom,9 a Swedish philosopher and founding director of the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford, points out that if some day we build machine brains that surpass human brains in general intelligence, then this new superintelligence could become very powerful. And “as the fate of the gorillas now depends more on us humans than on the gorillas themselves, so the fate of our species would depend on the actions of the machine superintelligence.”

Bostrom and many other Transhumanists view transhumanism as an extension of humanism, from which it is partially derived, and wish to follow life paths, which would, sooner or later, require growing into posthuman persons. They yearn

…to reach intellectual heights as far above any current human genius as humans are above other primates; to be resistant to disease and impervious to ageing; to have unlimited youth and vigor; to exercise control over their own desires, moods, and mental states; to be able to avoid feeling tired, hateful, or irritated about petty things; to have an increased capacity for pleasure, love, artistic appreciation, and serenity; to experience novel states of consciousness that current human brains cannot access.10

In such a wondrous techno-geeking world wholly and exclusively devoted to the pursuit of individual leisure, sensual impulses and musings, Posthumans

…could be completely synthetic artificial intelligences, or they could be enhanced uploads, or they could be the result of making many smaller but cumulatively profound augmentations to a biological human. The latter alternative would probably require either the redesign of the human organism using advanced nanotechnology or its radical enhancement using some combination of technologies such as genetic engineering, psychopharmacology, anti-aging therapies, neural interfaces, advanced information management tools, memory enhancing, drugs, wearable computers, and cognitive techniques.11

Nevertheless, the changes required to make us posthuman are deemed too profound to be achievable by merely altering some aspects of psychological theory or the way we think about ourselves. That is why radical technological modifications to our brains and bodies are needed.

Obviously, Transhumanists are well aware that the coming technological transitions may be the most important challenge that humanity will ever face. They even admit that the entire future intelligent life on Earth may depend on how such transitions will be handled. If we do the right things, they say, a “wonderful posthuman future with limitless opportunities for growth and flourishing may lie ahead.” Yet, they warn that if we handle them badly, “intelligent life may go extinct.” Bostrom believes that, in principle, we could build a kind of superintelligence that would protect the human values. But in practice, he hastens to add, the control problem — the problem of how to control what superintelligence would do — looks quite difficult, although it seems we will only get one chance. Be that it as it may, he warns that once “unfriendly” superintelligence exists, it would prevent us from replacing it or changing its preferences. As a result, “our fate would be sealed”!12

To all those who are inclined to dismiss out of hand an “artificial takeover” as mere science fiction, Transhumanists retort that it is likely that it will happen sometime in this century. And as a way of further persuading us of the correctness of their viewpoints and predictions, they consistently and conspicuously exhibit the data provided by Derek Price13 according to whom at least since the late-19th century, science and technology, as measured by a wide range of indicators, have doubled about every 15 years. Extrapolating this exponential rate of progress, absent an abrupt reversal of current trends or an unexpected deceleration, Transhumanists foresee dramatic changes in the relatively near future, and no longer hesitate to proclaim Urbi et Orbi the advent, at last, of the Modern Prometheus!

As a matter of fact, the countdown — tantamount to the point of no return — to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is on. Unsurprisingly, it has begun in Bostrom’s native Sweden where tech company BioHax International has already “microchipped” many of its employees.14 The future has also arrived for employees of Wisconsin-based tech company Three Square Market (32M). A tiny chip, the size of a grain of rice — the same chip used in a credit card or mobile phone — is inserted between their thumb and index finger. It uses Radio-Frequency Identification or RIFD technology and allows employees to operate copy machines, open doors, login to computers and more, simply with the wave of a hand, without the traditional pass card.15

