What role religion??

Buddhists believe in karma. So, to differentiate between a good Buddhist and one who is not, we look at the person's deeds. But then, maybe the person does not care about what the present future or the next life may bring.

Other religions also have beliefs and teachings for their followers. The teachings, if you should examine them, are definitely the best possible ones by which life on earth can be wonderfully peaceful and happy.

Then, again, it is evidently tough to be good at any religion. People throughout the world belong to either this religion or that religion except for the few rebellious ones like me who believe in God but refuses to join any. Fortunately or unfortunately (my ego at play), God did not create many like me. But then, with so many religious people in the world we would have thought the world a lovely, peaceful place to fulfill whatever earthly mission we come for.

Sad to say, the world today is filled with turmoil. Television bring all the power struggles and hatred among humans to our living-rooms at certain times throughout the day as if to remind us that something has to be done or else, as some have prophesied, the world may come to an end soon. Indeed, it looks like it, for at this rate, if natural disaster do not wipe us out, we ourselves may do the job, what with the numerous atomic weapons so many countries are developing. And playing with this kind of fire, it is just a matter of time before somebody's madness would get us all burnt to cinders.

So, what is the role of religion in our present situation where comparatively few, if any, truly believes in God even though they conveniently belong to one. Apparently, belief in God and religion is being abused by many. Religion has become a social and political tool. Some people belong to a religion so as to be accepted by certain groups of people, to have a place to congregate, a place to show others how devoted they are to a certain God, and so how morally good they must be. Political leaders would appeal to people of the same religion to unite with them so as to fight for the betterment of that particular religion. (As though Almighty God needs help from such mortals!)Thus, the name of God is being abused. Throughout the world, we have labeled nations as Buddhist countries, Christian countries and Muslim countries and in that way create a demand that only that particular religion be given special preference. (Did God ever demand special preference? No, because God is forever Almighty even if there is just one follower. Even if I am God's only believer, He still IS God. He is not more or less God because of His followers' numbers or deeds.)

As humans develop in intelligence, his ego has grown just as much. Some religions have even created new rules and regulations and caused them to be accepted by their followers. Some rules are created to force followers to stick to a particular religion even when the follower has lost faith in it. Actually, Man has the right to believe and choose his own religion. This is important as a person forced to accept a religion may never find belief in it. However, as a member of a society, to make life easier for himself, he may put on the pretense of acceptance. The crux of the matter is, is it from his heart? But then, ego of the authorities concerned are not happy to see others not in the same religion as theirs, feel slighted that their members would leave for another religion and other religions believed inferior to theirs. (Has God ever taught us those things? No, God is beyond and above all those small-minded matters. All these come through the ego of the leaders of religions.)

Today, humans abuse the name of God often in their struggle for power between countries and ethnic groups. And even among themselves, resulting in denominations and their different versions of God's message. The Christians have the Protestants, the Baptists, the Catholics and more while the Muslims have their Sunni, Matahari and others; and when it comes to the Buddhists, there are the many branches of thoughts. (well, I have to leave out others as there would be too many.)

Someone wants to be a leader and to do that even among one religion, there has to be denominations. With more denominations, there can be more leaders. Then, in a country, or among more than one country, there may be more than one religion. To have greater power than other leaders belonging to other religions, conflicts have to caused and fights lead to some kind of submission to the greater religion? and leader. All this leadership and power struggle is happening in the Middle East and many nations.

Perhaps it is time for a new prophet to straighten the minds and cool the ego of humans. To hope for such a solution is easy and according to 'The Secret' fervent hopes do materialise but it needs to be soon as people are beginning to become numbed to even the horrendous happenings brought to us by television.

Disastrously, the role of religion has changed somewhat. There was a time when religious people were respected for their good morals, their sacrifices and services in the name of God and their friendliness to all, regardless of religion with the belief that God created all humans. Today, there is no respect for God's creation even when it is in a similar form.

Are religions as God wishes?

Nowadays, in Malaysia, there are so many problems due to a few objectives that religions are so zealous about. And it is not without good reason that they aim to keep the members of their faith from straying to another faith. After all, it is human nature to ensure that members of any organisation they belong to increase in number in time. This good intention could be considered good if it does not bring along anger and distrust when there is suspicion that someone is straying.

