Secular is what secular does
Full marks to Akbar Hussein for that sparkling gem of
wisdom from Kahlil Gibran, that a truly religious
man does not embrace any religion.
A truly religious person is thoroughly open-minded
(secular, to be sure) and can listen deeply without judging (even more
secular, to be sure).
That is what I meant earlier by using the word oxymoron,
when I said one cannot be secular and a Pakistani at the same time, which
is (was?) the actual topic of this discussion mooted by Sohail.
As for Akbar's hope that a new epoch will soon dawn on
the world, I have my doubts.
I've been waiting for the Age of Aquarius for more than
half a century and seem to be running out of patience.
As always,
Rashid Mughal