“Everyone should keep his opinions to himself” … One of the most ridiculous comments I have been hearing in Egypt this year is “Politics shouldn’t be mixed with … (insert anything)” and “Everyone should keep his or her opinions to himself”. This just goes to show how unaware Egyptians are of the tools and mechanisms by which politics and government are controlled. It also shows how little we think of politics. The political scene in today’s Egypt controls every aspect of our lives. Political powers in any country control its future and its present life. Even in the least corrupt governments, political powers set the agenda priorities and as such control where the resources of the country will be going. In the most corrupt countries political powers control who lives and who dies. Who becomes a criminal and who becomes a hero. The political powers control the quality of life we and our children will have by manipulating the country’s resources to meet their needs and desires. So how can an Athlete be told not to portray their political opinion in a country where he is given very little chance to fulfill his potential because the people in power choose to steal the money that is supposed to go to improving his Athletic potentials? Or is he supposed to forget that because of poor management and corruption of the government his dream of achieving a gold medal is now impossible! All throughout history individuals used their place in society to support the causes they believed in. They used the podium, rink, stadium, theater, newspaper, screen, music and art to say what they felt is most important to them and supported whom they wished. Whether it is social, religious or political causes, their position was was a screen through wich they broadcasted their views. African American Athletes like Muhammed Ali always spoke of the struggle of African Americans in the USA. Egyptian singers like Um Kalthoum and Abdelhalim sang for the Egyptian nation to rise against the British occupation. As well as Lebanese poets such as Gubran Khalil Gubran and Ilia AbulMadi, and Palestinian poets like Mohamed Abdelwahab and Tamim ALbraghouthi also used their position as artists to resist the Israeli aggression. Even religious leaders should and must be involved in politics. Religion, especially in the Middle East, serves as the first reference point guiding people’s lives. If we think we shouldn’t mix religion and politics we are reducing religion to be simply small actions of prayer and fasting that one does in the private of their own home. But religion isn’t that, it is the guiding set of rules, ethos and ideas we live by. The statement many make about how religion shouldn’t be mixed with politics is quite confusing because any idea can be abused. Not just religion. If we observe how the US government abused democracy and freedom in order to gain control over countries like Afghanistan and Iraq. Or a country like Israil, that abused the concept of ‘nation building’ and oppressed many other nations (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria) in the process. By saying that religion and politics should not mix we are also naively thinking of politics as a few press releases and decisions some known people make on the television. We need to understand that the political path any nation takes is the most instrumental framework which will decide the future of the nation. Every political event that happens today is relevant to our future. By studying for example the political events that happened in Egypt in the past 100 years we can understand the psychology, social makeup, economic situation, intellectual capacity, religious inclinations and identity of today’s Egyptian society. I am not saying that political events are the only factor effecting our lives, however I believe that we were not educated to know just how influential politics really is.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 20:27:29 +0000
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