在法国最近一次令人震惊的宗教恐怖主义事件，马来西亚与前首相马哈迪再度成为国际焦点，马哈迪言论似乎加剧了宗教仇视和仇恨。当他写道：“穆斯林有权生气并为过去遭受的屠杀，而杀害数百万法国人”时，他的言论不仅引起了全世界的愤慨，也摧毁了他作为值得令人尊敬和钦佩的政治家地位。
对许多在过去70年中，长期关注马哈迪的人而言，并不会对马哈迪的极端言论感到惊讶。他被视为典型的政治家和类似狂热传教士的政治人物，彰显本身信仰的优越性，给予追随者美好的承诺和愿望，却严惩异议者。不幸的是，这样的运作模式一直存在，从没间断。他们遵循的是一种数百年甚至数千年来的模式。
应对死亡终极方案
要摆脱宗教暴力和恐怖主义恶性循环的唯一途径，也许就是让著名学者与宗教学校的毕业生一起携手教授世界上大约6000种宗教的历史、差异、共性和模式，以及与文化的联系和政治特征。这些课程可通过科学证据、逻辑和理性，帮助人们正确地看待亚伯拉罕宗教及其他宗教的书籍和经书所传达的所谓普世真理。
我所设想的“比较宗教101”课程将首先指出，世界各地许多宗教都普遍认为，地球上所有生物，包括人，都是来自最终创造者的。同时，也会指出宗教的起源和传播与追逐权威、权力和信徒密不可分。
人们寻找至高无上创造者的历史，可以追溯到很久以前。我们没有确切的日期。但是，如果回看一下人类的进化史，就可以对其源远流长的历史有所了解。
无可辩驳的科学证据表明，人类的言行特征，都起源于类猿祖先，并且这些特征是经过600万年的时间演化而成的。人类直立行走的能力是400万年前发展出来的。
人类其他重要的特征，例如复杂的大脑，使用工具和语言表达的能力，都是较后才发展起来的。更高级特征，如复杂符号表达、艺术、文化多样性等，是于10万年前才出现的。随之衍生出如地狱、天堂，对神、女神、幽灵、神灵和其他人创造的物体或朝拜点的崇拜观念和信仰，以使人类死后有更美好的生活。
我们来自何处，以及生命的终结之后去向何方的问题和答案，已经有各种表达方式，但没有一个终极的方案。考古证据表明，5万多年前的尼安德特人（Neanderthals）已开始意识到死亡。他们已有自我意识，很可能已对死亡及其含义有所认识。这样意识在现代人中并没有衰退，但也没有找到终极解决方案；这会纠缠著人类，直到所有的人都死了，它才得以解决。
大多数宗教都特别关注人死后的命运。他们开始时可能以“阴间”作为死人世界的概念。古代墓地和仪式的证据表明，祭司和生死的仪式存在，就是要让死者的灵魂得到安息。
最早的政治人物
占卜者、先知、神谕和算命者也扮演著类似角色，他们被认为能够通过魔法和其他方式预见未来。祭司、占卜者和神谕的角色到古代宗教中往往是结合在一起的。这些人通过预测未来以及许诺死后通往某种形式的天堂，获得了利益和特权。
早期，祭司和类似人士，利用人类的不安全感和对超自然现象的恐惧，将其作为强大的意识形态工具。这种手法也满足了宗教创始人和先知的需求，他们可以将本身对“真理”，“地狱”，“天堂”，“光明”，“黑暗”和“乐园”理解及解决人类焦虑方案强加于部落。
这些“圣人”可被视为世界上最早的政治人物之一。除母系社会外，女祭司在历史上是很少的。若女性成为主导者，那世界历史可能会改写了。在女巫、巫师、祭司和类似宗教人物之上的是酋长、君主、王帝、苏丹、哈里发、元首和其他类似权势者，他们处于社会最高地位。无论是荷马之前的古希腊宗教、犹太教、基督教、兴都教、佛教和伊斯兰教，世界的宗教体系不仅可以看作是对我们世界存在的解释。他们还提供了政治管理和社会经济权力分配的策略。
如今，尽管科学和人类知识进步神速，但宗教的魅力仍在，而一些宗教领袖和骗子也利用此满足私利。过去，原始社会雷电、闪电、洪水和地震等自然现象感到惊呆和迷惑。现代科学使这些现象去神秘化，使我们能够克服对未知的恐惧。
不过，在一些原始社会，他们对死亡的态度相对泰然处之，而不会对之有所恐惧。例如，东非依然过著狩猎采集生活方式的哈扎人（Hazda）并不相信来世，对他们而言，死亡就意味著生命的结束。
这是令人吊诡的，这样部落而不是我们的现代社会，似乎更接近当前关于心身二分法的科学立场，即认为意识源自或可还原为物理现象，例如大脑中的神经元活动。这个前提的含义是，一旦大脑死亡停止运作，意识就不复存在了。
接受生命的直接终结──死后的人类将直接成为我们进化而来的地球，海洋或河流的一部分，没有任何的来世──然而，这将有悖于世界范围内有组织的宗教产业，以及利用此受益的政治和宗教精英。
《地狱、天堂、祭司和政客》（Hell, Heaven, Priests and Politicians）原文：
The latest horrifying episode of religious terrorism in France has unfortunately put Malaysia in the international lime light with the former Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir, seen as adding fuel to the religious fires and hatred. When he wrote that ¨Muslims have a right to be angry and [to] kill millions of French people for the massacres of the past〃 his statement not only sparked worldwide outrage. It also destroyed his credentials as a statesman worthy of respect and admiration.
