I always thought that those who single out others as fools are the bigger fools. How can you not be the bigger fool when you brandish the word “amicable” so wantonly and not know what it means? According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “amicable” means “friendly; done in a friendly spirit”. Nothing that has happened thus far has been done in a “friendly spirit”! Are you dull of heart and mind that your eyes cannot see and your ears cannot hear?
It is said that the dignity of the person is the most precious possession of an individual and is manifested in the person’s origin and destiny. As a result, the value of one person transcends the entire material world. The goods of the world do not count as much as the good of the person. The dignity of a person is important since the person is created by God in His image and likeness. Thus every violation of the personal dignity of the human being is an offence against the Creator. The human person is always of value as an individual, and as such, demands to be treated as a person and not a means or a thing. The dignity of a person constitutes the foundation of equality of all people among themselves and of participation and solidarity. Dialogue and communion are rooted ultimately in what people are rather than what they have. The dignity of a person is an indestructible property of every human being and is based on the uniqueness and unrepeatability of every person. The most radical and elevating affirmation of the value of every human being was made by the Son of God in His becoming man in the womb of a woman.
That – the above – demands the respect, defense and promotion of the rights of every human person. You, who maligned us Christians, a Christian yourself, should know better than to let your mouth run faster than you can think!
Has our dignity been compromised lately? I believe so. When people label us fools, it implies that we can’t think for ourselves. If at all you can think and we can’t, how is it that you can’t discern? Did you sleep well last night? I hope not, otherwise, the Cantonese will label you “mo tak kau”! (Ed: “beyond redemption”)
If you have been reading your Bible, you would know: “Every sin will be forgiven mankind, even insults to God, however numerous. But whoever slanders the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he carries the guilt of his sin forever.” You would have known those fighting for our dignity and right to practise our faith the way we deem fit and proper, are working with the Spirit. “To slander the Holy Spirit is to attribute to a bad spirit a work that is manifestly good.”
The one who recognizes the truth but not God is better off than the one who says he believes in God but does not recognize the truth. Where do you belong? We become free when we admit that there is nothing sacred in a society which attempts to impose its own standards. As long as people are subject to an order, to laws and authorities which are considered sacred and no one thinks of criticizing, those people are neither free nor true sons and daughters of God.
As a Christian myself, I say with conviction that I do not profess a religion that prevents me from seeking the truth and from questioning every area of human restlessness. If that was the case, I believe my religion wouldn’t be the true one. Are you sure we both profess the same religion?
Jesus says that those who love the truth recognize those who speak the truth. I’m happy to see that you have many detractors, even among non-Christians. That gives us Christians hope. Though hope is not an easy optimism, those who hope bear trials and persecutions with patience and perseverance.
To my fellow Christians, let no one deceive you with empty arguments. Although it appears that at times we are left without an answer, do not despair. We may be persecuted but we are not abandoned, knocked down but not crushed. See, how our fellow Malaysians are rallying behind us. This is when we say, “Malaysia Boleh”!
You, staying with half-truths, are surely not in keeping in the spirit of Lent.
Last but not least, to my fellow Malaysians of other faiths, a big “Thank You” from the bottom of my heart, for your support. Without you, my brothers and sisters, our fight would appear insurmountable. God bless you all.
May Chee Chook Ying resigned as a teacher some eleven years ago in an effort to be a better mother. Eleven years later, she’s still in the dark! Sometimes, because of whats ingrained in her vocabulary, she makes remarks or typecast persons, which her 4 kids deem are racist. She’s trying hard to shake that off, very hard, but believes deep down inside, she is not one. She feels blessed her kids can accuse both their parents of being racists! It is her kids who remind her, now and then, what it means to be Malaysian. She believes a true Malaysia is possible. She has to because it’s possible she may have a grandchild whose name may be Travis Tuppani or Emma Abdullah. She’s going to love them all the same.
king david,
Although I understand your anger at MUSTAFA's comments and that there is righteous anger as such, you should not be calling him such names which would negate your arguments.
