A Long Response to MENJ's Lina Joy Issue And More.

To the unaware, MENJ has again fired another salvo that has pissed off many Malaysians.Many have responded through their blogs and unlike the last time, I did not immediately post a response in my blog.I did however post a barrage of questions and explanations- a few pages long in MENJ's own blog.However, as of yesterday evening, MENJ has again shut himself out of this reality.To him, its self-defence.To me, its nothing short of cowardice and not holding to one's principles.

First, the article, has been altered.If you truly mean to call us(Christians) retards and what not, please stick to it.It does not matter whether we think you are wrong or not,t hat is secondary, which by the way most of us think you are wrong anyway

At this point I really do not hold MENJ to be a principled fellow anymore.Here are a few reaons why.its a really long post, inspired by Minishorts long post , so bear with me, please.I feel its imperative to read this.A gentle disclaimer: I love my Muslim friends, and if this article in any remote way offends you I am sorry.I seriously doubt it though, as I am commenting solely on people, not even the religion.That being said, please proceed.

MENJ's Calling for Conversions.

With the same breath that he claims to respect other religions he calls every other religion, blatantly false.I can go into why I think this is utter BS, but it is not what I really believe, and I will not belittle another man's religion.I believe Christ is the Way, but I do not hold to the idea that everyone else will burn in Hell.By this, I may be a good Christian to some and a heretic to others.What matters is my conscience and it is clear, so frankly I do not care.But on the other hand, MENJ has gone against mine and many others' level of tolerance by yelling the now (in)famous battlecry 'Convert them all'. That is hypocritical bullshit.You hate it when people preach to your Muslim brethren yet you openly wish for people to convert all of us to Islam.I feel this to be unfairness in the highest degree.And to me, living a good Muslim life is far more effective a preaching tool than all the religious rhetoric you can throw out there.I learnt to respect Islam through the living examples of my friends.Like I've said, three of those I count as my closest friends are Malay-Muslims.And , all three are PAS supporters.All three,MENJ disagree with your stance.One of my friends took up Islamic Studies at tertiary level.He asked me to ask you to rethink your 'Mantiq' and re-read Hadis 40.I am not sure what he means though..He also disagrees with your mixing race and religion(that racist statement you made about Lina Joy's husband's genitalia)and that anyone who says is not a preacher, as Islam does not allow you to speak ill of anyone, let alone a Muslim(as technically, under the Malaysian law that you hate and love at the same time, she is still a Muslim)

I raised a few points in my line of questions to MENJ in his blog, which is now closed to public of course.One is the call to boycott Israeli and American products.This is not hypocrisy, its stupidity.There are three major microprocessor manufacturers in the world.Two are American.The third is British, an American ally.So if you were to boycott all of them, what new chip will you use in our computers?OK, granted US trades with Malaysia as well.Stop and ask yourself, what is it do they trade here.Answer: They buy back ready/semi-ready items which they assemble here.They can easily move their operations to another country, given the rising cost of labour as well.That being that- Your site is being funded partially by Google.Bismika Allahuma is being funded by Paypal AND Google Adsense.Paypal and Google transfer cheques mostly through Citibank.ALL THESE are not exactly Chinese companies.And you already know this- Google Adsense has a policy against targetting a certain religion,race or country.I hope you're aware of this.Use your mentality man.70% shares of all American companies here are locally owned.You hurt 30% of their income, they hurt 70% of yours.I am sure you studied math in school.

Second, the issue of Lina Joy.I will not comment much on this, in respect of the PMs call for everyone to calm down.I just have to say this- I believe there is no compulsion in religion.Even in Islam, prior to declaring a person a murtad, you have to ascertain the previous way of life of the person, whether or not he/she was really practising an Islamic lifestyle prior to conversion.It is an a priori thing, not a a posteori. Also, if a person is an alcaholic, a mentally ill person or have accepted Islam under duress, you cannot declare him/her a murtad(information shared by a close,devout Muslim friend)Also in context, apostasy in time of the Prophet was akin to treason as people who apostatized out of Islam also turned their back on the Islamic Nation.But we cannot say the same thing in the case of Malaysia at present.One, according to MENJ Malaysia is not an Islamic country ( as we do not practise Hudud and Qisas).Sha'ria is not the highest law of the land.Today apostasy may be wrong of a religion but not to a country, at least I do not believe so.But I am not qualified to talk about Islam.I have not experienced the religion so I will limit my argument to what I know and have been told. Even though MENJ feels obliged to put down my religion,as part of his struggle, I feel obliged to respect his.

Non Muslim Rights in Malaysia.

