padzac wrote: I am picking on the Catholic Church as an institution. =============================== okay, so you wanna pick on the Vatican. fine. friend, the catholic church is far more than just a religious institution- it is also a political entity/ symbol, without which civilisation as we know it wouldn't have come be (despite the fact that they were solely to blame for many atrocities). You can deny it all you want, hurl all the abuses you want but the world knows that the Vatican is the symbol of christian civilisation. It was partly due to their influence through their good and bad, that gave rise to political giants like Martin Luther, who transformed Europe, the Vatican and christianity forever. its finance, political power and influence surpasses that of any of the other denominations, most governments and nations. with its long and colorful history, it become a very convenient target for many wannabe godmen. the theology, is far more complicated than you and i could possibly fathom. the vatican has made a statement to say that it does not have a monopoly of "truth", knowing very well that human interpretations of god's word cannot be absolute - they should know the truth in that, as the bible as we know it in its many forms was first edited by them. as in most theocracies and religious institutions, godmen do abuse the powers vested in them, and coruption would set in. Friend, it is impossible for you to understand christian theology, and to know heresy, unless you first you first study the position of orthodoxy. Christian churches today formulate their own theologies, with insufficient debate – they do not allow their theologies to formulate the churches, leading to confusion. Orthodox churches on the other hand fear change as they do not wish for corruption of values that they hold dear – hence the impatience of the “progressives”. This is the problem with christianity today – unbridled freedom – so much so, everyone believes that he is right for the sake of convenience. Those who break away organise their own churches that formulate their own theology. And guess what – you too are free to think and do what you like – based on the books that were agreed upon. Peace.
Dear Dr.Azly, You asked: What will it take for us to prevent another May 13 from happening? Will a brand new regime be the answer? Will a truly multiethnic, social-democratic, nationalistic government help us through the next 50 years of "Independence"? Will replacing the NEP and redefining the meaning of "Bumiputera" to include ALL ethnic groups to be given similar special rights and privileges be the ultimate solution for peace and justice? ==================================== Permit me to ramble a little. As we all know, the "two races that count" are the malays and chinese. Whatever happenned on 5.13, happened because the powers that be, used the chauvinism of the chinese against them. It was rather foolish of them to imagine that they could grab power from the Malays, and belittle them in the process. The Malays used their trump card (right or wrong), and the rest is history. The question remains - are the Malays secure in their grip on political power? I guess not.
That is because, it can never happen as long as there remains Chinese or Indians who cannot assimilate. There was a time when one could assimilate into Malay society quite easily, by adopting the Malay lifestyle. Not any more. Assimilation is made difficult with current policies entrenched in the NEP. The “religion factor” is added on to make things doubly difficult and worse, with the adoption of the "arabisation" of Malay culture. The quest for uniformity, intolerance of difference in opinion (ala the wahhabis) is very much prevalent today. With further absorption of Indonesian and Filipino Muslims, the Malay culture and race has been altered artificially. This has led to the dilution and emasculation of the true Malay identity, hence further insecurity among the Malays. With these alterations in the demographics, the politicians now have a new "bogeyman" - the Islamic fundamentalist. Now, why would any politician in his right mind want to give up absolute power? The Malay politician in power at present has it all at his disposal. Now the only thing that he may lack partially is economic power - that the chinese still hold. Of course, he instils this "desire" for financial reward into the people - and voila! and the chinese bogeyman makes his presence felt. There are now two bogeymen at the disposal of Mr. Politician to conveniently use. Getting to the point, You asked: What will it take for us to prevent another May 13 from happening? The answer to to that is – education and trust. I do not for a minute believe that building trust among the various ethnic groups is as firmly on the agenda,( as compared to wealth acquisition with sectarian interests), among the various leaders. They give a façade of cooperation while they go on cheating each other. Govt sponsored education cannot be used as a platform for indoctrination, as is currently practised in many third-world nations. Healthy debates need to be encouraged, so that the fear of new ideas is dispelled. Will a brand new regime be the answer? Not if the current concept of nationhood persists, or the people don't have a viable option. However, As long as there exists a significant Malay political vacuum in the opposition, this insecurity among the Malays would remain. Will a truly multiethnic, social-democratic, nationalistic government help us through the next 50 years of "Independence"? Yes. But first, there needs to be abolition of race based political parties/ alliances. Non- Malays need to acknowledge the fact that it was the Malays (whatever their origins may be) who had the earliest kingdoms/ governments of the modern era in this land. It would need a secular constitution, based on universal values. It has to be led by a Malay majority. They need to have proper concepts of nationhood (akin to that of USA) guided by politicians who are able to freely articulate their thoughts without resorting to politics of fear. It has to be secular in nature. There has to be separation of religion and state. Will replacing the NEP and redefining the meaning of "Bumiputera" to include ALL ethnic groups to be given similar special rights and privileges be the ultimate solution for peace and justice? There needs to be a redefining of both NEP (not to be abolished entirely) and “bumiputera”, but it cannot happen unless the Malays themselves realise the need for it. They need to realise that they can prosper together, should they build trust and welcome challenges and work without the crutch of the NEP.
