Malala, Kailash and the importance of religious reform from within

Criticism of Nobel Committee for specifically mentioning religions of the Peace Prize recipients 'silly'.

By Ryan Bell
The selection of Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi as co-recipients of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize was widely hailed as a victory for the human rights of children, and especially girls.

The Nobel Committee also set off a measure of controversy over their specific mention of the two recipients’ religions—a Hindu and a Muslim—stating that it was “an important point for a Hindu and a Muslim, an Indian and a Pakistani, to join in a common struggle for education and against extremism.”

The criticism of this mention seems silly to me for two very obvious reasons. Religion is the source, or at least the justification, for so much violence in the world. The peacemaking efforts of two people who speak freely about their religion, is clearly part of the attraction of their stories. Secondly, they have not made religion a part of their work. They speak about religion as the context in which they work, part of the challenge they are seeking to overcome, and sometimes as a motivation for what they do, but Malala is not trying to make converts for Islam. She is challenging the misogyny that has taken root in modern Islam and advocating for the educational rights of girls—something that has been restricted in much of the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent.

I’m a pragmatist when it comes to religion. Christianity may be waning in the West, but it has certainly suffered significant setbacks before and it always finds a way to survive. In many other regions of the world, religion is as vibrant and robust as ever, for better or for worse. If I had to guess, I’d say religion is a reality that we’re going to be living with forever.

Because I take this to be an unremarkable statement of reality, I am supportive of any and all efforts to reform religion—to help it serve the common good while mitigating its potential for harm. Doing away with it is, in the first place, unrealistic, and in the second place, likely to do as much damage as good. Remove religion and human beings would go on killing one another and destroying the planet for different reasons or with different justifications.

Malala is a particular kind of reformer. She is a reformer from within Islam. She may not succeed in the long run. Like other reformers before her she might die trying. Nevertheless it is her right to try, no matter how fruitless any of us may think her efforts will be. Her courageous work, regardless of the outcome, is an inspiration to people everywhere.

Source: Patheos