And as the saying goes, the “best” is yet to come, on two fronts: firstly, on the corporate level, a fierce competition is underway in the different “Silicon Valleys” around the world. It is more often than not fueled by the unbridled imagination, material greed, and will to power that motivate some executives like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk.16 In the United States, considered the world leader in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning, engineers and neuroscientists have been working quietly, for over two decades, to build a revolutionary technology called BrainGate that wirelessly connects the human mind to computers by means of chipping people’s brains. They are already in the process of digitally mapping the human brain. And they are experimenting with, and changing in a significant way, human behavior and brain function.17 Secondly, on the global level, relentless efforts are being made and considerable financial resources poured into the race for world leadership in AI, with a particular emphasis on its military applications, of which the development of Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems, is most prominent. The latter issue is so acute and challenging that it prompted the United Nations to initiate a debate on a treaty banning such nightmarish weapons.18 Russian President Vladimir Putin put it bluntly when he declared, “Artificial intelligence is the future, not only for Russia, but for all humankind. It comes with colossal opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world.”19 Reacting to Putin’s remarks, Elon Musk said that competition for AI superiority at national level will be the “most likely cause of WW3.” He clarified saying the war would be started not by a world leader, but by an AI as a preemptive strike.20

Notes and references

1. Downloadable free of charge, by clicking on the following link for the French version: http://algerienetwork.com/blog/lorient-et-loccident-a-lheure-dun-nouveau-sykes-picot-par-amir-nour/. Also available in Arabic from the same website.
2. The magazine’s former editor-in-chief (2006–2015) is none other than John Micklethwait who has attended several times the secretive Bilderberg conferences and contributed to their publicly undisclosed discussions and outcomes. See the list of participants to (https://bilderbergmeetings.org.participants.html) and main topics of (https://cnbc.com/2018/06/06/bilderberg-meeting-elite-focuses-on-politics.html) the 2018 Bilderberg meeting, held in Turin (Italy) in June 2018.
3. Read https://vigilantcitizen.com/vigilantreport/the-economists-the-world-in-2019-is-full-of-cryptic-messages/
4. Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, De Architectura Libri Decem, written circa 20–30bce and “rediscovered” in 1414 by the Italian “humanist” Poggio Bracciolini in the Abbey of St. Gallen, Switzerland.
5. A Masonic lodge called Vitruvius Lodge #145 was established in 1860 and still operates in Bloomfield, CA.
6. Richard Cassaro, What Does the Freemason’s ‘Square & Compass’ Symbol Really Stand For? richardcassaro.com, November 28, 2009.
7. See Statement on Freemasonry and Religion, Masonic Service Association of North America.
8. According to a study published in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavia, in December 2006, Nietzsche’s death was not due to general paralysis of the insane (GPI), as commonly thought for a long time, but rather to frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a chronic dementia.
9. Nick Bostrom, Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies, Oxford University Press, 2014.
10. Read Transhumanist FAQ, version 3.0 in https://whatistranshumanism.org
11. Idem, op.cit.
12. Nick Bostrom, op.cit.
13. Derek J. de Solla Price, Little Science, Big Science… and Beyond, Columbia University Press, 1988.
14. Jonathan Margolis, “I am microchipped and have no regrets,” The Financial Times, May 8, 2018.
15. Haley Weiss, “Why You’re Probably Getting a Microchip Implant Someday,” The Atlantic, Sept. 21, 2018.
16. Co-founder of American neurotechnology company Neuralink, which is reported to be developing implantable Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs).
17. Jeff Stibel, “Hacking The Brain: The Future Computer Chips In Your Head,” Forbes.com, July 10, 2017.
18. See 2017 UN report: https://daccess-ods.un.org/TMP/6036958.69445801.html
19. “Whoever leads in AI will rule the world: Putin to Russian children on Knowledge Day,” RT, Sept. 1, 2017.
20. Karla Lant, “Elon Musk: Competition for AI Superiority at National Level Will Be the ‘Most Likely Cause of WW3’”, Futurism, September 4, 2017.

 

Amir Nour

Saudi Rulers Face Rising Call for Hajj Boycott

 

Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman has attempted to cast Saudi Arabia in a more positive light and mask the country’s more aggressive internal and foreign policies by undertaking so-called liberal reforms. But it has not been enough to silence those who continue to draw attention to his government’s human rights abuses.

