Prayer of the Day: Ash Wednesday
O Lord, protect us in our struggle against evil. As we begin the Lenten journey, make this season holy by our self-denial. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
adapted from International Committee on English in the Liturgy (via Verse and Voice)
There are two seasons which has a special place in my own spiritual journey. The first is Advent, the other is Lent. Both seasons somehow concentrate my attention towards a climatic point, the two pictures that capture this climax is the cradle and the cross of Christ.
This is my first season of Lent away from my home country. So, the Lenten journey opens up a a different possibility to reflect on the regular themes only in different geographical location, but also in a different spiritual location in this season of my life.
My connection back home to Malaysia, is primarily through the internet either on Facebook or reading the news and views online. A quick glance of the thoughts in So, why is Malaysia on the Human Rights Council again?, especially the following caught my attention:
The dialogue on human rights in this country has been strange and very often contradictory. It’s not for nothing that we have been accused of being “champions of double talk.” Consider the fact that time and again, our policymakers have repeated the line that human rights is solely a Western device not suited for Asian communities. A number of religious figures have even stated that human rights is not compatible with Islam, never mind that the Quran is in fact, when read and interpreted properly, chock-a- block full with the spirit and principles of human rights and justice. The Malaysian government has also argued that international standards of human rights are not applicable to Malaysia because of the over-emphasis on the rights of the individual as opposed to the rights of the community.
So why then are we on the Human Rights Council? Why did we make those pledges during the campaigning and lobbying to be elected for a seat (yes, Malaysia did work hard and made several pledges to be on this august group). Malaysia stated clearly as one of its pledges that it would “engage constructively in the evolving modalities of work of the HRC to make it a strong, fair, effective, efficient and credible vehicle for the promotion and protection of human rights worldwide.” If Malaysia doesn’t believe in human rights as it is understood by the international community, why then continue to be a member of the HRC?
So my mind comes back to the opening utterance from the prayer:
O Lord, protect us in our struggle against evil.
In this season of Lent, our struggle against evil not only includes confronting the rights and wrongs – good and evil within us so we can be an ‘Upright Human’, but this whole debate on ‘Human Rights’ alerts us to the struggle of right and wrong – good and evil outside of the comforts of computer screens and the solitude of our souls.
We are very well aware that when our ‘souls’ are corrupted by evil, this corruption is destructive to our ‘body’ life and our relations with other people, culture and even nature. I doubt it is that different when the ‘soul’ of a nation is corrupted by evil in and through self-deception, questionable intentions, methods of control, and a range of other expressions would in any way help the ‘body’ life of our society. The lines from the Lord’s Prayer is shouts aloud in the classic translation, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”.
So, as I enter this Lented journey as an individual, and together with a corporate body as a church both institutionally and organically, I wonder what this Lenten journey might mean for us in Malaysia as we are gearing towards what some have labeled as potentially the ‘filthiest’ general election in Malaysian history.
For me, my prayer is for all who are struggling against evil expressed in varied shapes and sizes – whether is corruption or a ‘dirty’ election. This does not mean that when we pray this prayer everyone who is not like us are ‘demonized’, it’s a call to ALL to recognize the ‘war against evil’ is truly a struggle because no one is exempt from its temptation.
“You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.” - Psalm 51:6-9
Religious dialogue: whose responsibility?
Mahathir not personally responsible?
Sven Schottmann’s argument is simple and important: First, he offers a defense on Mahathir’s contribution to interreligious relations, and second, our attention is turned to the people – the religious people – with due attention to historical factors that impacts their disposition to people of other religions. Both ideas are summarised succinctly in the following:
“Mahathir himself, while in power, personally fostered such encounters and frequently spoke to Christian and also to Buddhist and Hindu audiences, both locally and overseas. It thus seems inaccurate to hold Mahathir personally responsible for the failure to bring Malaysians together in a respectful debate about their individual faiths.
