Kourosh Mobiniasked

Kourosh Mobini asked me about Lech Valesa’s comment about religion.  From my perspective, religion is nothing more than an instrument for forming collective identities.  Therefore, it really does not matter if people agree that there is but one God.  Look at the conflicts between the Shi’as and Sunnis, and between Catholics and Protestants.  They have lasted nearly 1500 years.  Therefore, I find his comment to be overly optimistic.  It would be nice if our conflicts within and between religious faiths were confined to theological discussions.  Unfortunately, religion often follow the contours of other explosive faultiness, such as income inequality, social and political marginalization.  When that happens, religion becomes an instrument of forming political identity in the hands of some political entrepreneurs.  

What I was going to ask Mr. Valesa was the following:  Lech Valesa credits the Pope (John Paul) 50% for the fall of the Soviet Union; his own movement, 30%.  Presumably, according to him, the bumbling Gorbachev also has a good deal to do with the regime’s final demise.  In contrast, in this country, we – and particularly the Republican Party – attribute the credit to President Ronald Reagan’s policies for the destruction of the Soviet Empire.  From Mr. Valesa’s perspective, how did he view Mr. Reagan’s arms buildup and his call to “tear down the wall”?