The rising death toll of civilians killed by Saudi bombs in Yemen, the horrific slaughter of Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, and Riyadh’s aggressive approach to the Iran crisis have led some of Saudi Arabia’s Sunni allies to reconsider their unwavering support for the kingdom.
In late April, Libya’s most prominent Muslim Sunni cleric, Grand Mufti Sadiq al-Ghariani, called for all Muslims to boycott the hajj—the obligatory pilgrimage of Muslims to Mecca. He went so far as to claim that anyone who embarked on a second pilgrimage was conducting "an act of sin rather than a good deed.” The reasoning behind the boycott is the suggestion that boosting Saudi Arabia’s economy through pilgrimage continues to fuel arms purchases and direct attacks on Yemen—and indirectly Syria, Libya, Tunisia, Sudan, and Algeria. Ghariani added that investment in the hajj would "help Saudi rulers to carry out crimes against our fellow Muslims.”
Ghariani is not the first prominent Muslim scholar to support a ban on the hajj. Yusuf al-Qaradawi, also a Sunni cleric and vocal critic of Saudi Arabia, announced a fatwa in August last year banning the pilgrimage, instead stating, "Seeing Muslims feeding the hungry, treating the sick, and sheltering the homeless are better viewed by Allah than spending money on the hajj.”
Unlike past attempts to boycott Saudi Arabia, the current effort has crossed the sectarian divide.
Today, calls for boycotting the kingdom have spiraled and they aren’t just coming from Shias. The hashtag #boycotthajj has been trending on Twitter, amassing nearly 16,000 tweets. Sunni clerics around the world have also called for a boycott. The Tunisian Union of Imams said in June that "the money (from the hajj) that goes to Saudi authorities is not used to help poor Muslims around the world. Instead it is used to kill and displace people as is the case currently in Yemen.” Given that the hajj is one of the pillars of Islam, prescribed as obligatory for all Muslims, the call for a boycott indicates the genuine, acerbic concern toward Saudi behavior. Should this trend continue, Saudi Arabia’s claim to being the spiritual home of Islam would be at risk—and it could take an economic hit, too.
Pilgrimage is vital to the Saudi economy and worth $12 billion annually, amounting to 20 percent of non-oil GDP, and is expected to rise to $150 billion by 2022, given the investment in luxury hotels by the Saudi government. Such investment has caused profits to skyrocket, pricing many poorer Muslims out of trips to the kingdom.

The calls for boycotting the hajj are not the first time the religious pilgrimage has been politicized. Saudi Arabia itself has in recent years banned both Qatari and Iranian nationals from partaking due to growing political differences between the states. Saudi officials have also abused the sanctity of the city of Mecca to promote their political ideology. Saudi officials have also abused the sanctity of the city of Mecca to promote their political ideology. During one prayer sermon in October last year, Sheikh Abdul-Rahman al-Sudais, the imam of the Great Mosque in Mecca, stated: "The path of reform and modernization in this blessed land … through the care and attention from its young, ambitious, divinely inspired reformer crown prince, continues to blaze forward guided by his vision of innovation and insightful modernism, despite all the failed pressures and threats,” implying that no Muslim should be questioning the Saudi political elite.
In an effort to flex its political might, and inevitably draw attention away from the Khashoggi killing and the country’s continued leading role in the war in Yemen, Saudi Arabia organized an emergency summit in late May in Mecca to put the focus back on Iran. During the summit, which brought together in separate meetings Arab leaders, the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council, and the Islamic world, Saudis called for support from Arab countries to deal with the Iran crisis by "using all means to stop the Iranian regime from interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, harboring global and regional terrorist entities, and threatening international waterways.”
In defiance, and highlighting Saudi Arabia’s waning status as the regional power, Iraq fully opposed the closing statement, which was to denounce Iran, and instead pledged a message of support toward Iran and called on other countries to help stabilize the country. At the summit in Mecca, Iraqi President Barham Salih stated: "Honestly, the security and stability of a neighboring Islamic country is in the interest of Muslim and Arab states,” referring to Iran. Similarly, during the summit, Saudi Arabia failed in getting the Organization of Islamic Cooperation—an international organization with headquarters in Jeddah—to isolate and condemn Iran.
As the death toll in Yemen rises, countries around the world are now calling for an economic, religious, and political boycott of Saudi Arabia—not just the banning of arms trade. Riyadh is running out of friends in the West, and, now, its relationships with regional allies are starting to show cracks. Should the Trump administration fail to secure a second term, Saudi Arabia may be left with few international friends and its claim to leadership of the Muslim and Arab world will be severely damaged.
Courtesy: Foreign Policy Magazine 

Some Thoughts On Practical Atheism – Dr. Mohsen Javadi

This is a partial translation of a very lengthy interview given by Dr. Mohsen Javadi, that was published two years ago in Iṭelā’āt Ḥikmat wa Ma’rifat. I have edited and translated it in a way to make it as comprehensible as possible in English.

