President exposes religious radicals: Where did those insulting our religion disappear to?

“It is as if someone has thrown a stone into a pond full of frogs. Our ears and eyes are beginning to get some rest. Those elements, those remnants who call themselves ‘atheists’ and spend every day on social media cursing this nation’s religion, belittling and insulting its faith, have retreated into their shells, turned to dust, evaporated and disappeared. Every now and then, one or two voices emerge here and there. Even that should happen now; complete silence is not good either. People have spent years building an ‘atheist’ image for themselves, and they cannot disappoint those who commissioned them to this extent...”

Writer, publicist and researcher Arzu Asad told TodayPress TV.

He said that the arrest of Chevik 1 demonstrated that the state has no intention of allowing Chevik 2s, Chevik 3s and others like them to operate either on this country’s sacred soil or in its virtual space:

“The country’s president also clearly stated yesterday, in a clear and articulate speech, that the religion of the Azerbaijani people is Islam and that, under the laws in force in this country, Islamophobia, hostility toward Islam, or insulting and degrading Islam or any other religion will absolutely not be tolerated.

The President’s speech also places a responsibility on religious organizations, intellectuals and the intelligentsia in Azerbaijan to expand religious education and ensure that the intellectual space is not left vacant in the face of ignorance and superstition spread in the name of religion, the export of religion by foreign circles, and ideological provocations aimed at radicalizing or inciting confrontation among our citizens under various sectarian labels.

Extremism is bad in all circumstances, whether it is atheism or religion. The harmful aspects of both must be cut away and discarded, while their beneficial and valuable aspects should become integrated into our intellect and spirituality and contribute to the development of our personalities and society.

For this reason, radical elements from both sides must be rejected and condemned on social media, responded to in a timely manner, and not encouraged. A framework for debate, discussion and dialogue in which intellect, decorum and mutual respect prevail must be established. The boundaries between freedom of thought and expression, which are clearly defined by law, and freedom of conscience must coincide with the boundaries of our consciousness, public conduct and morality.”

The researcher added that the Azerbaijani people, through their intellect, will and determination, have the capacity to present to history a model of a secular state capable of creating harmony and mutual interaction between religion and secularism, both for the neighboring Islamic states surrounding us and for the entire world.

Giymat Mahir