Secular Student Activism: Taking It Global

The future of secularism will be shaped not only by what takes place in our parliaments but also by what happens in our schools, colleges and universities. The project of a secular world will be determined not only by what politicians do- the bills the sponsor, the laws they pass, or the rulings at the Supreme or district courts but also by what students do.

For some reasons, the national humanist and free-thought groups tend to invest so much energy and resources lobbying the politicians and getting them to uphold secular values. They tend to forget that some of the seeds of the damage they are trying to rectify at the legislative houses were sown on our campuses. That the seeds of mixing religion and state were planted in the minds of politicians when they were students, when they were young and very impressionable. And if we are to win the battle for a secular world we have to win the battle for a secular society in our classrooms and lecture halls.

We have to foster secular values among youths and students. So, campuses are a major front in the campaign for the separation of church/mosque and state.

So, we need to support secular student groups. We need to ensure that the Secular Students Movement continues to grow from strength to strength and its influence from campus to campus.

We cannot have a secular world with schools, colleges and universities where education and indoctrination mix, where creationism is taught in science classes, where there is no wall separating teaching and preaching, where classrooms are extensions of churches, mosques, Temples or where the values of reason, science and critical thinking are treated with disdain. Secularism on campus and secularism off campus are interconnected.

Also no one secular country can exist in isolation. In today's world, we cannot strictly have a country where there is a wall separating church/mosque and state when such separation is vehemently and violently opposed in other places. This is because the world is changing rapidly. Human beings are getting more interconnected in ways we could not have imagined a few decades ago. What happens in one country shapes issues and events in others.

News travels at a great speed. Secularism has gone global. And we need to re-strategise and reposition the secular students movement to respond to the challenges facing students in the contemporary world.

Many students and young people find themselves in countries where they cannot freely think, ask questions or express their views without fear. In some parts of the world, it is not permissible for secular students to meet or organize events . Many students live in countries where convening a secular meeting could earn them a jail sentence or attacks by fanatics.

Think about the case of Malala who was almost killed by the Taliban for campaigning for girls's education in Pakistan. Think about the case of over 200 school girls kidnapped by Boko Haram from their dormitories in Nigeria. The girls were abducted in the course of their quest for education and knowledge by those who believe that girls are better as sex slaves than being educated.

Students live in some countries where they can be imprisoned for posting messages like ''God does not exist'' or Allah is a sky god or any other message that is critical of Islam or religion on their face book pages. Many students live in societies where they cannot socialize or relate with persons of their choice, or renounce Islam-in the case of Sudan or christianity -as in the case of Jordan.

Students in countries with strong secular tradition have a moral duty and obligation to keep alive hopes and promises for students in countries like Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Mauritania, where secularism dares not mention its name.

This is not only in the interest of the secular students movement but also in the general interest of America and the world.

Those who attacked America on September 11 were not just terrorists, they were products of religious indoctrinating centers. The attackers were products of anti secular and illiberal Madrassas school system. They were motivated by extremist ideologies and nihilistic sentiments, by dogma, blind faith, fanatical hatred and absolute truths inculcated in them in the name of education and religious upbringing.

For example, the Islamist group that is waging a jihadist campaign in Nigeria is called Boko Haram, meaning western education is forbidden. The group has attacked western styled schools, killed or kidnapped students and teachers, construction and health workers. The group embodies a strand of Islam that is pervasive in many muslim communities - an ideology that is opposed to secular education, secular schools, secular state, secular thought and, yes, secular values.

Terrorism is both a military and an ideological warfare. In fact terrorism is more of an ideological warfare because terrorists and jihadists are motivated by a set of ideas. They are campaigning to enthrone their own idea of society by force.

Terrorism starts in the mind, and is nurtured in our schools and in other learning centers where minds are shaped. So, if we must defeat Boko Haram, al Qeada, al Shaabab and other islamist groups that are threatening the world, a military solution is not enough. Yes we have to defeat them militarily, but more importantly we have to defeat them ideologically. And the Secular Students Movement is our best hope of eradicating religious extremism in the world.

The lynch mob attacking and killing alleged witches in many parts of Africa, Asia and Oceania are products of faith based education and instruction in schools. They are products of magical and mystical thinking that is so entrenched on campuses in these parts of the world.

I guess for many people in America and the western world, witch hunting appears to be a thing of the past. Sadly this is not the case. Witch hunting is beginning to manifest in this part of the world. Those who engage in this occult business may not say that they are expelling witches. They say they are casting away demons or evil spirits, or that they are performing exorcism. You may have heard that Pope Francis has shown us that he is not as modern as many people may think. He recently recognized an international association of exorcists. The recognition of exorcism by the Pope is an endorsement of witch hunting because witch hunting is a form of exorcism. The Vatican should be roundly condemned for sanctifying this abusive process.

So witch craze is re emerging in different forms, with force and ferocity partly of the failures in the school system. And we must confront it, we must fight it or nip it in the bud. And the best place to wage this battle against witch hunting or exorcism is in the schools, colleges and universities and the best way to fight it by promoting secular thinking and values.

Today we need a robust global secular student activist program to counter the ideologies that foster extremism and superstition in young people. We need a proactive secular student movement driven by the force of logic, critical thinking and free inquiry not the force of arms to confront the wave of christian, islamic, hindu, buddhist, animist and other shades of religious militancy raging in the world. We need to counter the currents of dark age and religious radicalization on campuses around the globe by adopting a global approach to secular student activism!

I am aware that the challenges are enormous. And that the Secular Students Movement cannot confront them alone. It cannot meet these demands without the support of like minded individuals and groups in other parts of the world. And I want to assure all secular students groups and activists that as they embark on addressing the global needs of secular students, they have in me a staunch friend and ally.