secularism in spirit

i was having this really interesting conversation last night with a friend which prompted me to post something about the topic.we were talking about religion in general and islam in today's world.now for people who know me they know im not really a practicing muslim.but im also not anti-islam either.i believe very strongly in the essence of islam etc.in the post 9/11 world islam has become defined as the islam that is espoused by fundamentalist islam.fundamenatlist muslims are the taliban or the MMA in this country.they also include the wahabi clergy in Saudi Arabia as well as the ruling Shia clerics in Iran.all these factions practice a very strict form of Islam.by strict i mean alot of emphasis is placed on literal interpretations and Symbolisms.these were reactionary forces whose roots can be found as back as the 17th century when the Wahabi guy converted(for lack of a better word) to his interpretation of Islam which was based on the strict literal interpreation of the Quran and Sunah.however they really came into their own when western imperialism swept across muslim lands and colonised muslim peoples.these people came up with the notion that since muslims had strayed from the correct path this was Allah's punishment upon them.hence to reverse the punishment Muslims had to revert back to 'Sharia' or the literal letter of Islam.to cut a long story short they continued to grow from strength to strength in post independence era when leaders like gamal abdul nasser,bhutto etc failed to deliever prosperity to the masses.now coming to today's scenario.we have one military ruler trying to reverse the previous military ruler's disastrous legacy.the short cut way is the turkey/attaturk way.crackdown hard and declare yourself secular.the second way is to undermine the credibility of the mullah at the one hand and to provide a credible alternative instead.that credible alternative would be in the form of economic development and greater political freedom.something akin to what mahathir managed to do in Malaysia.there are fundamenatlists in Malaysia but they are on the fringe.by and large Malaysia is a highly tolerant and progressive nation.in todays' Pakistan which has been brainwashed for two decades by a strong dose of Mullah Islam,Attaturk wont work unless Pakistan was to suffer a catastrophe similar to turkey after WWI.unfortunatly if a similar situation/disaster was to occur it would make Pakistanis more favorable to the mullahs as they are not in power.we also should guard against the Shah of iran model.the shah created a society which was totally alien to 90% of the massess.we must first focus on economic development.secondly the state's writ must be extended to such an extent that not only do mosques,madrassa come under its sway,the writ also encompasses tribal areas in NWFP and Balochistan.Secular has come to assume a bad name in Pakistan.its come to symbolise anti-religion which its not.a secular society is merely a society where everyone has their own freedom of choice regarding religion and that the state doesnt impose a religion or discriminate on the basis of religion.in many ways being the Islamic republic of Pakistan doesnt matter cos its a symbol.there is no sharia here.yes there is the horrendous hudood and blasphemy laws but no taliban sharia here yet.Pakistan ideologically was created for muslims not islam.thats the key difference.finally i favor the slightly cautious mush approach cos as i said the vast majority of the nation has been brainwashed and many ppl feel a strong affinity for not only islam but fellow muslims as well.i dont know bt others but even though as a believer in human rights i feel for people being killed maimed anywhere in the world when it involves muslims say in palestine,bosnia,kosovo,chechnya and kashmir i feel stronger pain and interest.i dunno whther its the zia-ul-haq islamiat tht causes that or what.but its true.ill continue but first some feedback.