What’s happening in the Israel–Iran case is mostly about religion. Israel–Iran relations were far more cordial until 1979, when Iran got a new Islamic constitution, and Iran declares Israel as the “Little Satan” because Israel is a Jewish country. Had both these countries been Muslim, would there be a strife? Had both these countries been Jewish, again, would there be a strife? But we want to close our eyes to the bare fact that religion gone wrong is the worst thing possible to human beings.
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Questioner: Acharya Ji, when nations bomb each other in the name of religion, revenge or self-defense, as in the case of Iran and Israel. So, what does it reveal about our so-called civilizational process or human evolution?
Acharya Prashant: Religion exists to civilize the animal, but the animal can turn religion into its own thing. It's not really human beings that are bombing each other, it's the process of humanization gone wrong. Religion is the process of humanization of the animal, sublimation of the beast that is born from the womb. Religion exists to elevate that beast into a being — a human being. But, that beast is very mischievous. It can turn religion into something of its own.
So, that's what is happening in the Israel-Iran case also. You can say it's a geopolitical thing. You can say it's to do with oil or regional influence. You can say it's a thing about a contested history. But the bleak reality is that it's mostly about religion. It's a religious struggle. You know, these two countries were actually some kind of friends till 1979. In fact, in that entire region, Iran was one of the very few allies that Israel had, very few allies. There was Iran, there was Turkey now Türkiye, and Ethiopia.
