Don't Let The Provocateurs Succeed

(Malaysiakini graphics)

This can't go on.

In every society there's a lunatic fringe that cannot differentiate pig-headed bigotry from civility. We cannot and dare not let these provocateurs cow us into ever narrow racism, sectarianism, and communalism. If these people win, Malaysia loses.

"The latest incidents today at the two mosques along Jalan Kelang Lama, Kuala Lumpur demonstrate how sick perpetrators of such acts can be and to what extent they are willing to go to cause hurt and harm to religious communities. Their end is to drive a wedge between religious communities in the country.

We who are law-abiding citizens must not allow them to succeed in their wicked mission.

Let us not speculate about the identities of the culprits until the police and the courts have done their work. Let us stand together and resist such people.

The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism condoles with Muslims, Christians and Sikhs whose places of worship and prayer have been so rudely desecrated."

MCCBCHST Statement

Muslim Profesionals Forum Condemns Church Arson

STATEMENT BY MUSLIM PROFESSIONALS FORUM

The cowardly and utterly senseless act of a group of misguided, chauvinistic bigots in torching at least three churches in the Klang Valley this morning must be condemned in no uncertain terms by all peace loving Malaysians.

This act of arson, committed presumably in the name of Islam desecrates the very religion it purports to protect. The Holy Quran unequivocally prohibits destroying the houses of worship of all religions, as warned in Surah Al-Hajj, Verse 40.

“… Had not Allah checked the excesses and aggression of one set of people by means of another, surely would be destroyed monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, in which the name of Allah is commemorated …”

During the reign of Umar ibn Al-Khattab, the second righteous caliph, the religious freedom of the citizens of Ilya (Jerusalem) and the sanctity of their synagogues and places of worship were confirmed: “This is the protection which the slave-servant of Allah, Umar, the Commander of the Believers, extends to the people of Ilya: The safeguarding of their lives, properties, churches, crosses, and of their entire community. Their churches cannot be occupied, demolished, or damaged, nor are their crosses or anything belonging to them to be touched. They will never be forced to abandon their religion, nor will they be oppressed …” (At-Tabari, Tarikh, Vol III, p. 609, ed. Dar Al-Ma`arif, Egypt.)

In the light of these tragic turn of events, the Muslim Professionals Forum:

1. Demand the authorities to immediately conduct an impartial and thorough investigation to identify , apprehend and punish the perpetrators of this despicable violence lest the country spirals into a vicious cycle of retaliatory acts which would fracture the very fabric of Malaysian civil society.

2. Urge the authorities to either refuse or revoke the permit for the planned demonstration in order to contain the heightened emotions and sensitivities from among the Muslim quarters, angered by the recent high court decision on the usage of the word Allah.

3. Urge individuals, organisations and political parties to refrain from further issuing provocative and inflammatory statements related to the high court verdict.

4. Urge all Malaysians to emphatise and stand in solidarity with our Christian community in their hour of grief and need.

5. Urge all peace loving Malaysians to maintain composure and let cool heads prevail.

May Allah guide us all in this most troubling times.

Board of Directors
Muslim Professionals Forum

Dr. Mazeni Alwi
Dr. Shaikh Johari Bux
Haji Mohamed Ali Ghazali
Dr. Jeffrey Abu Hassan
Dato’ Dr. Musa Mohd. Nordin

CFM STATEMENT ON FIRE-BOMBING OF CHURCHES

CHRISTIAN FEDERATION OF MALAYSIA
(PERSEKUTUAN KRISTIAN MALAYSIA)
Address: 10, Jalan 11/9, Section 11, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Telephone: (03) 7957 1278, (03) 7957 146, Fax: (03) 7957 1457
Email: cfmsia@yahoo.co.uk

CFM STATEMENT ON ATTACKS ON CHURCHES IN THE EARLY MORNING OF 8 JAN 2010
CFM STRONGLY CONDEMNS FIRE-BOMBING OF CHURCHES

The Christian Federation of Malaysia strongly and unreservedly condemns the violent attacks and attempted ones of fire-bombing several churches in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya in the early hours of this morning (8 January 2010).

We are against such actions that seek to intimidate people and also to rend the fabric of peace and goodwill in our country.

Thus far this afternoon, we have been informed that there were three torching and attempted torching of churches. The administrative office of Metro Tabernacle in Desa Melawati was completely gutted. The Molotov cocktail thrown at the Church of the Assumption along Jalan Templer in Petaling Jaya did not explode. But The Life Chapel in Section 17 Petaling Jaya suffered some damage to the church’s front
porch area.

We call on the Government and all peace-loving Malaysians to stand against such violence and not to give way to extremists in our midst who would want to throw our country into chaos.

We call on the police to continue to maintain the peace and security of our land in which all of us so cherish and love. May the police bring to justice quickly those who have been involved in such acts of torching churches which is a violation of the houses of God in our land.

Christians are a peace-loving people and so we will remain calm and rely on our police officers to investigate and to arrest the criminals involved and to protect all Malaysians against violence and criminal intimidation. We are concerned that the hacking of the judiciary website is an act of criminal intimidation against the judiciary and this shameful act along with the acts of violence against churches must not be condoned.

Let us as Christians and with our fellow Malaysians pray that despite such atrocious acts perpetrated upon the churches good sense will prevail in us. Let us not allow those who want to foment animosity among the peoples and the religious communities to triumph in their dastardly plans. May we stand together against the tide of violent people and their evil plans.

We will continue to pray for peace in Malaysia.

Bishop Ng Moon Hing

Chairman and the Executive Committee of the
Christian Federation of Malaysia
Dated: 8 January 2010

Remember

I am sipping coffee, reading Frederick Buechner.

Outside a storm appears to be brewing, as one UMNO minister after another pontificates over the right of Muslims to demonstrate against Justice Lau Bee Lan's okay to 'Allah' for non-Muslims (In the ongoing debate, it's conveniently forgotten that Sikhs too address God as 'Allah', and not just indigenous bumiputra Christians who only speak Bahasa).

For awhile, I forget that the world's not all right and that a cloud is descending over that ill-begotten PR-spun nonentity called 1 Malaysia.

There is a stirring inside as I think about recent events. As anxious as I am about the current turmoil, my mind is really regurgitating over the books I am currently reading and reflecting on: ex-missionary to the Congo, Helen Roseveare's testimony in Stand (John Piper/Justin Taylor) about the one thing that matters; Don Miller's essay on Isaiah's grim description of an ugly Jesus (Isa 53:2-3) in Searching For God Knows What; and Buechner's collection of sermons, Secrets in the Dark.

Buechner's essay (actually, a sermon) A Room Called Remember was deeply moving, and I was teary at several points. Yes, while one may be preoccupied with what's not right, the oughts and what ifs and what could have been, nothing focuses the mind more than when we remember what is:

Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.

Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced...

I Chronicles 16:10-12