The social development of the current world has been influenced by the religious manifestations since the oldest times. Past and current religions have shaped societies as they are nowadays known, with religion playing a major role in establishing people’s morals, attitudes and believes about life. As religion has played such a major role in humans’ lives since it can be traced, it is no wonder that it has received considerable attention in literature. Three such literary pieces that explore the nature and the effects of religion on society are Emily Dickinson’s “She Rose to His Requirements”, Mohsin Hamid’s “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” and Salman Rushdie’s “Imagine there’s No Heaven”. Although each author defines religion in relation with their personal and literary believes, there are common they advance for indicating that religion labels are oppressive because they limit individual liberties and personal development, keeping people prisoners in an everlasting war of doctrines against each other.
In her poem “She Rose to His Requirement”, Emily Dickinson tells the story of a young woman living in the social convictions of the 19th century, according to which she must give up her personal desires for becoming a wife. The author condemns her contemporary society that hinders women personal development, by disallowing them to engage in their independent development. As the poem states: “She rose to His Requirement - dropt/The playthings of Her Life” (Dickinson 1-2). She further patronizes the limitation of her society, according to which women become honorable when they get married “To Take the honorable Work/Of Woman, and of Wife”(Dickinson 3-4). Although there are no religious references in these lines, they are nevertheless implied. The social standards of the 19th century are symbolically compared with the religious dogmas. Just as the woman becomes honorable when she gives up her personality for getting married and following her husband, similarly, individuals become righteous when they renounce their selves for following the God of their religion.
A similar claim is advanced by Selman Rushdie in his writing “Imagine There’s No Heaven”. The author founds his argument on the idea that each of the six billion members of the world should seek liberation from religion for finding personal freedom and limitless opportunities, currently infringed by religious dogmas (Rushdie 6). Rushdie is a vivid opponent of religion and religion manifestations in all its forms, from its most inoffensive– the story telling – to its most destructive expressions – the wars and attacks that capture innocent people (both the attackers and the victims) in a made-believe war. The writer argues that the imaginary war for religion was created by humans and not by a divine prophecy, as there are no hard proves to demonstrate that a celestial force demanded human sacrifices at any time in the history. The author says “To choose unbelief is to choose mind over dogma” (Rushdie 13), hence advancing the idea that secularism could be a solution for peace. He requests the sixth billion newly born individual of Earth not to allow himself to be captivated by the stories with religious connotations that later will demand him to demonstrate his religious belonging through various manifestations that limit his true nature. In doing so, Rushdie explains that he, the sixth billion member of the world, will liberate himself from the dogmatism instilled by priesthood and other self-imposed religious authorities (16).
In “The Reluctant Fundamentalist”, Mohsin Hamid perceives religion as fundamentalist all over the world, with different manifestations across various regions. Hamid condemns not only religion, but also the politics and economies of the advanced world, especially United States. Just as Dickenson condemns the traditionalist society that impose women how to live for being considered honorable, Hamid criticizes the economic fundamentalism for creating a manipulated society, ruled by capitalist self-interests. They both associate society (Dickenson) and economy (Hamid) with oppression. However, in Hamid’s writing, religion is not as condemned as it is in Dickenson and in Rushdie’s works. The Pakistani writer speaks little of religion in “The Reluctant Fundamentalist”, but from his protagonist’s words there can be understood that he has a Muslim conviction and he adheres to the religious values of the Muslim world. In effect, his reaction to 9/11 attack over United States was received with pleasure: “Yes, despicable as it may sound, my initial reaction was to be remarkably pleased”, knowing that the event meant bringing “America to her knees” (Hamid 72 - 73). From Hamid’s story there can be understood that religion is a symbol of belonging to specific values and his character belonged to Islamic Fundamentalism.
However, from Dickens writing it can be understood that religion, just as social status is not something that one can choose, but something that it is imposed. Moreover, Rushdie argues that religion, better yet, the lack of religion is a personal choice that everybody should embrace for maximizing their potential: “Imagine there’s no heaver, my dear Six Billion, and at once the sky is the limit” (Rushdie 20).
Besides infringing personal liberties by imposing other people’s creed over the innocent ones, religion is also responsible for oppression, carried out by religious people or against specific religions’ members. Dickenson’s poem suggests that religious labels lead to oppression by making a parallel with the label of a wife, which generates a woman’s oppression into marriage as she abides her husband “But only to Himself – be known/The fathoms they abide” (Dickens 11-12). Similarly, in “Imagine There’s No Heaven” the author speaks of the oppressions that the world has experienced for centuries in the name of self – labeled religious people (Rushdie 6).
On the other hand, Hamid’s writing seems to suggest that the oppression conducted in the name of religion is well deserved, especially in the case of United States. He blames United States for its manipulating conduct with the intention of building its empire with various spheres of influences. In this sense, Hamid approves the terrorist attack from September 11 carried in the name of Islamist religion.
However, as Rushdie explains that “the real wars of religion are the wars religions unleash against ordinary citizens within their sphere of influence” (12). This suggests that beyond a mere symbolical kneeling of the American Empiricism, the 9/11 event was in fact an attack against humanity, against people of other confessions than the Islamic one. Hamid’s claim that attacks such as September 11 was well deserved by America is solely a reflection of an extremist thinking, possibly instilled by the religious affiliation.
Considering the oppression and attacks associated with religion across humans’ millenary existence, secular states could represent a solution for assuring peace, which would benefit of an ethnical, racial, economic and religious diversity. For liberating from religious labels and religious dogmas that lead to oppression, Rushdie’s essay suggests a “secular – ethical position” (18). This indication suggests that the author believes that secularization could be the answer for pursuing personal liberties and for liberating from religious dogmas that lead people to fight against each other in the name of religion. Dickinson’s elegiac tone from her poem suggests that without the imposed social status (a symbolical representation of the religious authority), the lives of women would be more playful and independent. Therefore, the absence of religion, secularization, would generate freedom.
However, Hamid’s book suggests that a state where racial, ethnical, economic and religious diversity is utopian. His own experience in United States demonstrated that he, as a Pakistani individual expressing Muslim religion by growing a beard and joining his own people and criticizing the economic fundamentalism of United States, was made to feel like he did not belong in America.
Nevertheless, the experience that Hamid narrates in his book is somehow extreme. As his protagonist explains, he enjoyed a privileged position in U.S. and was recognized for his merits, up to the point when he turned against the country that provided him a good lifestyle. Ethnical, racial, economic or religious diversity represents a solution for building a secular state, as no particular race, ethnicity, economy or religion would dominate over the others, allowing the free expression of identity.
The identification with specific religions generates associations with the values that those religions stand for, such as Muslim religion is associated with terrorist attacks. Such religious labels lead to religion oppression, because, as it was visible from Hamid’s writing, people identify with their religions, reaching the point of approving or celebrating the attacks carried in the name of their religion. For avoiding religion oppression, practiced through fantastic story telling or demands of proving the faith, Rushdie suggests that the lack of religion, rather than religion should be a personal choice, a statement subtly implied also by Dickenson. The solution for liberating from religious oppression and religious labels would be the secular state, wherein the ethnical, racial, economic or religious identity would be equally protected, as none would dominate the others.
Works Cited
Dickinson, Emily “She Rose to His Requirements” in Helen Vendler Dickinson Selected Poems and Commentaries. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 2010. Print.
Hamid, Mohsin. The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Orlando: Harcourd, Inc. 2007. Print.
Rushdie, Salman. Imagine There’s No Heaven. [Online] 16 October 1999. Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/books/1999/oct/16/salmanrushdie. 29 March 2016.