Your second comment is very much controlled and that is what a civil discussion and debate should be conducted.
My personal response to MUSTAFA is that the Holy Bible consists of the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is about a God of vengeance and of fear. An eye for an eye would sum it up somewhat. Just like our parents of the older generation, whenever we did wrong, we kena whacked until we submitted and promised not to do it again.
The New Testament is about a God of love and forgiveness. It is all about a change of heart. Kinda like we, as parents love and pamper our children nowadays. Of course, we also threaten at times but never beat the living daylights out of them.
Dear Adam et al,
There are not 2 gods in the Bible, one of vengeance and fear, and the other of love and forgiveness. It is the same God from the beginning of the OT to the end of the NT. This God is the one and only Creator God who is holy, pure and just, and also love and compassion and merciful. Because all man have sinned since the time of the first Adam (in Genesis), God being the Righteous Holy Judge had declared the punishment and curse of sin on all the world: hence the natural disasters, diseases, wars, pain and suffering, and death and separation from His Holy presence.
But because of His love for us humans, God withheld destroying all mankind, but made a plan to send Jesus as the sacrificial Paschal Lamb to die for our sins. On Good Friday, Jesus died by cruel execution under the Roman authorities, but on Sunday morning, He resurrected! His death and resurrection is the pivotal point in human history: that point when the penalty for sins has been satisfied,and now all mankind can be saved and redeemed to have a life with the eternal God by repenting and believing in this offer of forgiveness and life.
“Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” Hebrews 9:27
It is the same God because Jesus taught that the Old Testament prophesied about Him and His coming, and He was the fulfilment of all that God had promised even from the time of the first Adam Genesis 3:15)through Abraham, Moses and all the other prophets. He came to inaugurate a New Covenant or Testament of grace to replace the Old Covenant or Testament of law (10 Commandments and other laws) because the former was unable to save man. Who of us can keep all God’s commandments? We all need forgiveness and a Saviour.
MUSTAFA
The point is, any religion which is not OK with allowing others their own thoughts, is attempting to control people, and this in turn becomes violence.
By the looks of it, you need a damn degree in order to correctly understand a passage in any religions writing. You'd think "God" would make a message more accessible, but instead people argue about which book is divinely inspired and which book isn't. In the end, it's arguing about who's shit smells the least.
It should be noted that most of the violent sections in the bible are in the OLD testament and are generally overridden by the NEW testament in Christianity. However, in the Koran it is the opposite.
There are 114 versus in the Quran about peace and patience that are canceled by the call to Jihad and later periods in the Koran. These are in the earlier sections, where most of the nice versus about peace and patience, of the Quran and have been overridden by the later sections. This is known as nasikh (abrogation) in the Quran where versus written later in time abrogate the versus written earlier in time whenever there is a contradiction. Note that the Quran is not arranged chronologically (time order), it is arranged from the shortest book to the longest. You need to know the time period a versus was written to determine if it is still valid or abrogated. Many Secular and moderate Muslims still quote peaceful verses despite the fact these are considered overridden via nasikh. The nasikh is not mentioned to Westerners when they read/study the Quran. For example in AD 614 Allah made one verse Surah 2:256 “There is no compulsion (i.e. coercion) in religion.” Then in AD 627 a very different one Surah 9:5 Kill the unbelievers wherever you find them…. But if they repent and accept Islam then leave their way free. The later one created in AD627 overrules the earlier one in AD614. In other words verse 2:256 is null and void. See abrogation rule in the Quran 2:106 Whatever a verse (revelation) do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring a better one or similar to it. Know you not that Allah is able to do all things? The 9th chapter is actually the last chapter written in time, it is the only chapter that does not start with the compassionate one and it contains the verse of the sword. There are peaceful and moderate Muslims but no peaceful and moderate Islam. Many of the most radical Muslims say Islam is a religion of peace because once Islam takes over the world there will be nothing but peace.