When there is such suspicion, there is anger against those thought to be straying and distrust of the people such suspected strays or wayward ones associates with. With that comes accusing fingers that other faiths could be stealing their members.
And it becomes a very sensitive issue, an issue which can divide friends and citizens.

And I always thought, and still do, that religion is God's teaching for the good of all mankind, not just for a selected group or nation. Read the holy books and they teach us that everything on earth is the creation of God. As such, we must respect each other, respect other people their ways of living and their beliefs. The holy books urged us to be good to each other for all men and women are brothers and sisters, to forgive or be merciful, to be compassionate as we are all fallible humans. In Christianity, God even sent His son to die for our sins.

Yet, throughout the world so many problems arise due to religion. Man knows the greatness of God and with that understanding, some abuse His name to achieve their own ends. Sometimes I wonder how such people can pretend to be holy and religious and perform deeds obviously far from the wishes of God.

I write the last sentence through my own personal experience. You see, as a young man I was very interested in spiritual things and God. I searched for truth in many places, entering temples, churches and mosques. I still remember the time I was given a white robe to wear before stepping into a mosque. I talked to mediums, pastors and priests. I watched as elderly women who claimed not to have married because of giving time to God. Unfortunately for religions, I happened to witness with my own eyes and ears a happening which caused me to look even deeper into religions.

There was this old lady with her beads, her mouth wording prayers as she slowly walked along. A young man suddenly came through the door and went hurriedly past her into an inner portion of the house. The lady's chanting suddenly stopped and turning slightly towards the receding figure of the man who had just passed, she cursed him. It was a great shock to me. How could such a seemingly religious person utter such words? But, that was what she did! My eyes and ears certainly did not deceive me.

So, as a result of that shock I examined in further detail the various practices in religions. I found that, although there was much that must be true, there are some words that must have been put into God's mouth. And as religions divide themselves into sects, we find that there are also so many different interpretations of God's words. Which is right? Well, I found that the humans in a particular sect would consider their own interpretation as correct and others wrong.

With so many differences, which religion should I join? Eventually, although I like and enjoy the practices of some religions, I decided to just be with God as I have through my life known that God is always with me. Each day I thank God for that.

Is this the beginning of extremism?

Today, I am copying an article from the Malaysian Insider to show that politics is leading the country towards extremism. Political leaders have been encouraging and instigating Muslim leaders to think of non-Muslims as aliens rather than as citizens who ought to have equal rights with Muslim citizens. What several Muslim leaders say in the following article shows how these leaders have twisted facts to support their extremist views.

Regarding the civil rights of non-Muslim Malaysians I have lifted the comments of a British Muslim, a Jennifer Abdullah, from the comments column in the Malaysian Insider. Her enlightening comment is pasted below the article.

I have copied this article together with a comment by this British Muslim from Hong Kong to show that that what we think is read throughout the world and how well our country and people are judged depends on what we say or do as all would reach the minds of people internationally.

Islamic leaders question non-Muslim rights
UPDATED @ 09:05:18 AM 23-05-2011
By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani
May 22, 2011


KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 – Several Islamic leaders have questioned the loyalty of non-Muslims in the country, declaring today the community’s rights must be re-evaluated if Malaysia is to call itself an Islamic state.
Former president of Islamic Da’wah Foundation Malaysia (Yadim), Datuk Nakhaie Ahmad, said treatment of non-Muslims must be based on the social contract agreed and pointed out that the government has been too gracious to the community.
“In attempts to get vote and support of non-Muslims, we have been very gracious in giving them their civil rights. Civil rights given to them includes the rights to vote, participation in politics, hold office, involvement in the military and so forth but we cannot just willingly give them everything.
“Our offer must be based on religious practices. If we look at the prophet’s agreement in the Madinah constitution, civil rights were given to the Jews but the rights must be paid back with responsibility. They must have the responsibility and agree to defend our country and not insult the agreement,” he said during a forum on "Membina Negara Sejahtera" organised by the Persatuan Ulama Malaysia here.
Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad declared Malaysia an Islamic state a decade ago in a move to counter PAS’ growing influence among the country’s key Malay Muslim population.
The issue cropped up this month when several groups asked for amendments to the Federal Constitution to stipulate only Muslims can be the prime minister after Utusan Malaysia carried an unsubstantiated report of a Christian plot to usurp Islam’s position as religion of the federation.
Nakhaie stressed that non-Muslims that have broken the social contract must be expelled from the country and asked the government to adopt a tough approach in safeguarding Muslim interest.
“If the agreement is broken then actions must be taken against them. If they break our agreement then they are our enemy and must be expelled from the country. We must not compromise with them. We must be stern with them when it comes to the social contract agreed,” he said.
Nakhaie added it is important that high level government positions not be awarded to non-Muslims for national security.
“We cannot give them important government position as it is not allowed for non-Muslims to become ministers in an Islamic state. Head of military must also not be given to non-Muslims.
“Without thinking about the future of our country, we are so willing to give them everything. Granting them their civil rights must be balanced with Islamic preaching so they will understand justice in Islam and the Islamic system,” said the former PAS member who defected to Umno years ago.
He also warned Muslims to unite as non-Muslims will become stronger if the community continues to quarrel among themselves.
“They are brave now and are willing to say anything because they are becoming dominant. They (non-muslim political parties) are only working with us to only achieve their goals. It is a marriage of convenience. We know what is their programme. We are already losing economically and now we want to give political rights?” he asked.
Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia’s (ISMA) deputy president Zamri Hashim added that Muslims must look beyond political affiliation for a common greater cause.
“We must think outside of politics. The Malay agenda is too important to ignore and a majority of Malays are Muslims. This is no longer about PAS and Umno,” said the Perak deputy Mufti.
Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (Abim) deputy president, Dr Mohd Rumaizuddin Ghazali, also stressed that Malaysia must never become a secular state.
“This is why many non-Muslim politicians want to declare the country as a secular state because then the government will not have fund religious programmes.
“They are scared that if we accept Malaysia as an Islamic state then there are many implications which means that only Muslims have the right to lead the country,” he said.
Mohd Rumaizuddin added that the Malays are beginning to be trampled on and non-Muslims are starting to take advantage of the community.
“Because of politics, we are still not free after more than 50 years of independence,” he said.
Hizbut Tahrir Malaysia president Abdul Hakim Othman added the country’s constitution must be replaced as it has been stained by the colonial British.
“A Caliphate state is based on divine revelation. It is not a democratic or a theocratic state. It is only an Islamic state when the constitution is based on the Quran and prophetic traditions,” he said.

Below is the comment by a Miss Jennifer Abdullah who is a British Muslim. The following is a quote taken from the article and her comment.

"In attempts to get vote and support of non-Muslims, we have been very gracious in giving them their civil rights."

I'm not Malaysian but I am a British Muslim and I'm reading this from Hong Kong. I find it offensive that Malaysian Muslims could even threaten to retract civil rights from non-muslims arbitrarily when the civil rights of every individual in the Commonwealth has been protected since the days of the Magna Carta

I'm sorry but a Malaysian friend of mine pass this to me and I cannot help but comment after reading this. I'm very disappointed, as a Muslim myself, to see the Muslims in your country going the way of extremism. I hope the Malaysian ppl understand that true Islam does not condone intolerance and are fully compatible with democracy and human rights.

Another reason I do not belong to a religion.

I have come to the conclusion that if anyone wishes to join a religion, do not ask too much, know too much or observe too much about the religion. This conclusion, however I must admit, is just only the result of my own experiences and thoughts.

As a young man in quest of the truth and the spiritual paths, I have been into temples, churches, mosques and all kind of places people claim there are spirits and happenings. I have been to processions of the nine emperor Gods, the Datuk Keramat Diety, St. Anne's in Bukit Mertajam and other happenings in temples. I have even personally seen a young Malay boy jump into a trance-like dance while waiting for a Chinese friend outside a small temple even before the usual medium in front of the deity's statue could be possessed by the deity. (Of course, this is bound to be disbelieved by those who were not present then.)

In those days; it was the 1970s then, human beings were more united, communication on religion and beliefs were easily discussed without the present day suspicion. In the mosque, for example, I was allowed entry to every part of it just clothed in a white cloak which was provided by the guardian of the mosque. So there was no worry whatsoever of doing anything wrong unlike these days when talk of sacrilege is sure to erupt should someone wishes to find fault with someone.

