the mentality of the protestors
Post on Jul.24, 2006
regarding the article 11 forum held in johor, excerpt of report from the star paper:
Later, Johor Mentri Besar and state Umno chief Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said the party was disappointed that the forum had been held, as it is already stated in the Constitution that Islam was the country’s official religion.
huh? was that a menteri besar and a chief speaking? does he knows what the forum is about? does he know that among the speakers for the forum, there were 2 muslim men?
so what if islam is already in the constitution as the official religion? the forum organisers were not born yesterday (but perhaps he was), they know islam is enshrined in the constitution as the official religion. the forum is NOT about islam, my dear menteri besar. the forum is about freedom of religion, the forum is about contitutional rights for everyone. why then did these bunch of er… protestors (resisting to label names, in case some people jumped at me) felt that this forum was an attempt to undermine islam’s position as the official religion, as BBC reported? why at the protest all these kind of shouts and slogans such as:
“down with the infidels! don’t meddle with islam.”
“crush IFC (inter-faith commission).”
“we are ready to sacrifice for islam.”
“don’t touch on the sensitivity of islam”
“stop anti-islam act”.
simple answer – “oh ye of little faith.”
at the disrupted article 11 forum in penang, one of my blog heading was “don’t humuliate islam – the forum can do that?”
see, if they felt that a simple forum that talks on rights for all and religious freedom can insult islam, doesn’t that means their own faith is weak?
well, the more these people protest, the more the whole world will be laughing at them. just look at the slogans for one thing, especially the “we are ready to sacrifice for islam”. then there was also this “do not insult allah’s law” (at the penang protest). ahh… they are fighting for thier god?
i am still waiting for the article 11 forum to be re-convened in penang… and let’s see this time how the police will react…. oh but what will be more comical to see is all those slogans these weak faith protestors will be shouting/having on banners.
NOTE: for a few articles on this issue (including malaysiakini, where you can’t get to read if if you are not a member), go to the beritamalaysia group.Â
July 24th, 2006 on 3:53 AM
Tho’ the forum is doing a great job, but the phobia of some are causing much anxieties and the way it goes, nothing good will come out of it. The nation seems to go the afghan’s way of fundamentalisma without the thoughts.
lucia: nothing good will come out of the forum? nah, i disagree. lots of things to learn from the forum!
July 24th, 2006 on 9:58 AM
It looks like there has been a concerted desire to skirt the issues as much as possible. According to yesterday’s reports, PAS have requested dialogues with Article 11, but if you read today’s NST, you’ll see Ivy Josiah denying this firmly.
I wonder what’s going on, and to be fair to everybody, I wonder who’s telling the truth here. It may be time for a third party to force a sit down between all parties to talk to each other. Otherwise it’s just going to be a matter of he-say, she-say.
Another point of note from what you’ve said, and from Howsy’s post on the Suqiu incident, I wonder who muddying who’s waters. There appears to be a concerted attempt to skirt the issues and to aim squarely at riling up the unknowing public.
On the other hand, we have some muslim NGOs buying the whole thing lock, stock and barrel, and attacking the strawman of the IFC. The forum’s always been discussing constitutional issues that touch of faith, not faith issues that touch on other faiths.
These people seem intent on demonizing any question of the constitution as a ‘crusader attack’.
lucia: yep, that was what i find perplexing. the forum is to discuss the federal constitution, which should give protection to ALL but these people felt that when we discuss the constitution we are attacking their religion as official religion enshrined in the constituion. why so? they may be professional and learned people (or VIP of course) and yet they have this fear of their religion being attacked. why? if they are strong in their own faith, believe firmly in their own faith, why should they fear?
July 24th, 2006 on 1:04 PM
Excerpt from : http://westernresistance.com/
“Members of Article 11 maintain that the constitution is secular, and they have supported the rights of Lina Joy and Kamariah Ali to apostasise from Islam. They argue for the government to honour constitutional guarantees enabling all citizens to practise their faith as defined in Articles 11 and 3 (1).
The Islamists in Malaysia feel that such moves will threaten the primacy of Islam in national affairs.
This is how Islam works. It cannot allow people to apostasise, especially in Malaysia, as then it would not be in the majority. Already, by having Islamist parties and Islamist laws, Malaysia is politically short-changing the 40% of its citizens who are not Muslim. Far from uniting the country, Malaysia’s insistence on asserting its identity as a Muslim country only creates divisions and political insecurities. And faced with such insecurities, the Islamists are only becoming more extreme and intransigent.”
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Clear to see why the whole thing is one in which disguised Dhimmitude is intended to be entrenched. Reference these fanatics made to the Crusades underscores their dismissal of the fact that Crusades were defensive wars and in response ti jihads. Had the second not occured, the first wouldn’t. Hence it’s actually a deliberate blind negation of history per se. They demonize others to glorify themselves…..such a beam will not hold up a house in the 21st century. It goes against the grains.
lucia: “they domonize others to glorify themselves.” – good phrase to remember.