The biggest impediments to a more meaningful inter-religious dialogue, in particular a more meaningful Muslim-Christian dialogue has been historically grown animosities and suspicions that will take time to overcome.”
In non-academic terms, one might read it as (1) Don’t put all the blame on Mahathir, because he has personally fostered and encouraged interfaith encounters, and (2) It’s really about the social psychological state of mind of religious people due to historic upbringing that is the main problem. Therefore, (3) it follows that we should turn away from the blame game on Mahathir (or perhaps by implication politicians in power?) and focus on addressing ingrainedanimosities and suspicions in religious communities, and in due time we will live happily ever after.
Who is responsible then?
As a result of reading Sven’s essay, a more general question emerged in my mind, whose responsibility is it – the politicians or the people? My main concern is not so much on the notion of ‘historically grown animosities and suspicions’ as one of the ‘impediments to a more meaningful inter-religious dialogue’. The word ‘biggest’ is what in my view warrants a minor intervention. Even if we answer both the politicians and the people, in the case of Malaysia, where does the greater ‘weight of responsibility’ lean towards?
Between the demands of Christ and Caesar: A review of God is Red
Unlike its Abrahamic cousins, Christianity have an ambiguous relationship with the state. Indeed its founding was precipitated by the Roman Empire crucifying its founder while the early Christians faced persecution by the Empire. Even after becoming the official religion of the Empire, the altar remained separated from the throne although both worked closely together. And there have been times when some within the Church who voiced unease about this close relationship.Indeed throughout the history of Christianity, this pattern have always been repeated.
Read the rest of this entry
Content Page and the contributors of ‘The Bible and the Ballot’
Foreword
Rt Rev Datuk Ng Moon HingIntroduction
Joshua WooNaming Names: Can Preachers Tell You Whom to Vote For?
Alwyn LauStrengthening Democracy in Malaysia: The Need for a Vibrant Public Sphere
Christopher ChoongVote!: Voting as a Christian Duty
Tan Soo InnVote for Changes: My Decision at This Point in History
Tan Soo InnPrayer and Political Consideration: How and What to Pray For?
Joshua WooWhy Am I Attending Vigils For Dr Jeyakumar and EO6?
Rama RamanathanAfterword: Christians: A Blessing to Malaysia?
Sivin KitAppendix: Petition by 34 Leaders of the Christian Community in Malaysia
Some friends asked about the contributors to the book. Here’s their information:
Alwyn Lau is a member of Friends in Conversation (friendsinconversation.wordpress.com). A lecturer in Marketing and Sociology at KDU University-College. He is also pursuing a Ph.D (Arts) at the University of Monash (Sunway). He blogs at wyngman.blogspot.com.
Christopher Choong is a member of Friends in Conversation (friendsinconversation.wordpress.com). He holds a doctorate in Political Science where his research interest lies in the interaction between religion and politics (with particular reference to Christians in Malaysia). He teaches at a private university and blogs at cacoescrib.wordpress.com.
Joshua Woo Sze Zeng is currently reading theology at Trinity Theological College, Singapore. His writings are posted and referred to at various platforms such as the Singapore Daily, REACH.gov.sg, the Christian Post Singapore, Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs website, TheMicahMandate.org, World Reformed Fellowship website, and Australian National University’s New Mandala website. He blogs at szezeng.blogspot.com.
Rama Ramanathan graduated in Mechanical Engineering in 1982 and has since worked in factories and in regional roles in operations and quality management. He blogs at write2rest.blogspot.com.
Sivin Kit is a founding member of Friends in Conversation (friendsinconversation.wordpress.com) and one of the initiators of Micah Mandate (www.themicahmandate.org). He served as the pastor of Bangsar Lutheran Church from 2000 to 2010 and has been actively engaged in civil society in Malaysia since 2007. Currently, he is pursuing his Ph.D in Religion, Ethics and Society at the University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway. He blogs at sivinkit.net.
