Religion is not sensitive issue, dirty politics is!!

Looks like Badawi does not really understand religions. Islam is a peaceful religion with a priority to battle against one's own lust, greed, hatred. Hindu is another religion which teaches love and compassion and trains oneself/purify to be one with the creator. To sum up Buddhism, do no evil, do more good deeds and purify oneself of unwholesome mental thoughts. Christianity teaches one to treat our neighbours like ourselves and to fear God so as not to do evil.

With such beautiful religions in this multicultural nation of ours, how can religion be a sentitive issue at all!!??!! Malaysians in general are down to earth, peaceful, helpful people, either due to our cultural background or to our religion.

If ever there is a conflict, it is either political or it is due to our uncontrolled anger, or greed/lust for something which does not belong to us, or due to our lack of wisdom in handling a problem. Religion is not the issue here. It is the people who do not practice the religion properly that is causing the problem. A peace-loving Muslim, a pious Christian, a compassionate Hindu and a greed-free, hatred-free Buddhist do not cause problems or conflicts.

It is when there is an angry man who calls himself a Muslim or a lustful man whose I.C states that he is a Buddhist, or an Indian Hindu man who is deprived of his rights by the government and a man who wants to practise his Christian faith freely but denied by his government, then only problems arise. Get this straight. Don't blame religions. They are not at fault. It is the people who do not understand them in depth that cause problems.

A violin is not at fault if the person cannot play it well. Don't blame the violin, blame the person trying to play the violin. Better still, don't blame the person learning to play the violin. Blame the person who goes to war in the name of the violin.

Get a violinist who can play it well, put him/her on stage together with a pianist, a cellist and a trombonist who are experts in their instruments and you get an orchestra producing a wonderful piece of music. Religion is therefore not an issue at all in Malaysia or in any parts of the world!! It is the corrupt, dirty, greedy power-crazy POLITICS which is the sentitive issue, here and everywhere.

Because of dirty politics, human are worse than animals.

Religion still a sensitive issue in Malaysia: PM

May 18, 2008
AFP

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - MALAYSIA'S premier admitted on Sunday that religion continues to be a sensitive issue in the multicultural nation but said he hoped that conflicts could continue to be resolved peacefully.

'Malaysia is fortunate as the people of various races and religions in the country can live in peace and harmony all this while,' Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.

'The constitution guarantees the freedom to practise any faith although Islam remains as the official religion,' Mr Abdullah said in the statement ahead of the Buddhist Wesak Day celebrations on Monday.


'Realising the fact that religious issues are still a sensitive topic, the government has engaged... with various religious groups in the country to better understand their needs while strengthening ties,' he added.

'I really hope through this, we can resolve conflicts or problems peacefully and amicably,' he added.

About 60 per cent of Malaysia's 27 million people are ethnic Malay Muslims.

The country's minority Chinese and Indians are mostly Buddhists, Hindus or Christians.

Malaysia suffered bloody race riots in May 1969 between Malays and the Chinese community, in which hundreds were killed. Since then the country has been largely peaceful.

But recently there have been growing fears over 'Islamisation' of the country and the increasing polarisation of the three main ethnic communities.

Many among Malaysia's ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities believe the government's economic policy discriminates against them in favour of the Muslim-Malay majority.

Last week, in a rare decision, an Islamic Sharia court in the northern island state of Penang allowed a Chinese convert to renounce Islam and return to Buddhism after her marriage to a Muslim man ended.

The court's decision sparked protests from hardline Muslim groups, who have called for a judicial review of the decision, saying that the court's ruling was un-Islamic. -- AFP