Speaking of sacrilege, which is treating a holy place with disrespect by wearing or not wearing, by having or not having or by doing or not doing something, I have always wondered if the rules have been laid down by God or man.

As my parents were Taoists but claimed to be Buddhist, I have been told by them that those people who are having their periods must not enter the temple or place of worship. So, even if there is a need to pray in a temple, the need has to be put on hold. According to the rules the woman's body at the time of menstruation is considered unclean and therefore not presentable to God. That is something I have always argued with my parents about. I could never accept the belief that a body is unclean just because it is in the natural process of removing waste.

If the process of removing waste from the human body is considered dirty, than what about the process of eliminating toxin from the body through our skin as we sweat, the process of removing carbon dioxide from out body through the lungs in the process of breathing or the process of getting rid of waste from the bladder or the intestines. Does that make our body dirty? The elimination of waste takes place every second of the day. So does that make us unclean and so forever not suitable to enter the places of worship. Or is it just menstruation that has been singled out as the impure state of the body? Would that be an act of God? Certainly not! It has to be an act of Man! What kind of fairness is that?

It is such rules that point me towards the realisation that many religious rules are man-made. Only man could be so small-minded as to consider a woman to be in a 'dirty' state at the time of menstruation which is actually a normal, natural process of eliminating one kind of waste. Such being the case, would God be angry with the presence of one his greatest creations? Furthermore, the act of menstruating is not an act against God for God himself created women thus. It is a perfectly purifying process in itself. Yet, man is petty enough to consider it dirty.

If I had been told that the disallowing of women into a place of worship during menstruation was to prevent inconveniencing women who might possibly be in pain, weak and having stains, I would wholeheartedly agree but surely not because they are impure or is sinful for them to be in God's presence then.

When faced with such a rule and other rules which are man-made, I find it uncomfortable to submit or be a part of a religion which requires its followers to obey its rules. Such being the case, I am more comfortable with my belief that God is always with me no matter where I am, be it at a muddy river, a smelly spot collecting manure for my plants or in a well-scrubbed toilet. God will always be there and I am only answerable to God for all my religious thoughts and deeds.

It is possible for different religions to thrive together.

Today I was in the library reading and catching up on old news when an article in the Star caught my attention. According to the article, there was this 1,500 year old church in Gaza City which stands next door to a mosque. The Christians and Muslims have no problem living and practising their religion so near to each other for more than a thousand years.

According to the article, 'It is not surprising to see head-scarved Muslim female workers sweeping and cleaning the church.' Even the conservative Islamic group Hamas allowed the church special permission to bring in wine for their Sunday service.

The Christians in Gaza were just as affected by the Isreali occupation of Gaza as the military strike and unemployment bring the same problems to all Gaza residents. So, be they Christians or Muslims, the ordinary folks are the same, loving each other, respecting each other, working with each other, even helping to upkeep places of worship and suffering the same fate.

What is the difference and who brought the difference? The difference is that the majority of the people in Gaza are Muslims but that was not a problem until leaders who craze for power would bring in their extremist thoughts to exterminate the minority. So, majority gives strength in terms of support and might. Percentage is important to leaders and lessening the minority number can increase the percentage of the majority.However, sometimes it is not the government but the extremists within the government or other extremist groups that cause people to change.

The presence of extremist leaders and their anxiety-creating opinions bring fear to the minority, unsettling their feelings of belonging. So, some would migrate, especially the best brains and the more capable.

The article I read strengthen my belief and understanding that all of us are the same, capable of a wonderful life together if not for power-crazy leaders who would cause all kinds of misery to mankind just to achieve their own selfish ends. But it is a fact that such people will never learn for their drug is power and like any drug addict, they would do just about anything to snuff the drug of power.

Ordinary people are by nature not racial.

Did you read my posting where I told you about a place called Caunter Hall in Penang which has benn renamed Jalan P. Ramlee. Yes, I was a village boy, brought up in a small village surrounded by coconut trees, sugar cane plantations, pineapple lots and attap houses. (Attap is a roofing material made from the leaves of a kind of palm tree.) In the area were Malay, Chinese and Indian communities. As children, whenever we played, the idea of race did not enter our minds then. We only differentiated people by their jobs, their kindness and their attitudes.