Tan Soo Inn is a member of Friends in Conversation (friendsinconversation.wordpress.com). He holds a Doctor in Ministry from Fuller Seminary. His doctoral project focused on how one discerns vocation in the context of community. Together with his wife Bernice, Soo Inn directs the works of Graceworks (www.graceworks.com.sg), a training and publishing consultancy committed to promoting spiritual friendship in church and society.
Revisiting Christians & politics
Since the 13th General Election seems to be on the minds of most Malaysians (at least those who are online), and we’ve been very much focused on understanding how Christians are reflecting on religion and politics, I will repost an older article that made it into an English mainstream paper below.
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Sunday September 19, 2010
Christians & politics
By ANDREW SIA
Opinions are divided on Christian involvement in politics, but most people agree on the need to fight for justice.
SINCE the “political tsunami” of March 8, 2008, Christians have become increasingly vocal on national issues. However, according to the Malaysian Census of 2000, only 10% of Malaysia’s population is Christian, with the majority being in Sabah and Sarawak (where they make up 40% of the population).
But what Christians lack in numbers, they may make up for in influence. As one local Christian politician put it, “Christians may not be so numerous but we are usually well-educated, middle-class and well-connected, especially in urban society. The moment something happens, it will be widely discussed in cell group meetings or put up on the Internet.”
Malaysian Christians praying for the Pope John Paul in 2005. Prayer aside, Christians in the country have begun to speak up and take action to contribute towards nation-building. – File photo
A minor awakening
“I have never had so many political discussions with Christians than in the past two years,” says Sivin Kit, pastor of the Bangsar Lutheran Church in Kuala Lumpur. “We are swept up by the currents of the political climate.”
Political analyst Ong Kian Ming, a Christian himself, notes that “since March 8, more Christians are voicing their concerns about political issues. However, other Malaysians are doing so too.”
In 1992, the late Tan Sri Dr Tan Chee Khoon, a staunch Methodist, wrote in the book, Challenge of Vision 2020: Christian Involvement in Politics:
“To be involved in politics, the Christians have to increase the level of political consciousness. By this I do not mean that Christians should form political parties as is the practice of Europe.
“We are a multi-racial and multi-religious nation and the injection of politics may well disrupt the religious harmony that now prevails. But there is no harm in Christians taking an interest in the politics of our country.
“By all means they should join political parties and even join the component parties of the Barisan Nasional if they so desire. If Christians so desire they may also join Opposition parties. If Christians do so, let us hope that the level of politics in this country will improve with honesty, neighbourly love and charity amongst the political leadership in our country.”
2011 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,700 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 28 trips to carry that many people.
Christian Perspectives on Politics in Malaysia (Reloaded) IV
And the finale … at least for this series.
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1000 apologies for the delay of the final installment. Domestic responsibilities, church ministry, and some extra clutter has slowed me down. But before the Chinese New year, and the next elections. I thought it’s best to wrap this conversation up for now. Thanks for persevering through the ride 
If you want to catch up a little … you can go back to Part I, Part II and Part III. All those in blue are added to the original interview…
Christian concerns and needs of churches
Chun Wai: The number of Christians has risen to around nine to 10% of the population, even larger than the Indians at about 6.3%. Why is the voice of Christianity more subdued than other religions?
Kim Kong: The church’s main concern is spiritual rather than political. Also, the church, as a whole, does not have a common political agenda to bind them together. I think the separation between the state and religion is a very clear doctrine of Christians.
Steven: It is a false dichotomy to differentiate between spiritual and political. Christian spirituality encompasses the material world and this includes politics. As I have mentioned, we have a very strong precedence in the ancient biblical prophets. And it was shown that Jesus himself saw that his ministry was not merely �spiritual� in our popular understanding but had a tangible social agenda. Thus to say that being spiritual is one thing and being political is another is a huge fallacy, albeit one which has plagued certain sections of the church for centuries.
