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.