Dr. Mohsen Javadi is a seminary trained, senior professor of philosophy of ethics at Qom University. He has numerous published books and articles in the Persian language, and as well as a number of papers in English. I am attaching one of his English papers, Moral Epistemology in Muslim Ethics, which is a good introductory paper for those who have no background on the subject. Click here to download PDF.

Dr. Mohsen Javadi: To briefly summarize practical atheism: it is the fact that a large portion of people despite believing in God, Prophethood, and even the Hereafter, are not bound to their religious beliefs when it comes to their actions and ethics, to the extent that there is no apparent difference between them and atheists. Their life does not show any signs of God, or any attention towards Prophethood, the Sharī’ah, or fear of the Hereafter. In fact, it shows signs of individualism and heedlessness of the accountability of the Hereafter.

The topic of practical atheism has existed amongst different religions, and even Pope Benedict XVI has alluded to it in one of his letters.[1] There are many who are theologically Jewish, Christian and Muslim, but in their lives, they prefer those actions that appear to give a scent of atheism and in fact, their lives are no different than atheists. At times you will find them even more heedless than atheists when it comes to fulfilling their material desires. These people can be categorized as believers theoretically and theologically, but practically and ethically they are atheists or materialists.

The reason why I initially got interested in the topic of practical atheism is due to the terms practical and theological materialism which Shahīd Muṭahharī uses in his work The Causes Responsible for Materialist Tendencies in the West.[2] Even though he himself never uses the term practical and theoretical atheism, he does put forth the question regarding the difference between practical and theoretical materialism. This led me to further research the works of other thinkers, including Christian intellectuals and saw that in some letters and books written by some Cardinals of the Vatican, the topic of practical atheism is being discussed with a lot of rigor. More so than theoretical atheism and lack of faith amongst people regarding God and Jesus, they are more concerned with Christians drowning in the worship of the world and its material pleasures and their lack of attention to the real values of Christianity. One of them specifically points out that the problem for Christianity today is not absolute Doxastic atheism or Doxastic materialism, rather it is the popularity of practical atheism.

The Oxford Dictionary also divides the term materialism into two: practical materialism and theoretical materialism and defines them. The definition given is very similar to how Shahīd Muṭahharī explains the terms, but today they refer to ethical and practical materialism with the term practical atheism. The dictionary first defines ethical materialism and says that it is a way of life where the value of anything is not beyond its material value, such as money and power. No spiritual or metaphysical matter has any say or preference in this life and so if any friendship, love affair, sacrifice, chastity, modesty, that has no immediate material benefits, do not have value. Interestingly, the Oxford Dictionary then goes on to discuss practical and absolute atheism as well.

In the Islamic world, as mentioned earlier, Shahīd Muṭahharī has discussed this notion, however a lot of his thoughts have been taken from his teacher ‘Allāmah Ṭabāṭabāī, but he has discussed them much better. However, this wasn’t the first time the topic has been investigated, and the actual topic is very old. The idea of a scholar who does not act has existed for a long time.

Man’s “self” viz-a-viz faith and atheism can be divided into four scenarios. Before mentioning these four scenarios, it is imperative to know a little about the qualities of the “self”. All human activity is rooted in the self. This self has one reality, but its faculties and abilities are different. The self from the perspective of it being the basis of contemplation is termed the mind, from the perspective of it being the basis of emotions and feelings is termed the heart, and from the perspective of it being the basis of any action is termed the will. These are all different aspects of the self.

Within religious scripture, the self is sometimes referred to as the commanding soul (nafs al-ammārah) as far as it is interested in committing evil deeds, but it is referred to as the reproaching soul (nafs al-lawwāmah) when discussed in light of its interest towards achieving good and performing pious deeds. In actuality, according to the opinion of philosophers like Ibn Sīnā, it is these different states and dimensions in humans and animals that are the cause of willful actions – so, it is for this very reason why we call them things that possess life. This is while things that do not possess life, there is only motion seen from them, as that is how they have been designed and there is no expectation from them to perform and do anything other than what they have been designed to do. Whereas animals and – higher than them – humans are created such that there is an expectation from them to perform different acts, sometimes contradictory actions, sometimes actions that go against their own nature and so on.

