Occasional controversies have occasionally been posted on social media networking relevant to the religion’s views towards all aspects of society. It is not a mistake to have such intellectual ''moves" which are in favour of the homeland and humanity.
What has recently drawn attention is the emergence of an intellectual trend that supports secularism, whose main intention is to separate religion from politics, as well as from its mazes and complications. By the way, this trend is not something novel to the world or to human history, yet it is a renovated expression in the society of today through social networking websites.
Every individual has the right to express his/her views, which is one of the inveterate rights of human life. It is linked to other freedoms and rights, the most important of which is religious freedom that has been referred to as the crown or "mother" of all freedoms. It is essential despite the fact that it underwent restrictions in some countries and became limited to merely “freedom of worship” rather than conscientious and doctrinal freedom. In other countries, it faces restrictions and sometimes persecutions. What draws attention in the sectarian trend is “the hatred” which is expressed by people of “the social media networking” when they convey their ideas in a way that contravenes the bases of sound dialogue. They do unleash accusations and do not refrain from attacking clergymen or even those who express the position of religion towards art, culture and other mundane affairs on reasonable assumption that religion is only limited to worshipping God at places of worship and that it should not transcend the border of mosques or churches. As "secularism" has been construed as not merely a divorce between religion and the mundane life but rather an intellectual state of hostility, it is incumbent on dialogue to be the leading force that calls for convening sessions designed to exchange views before the situation escalates by moving in the wrong direction, namely in the direction of hatred. Have our brethren forgotten that John the Baptist, who dwelt among us two thousand years ago, had courageously told Herod in Machaerus: “It is not lawful for you to marry your brother's sister." This position had led to have him beheaded. Yet, his courage became of model to be emulated in defence of moral values.
Is it fair and logical to prevent religion from stating moral and ethical opinions in a social affair under the pretext that "secularism" implies that religion cannot interfere in mundane affairs? Let us call for an in-depth intellectual dialogue so that all parties can reciprocate respect and exclude prejudices.
It is incumbent to reminisce about what Pope Benedict had said about secularism in his document about the Church in the Orient. He said, "It is true that secularity sometimes reduces religion to a purely private concern, seeing personal or family worship as unrelated to daily life, ethics or one’s relationships with others. In its extreme and ideological form, secularity becomes a secularism which denies citizens the right openly to express their religion and claims that only the State can legislate on the public form which religion may take."
The statement addresses the issue which is hoped to dominate us and find its way to our youths that, "A healthy secularity, on the other hand, frees religion from the encumbrance of politics, and allows politics to be enriched by the contribution of religion, while maintaining the necessary distance, clear distinction and indispensable collaboration between the two spheres."
Furthermore, it is incumbent to further elucidate that "this kind of healthy secularity ensures that political activity does not manipulate religion, while the practice of religion remains free from a politics of self-interest which at times is barely compatible with, if not downright contrary to, religious belief."
We do need a comprehensive societal and intellectual dialogue in order to know how to comprehend issues and attain means of mutual cooperation among the different spectra, especially among young people who get drifted sometimes towards discourses of hate, and often fall into the trap of "moral relativism", which will be tackled in a different article later.
