Church and Mosque....Are they easy political target? 

A place of worship or house of worship is a building or location where a group of people congregates to perform acts of religious ritual, praise, honor, or devotion.

The Muslims and the Christians regularly congregate and listen to religious sermons on a regular basis. Thus the Mosque and the Church have been easy targets and powerful tools for politicians to seek power and influence under the guise of religion. Therefore, many are of the opinion that religion and politics must be distinctly separated in order to maintain the sanctity of their religion.

Recently I was surprised to hear that the Church had been actively and directly promoting voices of protest and dissent. This phenomenon of politicking in places of worship has been prevalent in the mosque and surau over the years until the Majlis Agama Islam stepped in.

It is much easier to capture the imagination and the sentiments of believers in the Church or Mosque through their elders and the opposition had rightfully strategies their way into the Christian community by adopting this approach. 

An example of perceived partisan and political bias is the press statement by the Council of Churches of Malaysia on "The Perak State Assembly sitting of 7th May".

I am wondering aloud as to the appropriateness of the Council of Churches of Malaysia in making a political statement of this nature at a point of time where there is confusion and complex legal issues pending in the courts of law.

The above statement seems to be written by a political mind and I would like to question as follows:-

(1) CCM: The unruly scenes, the scuffles and the removal of the Speaker of the House by force, have all violated the dignity of the State Assembly and made a mockery of basic democratic principles that citizens have come to expect from a nation that champions human rights.

tilianker:
Who was responsible for the unruly scenes and scuffles? Was the Speaker removed democratically? If the Speaker was voted out democratically and he refused to leave the chair, then reasonable force can be exercised to put into effect the decision made.

(2) CCM: The police had overstepped its authority by the harassment of duly elected representatives, and of peaceful protestors exercising their rights of free expression guaranteed under the constitution. The police must remain above politics to have integrity and the confidence of the people.

tilianker:
All protest against the law is illegal whether it is peaceful or otherwise. Rights of free expression guaranteed under the constitution is subjected to the law. The police in upholding the law is not overstepping its authority but are merely discharging their duties to uphold law and order. Do we want the mob rule to prevail over the law?
In advising that the police must remain above politics in discharging their duties, the CCM must also be reminded that they must remain above politics to have integrity and confidence of its congregants and members.

(3) CCM: As Christians, we believe that justice will have its day, because God expects that the nation is governed by principles of righteousness and justice.

tilianker:
Rightly said! Justice will have its day and the principles of righteousness and justice is to be determined by our legal system. In this case the right forum is the court of law and both parties have sought legal remedy. Thus, why can't we let the process of law take its due course? Justice will have its day, thus we have to exercise patience and restraints,

(4) CCM: 
As churches pray for the speedy resolution of the political crisis in Perak, we remember the words of the Bible: 
“To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice….The violence of the wicked will sweep them away, because they refuse to do what is just” (Proverbs 21:3, 7). 

tilianker:
This is my true fear. When words from the bible or Koran is being quoted verbatim to give justification to political statements or arguments...the words of God have been abused. I remember the days of the early 90s when PAS and Umno politicians quoted from the Koran every time they made their political speeches....it was scary!

Hasty generalizations, false analogies and simplistic rationalization seemed solid and convincing when the holy book was quoted out of context to give authority to their arguments. Who would dare to challenge the arguments perceived to be authenticated by God?

The Buddhist and the Taoist have been careful in separating religion from politics for fear of being influenced, manipulated or tainted by political motives of individuals. I would like to caution that religious bodies should not be overly enthusiastic when it comes to politics. There are issues of social concern such as prostitution, human trafficking, illegal Ah Longs, drug abuse etc that requires similar passion and concern. We can safely contribute more to mankind and peace here than whether Umno, PAS or keAdilan should be in power.

Any false moves or mistakes may result in political retaliations, interferences or restrictions on the church activities or the freedom of other religious house of worship.

During the communist insurgency, all things Chinese from music, literature, culture etc. were subjected to control and restrictions. Lion dance was forbidden. We were not even allowed to form the Chinese Language Society in University of Malaya in the 1980s for fear of communist infiltrations. Our academic freedom was curtailed...all because of the political scenario then.

let's be mindful.... 

Posted by Ti Lian Ker at 5:33 PM

Friday, May 15, 2009