And I’ve been to your blog before

I never knew about one such as Ahmed Tantawi and his ilk. Will watch out for him.

I just wish the people who proclaim to have faith and iman can fully the grasp the meaning of their religion.

Islam calls for its people to ‘always seek knowledge’. But what I see in Malaysia is that they shy away from knowledge which they fear will shake their faiths.

I believe that if you seek knowledge with faith and intention to understand and learn other (and your own) religion/culture etc, your faith will always remain intact.

How else do you renew/strengthen your faith if you don’t seek the knowledge which will bolster it?

By the way this is the first time i’ve visited your site. You have an interesting way of putting across your point.

Pleased to meet your acquaintance.

This Ahmad Tantawi individual (or maybe a group of individuals) is nothing new on this blog. He/they turn up every now and then for quite a few years and make some of the most bigoted statements that probably would have been commonplace in pre-Westphalia medieval Europe. And of course, almost all of them claim to be Christian converts of some sort; although one of them claimed to be a socialist for quite a while until his/their bluff was called.

I wouldn’t disagree too much with your take on who he/they might be.

Regarding the “Muslim perspectives” quote, it has to be taken within the context of the current polemics. I am not implying that all Muslims think like this but a lot of those who claim to be Muslim voices in this current polemical exchange seem to be expressing such views. I have had the privilege of enjoying the friendship and comradeship of many Malay-Muslim Malaysians who’s opinions are a far cry from what is commonly presented in the mass media.

I did not mean to refer to the malays in the following:

“They malays fear information and do not embrace it. They refuse to look at things from another perspective as this might ‘jeopardize’ their faith. They fear everything as ‘it might jeopardize their faith’.”

I find this statement wrong and very one sided. Not all malays do this. I feel the statement above refers to BN and PAS. Not malays. The para above should be read like this:

BN/PAS fear information and do not embrace it. They refuse to look at things from another perspective as this might ‘jeopardize’ the malay faith. They fear everything as ‘it might jeopardize the malay faith’.

It is either their ‘fear’ or their intention of politicizing the issue to get voters. Either way, it’s a shame.

Bob,

Don’t listen to him. I feel that Ahmed Tantawi, being very pro BN, is doing exactly what BN politicians do. They politicize everything. This is a religious issue. It shouldn’t be dealt by politicians. (Especially one such as bigoted as Joe Baharum).

I tend to disagree with you on the labelling of the ‘muslim perspectives’. It would be better if you labeled it the ‘malay perspectives’.

I am malay muslim and the way I see it, muslims in other countries don’t have this problem. It’s just here in Malaysia.

I feel that this is due to some PAS and also BN behavior. They tend to focus on things such as the morals of anak2 melayu, melayu murtad, and all the negative issues about the malay muslims. This promotes fear in the hearts of the malays.

Why don’t they focus on the beauty of islam, is beyond me.

Through this fear, THIS particular issue is taking root. This fear is making us regress instead of progress.

They malays fear information and do not embrace it. They refuse to look at things from another perspective as this might ‘jeopardize’ their faith. They fear everything as ‘it might jeopardize their faith’.

I’m malay and this saddens me. But I have faith in malaysians to not buy into this negativity and to find out for themselves the truth behind all the fear tactics that these political entities use to get votes. It’s just so low of them to use it. Pathetic really.

We should choose leaders who are capable in their fields. Not just because they seem to be more religious than others. This is so superficial and lame. Your faith is between you and Allah. Iman itu adalah antara Allah dan kita. Bukan untuk diadili oleh orang lain.

Why should Christians listen to you Bob, a hypocrite? You are a wolf in sheep clothing who is really an Islamic fascist attached to PAS’ subsidiary PKR. That’s why you refuse to prosetylise Muslims to provoke the Muslims to anger. Fortunately, most Christians are smart and rejected both Keadilan and its master, PAS.

Your call for Chinese and Indians to use what you call “Bahasa Malaysia” (which is really Bahasa Melayu) will be rejected as Christians want Malaysia to be multi cultured and emulate Singapore by declared both Mandarin and Tamil as official languages of the federation alongside Bahasa Melayu. Bahasa Malaysia will constitute all 3 national languages. Chinese will never assimilate into the Malay culture, and any attempt to force assimilate a Chinese will be taken as racism/apartheid. The only need for Bahasa Melayu translations of the Holy Bible is for the apostate Muslims (murtads), who are Malay Christians.

Last, we all know the Bangsar Lutheran Church is a schismatic body led by a heretic Sivin Kit who calls himself “pastor” but he is really like you, a hypocrite. Only Catholics are real Christians for the CCC declares that outside the Church there is no salvation.

Maybe some critical self examination is also needed.

It is you who needs some critical self examination of your heretical theology which makes you a hypocrite. I suggest you convert to Islam than be hypocritical. As an ex-Muslim convert to Catholicism, I emulate my sister Lina Joy to be honest. The purpose of translating the Bible into Bahasa Melayu is for use in missionary works among Malay Christians. It is our right to prosetylise, and if it is “illegal” by law, we must break the law. Remember, the PAS-led coalition BERSIH held an illegal rally on November 10, and if PAS can break the Malaysian law, then, Christians must break the man-made laws that are against our faith. Even Jesus Christ broke Jewish law some 2,000 years ago and suffered martyrdom.

To clarify matters, my transcript and transliteration is based on the Westminster Leningrad Codex, an online digital version maintained by the J. Alan Groves Center for Advanced Biblical Research at the Westminster Theological Seminary.

It is noted that in Jewish tradition, the name YHWH is not pronounced and almost always is replaced by Adonai.

the transliteration should come out sth like this:

Shema’ Yisra`el Yhwh (read as adonai) `elohenu Yhwh `ehad

(the short and long vowels as well as the shewas are not shown above. in proper transliteration, we use an appropirate font like SIL Ezra Transliteration which will show the differences)

from the reb