MENJ has been extremely vocal in his call for the Article 11 and IFC to be called off, and he has to his definition succeeded.Well, even to the extent of supporting the holding of anti IFC forums when the PM has clearly asked everyone to stop organizing such forums.Thank you to Syed Hamid for being fair in your comments in the Star today, anyway.Back to the issue I raised in MENJ's blog.He claims that Muslim rights in Malaysia has been infringed by this calls for Article 11 and IFC.I disagree.For starters, there are many Muslims on the Article 11 side of the fence(Liberal Heretics according to MENJ's book) but as he likes to point out, you cannot change the law, and according to Malaysian law, well, they are about as Muslim as you MENJ.I disagree to this point.I ask MENJ or his loyal groupie Rachel or anyone to come up with ONE instance where we non-Muslims have ever challenged the special place of Islam in this country.Muslim rights to worship, or their primary place in our country.I will give you here now, some examples of how the non-Muslim groups have shown our loyalty to this country and our dedication to tolerance, still at this point, where you have slinged mud on our faces.

-The church in Shah Alam took a record number of years before its been approved.In my recollection, only very few churches, temples and mosques have been built of recent.You have constantly been raising up points prehistoric in nature(the big statues in Kelantan of Buddha etc) to advocate your idea of freedom of worship.Do you see us complaining about this?No, and we are instead grateful to the government for allowing us more freedom than the likes of Iran(Shii'tes who do not allow Christians to even hold military ranks) or Pakistan(where even orphanages are burnt when someone accuses a Christian of something).When last I checked MENJ, it is rather uncomfortable to climb on top of a statue to pray.And many rulings were made to the height of churches and temples to the extent one day we might end up praying from a negative height, i.e. underground.But all this does not water down our loyalty to this country.When the country was split in two by votes during the DSAI crisis it was the non Malays that helped this government retain its power, as admitted by the then PM, Tun Dr M.Do not question our loyalty man.We fought the communists alongside you.we never question the right to build mosques in every new township.All we ask for is some freedom to feed our spiritual needs.Is that much?

-There is really very little crawlspace for us in the media as well.I have said that Muslims in the West have more freedom than Christians in Malaysia.I am not complaining, I am comparing.They have their own TV and radio shows, and despite your claims there are no missionary groups in Islam, rest assured they exist well in the West, and its a good thing to propagate religion.There are huge mosques in Chicago, New York and Rome.They rival the Shah Alam mosque in terms of size.And you call Christians an intolerant bunch?The one in Rome is really close to Vatican city.I understand that the Kaa'bah and surrounding areas is called Haram, and that the soil is holy, you cannot even remove it from the grounds let alone build a church there.Do we come forward and question this,and demand some church ? No.Why?Because we were taught, even as it is written in the Holy Quran, 'To You Your religion and to us, ours'.the Quran Verse 2:256 states 'Let there be no compulsion in religion! Truth is distinguishable easily from error!' And you say we are intolerant.Laws are being bended in the West to make place for Islam.workplaces even begin to allow the hijjab.In Malaysian context, thats like allowing me to go to work in a cassock or saffron robe.Crosses are being removed from schools and courthouses because they make Muslims feel uncomfortable.Are we intolerant?

-Ask yourself- why did Article 11 come into existence in the first place?Non Muslims in Malaysia are afraid that even what little we have will be taken away from us.Put yourself in our shoes and if you read in the papers each day about this and that scholar or mufti telling people to stop mingling with us during our celebrations, that cross celebrations are sacrilegious, of temples and churches being torn down, what signals do that send to your brain?In schools that missionaries set up even, and orphanages,any symbols of their legacy is being removed.Funny no one mentioned anything when they were no schools or hospitals around.We are afraid, thats all.We are not interested in infringing our way on anyone, neither are we questioning the supremacy of Islam in this blessed piece of earth called Malaysia.We don't want to be strangers in the land of our birth, where our ancestors too shed blood to build this country.

Insistance that MENJ is not Breaking the Law.

-Well accoiding to some lawyer friends of mine , he is as good as guilty of incitement as he can get, but hey, who are they to know, they only practise law.In any case MENJ, this I say to you, you are only shooting yourself in the foot by saying the law is not applicable in cyberspace.Jeff Ooi and Malaysiakini has been subjected to the law before.You are not above it.No one wanted to report you to the police, but you took the step of blocking everyone from your blog, goodness knows for what.Since you so boldly claim you are not subject to the law, why bother to lock everyone out?Why be so afraid of a police report(I am not advocating it)?Let them investigate and come over and say, MENJ, these idiots are so stupid, the law is not applicable here!Go ahead go and stir up all the racial tension you want man!I hope you see my point, my friend.

May good sense and peace prevail.

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