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"I locked my gate to protect my family from unwanted intrusion.
One day, without reason I thought that
my family may be disturbed by my neighbours.
I went over to my neighbours
and locked their gate to stop them from coming out.
When my neighbours complained,
I said, "I locked my gate too and why can't I lock yours?""
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The stamping of the Bibles issue has been at the forefront of the many manufactured controversies of late, and we've had many people making comments on it. Many have seemed to have lost the plot- they seem to belive that just because Malaysian Muslim have accepted (willingly or otherwise) the KDN as their thought/religious police, it is justified for them to do the same with other religions.
It seems to me that the Umno regime is doing everything within the realm of possibilities to control every aspect of Malaysian life in the name of "National Security".
Non-Islamic religions appear to be one of the few institutions which seems to be beyond their control as of now- and they're now using the power of the Islamic Institutions to justify encroaching upon the constitutional liberties they enjoy. As days go by, it becomes increasingly obvious that having had control over Islam, they now wish to control other religions as well- hence imposing the "sentiments/opinions" of certain ignorant people & discredited religious bureaucrats upon the practice of other religions.
If they succeed at doing this- all religious freedom will soon be lost forever- as it "may
They seem to have forgotten that the Federal Constitution protects the rights & independence of each and every religion to manage their own affairs.
Let's take a look at what the Federal Constitution says .....
Article number: 11(1)Every person has the right to profess and practice his religion and, subject to Clause (4), to propagate it. (2) No person shall be compelled to pay any tax the proceeds of which are specially allocated in whole or in part for the purposes of a religion other than his own. (3) Every religious group has the right -
(a) to manage its own religious affairs;
(b) to establish and maintain institutions for religious or charitable purposes; and
(c) to acquire and own property and hold and administer it in accordance with law. (4) State law and in respect of the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Lubuan, federal law may control or restrict the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the religion of Islam. (5) This Article does not authorize any act contrary to any general law relating to public order, public health or morality. Now- Which part exactly, of the above, don't these KDN guys understand?
When and from where exactly did they get the authority to scrutinize Bibles when they have no knowledge of Christian Theology or the different schools of thought?
When exactly did they get the authority to decide how one of another religion worships?
As it is they have been using taxpayers' money to fund Islamic institutions - which runs contrary to Clause (2)- which Malaysians don't complain about .... now they tell us they have to scrutinize our scriptures?
Here is what Wong Chun Wai of The Star had to say in
Find a way out of this deadlock :-
"But when the stamping is done by the authorities, it takes on a different dimension."
"In short, if it is not an issue in Sabah and Sarawak, why is there a need to complicate the matter? We do not have to be experts of the Constitution to know that state enactments cannot supersede the Federal Constitution.....Religion may be state matters but the Federal Constitution reigns supreme with the guarantee of freedom to profess and practise one’s religion (Article 11).
In fact, the decision to stamp the words “For Christians Only” could well be unconstitutional. The Federal Constitution is very clear on the right of Malaysians to religious freedom, .....But there is no evidence that these imported Bibles would be used to propagate to Muslims. By putting conditions such as serial numbers and stamping “For Christians Only” on the Bibles, the authorities could well be exceeding their powers and even infringe the Federal Constitution."It appeared that he articulated the sentiments of the Christians quite well and you would've thought that this guy actually was a Christian ..... until .... he, in his usual BN Apologist fashion, changes his tune towards the end, and appears to suggest that "we accept this travesty of justice & humiliation and move on" by with the following very "spiritual" and nauseating advice:
"In this season of Lent, as we pray and prepare ourselves for Easter with repentance, fasting, spiritual discipline and moderation, let us remind ourselves that the Bible only comes alive because of our faith. The Bible, in the most perfect condition, will remain useless if it is just left on the shelf, untouched."So much for Wong Chun Wai .....
They want to tell us that what we do among non-Muslims, shakes the faith of Muslims, and hence they should control us?? (
I cannot imagine a bigger insult upon my faith if a cleric tells me that my faith can be shaken by the act of another- but many Muslims seem to be quite approving of this opinion of themselves .... but that's their choice though).
As it is they have forced Christian symbols off the many reputable schools they set up. Next they'll be telling us that any act of worship, or maybe even the public celebration of other festivals unless Muslim- would shake the faith of Muslims, has to be forbidden!
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I feel hopeless that the fact my church is constantly under attack because someone somewhere feels it’s a brilliant political strategy to “pinch the baby and rock the cradle”.
I feel incredulous at the thought that the government, clerics, the Home Ministry, Umno, Perkasa, the Muslim consumers association are being consulted over Christian Bibles!-Stop oppressing the Christians — Emmanuel Joseph====================================
It is beyond comprehension, how some people (
like our Home Minister of the kris-wielding fame, Mr Hishamuddin or even the sms-sending Harussani) can justify subverting the Federal Constitution, based on "
a feeling" that the arabic word "
Allah" should only be used in an Islamic context in the interest of "national security" ..... an opinion which incidently doesn't seem to have anything to support it whatsoever- religious or historical.
However, the sad truth is- there are some pseudo-intellectual unthinking souls choose to blindly submit & kowtow to these subversives who intend to override the Federal Constitution-
what more, the man on the street- in the interest of "national security". Maybe these guys will submit to a Malaysian Hitler some day- when he decides that all non-Muslim Malaysians need serial numbers tattooed on their foreheads ... as it will only be in the interests of "national security", of course!
They'll then probably say, "It is only a tattoo, just accept it and move on with life okay- what is important is you get to go on living ..."
It is mind-boggling that in this time and age, that there are people (
that too, "doctors") who can actually espouse such simplistic pseudo-intellectual rationale to justify tyranny. It is hardly surprising that many men on the street are confused by all the Umno sponsored propaganda, when people who are apparently educated can come out which such twisted logic.
Anyways- Raffick, the much 'enlightened' doctor, published a picture of a KDN stamped & serialized Quran, as a justification for the home ministry's similar actions on 30,000 Bibles. What twisted logic- for that alone, anyone can be forgiven for thinking of him as an ill-bred, unthinking simpleton.
That's like a suicide bomber, saying that if he can kill himself, he has every right to kill others as well ...
But I guess, when the Umno spin-doctor - Syed Akbar Ali
(a crude commenter aka "muftimurtad" back then on MalaysiaToday (click here for more info on that) before he got arrested-
now appointed to the MACC much publicity & also the Pro-tem chairman of "Blog-House", apparently) can come out with advice on "ethical blogging"- anyone can be dishing out free nonsensical "advice" ....
(NOTE- I however believe that Syed Akbar's"sedition" was not only unjustified, but also, ridiculous!!)
“In fact, ‘Interlok’ is barely a step away from the Biro Tata Negara (BTN) brainwashing that promotes racism and disunity. ‘Interlok’ conveys the central message that Chinese, Indian and other minorities are second-class citizens in addition to perpetuating the divisive notion of a host community (the Malays) versus foreigners (‘bangsa asing’ Cina dan India).”
KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 23 — Ruling Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s 2008 arrest for sodomy to be legal, the High Court here today reversed its earlier decision to exclude evidence obtained following the opposition leader’s detention then. 