The ideal state for an active soul to be in is the state of harmony. For example, if something has priority for the emotional side of the self, it should not result in a conflict, contradiction and lack of harmony another aspect of the self. When there is lack of harmony within the self, it leads to a violent state for it. Aristotle divides motion into two, natural and violent motion. Natural motion is that which is in accordance with the nature of a thing, whereas violent motion is that where an external force is applied to something for a motion to occur in it.

The important point here is that the natural function of the self is to remain in harmony between its theoretical and practical faculties. If its theoretical faculty, which is concerned with uncovering realities, uncovers the divine realities and their important status amongst other realities, its practical faculties should help them play a central role in practice when it comes to God and attaining His satisfaction.

Now let us look at the four possible scenarios a human can be in, in relation to practical and theoretical atheism.

First, we can conceptualize someone who theoretically has faith, but also personifies their faith ethically through their actions. Not only do they consider God to be the very premise and foundation of existence, but also the basis of all good actions and therefore practically live a life of a believer. In this scenario, there is complete harmony between the theoretical and practical faculties and such a person is truly wise, because other than possessing a deep understanding of existence, they are also able to look beyond the material world and benefit from the spiritual depths practically. This harmony results in a tranquillity and calmness, and in fact in Qurānic jargon, such a person possesses al-nafs al-muṭmainnah. When such a person theologically believes that [Quran 29:64] verily the Home in the Hereafter, that is life indeed, they also attach themselves to the life of the Hereafter practically and emotionally and put aside the pleasures of this world for the pleasures of the Hereafter. They consider this temporary realm to be a provision for the Hereafter and do not become heedless of it or only care about life in this realm.

A second scenario is when a person does not have any faith in God and the Hereafter and their practical life also resembles such belief. They show no signs of faith or God in their practical life. For such a person, God, the Sharī’ah, the Hereafter, none of these matters provide any motivation and they behave in accordance to their material preferences and prefer them over all other things. Things like justice, humanity, friendship and kindness to others only have value when there is a material benefit to them. Even though this scenario is a false and unpleasant state to be in, it is a kind of harmony between the theoretical and practical faculties of the self, as there is no conflict within the self. Such a person is limited to just the physical world, and to whatever extent possible, they do not abide by any moral restrictions unless there is a give and take opportunity present in it for them. They abide by a moral code as long as it leads them to their material goals. Such a state is generally referred to as deliberate egoism, and such a person considers anything that safeguards their own personality and the personalities around them who play a positive role in their lives to be morally good, but beyond that ethics do not have any independent intrinsic value. Whenever they get an opportunity to do away with ethics, they will do so as long as it does not harm their own material interests. In this scenario, the heart and the will of a human in both their theoretical and practical dimensions are in harmony with one another, so a dual personality is not created by it

In certain cases, we find that the theoretical and practical dimensions of a human are not in harmony and there is a conflict between them. The next two scenarios are cases where there is no harmony. Such cases are complicated to understand and due to this, they require a little more explanation than the previous two scenarios.

In the third case, a person is theoretically an atheist and does not believe in God or the Hereafter. However, they live their lives as if they are believers. They are selfless and make sacrifices for others, their moral life is not limited to just material pleasures. They are ready to sacrifice themselves for others and have not sacrificed their morals for the fulfillment or acquisition of a better material life. So, we have a scenario where a person is theoretically an atheist and has no belief in God and the meta-physical, but in their actions, they choose to do actions while looking beyond just the physical realm and these actions have a scent of immortality and divinity.

You have people who do not believe in religious propositions but live their life in accordance with ethical and spiritual values and also believe that seeking the truth itself has a lot of value. Despite being atheists, they are not power-hungry, nor do they worship wealth, but rather act ethically and are ready to make sacrifices for others. Such people do not resist the truth if they encounter it, meaning if they were to come across the truth about the meta-physical, they would accept it. We can find instances of such people in a number of irreligious societies, such as some of the Communists and their struggle for justice, equality, and sacrifice, which are all signs of a spiritual life.