I had to go to school by bus which took me and my elder brother to Hutchings School (the building housing the Penang State museum now) which was quite a distance away. There were times when we missed the bus and had to walk many kilometers to school. For me, despite such sometimes tiring walks, school was the most enjoyable part of my childhood. It was the place I learned a lot, made lots of friends, played with them and despite their skin colour, never thought of them as people of another race. We had our misunderstandings, our quarrels, our fights and our reunion as friends without any care for the race factor. This continued with our advance into secondary education when I was chosen to go to the Penang Free School. I remembered a Malay friend who was so close with us to the extent of even gradually being able to converse in a Chinese dialect. That was easy as ordinary children do not think of themselves in terms of race.

It was only after 1969 when the National Economic Policy (NEP) was implemented that Malaysian teenagers found that not every Malaysian teenager is treated equal by the Malaysian government. The traumatic moment of truth dawned upon the teenagers of minority races when they were not given opportunities to study in universities despite their excellent results while other teenagers of a certain race with lower results are offered those places. The race factor had raised its ugly head since then.

The injustice of such a policy was even realised by my Malay friends. One particular Malay teacher told me not to worry about having children as such a policy will not be around for many years. He thought that my wife’s inability to conceive then was due to my not wishing to have children to face such a moment of truth brought by the NEP. His compassion for the children of other races touched me even to this day.
In those days, I told politicians in the ruling parties that the poor can be assisted without bringing in the race factor. If the government sincerely wish to assist the poor of any race, which ought to be done, and certainly without opposition from any quarter, then assist all poor Malaysians. After all, if a certain race has the most poor, then the people of that race will be helped the most. However, it turned out to be helping the rich of that race to become richer through the excuse of uplifting the poor. The poor poor were left to remain poor, tossing merely crumbs to them just to keep them quiet. Well, go to the rural areas and see the poverty there. Their homes stand as proof of what had taken place.
It’s the politicians whom I am weary of. When it comes to ordinary people, we mix fairly easily in walks up the hill in Bukit Semarak. We take part in activities in Rukun Tetangga and residential associations, exchanging views and news without anxiety or fear of the other race plotting to steal away our wealth or blaming our individual poor economic situation on someone else.

When I was teaching in Kodiang, Kedah, I had some of the best times of my life in the company of ordinary village folks. Each weekend, I would drop into Pak Mat’s house to go trap birds in the nearby forest near Changloon. Sometimes, we would search for good ‘merboks’ in another village and Yusoff would help me to bargain for a fair price. Yusoff had a monkey to help him pluck coconuts. Once, an enraged monkey almost tore off his scrotum. He had to kill it as it was no longer safe to take around. A group of us gathered some money to buy him another monkey. Thus, we spent time with our hobbies, had outings together and helped each other out without the race factor interfering with our friendship.

However, the race factor is always read of in our news media each day as power hungry politicians use it to gain political mileage. And, apparently, this will continue for some time yet as even these politicians understand that it is not our nature to think of another person’s race as an important element in our lives. So, unless they persevere, they will lose their much needed following and support.
Well, that is life. It is never plain sailing. Fortunately God is still watching over us and as long as the politicians belong to a religion they dare not be too ungodly in their ways. There is still hope.

Religions in Turmoil.

The First World War was a result of the desire for Japanese supremacy. The Germans thought they could be the superior race and started the Second World War to prove themselves wrong. Fortunately, we have no Third World War for such a war would have seen the end of the world. As time progresses more and more countries are acquiring nuclear capability and world leaders are increasingly aware that a nuclear war can bring such an end.

Awareness of dire consequences of war does not however prevent war as we can read in the news media each day of destruction and death brought by religious extremists. We have war between countries, arsonists, destroyers, terrorists and killers. In many parts of the world they either send terrorising messages or commit acts which cause death and destruction. Today, we have a war of terrorism.

In Malaysia, we have extremists burning and causing damage to churches and suraus or mosques, just because one home-minister decided to ban the use of the word 'Allah' among Christians; a word which has been in use for so many years in Sabah and Sarawak without any problems of any kind. His ban caused the Christians to take the case to court where they were given back the right to use that word. The decision of the court caused Muslim groups to protest and the leaders of the country even said that the people had the right to such a protest although peaceful protests before this had been disallowed. With that, we saw a number of churches damaged. Later, other extremists damaged some suraus or small mosques.

