Why is religion still such a holy cow?

Anyone who has seen a Mike Myers film will testify that the man is a crazed genius, with an unstoppable sense of humour that borders on the insane. Each of his films, from the early Wayne’s World to the later Austin Powers series and even the animated Shrek movies is hugely funny. In his universe, everyone is fair game.

Myers is currently finishing production of his next film The Love Guru, and some internet research informs it is about a boy raised by guru types who heads to the US to help a hockey star to deal with his failed love life. Film stills show a hirsute Myers plucking a flower, looking intensely spiritual. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi comes to mind. The film is not yet complete but already it has stirred up the inevitable “controversy”. When culture or religion are involved, can the grievance brigade be far behind? 

We don’t know for sure if the film refers to any particular religion. For that, we all will have to wait for the film to be released in June. But some Hindus in the US are already offended and have set out to campaign against this film. Among the most vociferous of these ‘Hindu leaders’ as the well-known entertainment website eonline calls them is someone called Rajan Zed, from Nevada. He has seen the movie’s trailer on MySpace and feels the film lampoons Hindus as well as Hinduism. To ensure that the final product does not do so, he has demanded that Paramount Pictures screen the film for members of the Hindu community before it is released. No doubt Paramount and its legal and management teams are at this very moment plotting how best they can satisfy the demands of these Hindu leaders so that the film release is not stymied, but if past record is any indication, there will be a hefty compensation to some organisation or the other and Rajan Zed and his cohorts will get their few minutes of fame and more.

A somewhat more serious situation, also relating to a film is developing in the Netherlands where a local MP Geert Wilders has posted a short video called Fitna on the internet. In it he has tried to show that Islam is an inherently violent religion by linking verses from the Koran to terrorist attacks. Wilders has a long record of provocative politics—he has sought a ban on the Koran in his country—and has argued against immigration. Much of Holland sees Wilders as a racist nutcase, but to Muslims all over, the film is one more example of the Christian west’s inherently anti-Islam attitude. The Dutch government too has condemned the film, but this is not likely to satisfy Muslim countries. Already, a kind of stand-off is emerging; the UN Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution deploring the use of the media to “incite acts of violence, xenophobia or related intolerance and discrimination towards Islam”. Western countries like Canada and UK say the resolution focuses only on Islam and they cannot support it.

There is the obvious point here about freedom of speech versus hate-mongering  but the question arises — should religion always be outside the purview of critical comment? And should each religious group and its ‘leaders’, elected or self-appointed, only concern themselves with their own denomination or should they stand up for a principle? Who appointed Rajan Zed to speak on behalf of all Hindus and object to a film which may or may not be against Hindus? What about the fact that some Hindus may have no problem with the film or indeed enjoy it too? And would Muslim-dominated countries support a resolution in a UN body if there was a video lampooning Jesus Christ?

We all know the answers to these questions because we have seen several examples of selective outrage. (The obverse side to that is selective hate-mongering.) Fitna and the Muslim reaction to it will please many of those who have always been convinced that Muslims cannot digest any criticism of their religion and are always looking to be provoked. As far as The Love Guru is concerned, cynical carpetbaggers will jump into the fray because they see fame and fortune by playing the Hindu card. A similar thing happened here when Da Vinci Code was released and Christian groups sprang up overnight.

When governments start pandering to these elements, they get legitimacy and the result is an all-round chilling effect on our thoughts and expression. We start censoring ourselves. We insert qualifiers into our speech. Free comment and analysis loses out to template platitudes. Is this the kind of society or humanity we want?

Email:sidharth01@dnaindia.net