Even though servitude to God and worshipping Him is central to living a spiritual life, there are other things such as helping others selflessly which are all instances of spirituality. Imām ‘Alī (a) in his last statement emphasizes prayers and worship but also emphasizes helping the orphans and neighbours which indicates that these are all instances of spirituality.

However, the natural course of affair expects there to be harmony between the theoretical and practical dimensions of a human. If a person is theoretically an atheist, then the expectation is that this should be personified in their actions. If a person does not believe in a realm other than the material realm, then what purpose does it serve to life a life as if they will receive something in the hereafter, or what really prevents them from benefiting from everything that is possible in this realm and sacrificing the material benefits for hopes of establishing justice?

Interviewer: It appears that we are essentially discussing whether such life-choices are in accordance with Kant’s deontological moral theory, not whether such people exist or not. We are discussing whether such behavior is justifiable and rational?

Dr. Mohsen Javadi: Yes – someone like Kai Nielsen a Canadian atheist philosopher, still alive today, believes that applied ethics can be reconciled with theoretical atheism. Nielsen has a book titled Ethics without God, which is one of the most important works defending the view that an atheistic worldview can be reconciled with ethics and such a life choice is justifiable.

However, on the other hand, there are many academics and scholars who disagree with him. They believe that this reconciliation cannot last in the long-term because the lack of harmony between the theoretical and practical dimension of the self necessitates a one-sided push on the person. They argue that because a violent state is generally not continuous, so when a person is theoretically an atheist, but practically immaterial, this opposition will create a conflict in a person that will eventually put their faculties against one another. What the theoretical and intellectual faculty tells us is in opposition to what our practical faculties tell us to do, which then results in a conflict, and eventually leads to stress and unease. In the long term a person will want to escape such a state and will end up choosing one side over the other, they will sacrifice one aspect for the other, to maintain that harmonious relationship.

If they end up accepting the meta-physical, as they already show in their actions, then this is the first step they take towards a religious belief system, and towards a greater, deeper understanding of existence. In that case, notions of equality, justice, and so on, will find a suitable place in their theoretical worldview. However, it is also possible that such a person ends up personifying their theoretical worldview of atheism and eventually limit their lives to just material pleasures.

Some scholars such as Shahīd Muṭahharī believed that people who are theoretically atheists, but practically they are people of virtue, are unaware that much of their virtues have been taken from religious civilizations that came before them.

For example, many values such as justice and equality that were slogans in Communist Russia were not a product of the Communist Russian system, but rather passed down to them from religious Russian civilizations before them. These things are not erased from civilizations so quickly, and a significant amount of time must pass before a society lets go of these values to make them in accordance with their theoretical atheism.

The fourth and final scenario is the main discussion of our interview. This scenario is the opposite of the previous scenario. In this case a person believes in God, in the Hereafter and so on, but lives their life in such a way as if nothing exists besides this material realm. They are only willing to accept those laws and moral codes that result in material benefits. Things that they consider to be important theoretically, are not important for them practically speaking.

Thus, though belief in God should have an impact on a person’s life, at times we see that practically speaking this is not the case and something as great as the Day of Judgement, which the Qurān refers to as the [78:2] ‘great news’, has no impact on their lives. Even though they believe that the Hereafter is eternal, and the most important reality is that which is beyond the material, they believe in God, yet they live their life without any attention towards these matters. While choosing what is good, they only suffice with criteria that results in material good and do not take immaterial benefits into consideration. Such a person is practically a materialist and is only attracted by those things that are material. A third person – who is unaware of a person’s theoretical beliefs – would assume that this person is also a theoretical materialist. So, in materialism or practical atheism, an individual prefers choices in their life that have a material benefit in them and does not go beyond this material dimension. Things like the Divine, God, developing proximity with God and other similar notions do not play a role in their practical life.

A human who succumbs to practical atheism, instead of looking at other humans from the perspective of them being humans, looks at them through a material lens and their relationship with others becomes limited to whatever material benefit it has for them, subsequently becoming heedless of any notion of developing a spiritual relationship.

True spirituality is when you are sacrificial for other humans because you see them as creations of God and His vicegerents on earth, and as we have mentioned before, worship is not limited to just ritualistic acts. It is because of this that at times it is said, worship of God is nothing except helping God’s creation.

