Politics and religion just don’t mix

I READ “Keep faith out of politics” (Sunday Star, Nov 11; related post: Don't mess religion with politics!) with great interest. As you rightfully said “religion and politics, that’s a potent mix to be explosive”.

My name is Joseph Sta Maria, 50, and I am a member of the Portuguese community in Malacca. Having once been involved in politics, I can understand how dangerous it is for religion and politics to be mixed.

But sadly, many leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and churches from the various Protestant denominations seem to be getting carried away with their political beliefs and cloud this with their religious obligations.

While it is all right for them to support any political party as individuals even if the policies of the parties that they support go against the grain of their religious beliefs, preaching politics from the pulpit instead of spreading the word of God is a gross perversion and can be the biggest sin they are committing.

I am deeply saddened that the Church has been dragged into the political debate in the country.

The Church must always remain apolitical and priests and pastors must confine themselves to preaching the gospel and help provide spiritual guidance to their flock.

What we are seeing instead are sermons slanted towards one side of the political divide and the spreading of political hate against the other.

There appears to be blatant support to political leaders of questionable morality or a tendency to “close one eye” when it comes to their misdeeds and political shenanigans.

I can proudly say that my ancestors brought the Catholic faith to this part of the world, particularly to Malacca, in the 15th century from which it spread to the region.

As such, I feel I am qualified to give an opinion of the present position of some of the Catholic churches.

As custodians of the Catholic faith, the Malacca Portuguese community will take the lead in urging all Catholic churches to stop allowing politicians from using the premises and its congregation as a means of wooing votes for the next general election.

It is sad that some church grounds are been used by irresponsible people to spew partisan hate to the congregation.

As Catholics, we should never have allowed this to happen.

As for the leaders of the church, they must be made aware that they are taking a big risk by throwing their support behind any political party.

As you pointed out, politics and religion must never be mixed especially in Malaysia where religion is a matter, which can raise sentiments to boiling point.

If anything goes wrong, the Malacca Portuguese community will hold these errant leaders of the church responsible.

As the adviser of the Malacca Portuguese village community, I wish to remind all churches to be mindful of the possible consequences and the irreparable damage to the religious harmony that we have been enjoying all these decades.

I reiterate that the Church is a house of worship and it must never be allowed to be misused by politicians whether they are from the BN or the Opposition for the repercussions would be very serious.

I believe there are many people like me who object strongly to churches being used by politicians but are too afraid or just don’t want to raise their objection to their pastors and church leaders knowing that their objections will be shot down.

I urge all those who agree with me to come out loudly and clearly to do justice for their religion and their belief.

This paragraph from the Bible, Mark 12:17 clearly shows Christians the difference between politics and religion: Then Jesus said to them: “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” And they were amazed at him.

JOSEPH STA MARIA Malacca

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Don't mess religion with politics!

Religion and politics - that's a potent mix guaranteed to be explosive.  Keep faith out of politics!

IN the run-up to the general election, holding forums on political issues, even in churches, has become fairly common.

While most churches would be careful about bringing politicians into a house of worship to talk politics, there are some that are prepared to organise or at least play host to such events.

Last Saturday, the Oriental Hearts and Mind Study Institute (OHMSI) conducted a talk on “Islamic State: Which Version? Whose Responsibility?” with the keynote address by Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa, director of the Islamic Renaissance Front. The forum was held at a church in Subang.

But the person who captured the headlines was PKR deputy president Nurul Izzah Anwar who was one of the moderators. In response to a question from the floor, she found herself caught in a controversy over whether Malays have a right to choose their religion.

She was speaking to a largely urban non-Malay audience and, as seen in a video recording of the event that has now gone viral, she was greeted with loud applause.

The feisty politician has since denied making any statement suggesting that there should be no compulsion on Malays to be Muslims.

But she earned a royal rebuke from the Sultan of Selangor and she has quickly blamed Utusan Malaysia for allegedly distorting and twisting her reply to a member of the audience.

To make things more complicated, the person who posed the question to Nurul Izzah has now expressed her disappointment over the latter's about turn on the issue.

Lawyer Siti Zabedah Kasim was quoted as saying by news portal Free Malaysia Today that “I believe Nurul Izzah was just trying to impress the people. She didn't think of the consequences.”

For many non-Muslims, especially those living in urban areas, the issue was probably dismissed as a non-starter and seen as another political move to discredit Nurul Izzah.

But for conservative Muslims in the rural areas, it would be unthinkable and unacceptable.

Luckily for Nurul Izzah, the language used at the forum was English and the video that's currently going around does not have Bahasa Malaysia subtitles, thus making the damage less severe for now.

But for Nurul Izzah to deny it vehemently now would suggest that she has woken up to the grave political consequences of what she has done. If there was no impact, she would have just shrugged it off. She now wants to get out of this tricky spot.

The easy part is to blame Utusan Malaysia, which is well known for its nationalist slant, but the pro-Pakatan Rakyat news portal Malaysiakini also carried the same story using the same angle on Nov 3.

Nurul Izzah has also put PAS in a corner. On Friday, PAS spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat said that if Nurul Izzah had indeed made her controversial statement on religious freedom, “then something is not right” while PAS president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang wanted to hear from her.

Their only purported concerns, or a way out, seem to be that they have doubts over the accuracy of reporting by the media.

DAP strongman Ngeh Koo Ham tweeted last week in support of Nurul Izzah, quoting Article 11 of the Federal Constitution which states that every person has the right to profess and to practise his or her religion. But Ngeh, a lawyer, did not say it has to be read with other applicable laws.

There are laws restricting the propagation of other religions to Muslims. Article 160 of the Federal Constitution, for example, is clear that all ethnic Malays are Muslims. A Malay is defined as someone who professes to be a Muslim, habitually speaks the Malay language and adheres to Malay customs.

The fact remains that the majority of Malays want this to remain as law and as practice and convention.

Nurul Izzah's slip has been seized on by Umno because the fight in the polls is essentially over the majority Malay votes, especially in the rural constituencies which are heavily in favour of the ruling party. Of the 222 parliamentary seats, only about 45 are Chinese-majority in urban areas and there is not a single seat with an Indian majority.

Nurul Izzah's case will also have a deep impact in PAS where the divide between those regarded as sympathetic to Anwar and the more orthodox ulamas is concerned. Former deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa, for example, is solidly in the Islamist party despite his overtures to Umno. He has regularly spoken up against the DAP, a PAS ally, but remains untouched because he is said to be protected by the anti-Anwar forces in the party.

The church in Subang has found itself in the spotlight for hosting the forum. Recently, another church which hosted a forum on the elections found its speakers and the media squabbling over the accuracy of some negative remarks made on Pakatan Rakyat.

There's a lesson here keep religion out of politics. But as long as there are politicians masquerading as theologians of their respective faiths, no one will take this advice kindly.

ON THE BEAT By WONG CHUN WAI

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