Carry the Cross to follow Jesus

Malaysia protesters forced the removal of the cross on Taman Medan Church.

Churches have a right to display the cross on their buildings under the Federal Constitution and should not be forced to take it down.

“Under Article 11, all Malaysians have a right to practise their own religion and the cross is an integral and indispensable part of the Christian faith – so it comes under the rights of Malaysians under Article 11(1) of the Federal Constitution,” said constitutional lawyer New Sin Yew.

He said that Article 11(1) reads that every person has the right to profess and practice his religion and, subject to Clause (4), to propagate it.

Article 11(4) reads that state law and in respect of the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Labuan, Federal law may control or restrict the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the religion of Islam, he added.

He further questioned the argument put forward by the demonstrators in Taman Medan on Sunday that the sight of the cross in a Muslim-majority area “challenged Islam” and could influence the young.

A group of 50 demonstrators had gathered outside a church in Taman Medan on Sunday to protest against a cross on the facade of the building. They had demanded for the cross to be taken down, claiming that it challenged Islam. It is understood that the cross was taken down by church authorities several hours later.

“You need strong and credible evidence to prove that hanging a cross outside a church would constitute propagation of the Christian faith to Muslims. It would be absurd to suggest that hanging a cross outside a building would amount to propagating Christianity to Muslims,” said New.

He noted also that the group should not have taken matters into their own hands.

“Even if the church should not use a shophouse as a church, the mob should not take matters into their own hands and ignore the whole legal system. They should report the matter to the relevant local authorities or file a suit in court and let the relevant public bodies decide,” he added.

Similar views were shared by Lawyers for Liberty co-founder Eric Paulsen, who also said the church has a right to place the cross outside their building due to Article 11 of the Federal Constitution.

“The issue is much more one of local council, and if the church authorities have received the relevant approvals from the MBPJ, they have a legal right to put the cross on the building. It is quite misguided to say that because an area is majority-Malay Muslim, it is misguided to say that only their rights count,” said Paulsen.

He said that in any society, the rights of minorities deserved as much protection as those of the majority in an area, and cited an international example.

Malay Muslims weak?

The group claimed that putting up a cross in a Malay-majority area is a challenge to Islam and could influence young Muslims. "contended that the sight of the cross in a majority Muslim area challenged Islam and could influence younger minds."

“To force them to remove the symbol is certainly unacceptable and disrespectful to the Christian community,” Azmin was quoted telling reporters after this morning’s monthly meeting with state civil servants.

Tony Pua also said the Taman Medan issue is far from over, since the church had voluntarily agreed to take down the cross “under threat and intimidation”.

“The bigger issue is the fact that if the authorities do not act to protect the minorities in this country, the majority will just become big bullies and take similar actions against others who are just practicing what is protected by our Federal Constitution,” he said.

Rules and Values MY style

In a new open letter to the federal government, 40 prominent Malaysians have criticized religious bureaucrats for subverting a policy of inculcating universal values and turning it into a platform for Islamisation.

“We are not a theocratic state with religious law being prescribed as the supreme law of the land. Neither should we be forced to live by the rule of religious diktats where decrees of religious bureaucrats have legal and punitive effect,” the letter said, quoted by Malaysian Insider.

The group defended Malaysia’s constitution and the secular basis on which the country was formed, and called for a return to a civil order that was “religion-neutral”, as well as respect for 10 key universal values introduced by the government in 1982.

Former judges, ambassadors, high-ranking civil servants, activists and other prominent Malaysians are among those who signed the letter, which comes five months after a group now called the 25 Eminent Malays had called for a defence of constitutional rule and a rational dialogue on Islam.

The new open letter listed the 10 values introduced in 1982 as part of a policy to inculcate universal Islamic virtues. These were: trust, responsibility, honesty, dedication, moderation, diligence, discipline, cooperation, honourable behaviour and thanksgiving.

“It is unfortunate that the policy of promoting these 10 values has become a platform for ‘Islamisation’ by religious bureaucrats,” the group said.

They said Malaysian unity had been torn apart by political leaders, among others, using sectarian views, creating stresses that threatened “to subvert the bonds that have held all Malaysians together” as well as the federation of Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.

Public confidence in the legal system has eroded because “diktats of the religious bureaucrats are given an overarching significance over the constitution”.

Religious bureaucrats had halted reforms, such as the Domestic Violence Act 1994, held back for almost two years, and a stillborn law reform initiative protecting religious rights when one spouse in a civil marriage converts to Islam.

There were serious problems in the judiciary, when some civil courts had declined to make decisions on constitutional issues and had even handed over the duty to the Syariah Court.

Freedom of religion had been affected, as well as the religious and civil rights of non-Muslims whose religions were increasingly marginalised, with more non-tolerance being shown, the group said.

They urged the Federal Government to reaffirm its position on the 10 universal values.