These terrorists comprise of people who are supposed to be religious; people who give up a normal life to think of ways and means to terrorise those whom they believe are the enemies of their religion. They are devoted to their cause despite having to be on the run, forever weary of armed forces which may put an end to their lives. Yes, obviously they live for a cause; their desire to fight for that cause is so great that nothing much can stop them.

These terrorists are indeed strong in their mission; whatever mission they may claim to have. Nevertheless, having a mission and a cause do not make their acts of terrorism right, no matter how we look at it, be it in reference to international man-made laws or the teachings of God and religion. In fact all religions teach their followers peace and good-will to all mankind, even the followers of other religions.

In Malaysia, good religious leaders come out to condemn such terrorist acts. some even help to protect places of worship from such acts of terrorism. It shows that there are true believers of God, after all and there is still hope for excellent practice of the teachings of God.

Still, when we look at various parts of the world and we see so much destruction in the name of God, certainly, something is very wrong. Perhaps. we ought to do something to stop this worrisome acts of violence that can only beget more violence. Let us study a little the possible causes of such violence.

Look at those who are atheist or those who are studying the wise teachings of great leaders who have found enlightenment. Have such people ever taken up such destructive causes?

Has anyone ever heard of atheist insisting that others join them in their belief? None, right? so, they live life according to the laws of the land and their own conscience or their own divine spirit. They never insist they have any right to anything except that which is truly and proven to be theirs. They move according to the laws of the universe, to truth and facts.

Buddha was once asked by a disciple to tell him about God. He told the disciple that when we do not even know so many other things in this life, how can we know God. Buddha never claim to be God nor nor did he claim to know Him. He found enlightenment. Of course, before he found enlightenment, he did do things I would not have approved of. He left his wife, for example, to seek enlightenment but then that only shows his human weakness before he found enlightenment. So, Buddhism is actually a philosophy of life. It is a wisdom in the approach to living correctly one's life. Except for a few incidents where the craze for power was the cause, Buddhists have no problem living with the rest of the world, regardless of race or religion.

Looks like it is only those followers of religions with a belief in God which are experiencing problems in accommodating or accept the beliefs, acts and ways of others. But then, religions have always taught love, goodwill and peace. The holy book of God, be it the Koran or the Bible, have told us that we are all creations of God. Thus, if we hurt or harm any human, you harm a creation of God. God has always taught us to be good and compassionate, to respect others, no matter what religion the other belong to. When it comes to the Christians, all are children of God and those who have not found the way to God, are lost 'sheep' yet to be helped.

So, could it be that terrorists are people who have been lead astray, for one reason or another, from the word of God? If that is so, what can the religions of such people bring them back to the right path, the path of God?

Perhaps, there is a need for great religious leaders who are courageous enough to reach out to these poor lost followers to help them return to the true teachings of God. The Christians and the Muslims can send their most revered leaders to tell their own followers that the fighting, killing and destruction must stop; that what they are doing is against the teachings of God.

Besides the above move, it is time, religious teachers must go strictly by the original Holy book, not to be interpreted as each leader sees fit. There must be some kind of professionalism, not just a passion to spread the word without caring for the true teachings of God. Professionalism is necessary as humans, be they passionate or otherwise, can and do change or interprete God's words to suit their own beliefs and philosophies. That is the reason both Christianity and the Muslim religion have seen so many sects in their midst. In Christianity, we have Catholics, Protestants, Baptists, Seven Day Adventists while the Muslim religion has the Sunni, Shiite and sufi.

Perhaps, it is time I tell about what happened in the school, Sekolah Menegah Kota Kuala Muda, where I taught in the early 1980s. most of my students were Muslims. As my students were fairly close with me, they once asked me whether I consume pork. Of course, I told them I did. They enquired why I did that as according to someone's teaching, pork was poisonous. Certainly, I was shocked at such a revelation. As a teacher, I definitely could not allow such wrong beliefs to go uncorrected. So, I told them that that was not the reason Muslims do not consume pork, that their religion forbids them from eating pork. They looked at me with such puzzled expression that I had to explain further that pork is not poisonous. I told them, "So many people in the world who are not Muslims eat pork, yet all of them do not die from eating it. Of course, like other animals, such as the cow and the chickens, pigs have their sicknesses. At such times, non-Muslims refrain from eating pork. Otherwise, it is perfectly safe to eat them. As for saturated fats, when it comes to health, such fats are found in all animals." Later, the Ustaz, their religious teacher, who happened to turn up just as I was finished with my explanation, confirmed that what I said was true in my presence.

