Saturday 13 August 2011

Can we just live and let live and stop thinking about "sharing" our faith with people of other faiths

I am not going to write about the JAIS raid (they say inspection) of the illegal Damansara Utama Methodist Church which is causing tons of headache to the PKR some say DAP led Selangor State Government. Read here and here.


I got to hand it to the Malaysian Insider though, they carry news that will make everybody on the receiving end complaining about them:


Lets start with this news: 

Split among Christians over moves to convert Muslims, says senior leader
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 11 — Mainstream Christian churches are distancing themselves from independent evangelical churches’ “over-enthusiastic” attempts to proselytise Muslims in Malaysia, says a senior Protestant church leader.
He told The Malaysian Insider that the mainstream churches were disappointed with some independent Christian groups for being insensitive to other religious communities when sharing their faith.

“We’ve had cases where the Hindus complain that the Christians have been too assertive,” said the church leader, adding that Muslims, Buddhists and Sikhs have made similar complaints
. Read the rest here.

Now a red faced denial the next day carried by MI too:


Evangelical group calls church split ‘wild allegations’

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 12 — Malaysia’s main Christian evangelical group has said it does not have to defend independent evangelical churches from “wild allegations”, denying there is a split among Christians over attempts to proselytise Muslims.

The National Evangelical Christian Fellowship’s (NECF) denial came after The Malaysian Insider reported that mainstream churches are disappointed with some independent Christian groups for being too assertive in sharing their faith with Muslims and other religious communities.

“Why should I defend the group? There’s no proof!” NECF chairman Rev Dr Eu Hong Seng (picture)told The Malaysian Insider heatedly yesterday.

“There is definitely no split in the church,” he stressed.

Eu pointed out that such allegations were not brought up when the Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) and the NECF met last Tuesday in Penang during the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) meeting.

The inter-denominational meeting occurred before the controversial Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) raid on a thanksgiving dinner in the evangelical Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) in Petaling Jaya last Wednesday night.

Asked if independent Christian churches shared their faith with Muslims openly, Eu said: “I don’t think they share openly.”

After being pressed further on whether such groups proselytised Muslims at all, he replied: “They always share. Anyone shares the message. They share the message.
Read the Rest here.

Who should we believe here then, the denial or the confirmation of proselytizing of Muslims to Christianity in Malaysia?


As a Muslim in Malaysia I would like to advise my fellow people of the book, my Christian brethrens that we Muslims are awfully sensitive about people of other faiths actively trying to convert Muslims to other faiths. We make no apologies for being overly sensitive about it and some would even turn aggressive about it.


Please don't give us such gobbledygook of a statement that Muslims must be strong willed must not be weak so as to resist the temptations to convert to the faith. I think It is just as wrong and immoral to think that  giving money or aid or whatever you want to call it to poor destitute Muslims so that they can be persuaded to share the faith. 


For the Churches kind information, Malaysia have plenty of non religious charity organisation on top of that we have the Baitul Mal we also have the Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat to help the single parents, the destitute etc. to carry on with their lives in reasonable comfort. 


So why not we Malaysian just live and let live and live happily ever after without thinking about proselytizing or sharing  our faith with others. 


Lets not play with a fire that could become a firestorm that would engulf this blessed nation of ours.

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