Since the beginning of his conscious existence on the planet, man has been theorizing about, experimenting with, and improving his ideals for life and the systems that help him achieve those ideals. From brutish cave-dwelling hunters in a stateless era to free thinking citizens of modern day democratic states, his has been a painful but fascinating intellectual and physical journey through the ups and downs of absolute monarchies, theocracies, theocratic-monarchic diarchies and finally present day secular democracies. But is his journey over? Many would reply in the affirmative as democracy and secularism have come to be regarded as the end point of the human intellectual journey as far as the question of statecraft is concerned. The task, from here on, it seems to have been assumed, is not to find alternatives but to maintain secular democracies and expand the same to all of humanity. There’s no denying that these two concepts, freedom and equality of humankind being central to both, are a great improvement on auto-theocratic forms of government that were not only unjust but inherently unsustainable also. Instead of being forcibly made to follow by the powers-that-be, it is unquestionably more desirable for a human being to not only have the right to hold literally any opinion and express it freely without fear of persecution, but establish it as law if they can create public consensus around it. It is better to be able to peacefully vote governments in and out based on their performance than having to risk one’s life in forcibly toppling a bad government and facing bloodbaths whenever there is a question of succession. As theoretical concepts, secularism and democracy have no better alternatives yet. As practical ways of life, unfortunately, they have failed to deliver for much of humankind, as it was hoped they would. Wars, as unholy as any under theocracies, are still fought; wealth is still concentrated in a few hands; in many places, governments are still run by a few unelected people. In developed democracies, corporations are the real rulers that help legislators get elected by funding them, in return for which they pass laws allowing these corporations to grow stronger. It is lust for money and power that result in wars and financial meltdowns every few years leaving thousands, even millions, dead, crippled, jobless and homeless. In developing democracies, the same role is played by feudal lords, individual businessmen, bureaucrats and army generals. Very often democracy, as it exists today, is no better than any form of autocracy or theocracy or any combination thereof that humanity has ever known. Do we have a better alternative? Well, we may find one in due course but presently we don’t. And even if we did have one, the chances are it wouldn’t work, because the fault doesn’t lie with the system. Replace the system with a new one and man will find ways to corrupt it unless his nature is purged of all selfish proclivities. That, obviously, can’t be reasonably hoped for. Does that mean there is no way to fix it? There probably is one. Religion can provide those checks against corruption of the human soul that nothing else can. That should, however, not be seen as a case for theocracy. It’s supposed to mean something entirely different. Leaving aside the question of whether it is ordained by God or invented by man himself, religion does seem to have a purpose in man’s life. Many religions present life in this world as a test, one’s performance in which shall determine what happens to one in the next. The key to success, according to religion, is adopting universal moral values like truthfulness, honesty, compassion, fairness, sacrifice and cooperation among others, as well as purging one’s soul of universally recognised moral sins like dishonesty, corruption, greed, etc. Had religion remained confined to playing the role of providing universally acceptable moral standards and urging humanity to adopt them, it would not only have enjoyed more success and respect, the world would also have been a whole lot happier. Imagine how well democracy would perform if political and corporate leaders were only slightly less morally bankrupt than they are today. It is unfortunate that more often than not, religion has been blown out of its correct proportion and place in society by the very people who were supposed to serve it. Where it should have helped society become more just, it was used as a tool to gain wealth and power and to silence opposition. This is exactly what is still happening in the third world. In the developed world, on the other hand, abuse of religion has led to it losing even its rightful place in the society. It stands discredited and disgraced. But even then the clergy are able to accumulate enough wealth for themselves. It is time for religion to rediscover its true purpose of actively uplifting society’s moral stature and be unconcerned with everything else. Only then shall secular democracy deliver on its promise. The writer is a freelance columnist based in Lahore