These materialistic ethics can be very dangerous. Such people, despite having a theoretically sound belief, become victim of grave and unknown dangers due to their actions. There is a greater chance that such a person would become a victim of their desires and ego and eventually let go of their faith as well. Faith can only remain continuous if it is accompanied with action. Since it is possible for such individuals to justify their own actions through atheism and skepticism so that they can free themselves of this dual personality, they will be prone to do so. Such a person may end up like Yazīd b. Muā’wiyah who eventually began saying there is no God, and there was no Prophet – instead the Sharī’ah and Revelation were a trickery of the Banī Hāshim.

Whether it is possible for a person to act in direct opposition of their belief or not, is an ancient debate that can be traced back to the times of Plato and Aristotle in their discussion over akrasia (the weakness of will). Today we generally think in an Aristotelean way, where we believe such a thing is possible and that the mind is not the only thing which determines our life’s decisions. We do not generally think like Plato who believed that our theoretical belief is the sole steersman of our will. According to an Aristotelean way of thinking, our will is not only under the influence of our belief, rather there are other factors as well, such as contamination of the soul, acting as a barrier for our belief to be personified through action, which then pulls an individual elsewhere.

Interviewer: Generally speaking, what does the self resort to doing when there is such a duality to create harmony between its theoretical and practical aspect? Does it usually prefer the theoretical dimension and enforce it on the practical dimension, or does action have greater strength and ends up pressuring one to change their theoretical beliefs?

Dr. Mohsen Javadi: Some scholars like Shahīd Muṭahharī believe that change in one’s theory is more likely because it is easier to do so than changing one’s actions. Once a person is dwelling in egoism and drowned in their love for wealth, it is not easy for them to change their actions, because actions eventually become habitual and altering habits is much more difficult than changing one’s theoretical belief system. Theoretical beliefs are much more fluid – when desires do not overpower them – and through research and evidence, humans can easily alter their theological views. Therefore, the danger of practical atheism is that at the end of the day it will affect change in one’s theoretical beliefs as well. The Qurān speaks about these type of people as follows:

Then the fate of those who committed misdeeds was that they denied the signs of Allah and they used to deride them.”

[Quran 30:10]

These were people who initially had a sound theoretical belief system, but due to the negative consequences of their sins, they eventually ended up denying the clear signs of God altogether.

We see that lack of faith amongst humans is at times rooted in their actions. For example, they will end up rejecting the Hereafter solely for their freedom and for the sake of fulfilling their desires in this world. Humans are attracted towards freedom and more specifically freedom from responsibility and do not want to be restricted, [Quran 75:5] Rather man desires to go on living viciously, even if the restrictions being imposed upon them are the truth.

Although it should be said that the possibility of their actions changing also exists. For example, the famous story of Fuḍhayl ‘Ayyāḍ – the thief who changed his behaviour after hearing the verse of the Qurān being recited in a house he was about to steal from: [Quran 13:16] Is it not time yet for those who have faith that their hearts should be humbled for Allah’s remembrance and to the truth which has come down [to them].

He already had belief and faith, his theoretical worldview was sound, but his actions were not. In this case, we have someone who was able to alter their actions, instead of their theological and theoretical beliefs. However, these cases are not that common, and most humans – whose correct and incorrect actions are mixed together – will not easily be able to alter their behaviour. For most, it is much easier to just alter their theoretical beliefs, so their actions can be reconciled with their belief system.

Interviewer: What factors do you consider responsible for creating and strengthening this lack of harmony between action and theory?

Dr. Mohsen Javadi: As it has been alluded to earlier, this problem has existed amongst all religions. Wittgenstein believed that people beliefs are not rooted just in their theoretical endeavors, but rather a significant portion of it is rooted in one’s form of life. Unfortunately, religious discourse focuses mostly on theoretical aspects and not much attention is given to human practical life. Even though scholars such as ‘Allāmah Ṭabāṭabāī believed that ethical piety is prior to religious piety, because he believed the word religious guidance in the verse [Quran 2:2] This is the Book, there is no doubt in it, a guidance to the Godwary, is only beneficial for those who have ethically been guided through their intellect beforehand. Perhaps the reason why religions have been reflected upon differently by different nations is due to these different ethical and behavioural presumptions.