Raj: True Christian spirituality must involve how we live our whole lives. We cannot differentiate between being more concerned with spiritual matters verses political. Our political involvement can be an outcome of, and an expression of our spirituality.
Sivin: I prefer to say that the church’s main concern is for the good of the world, and especially for people – whom may be seen as the least, the last and the lost. Least in the eyes of society, last to be given needed attention, and lost in terms of life direction and overall purpose of existence. And since the church connects this with God’s agenda for the world, thus the spiritual dimension transcends our limited human vision, an integrated and holistic perspective is still in touch with human life and suffering which has both personal and public implications. So, here again we run full cycle in this conversation and cannot run away from dealing with politics. The church cannot be driven by political agendas outside of herself, but the church cannot ignore decisions made by politicians affecting the environment all people live in. So, there is a kind of critical and yet creative engagement with the public sphere – perhaps more directly in partnership with civil society, and indirectly and cautiously with the government and even political parties when necessary. This may take a more institutional form like the Christian Federation Malaysia as an important voice to public discourse, or the encouragement of individuals who are already engaged in various spheres of influence.
Christian Perspectives on Politics in Malaysia (Interlude Reloaded too!)
I have included the comments in the previous posts. Here are some extra ones:
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millemeow says:
edwin paul,
juz outta curiosity, whr did u hear abt tis flag burning incident?
i was one among the many of the 10/11 bersih participants who was present at the “flashzone” of masjid jamek from the beginning until the end when we dispersed to march towards the istana. even when subjected to physical attacks by the gorilla enforcers of pdrm, i did not witness even one single ugly (or as u hv defined it, “outrageous”) incident such as tat of flag burning. on the contrary, one of the many epiphanies i had on tat eventful day was from observing the victims who stood resilient despite multiple blows at the receiving end of the teargas and water cannon. they had displayed tremendous restraint instead of giving in to retaliation by way of violence. and to these brothers from PAS, i salute them, for even under the most arduous of maltreatment, they did not buckle. it has certainly made a whole world of difference in how i view them and their religious faith now.
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Collin Nunis says:
Oh come on Edwin, you can’t be that passive about this, can you?
While I personally feel that public walkout and protests are something we need to work on, it being something in its infant stages here in Malaysia, something needs to be done and we can all contribute to it in our own way. The point here is, affirmative action must be taken to make sure that we get heard. But in our own way.
So some of us are frustrated with the political situation… Lets do something about it. Depending on what gifts the Spirit has blessed us with, we can do something to contribute to a cause that will benefit the country. The people in Bersih came together for a common cause by walking throughout the city to send a message. If you don’t want to protest, fine. But don’t sideline these people and imply that they’re not doing the right thing. Being patriots in their own little way, it would stupid of them to burn the flag. They defeat their purpose in doing so and suppose, no one who’s suffering for the country’s sake will do such a thing. Amen.
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Bob K says:
I think it was in reference to the roadshow by BERSIH in Batu Burok, Terengganu where a ceramah was supposed to be held. The crackdown was pretty bad too and the press focussed on an unknown individual who was caught on camera burning the flag. However, it was not mentioned who that individual was and how that person was affiliated with BERSIH plus the photograph was allegedly taken a few hours after things have settled down.
What the press didn’t mention though, at least until much later, was that 2 local residents were shot by plainclothes police officers; one in the chest and the other in the neck. And instead of investigating the officers for a possible unlawful discharge of a firearm in a public place, the 2 victims were charged for rioting instead. Go figure.
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In fact, it kinda reminds me of what the Chinese government did after the 1989 Tiananmen protests. After sending in tanks and armed troops to break up the protest, and in the process causing quite a few deaths (the actual figure is still disputed, from a few hundred to a few thousand), the propaganda machine swung into action and the victims quickly labelled 土匪 (bandits) or 流氓 (rogues).