So, young minds, when given wrong teachings or interpretations can lead such minds astray. It is not the fault of these students that they received such information. The fault lies in the teacher who may have his own interpretation of how that prohibition came about. Therefore, religious bodies have to be stricter in their choice of teachers so that God and not man is served, so that God's words are His and not ours.

Especially in the Ministry of God, truth and correctness of God's words are important. Recently, I heard someone said that the Christians should not translate the English word 'God' to 'Allah' Is that correct? I believe that is wrong. To substantiate my statement, let us remember that Christianity started in the Middle East, not in England. The disciples of Jesus were people from Palestine in the Middle East using the language originating from that place. Christianity certainly did not originate from Britain where English is used. Later, when English-speaking people became Christians, the bible was translated into English with the 'Allah' translated to English and not the other way around.

Truth should never be changed, especially when it has to do with God for there is nothing that is God's which needs to be changed.

And man should not put more into the words of God than what was originally written. When this happens, others are bound to follow and soon we cannot see which is God's and which has been adulterated by man. After many decades, maybe centuries, the words of God would have been changed so much by meddlesome man that the real message is lost, replaced by a message created by man.

So, before such a possibility becomes a reality, we should think of how we can convey the true teachings of God to the followers so that all mankind can know and understand God well enough to know that Gpd does not wish to have any of his followers abuse His name as they terrorise, destroy and kill in His name as if He would have His creations do such foul deeds.

Man must read and understand well God's words to ensure the safety and future of our world.

God is with us but some of the things in religion are man-made.

Today, in the Star newspaper online, I read the comments of a Minister in Malaysia. He said that the word ‘Allah’ could be used in Sabah and Sarawak which are two states in East Malaysia while the rest of the states in the Peninsula cannot use that word. In fact, he told reporters that in Penang, Malacca, Federal Territories, Sabah and Sarawak could use the word ‘Allah’ legally speaking.

In the first place, we must admit that God came before us. Everything in this world is his creation. Yet, we sometimes talk as if God belongs to us. Some have lost their direction and claimed that this is their God and therefore they have the right to call him thus. They sort of put a copyright on that name even when they themselves acknowledge, something all intelligent and knowledgeable people have to, that the name, be it God or Allah, is a common word used centuries ago for Him. In fact, as reported in the Star online, the minister, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, himself admitted that the word ‘Allah’ had been long used in Christianity way before Islam existed. Then when Islam came, the same word was used as it meant God. There was no quarrel about it because no leaders confused the people by making an issue out of it. Also, they pray to ‘Allah’ together, be they Christians, Muslims or others, as the aim for religion then, was to sing in praise of the Almighty and hope for his divine guidance and protection. That was their main aim.

Today, in our miserable world of greed for money and power, we abuse His name to achieve our human desires. This is clear when we see so many denominations in Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and other religions. Humans put different interpretations into the words of God as they want their ideas or interpretations to be accepted. They start another denomination so that they can become leaders whose voice will be heard and accepted. Through religion, these people achieved power.

Humans terrorise others in the name of God and religion so that their ideas on issues are heard or forced upon others even when their deeds are against the very religion they claim to be fighting for. This means that they push aside God’s words so that their words can be heard. They forget that God is all powerful, all almighty, that should God want the world to be rid of Ong Ai Wei, all He needed to do is command that Ong Ai Wei will not awaken after his sleep. There is no need for God to call upon His people to sacrifice their lives, no need to kill and be condemned, no need to terrorise and cause the death of so many innocent people; just list those people He wants to sleep unto death. The fact that such people think they need to sacrifice themselves or commit other foul deeds to kill those they believed have wronged their God (Whose God? How can God ever belong to anybody? He is not something we can buy from somewhere. Oh, God, please do something about this.) indicates that they do not actually believe in God being all Almighty or compassionate. They must ask themselves: Do we truly believe in God?