Even if we consider this matter through a deeper philosophical lens, perhaps we can make the claim that greater focus on the theoretical dimension, as opposed to the lack of focus on the impact of action in one’s religious and ethical life, is rooted in Greek philosophy. In Platonism and Aristotelean philosophy theoretical discussions and research were considered virtuous because they believed God only contemplates and His action is only through His contemplation. In order for man to have a good life, they must resemble God to the best extent possible, and so the best thing to do is to contemplate. Aristotle in his first few books focuses more on action, but in his later books he restricted practice and action to just a preliminary for contemplation. In the end, while discussing the wisdom behind justice, he points out that if there is no justice in society, there will no opportunity for a philosopher to develop and the opportunity to contemplate will decrease and contemplation itself will become challenging. In other words, action – in this example, implementing justice in a society – is just a preliminary for contemplation and to philosophize correctly.

As we move forward, we can see the impact of this thought even in philosophers like Mullā Ṣadrā. Under his Qurānic commentary on the verse of Nūr (24:35), he says the only thing that remains of value for man is his ability to contemplate because that is his crux and other matters such as action, justice, etc. are accidental attributes. The most that can be done with them is to make them part and parcel of one’s knowledge. This approach has always caused an issue between our philosophy and our jurisprudence, as the jurists have generally stood against this thinking process.

In any case, we should not become heedless of action, as it is part and parcel of what constitutes human identity. Those who tread the path of practical atheism, more so than possessing a theoretical and academic justification for their views, are victim to their material wishes and the physical world has only pushed them towards this abyss. Very few of them will use a theoretical mechanism to defend their behaviour.

Another factor that plays a role in strengthening practical atheism today is individualism. Individualism brings a lot of issues along with it. Not only because congregations assure that at least outwardly humans remain ethical, but also because individualism slowly pushes humans to believe they are the centre of this vast reality. It becomes the root of many moral vices and creates an intense love of the self.

Besides this, we have traditions that suggest that within a culture of a society, the nobility of a human must always be taken into consideration. A person who gives away their nobility is free to do anything they can and want. Poverty, humiliation, discrimination – all of these put man’s nobility in danger, and then this danger spreads to the rest of society to the extent that humans are no longer safe and sooner or later all of society suffers. True happiness is hard to find when you are a witness to the misery of your neighbor. This is why I believe that those who are working hard for the prosperity of a society, by trying to eliminate discrimination etc. are doing a religious, spiritual and ethical act and are worthy of praise and honour. Another thing to remember is that it is not necessary that the government carries or enforces these projects, rather creating employment opportunities or the opportunity to live a life free of poverty is an ethical responsibility that exists even on an individual level.

Perhaps the verse [Quran 21:35] Man is a creature of haste, doesn’t only mean humans are hasty in their own actions, but rather it could mean that humans are hasty in seeking good and want the best of this world as quickly as possible and cannot wait for the goodness of the Hereafter. Dr. Naṣr in his book Religion and the Order of Nature presents an interesting view regarding the environmental crisis and says that this crisis actually exists within humans themselves and is rooted in man’s eagerness to fearlessly acquire all the material good. If humans were to cease being hasty and instead sought the good of the Hereafter, perhaps the opportunity to live a life with nobility would develop in a society and that would become the basis for religious propagation and religious faith amongst humans. Their faith would be less prone to the harms that exist in this life.

All in all, getting rid of practical atheism is not a simple task. It requires a lot of training, and every individual requires a different prescription to cure it since everyone’s life is different. There cannot be one prescription for everyone. Universal ethical principles are generally known today by everyone, so just repeating these principles does nothing to change anyone. Rather, as we said, it requires a sort of medical treatment which needs to be reflected upon out of one’s compassion for the sickness of others, and a road-map for a good life needs to be laid out for them. Those curing the ill also need to help the sick with getting these medicines and provide nursing services to them.

Footnotes

[1] ‘Practical atheism’ more destructive than disbelief, Pope says – https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/practical-atheism-more-destructive-than-disbelief-pope-says

[2] English translation of this section can be read here: https://www.al-islam.org/al-tawhid/vol12-vol13/causes-responsible-materialist-tendencies-west-4-4-ayatullah-murtadha/