So now if you compare the valid violent sections of the Koran vs the bible you will get a much different result. Almost all, if not all, the violent verses in the Koran remain while virtually all of the violent versus in the bible’s Old Testament are void. There are still a few violent versus in the New Testament but I believe that is less than a dozen or so (can someone count them?). Thus as a percentage the Bible’s valid violent versus drops to almost zero while the Korans remains at the previously high amount. Thus it is an inescapable conclusion is that the Koran contains significantly more valid violent verses than the bible.
Let’s apply liberal rules around the bible’s valid violent versus and assume there are 50 violent versus left. The percentage of the violent versus in the bible would drop to 0.16% (50/31173) That is less than one percent. Now divide the Koran’s figure of 5.4% by 0.16% and you get 33.77 as the ratio, in other words the Koran is over 33 more time violent than the Koran. That is a HUGE difference!!!
MUSTAFA
Asshole!!!Al-Quran speaks more murder and violence than any other Holy Books..It's damn evident with the jihadist killing innocent peoples…all around the globe… you take few verses from the Bible and twisted it to your own interpretation..shame on you..you are a vile and narrow minded coward..it;s more evident with the restriction of other faiths in this country..if Islam is fair and just, why with all the impounding and persecutions of other faiths in Malaysia?you would never hear this in Christian countries..where all faith are treated equal. What say u now?
HAVE A BLESSED GOOD FRIDAY – 220411
There's no need for mankind to shed blood
Since Jesus had already shed his after Noah's flood
On a Friday that's not bad but Good
So let's love each other while we could
(C) Samuel Goh Kim Eng http://motivationinmotion.blogspot.com
Fri. 22nd. Apr. 2011.
Hi,
Being Good Friday,I hope all christians will not betray Jesus anymore.God became Man(Jesus) so that all of us could become his children and by dying on the cross he cleansed us of our sins,defeated death and created a home in Heaven for each one of us.Let us journey keeping his two commandments dear to us:Love God with all our heart,mind,soul and love our neighbour as ourselves.Remember, the God of this world is Satan(2nd Corinthians-Chapter 4 verse 4)and that is why evil is so prevalent and only by accepting Jesus as Lord.Saviour and Redeemer will we be free from the evil one.Visit http://www.shoebat.com and understand who is the antichrist.
MUSTAFA,
I would like to point out that you're reading the Bible literally.
I would also like to ask how you've come to the conclusion that pedophilia/adultery is encouraged?
David was punished for his act of adultery but that story is about how God is fair – he specially chose David to lead His people but He was willing to punish where His chosen one was wrong. Yet, because He is merciful, He did not turn David into dust or something.
I hope you're not quoting specific verses that seem to point to that "Violent" God you're referring to. You have to understand that relationships change over centuries. The kind of relationship Jews had with God in the Old Testament was one based on FEAR. They spoke of a fearsome God Who punished. When Jesus came, the writings in the Bible point to a relationship based on Love. There was now a human representation of God and it was easier to believe in a God of compassion.
Thank you for being passionate enough to even venture into the reading of the Bible. I regret only that you have come out of the experience misled by your misperceptions and inert prejudice. And are bitter about it.
To John Ling: I wish for a true Malaysia where we need not be afraid of one another. Only when one is afraid, one tend to defend one's interests at all costs. That will give rise to marginalization, and perhaps even oppression. We should all strive to be servants and not masters; the last will be first and the first will be last.
To Mustafa: To judge is to condemn usually for a man like yourself. In judging, God glorifies himself because He's a merciful God. I will never denigrate your holy book the way you do mine because I believe the God I profess is a God of all humanity and that all true religions teach good. In any argument, we should never take things out of context. Anyway, it isn't just about the Written Word, there's also the Revealed Word when it comes to reading the holy book. Have a nice day Mustafa.
Thank you all for reading my article. Actually, I wrote this some weeks back; was responding to some Gandum guy from East Malaysia.
John,
You're welcome.
As for your question.
Syariah Courts are creatures of State Law. The Administration of Islamic Law Enactments in every state creates it while an Act of Parliament creates the Syariah Courts in the Federal Territories.