One of the comments holds a lot of truth about some things in religion. When asked about the publication of the herald, which is a Christian publication, this minister said there could be separate editions with only Sabah and Sarawak using ‘Allah’ After all, “It’s all man-made. It’s not carved in stone.” So historically, ‘Allah’ is used by first, the Christens and then, the Muslims. They both used the same word originally, without confusion. The confusion is man-made, just as who should or should not use the word ‘Allah’ is man-made. God in his wisdom would never cause such confusion because the Christian God and the Muslim God are one and the same God. Certainly, and of course, they use the same word. ‘Allah’. Their followers, if they are not allowed to be ignorant of this fact, should know this. They pray to the same God ‘Allah’ and God is rightfully happy but humans are afraid that they may lose some of their followers, thus diluting their powers as leaders of a religion and so are unhappy. All this unhappiness is man-made.

May God give us the strength and courage to know Him truly, to understand the true message of God and have true faith in Him always. Let us stay true to God with our belief in Him. Read your Holy Book well and not allow humans to add what is not given. Study it with the intelligence and wisdom which god has bestowed upon us. All religions teach us good for ourselves, to others and with everyone. Let us return to the path of such goodness.

People who crave for power are the worse.

In Malaysia, we have politicians who crave for power to the extent of turning against the ones they were friends with so as to overthrow them as leaders and, hopefully, gain the leadership position for themselves. They instigated other leaders to resign in order that a fresh election be held so that they stand another chance to be elected into a better position. They would be willing to lie and blacken the good names of others to fulfill their desires as they crave for power.

We also have politicians who are willing to risk the peace and harmony of the country by stirring up feelings. They claim to ban a certain word because they wanted to remove confusion among a certain group of people when, in actual fact, the word has been in use without confusion or disharmony among the people for more than four hundred years. Proof that such a word had been in use for more than 400 years was produced by an online news.

It is indeed sad as the ordinary citizens know that they are not confused or disturbed by the use of such a word as the word was even used by Prophet Muhammad's father during his time and is an ordinary word for God in the Middle East. In order to give excuse for their cause, certain leaders have given the word more meaning than it actually has.

Unfortunately, the stakes are high, as it can mean the turning of the tides of political power. The issue can be used to garner as well as recapture the votes given to the opposition during the last election. I believe a political party see it as an opportunity to gain popularity through this religious issue.

It is becoming obvious that this issue is of great importance in securing votes. The people can see the opposition political leaders giving views that the word is a coomon word meaning God in Arab countries; even in Indonesia where for many. many years, up to this day, Christians and Muslims have used the word in their Bible and their Koran without any problem arising among the people as there was nobody who needed to make an issue of it.

It looks like this issue may not only divide the Christians from the Muslims; it may also create a division among the Muslims themselves. Those who do not belong to the party which hopes to use the issue to gain votes would not be agreeable to any kind of violence as most of the better educated Muslims who are also the financially better off ones would understand and desire peace as a peaceful environment brings progress and true civilisation to the country.

As I see it, the ordinary people are peace-loving and united. I have lots of Muslim friends and we can mix very well, discuss things properly and enjoy walks, exercise and work harmoniously. The heat of the issue is only read in newspapers. The confusion comes from those who hope to gain from the issue. The politicians and their small group of supporters are going into the internet to hope cook up the issue sufficiently to achieve their own goals.

God is for everyone. He creates the whole world. All of us are his creations. He loves us all. Some people ought to understand that He would not want anyone to usurp his power and say, "This is my God and we give Him this name which makes Him different from another God, for there is actually no other God. The Christian God and the Muslim God (I am neither Christian nor Muslim.) are the same as it has already been acknowledged that Jesus was the first of the prophet and Muhammad is the last of the prophet. Unless this part which I had been told by a Muslim, is untrue, then, they are one and the same. Buddha never claims to know anything about God.

Yet, Man wants to use God to achieve their own ends, knowing that religion is a powerful tool to achieve whatever ends he wishes. And it is ironic that religion in which God wants peace and good to permeate this earth would beget so much violence in so many parts of the world today. Peace is indeed the most difficult to achieve.