Among the signatories were former ambassadors Albert Talalla, Lily Zachariah and Choo Siew Kioh; former senior civil servants Clifford Francis Herbert and K.J. Abraham; activist Hartini Zainudin, legal luminaries Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari, Stephen Foo Kiat Shin and Stanley Isaacs; scientist Dr Lyana Khairuddin; and Bob Teoh, former general-secretary of National Union of Journalists.

In December, 25 prominent Malays, now grown to 44, had criticised the lack of clarity about the place of Islam in Malaysia’s constitutional democracy, and religious authorities “asserting authority beyond their jurisdiction”, such as fatwa in violation of the constitution. Former senior civil servants and prominent individuals, all Malays, signed the letter.

When being secular / neutral is good!

Allah is God

How can an Arabic word for God becomes an exclusive word only for the few (Muslims)? If Muslims acknowledge that there is only one God, then all the more they should allow 'Others' to use the word as other believers will be honoring the same God as theirs. Yahweh or Jehovah?!

Genesis 1; 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Malaysian court rules use of 'Allah' exclusive to Muslims

The unanimous decision by three Muslim judges in Malaysia's appeals court overturned a 2009 ruling by a lower court that allowed the

Malay-language version of the newspaper, The Herald, to use the word Allah - as many Christians in Malaysia say has been the case for centuries.

"The usage of the word Allah is not an integral part of the faith in Christianity," chief judge Mohamed Apandi Ali said in the ruling.

"The usage of the word will cause confusion in the community."

The decision coincides with heightened ethnic and religious tension in Malaysia after a polarizing May election, in which the long-ruling coalition was deserted by urban voters that included a large section of minority ethnic Chinese.

In recent months, Prime Minister Najib Razak has sought to consolidate his support among majority ethnic Malays, who are Muslim by law, and secure the backing of traditionalists ahead of a crucial ruling party assembly this month.

His new government - dominated by his Malay-based United Malays National Organization - has toughened security laws and introduced steps

to boost a decades-old affirmative action policy for ethnic Malays, reversing liberal reforms aimed at appealing to a broader section of the multi-ethnic country.

In its case, the government argued that the word Allah is specific to Muslims and that the then-home minister's decision in 2008 to deny the newspaper permission to print it was justified on the basis of public order.

About 200 Muslims outside the court in the administrative capital Putrajaya, greeted the decision with shouts of "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest).

"As a Muslim, defending the usage of the term Allah qualifies as jihad. It is my duty to defend it," said Jefrizal Ahmad Jaafar, 39.

Jihad is Islamic holy war or struggle.

RIGHTS OF THE MINORITY

Lawyers for the Catholic paper had argued that the word Allah predated Islam and had been used extensively by Malay-speaking Christians in Malaysia's part of Borneo island for centuries.

They say they will appeal against Monday's decision to Malaysia's highest court.

"The nation must protect and support the rights of the minority," said Father Lawrence Andrew, the founding editor of the Herald. "God is an integral part of every religion."

Christians in Indonesia and much of the Arab world continue to use the word without opposition from Islamic authorities. Churches in the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak have said they will continue to use the word regardless of the ruling.

The paper won a judicial review of the home minister's decision in 2009, triggering an appeal from the federal government. The court ruled on Monday that the constitutional rights of the publisher had not been infringed.

Ethnic Malays make up 60 percent of Malaysia's 28 million people, with Chinese accounting for more than a quarter and ethnic Indians also forming a substantial minority. Christians account for about 9 percent.

Inclusive not Exclusive

MM Lee Stand Corrected
Lee Kuan Yew urges Muslims to 'be less strict'
Jan 23, 2011

Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew has urged local Muslims to "be less strict on Islamic observances" to aid integration and the city-state's nation-building process.

Singapore has a predominantly Chinese population, with minority races including Muslim Malays and Indians, and Lee has always stressed the importance of racial harmony.

"I would say today, we can integrate all religions and races except Islam," he said in "Lee Kuan Yew: Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going," a new book containing his typically frank views on the city-state and its future.

"I think we were progressing very nicely until the surge of Islam came and if you asked me for my observations, the other communities have easier integration -- friends, intermarriages and so on..." he stated.

"I think the Muslims socially do not cause any trouble, but they are distinct and separate," Lee added, calling on the community to "be less strict on Islamic observances."

During the book's launch on Friday, the self-described "pragmatist" warned Singaporeans against complacency, saying the largely ethnic Chinese republic was still a nation in the making.

Describing Singapore in the book as an "80-storey building on marshy land," Lee said it must contend with hostility from larger Muslim neighbours.

"We've got friendly neighbours? Grow up... There is this drive to put us down because we are interlopers," he said, citing alleged Malaysian and Indonesian efforts to undermine Singapore's crucial port business.