With their absolute control of the media, it wasn’t too difficult and the fact remains that in China today, most young people below the age of 25 cannot identify some of the more iconic symbols of that period like the photograph of the solitary man who stopped a column of tanks or the statue of the goddess of democracy. And for those that do know a bit about what happened, most of them are not aware that it originated in university campuses nationwide and are under the impression that it was a mob riot.
Apparently we learnt quite a bit from that. Of course this is a different age and the “culprits” would most probably be labelled 恐怖份子 (terrorist) today .. kinda like how, depending on which audience is being addressed, a Malayalee can be accused of being a Tamil Tiger and groups like BERSIH villified as being a Malay movement (hence implying that its none of our business).
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Christian Perspectives on Politics in Malaysia (Reloaded)III
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I’m happy the two earlier blog posts Christian Perspectives on Politics in Malaysia I andChristian Perspectives on Politics in Malaysia II is generating some conversation even though there isn’t an avalanche of comments. Maybe the Invisible Blue Gang isn’t that provocative or controversial. Then again, we always meant to join the panel to talk about the issues not to focused on rhetoric. Tonight we carry on the third installment. Let’s see where this will lead us. perhaps to a better tomorrow?
Chun Wai: In Malaysia, politics have always been quite partisan and even emotional at times. While the church may agree on certain issues, there’s always the question of approaches that can divide the congregation. For example, the pastor can be very anti- or pro-government, and the congregation is made up of people with various political affiliations and they may not be too happy with the stand taken by the pastor. Will that create division in church?
Steven: There are many issues that can divide an institution not just politics, but I guess this is where maturity and the Christian�s concept of brotherly love comes in. Everyone ought to be welcomed and given the space to express themselves and with such space respect ought to be given for the persons even if we differ in ideologies. We cannot treat our congregation as childish and immature to handle differences.
Hermen: You just take one issue, let’s say our response to a certain concern. And then, you will find in the church some will say get involved, others say don’t. They are no different from the rest of society.
Sivin: The church has always dealt with divisions since day one. And we still do, whether we like it or not. We have been learning and still learning how to cope with diversity of legitimate view points without being divided, and yet sometimes division maybe inevitable on this side of heaven. This may range from the what may seem the most trivial like musical taste to the more critical doctrinal differences. I’m confident we can learn to deal with the issue of politics. My reading of the Gospels give me an impression that even Jesus early disciples came from differing political persuasions. Historically and even today we can locate a diversity of responses to politics and our relation to the government. So handling strong diverse views is a constant challenge.
The question for me, is why do people take these positions? What are the factors influencing them to decide their conclusions? Even if a pastor’s stand may at first glance appear to create division. Perhaps, we need to ask deeper questions beyond whether one is happy or not with the pastor’s opinion. We’re talking a little too abstract here. Which frustrates me a little. Let’s take a concrete example, if I take a stand to choose to dialogue not only with UMNO or MCA politicians but also am willing to engage PKR, DAP or PAS politicians (which usually is seen as anti-government), it is potentially divisive because we are seen as being used by either party, but then it may also reflect the maturity of the church in engaging strongly opposing views. What if the dialogue is in order for me as a religious leader not only to clarify their views, but also hopefully they would be open to our input?
Chun Wai: Teresa, you are a Catholic and Catholic churches are known to be more vocal, please share your experience.
Churches being missiologically & politically responsible
Much needed wisdom on what does it mean for Churches to be responsible to God and the rakyat without being partisan:
“…churches will never act as if they’re the “Christian department” of DAP or—God forbid—Umno. The churches and pastors… would never declare that Anwar Ibrahim (or Lim Guan Eng or Karpal Singh, for that matter) is “anointed by God” or is the one divinely chosen. The key here is about recommending and encouraging a vote, NOT commanding that the congregation vote a certain way lest they act contrary to the eternally-ordained ways of God.”
(Alwyn Lau, ‘Naming Names’, in The Bible and the Ballot: Reflections on Christian Political Engagement in Malaysia Today, edited by Joshua Woo and Soo-Inn Tan, p.5)