So to answer your question, Yes, the respective States can abolish the Syariah Courts.
How does one do that? Lobby with your State Legislative Assemblymen/women to have the relevant section of law within the Enactments repealed. This is another peice of evidence as to why Malaysia is not an Islamic state. The people of Malaysia still have the right to decide whether they wish to have the Syariah Courts.
Another thing to note is the Syariah Court's Criminal Jurisdiction. That is decided by the Federal Government following the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965. So one can certainly lobby there to remove the imprisonment, fines and caning sentences meted out by the Syariah Courts.
If you ask me, I think its rather absurd that one repents for his sins by paying money to the State Government. Seems to sound like nothing more than Indulgence.
Mustafa: The Bible is just as fallible as the Qu'ran or Torah. No less, no more. All fiction usually is.
Aston Paiva: Thank you for clarifying.
Do you mean to say that the state has the power to abolish syariah courts? Or does that power rest solely with the federal government?
I agree with you as you said it that Christians are fools. The bible is not the fully infallible word of God. It does seem to contains the word of God, word of prophets of God. The majority of its content is word of historian, third party narration, absurd and violent commandments, scientific absurdities, promoting act of incest and pedophilia, promoting adultery and violent sex, ridiculous statements and lies, contradiction and men made laws and corruptions. Let me quote from the KJV Bible as follows:
1.Numbers 31:17-18, God commanded, " kill all save the young virgins for yourself". What a good God?
2.Samuel 11:4 & 11:6-25 "David adultery with Bathsheda and then murdered her husband for sex lust"
3.Mark 16:17-18. Test of a believing Christian. Do you dare to hold a live cobra for an hr and drink a bottle insecticide and expect to be ok?
4.James 5:3. Halirious that gold and silver rust???
There are many more. Contact me.
John,
If I may perhaps just chip in with your query above. I don't think it is correct to call it a "dual-track legal system", fact is it isn't.
The FedCrt in Latifah Mat Zin was very express in calling the Syariah what it is; a State Court created by State legistion as opposed to the High Court which is a creature of the Constitution.
Here's another reason why one cannot maintain the phrase "dual-track legal system", because the Syariah Court's powers are limited to the powers conferred to it by the State law itself.
The Syariah court cannot make pronouncements that affect a citizen's civil/political/Constitutional rights.
So, sure we can have and maintain the Syariah Courts if the citizens of a State want to, just as long as it acts within its powers and acts constitutionally. And if it doesn't, then it can and must be subjected to the supervisory powers of the High Court. Furthermore, this line of thought was also taken by the High Court in Kadar Shah v Fauziah Haron [2008] 4 CLJ 504 @ Para 15 and 16.
The Syariah Court is, to use the legal words of the Art 121 of Constitution, merely an Inferior Tribunal.
though Islam is the official religion of the federation it carries no more rather than ceremonial purpose
So you would be in favour of dismantling Malaysia's current dual-track legal system in favour of a single secular one that judiciates equally and fairly without regard to religion?
Just curious to see what you think, since you appear quite knowledgeble.
though Islam is the official religion of the federation it carries no more rather than ceremonial purpose, it is affirm in the case of Che Omar Che Soh & Anor v PP. At the same time, our constitution guarantees freedom of religion to the people.
therefore, i believe our constitution actually embrace wider scope on freedom of religion as it does not limits how many religions we should have in the federation. as long as it is subjected to the restriction in clause 5 of Art 11, everyone is free to profess and practice his or her religion.
there may be a good argument in regards of the implementation but to suggest an amendment, i would rather say leave the constitution alone.
regards
Many are spiritually blinded by the forces of evils. They see but do not perceive. A day will come when all knees shall bow and all tongues confess that JESUS is LORD. Amen.
Well said, May Chee.
What are your thoughts, though, about removing Islam as the 'official' religion of the country, perhaps in favour of amendments that embrace multiculturalism?
For example, Indonesia's constitution recognizes six official faiths: Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism.
Is this a direction we should move towards?
Would be interested to hear your thoughts.