Monday, September 14, 2009

Tolerance & understanding

We talk about tolerance and religious understanding. We condemned those who seem to have no tolerance and sensitivity towards the faith and belief of others. But we can't seem to let go one such petty claim. Isn't it unproductive for the parties to get tangled-up with unnecessary interim proceedings and such just for the sake of pursuing matters which are deemed provocative in nature by the authorities? It is too hard for the council to withdraw the whole suit and settle the matter amicably in the spirit of religious tolerance and understanding that we've all been preaching so much of late? I am sure the government would not press for costs if the suit is to be withdrawn. It would leave a bad taste if they are to do the otherwise.

"Tuhan" is good as any other word if one needs to refer to the Supreme Being. Why gamble on the suit if one could foresee the unnecessary tension and discord that it would cause if the main claims (i.e. a declaration that the decision by the Home Ministry on Jan 7, 2009, prohibiting the usage of the word “Allah” in the Herald The Catholic Weekly publication was illegal and that the word “Allah” was not exclusive to the religion of Islam) are to be allowed by the court?

Don't tell me that without the word "Allah" in their weekly publication etc., the teaching and the practice of Christianity in this country have been put to a halt, the freedom of its preachers and the progress of its followings (as allowed by the law) on the back burner all this while.

4 comments:

Keith said...

don't tell me, that with Catholics using the word Allah, Malays would be confused?

It's very serious when the government of the day can prevent you from using a word simply because of your religion. That's called religious discrimination.

Plus, Catholics have been using it for centuries in Sabah and Sarawak. How come only now the home ministry has a big say in it?

Why not tell the government to drop it and once and for all proclaim that anyone can use the word Allah, including our Sikh brothers and sisters.

Kenn said...

Mr. Lawyer,

Tolerance & understanding. This was the saying of the PM, I believe.

How to tolerate and further to understand when we are not speaking the same language?

我想讲汉语 ; मैं तमिल बात करना चाहता हूँ and both tak tahu Bahasa Kebangsaan dan Bahasa Kedua (English)

So? Apamacam mau understand ma? Ini negara apa ma?

Kenn said...

I dont think the Malay will confuse when Catholics use the word "Allah".

But they maybe confused and also suspicious on why the adamant need to use the word "Allah" up to the extend of "forcing" people to give way. This bunch of so called "Catholics" even brought up the issue to the court, stirring the harmony of the people. No wonder the Malays become very suspicious on the agenda behind this.

Lawyer Kampung said...

Keith, you are missing the point my brother. Same question can be put to you, will the usage of the word "tuhan" confused the Catholics instead? Tolerance and understanding are the key words here. You don't see the Shah Alam protesters filing for a declaration in court that they are to be allowed to use the cow head in future demos as their intention was not to insult the belief of others, do you? They know the limit and they have now submitted themselves to the nation criminal justice system to defend their action. It is all about choice, whether you want to make things worse or otherwise. Maybe what kenn said above could shed some light to you. Thank you for commenting.

Kenn, thank you for the comments brother.