Many that have followed Dr. Mahathirˇs career during the past 70 years will not be surprised by his extremist response. He is seen as being typical of the politicians and evangelists that expound the superiority of their religion and promise milk, honey and paradise for their followers, and the fires of hell for those who do not belong.
Unfortunately too we have not seen the last of such fire and brimstone practitioners. They follow a well trodden pattern going back hundreds if not thousands of years.
Perhaps the only way to get out of this cycle of religious violence and terrorism is for graduates from religious institutions together with reputable scholarsto to teach about the history of the estimated 6,000 religions of the world, the differences, commonalities and patterns, and associations with cultural and political features.
Using scientific evidence, logic and rationality, such courses can help put into proper perspective the so-called universal truths and answers peddled by the religious books and scriptures of the Abrahamic religions as well as those of other religions.
Comparative Religion Course 101
My design of a course on "Comparative Religion 101" will begin by pointing out that the idea of an ultimate creator responsible for all living things on earth, including man, is one common to many religions found in the different parts of the world.
It would also make the argument that the origin and spread of religion is inextricably connected with the quest for authority, power and followers.
The search for a supreme maker goes very far back in history. We do not have a precise date for it. However, some idea of how far back it goes can be obtained if we look at the history of evolution. Irrefutable scientific evidence has shown that the physical and behavioral features shared by all people originated from ape-like ancestors and that these evolved over a period of 6 million years. The ability to walk upright evolved over 4 million years ago.
Other important human characteristics such as a complex brain, ability to use tools and capacity for language have developed more recently. Advanced traits such as complex symbolic expression, art, cultural diversity, etc. emerged over 100,000 years ago. With this emergence came ideas and beliefs of hell, heaven and the worship of gods, goddesses, spirits, deities and other man-created objects or points of veneration to facilitate the ascent to a better existence after death.
What Happens After Life's End?
Questions and answers about where we come from and where we go after the end of life on earth have been voiced in all kinds of ways without any resolution. Archaeological evidence suggests that early men such as the Neanderthals who can be dated to over 50,000 years ago had some sort of preoccupation with death. They were self-conscious beings and were likely to have an awareness of death and the meaning and implications of death. Such consciousness has continued unabated and unresolved with modern man; it will remain unresolved until all humans die off - whenever that may come about.
Most if not all religions have been especially concerned with man's destiny after death. They probably began with some notion of an Underworld as an abode for the dead. Evidence from ancient burial sites and rituals also indicates concern with ensuring that the spirits of the dead were appropriately sent off or they would not rest peacefully which explains the presence of priests and other before and after-death guides.
A parallel role in society was performed by soothsayers, seers, oracles and diviners who were seen as able to foresee the future by magical and other means. The roles of priests and diviners and oracles were often integrated in the ancient religions. Predicting the near and distant future as well as promising some form of paradise after death proved a lucrative and privileged undertaking for those who belonged to these occupations.
From its earliest too, priestly and equivalent personages have exploited man's sense of insecurity andfear of the supernatural and made it their powerful ideological tool. This modus operandi served theneeds of its founders and prophets who could then impose on their tribes their understanding of 'truth', 'hell', 'heaven', 'light', 'darkness', and 'paradise' and their solutions to human anxieties. These 'holy men' can be considered to be among the world's first politicians. Women priests have been relatively sparse in history except in matrilineal societies. Perhaps if they had become dominant, it could have made a difference to the history of the world.
Above the witch doctors, shaman, priests and similar personages holding positions in the little or great religions of the world have been the chiefs, lords, emperors, sultans, caliphs, sovereigns and other similar potentates standing at the highest rung of their society. Whether it is with pre-Homeric Greek religion, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam, the religious systems of the world can be seen not only as providing explanations for our earthly existence. They also provided strategies for managing the distribution of political and socio-economic power.
Today, despite the advancement of science and knowledge, the lure of religion continues as also its exploitation by the leaders and charlatans of religion.
In the past primitive societies were petrified and mystified by natural phenomena such as thunder, lightning, floods and earthquakes. Modern science has demystified these phenomena and enabled us to conquer our fears about this aspect of the unknown.
In contrast to the fear of unknown nature, some primitive societies were relatively stoic about death. Hunter gatherer societies such as the Hazda, for example, have no particular belief in an afterlife, and the death of an individual means a straightforward end to their existence.
It is paradoxical that such societies rather than our modern ones seem to come closest to the current scientific position regarding the mindbody dichotomy which sees consciousness as derived from and/or is reducible to physical phenomena such as neuronal activity occurring in the brain. The implication of this premise is that once the brain stops functioning at brain death, consciousness ceases to exist.
Acceptance of a straightforward end to life - that humans, on death, simply become part of the earth, sea or river that we evolved from without any further afterlife - would, however, run against the world wide industry that is organized religion, and the political and religious elites who exploit and benefit from it.
