Throughout history, the most potent and dangerous rhetorical weapon has been ultranationalist patriotism—especially when laced with fears of racial, religious, or national extinction.

Dirty politicians and authoritarian regimes routinely exploit this rhetoric during times of instability or elections. They stoke fear by painting a picture of “others against us.” And in that narrative, they always need a convenient scapegoat—often foreigners, migrants, or religious minorities—to blame for society’s problems.

Religious minorities are typically cast as outsiders: alien, untrustworthy, disloyal. They are marked as “foreigners” even when they’ve lived on the land for generations. This branding sets the stage for religious riots, engineered not by accident, but as a deliberate political strategy.

Samuel Johnson put it best:

“Patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels.”

From General Aung San: On the Dirty Politics of Ultranationalism

“Religion is the trump card of dirty politicians and dirty governments.”

They say:

• Politics is dirty.
• Politics is religion.

They say these contradictory things in the same breath—because confusion is their strategy.

Their goal is to bewilder the public, blur real issues, and cloud judgment. What they do is not politics, but opportunism. Real politics is a science of human society. Religion, by contrast, is a matter of individual conscience.

Of course, a just political system must protect the freedom of religious worship. But we must draw a firm line between religion and politics. Mixing the two is not only politically irresponsible—it betrays the spirit of religion itself.

Religion concerns the soul, the hereafter. Politics concerns worldly affairs. It is secular by nature.

Religious Freedom and National Unity

General Aung San addressed the monastic community with a profound call:

“Reverend Sanghas!
You have a tremendous role to play. This is the highest form of politics you can do for your country and people.
Go among the people.
Preach unity and love.
Carry the message of higher freedom—
freedom to worship,
freedom to preach,
freedom from fear, ignorance, and superstition.
Teach our people to rely on themselves,
to rebuild spiritually, materially, and morally.”

What Is Politics, Really?

Some still cling to the idea that politics is inherently “dirty.” But that is a myth. As General Aung San clarified:

“It is not politics that is dirty—but the people who choose to dirty it.”

We are all political beings. As Aristotle said, “Man is a political animal.”

Politics is not some distant activity—it’s your everyday life:

• How you eat, sleep, work, and live.
• It’s the worker seeking fair wages.
• The farmer improving his land.
• The clerk and official seeking dignity and security.
• The trader wanting fair chances.

Even if you try to ignore politics, politics never ignores you. It’s in your home, your office, your fields, your daily struggle.

And what is it all about?

Livelihood.
Dignity.
Opportunity.
Freedom.

We fight for:

• Freedom to live.
• Freedom to grow—individually and nationally.
• Freedom that uplifts us without oppressing others.

That is what real politics is about.
It is not dirty.
It is not dangerous.
It is not mystical or beyond understanding.
It is human.

Let us reclaim politics from scoundrels and return it to the people.
Let us reject religious hatred, fear-mongering, and scapegoating.
Let us remember what General Aung San stood for: unity, reason, and justice.