Monday 29 October 2007

Are you part of the mess?

I was at a forum on Saturday, one which talked about “Christianity and Politics”. It was more like an open discussion amongst those who were there but there were some church leaders at national level who were with us. It was quite an eye opener, for me at least, to see many young people who are so aware of the current happenings around our country.

One interesting and provoking discussion point was raised by a former church-mate of mine. He said that he was increasingly ‘frustrated’ dealing with churches which only concentrate on evangelism and nothing else matters. It sparked a verbal attack by a respected figure in the local Christian community. No, he was not attacking my church-mate… he was attacking the churches...
To me… Christians have always been a bunch of hypocrites… particularly those from big mega churches. We claim that God is almighty… that Christians should not be afraid of the devil… but yet, we are afraid of ISA. We claim that God can deliver us from ‘death’, but yet we are afraid of ISA. We said that we stand for the truth… but we would rather sit on lies just to keep our ass-es off ISA.

Christians, just like some politicians… also suffer from foot-in-mouth disease…

For those who are unaware, there has been news going around saying that the current monarchy (i.e. the Agong/Sultans/Rulers) has grown increasingly frustrated about the current administration of this country. Further news suggest that our Agong may come up and ‘do something’ about it. Of course, regular rakyat like us will usually go… “yeah right”… I am one of them.

Those who have been following the local political scene closely will know that this coming Tuesday, 31st October 2007 is quite a significant date. It is the final day of the current Chief Justice (“CJ”) tenure. The govt has been ‘pressuring’ our Agong to approve the extension of the CJ’s tenure to which our Agong has yet to agree. I shall not go into why he refuses to extend the CJ’s tenure… go find out yourself.

To me… if our Agong stands his ground and refuse to extend the CJ’s tenure, then I am somewhat convinced that our Agong means business. And because I think he means business, I will play my part in making a difference and not let the foot-in-mouth disease to eat me up.

How?

Following the recent lawyer’s march from Palace of Justice to the Prime Minister’s Office, another walk has been organised and this time, the walk will be from Dataran Merdeka to the Agong’s palace to hand him a petition to reform the Electoral Commission. The date is 10th November 2007 and the walk starts at 3pm. If the Agong stands his ground and refuse to extend the CJ’s tenure, I will be there.

I shall leave you with a one point which really hit me during the the forum which I attended. It was raised by quite a young fella who was there… he said…

“Those who refuse to do anything because they rather not be a part of the mess… by virtue of not doing anything… IS part of the mess”

Are you part of the mess?

36 comments:

Anonymous said...

Zewt, 31 October 2007 is on Wednesday. And don't worry, I am with you as well.

I would just want to highlight one thing to you though. The members of my church actually signed another petition in relation to Lina Joy & the contentious article 121(A) of the Constitution. I agree on existence of hypocrites in churches which is why I thank God He never asked me to rely on human beings.

Helen said...

You know, the best way to see how staunch a church is, ... is the moment a Muslim walked into the church. Will they continue to do God's will or turn the person away?

You got a point about the Ruler thing. It'll be interesting to see how he rules on the extension of CJ's tenure.

I'll be there on Nov 10.

mr jp said...

"You cannot be neutral on a moving train"

-serj tankian
System of a Down

Anonymous said...

yeah, I want to see Agong refuses the extend!

10 Nov, need yellow or not?

Huei said...

no offence..but i agree, lots (i'm not saying all) of christians are such hypocrites. they FORCE you to listen to them for "few minutes", FORCE you to join them, and if you don't, SOME will say "only christians will go to heaven"

i'm sure other christians like u will feel so ashamed to have such people with the same religion lor

one best thing an uncle told me before in response to these people

"In that case, when you die and go to heaven, send me a letter to prove that you're there, then I will join" haha

hikazew® said...

Quote " that Christians should not be afraid of the devil… but yet, we are afraid of ISA. We claim that God can deliver us from ‘death’, but yet we are afraid of ISA. We said that we stand for the truth… but we would rather sit on lies just to keep our ass-es off ISA."

Isn't it the irony that Jesus is Nabi ISA.. then why are we afraid of ISA..

ok lame joke..

Helen's comment..
Muslims do walk into Church or at least i know one or two did for somebody's wedding.

Purple~MushRooM said...

I am blur... I am sooo part of the mess!! But can't be bothered la.

It's not like no one ever voiced out any concerns, they did. But was anything being done, ever, really?

Mcmercedez said...

In my point of view is that how you look at it... Of course, hypocrites exist in any religions and everyone is claiming that theirs is the best and will guarantee you will not suffer in hell.. But isn't it is an after life kind of thing that no one will be able to prove? Not even scientist could prove that.. But you believe it right?

It's a belief that whether you want to belive it or not.. But of course some religion have gone way overboard by killing innocent people (i think you know what i mean).. Those people should burn in hell..

But if you take a closer look in the bible under Revelation, all these events happening in this world, aren't these signs of something? The world is getting screwed up and anti-religions is getting tense and etc..

God can deliver us from a lot of things but understand that God did not ask you to do things that harm yourself and to other people.. When you love yourself, he will love you more.. But if you did something that end up in ISA, then what can God do? You have chosen to take that road...

About the extension thing, I think I wouldn't be bothered.. Why? Coz there will not be any results as this is their country and they can do anything they want.. So what's the point fighting? Even hell break loose also they dun care.. Unless they grow up... This country have so much potential.. but sadly, they choose to ignore it..

frostee said...

I guess hypocrites exists everywhere and not just in the church alone. I presume you made this statement based on first hand experience, to which I understand why.

I hope that all would be there on 10 Nov regardless if the CJ get's his p*nis (ops! I mean tenure) extended. The rally on 10Nov is more for calling for a free and fair elections.

Elizebeth D.L. said...

Don't know what to say, but I share your frustration about the "mess"...

Pak Zawi said...

zewt,
You know that I am a moslem. I used to accompany my Christian friends (one of which was my roomate) to go to a church for Christmas Eve prayers. My friends said it was OK to go in. What an enlightenment. Our respect for each other never changed.
I am sorry I cant attend the coming walk to the palce as I am too far away from KL. For those who are already there please do so.

Anonymous said...

if the agong endorsed the extension of the cj tenure without addressing the current judicial crisis...

it would appear that the independent of the judiciary and the future well-being of the ppl of this country will be greatly compromised just to safeguard the interest of the few elite.

in this case, the agong ( not badawi or bn and... if i may not even god himself) will be the ppl only & last hope to restored the dignity of this country.

zewt said...

anon @ 7.45am - just like how RPK said he will whack ppl of his own faith... i shall do the same becos we are the one always screaming about faith and all. the speaker at the forum said so too.

Helen - you'll be? looks like it's going to be one big bloggers march haha! as for the test to see how faithful a church is... i know many will rather not rock the boat.

Jason Phoon - well said... well well said...

k.h. - yellow not yellow also can la.

Huei - well... i know of such ppl, and i am glad i am one of them. but they have their own reasons. as for sending you a letter... i am sure your uncle will immediately die of heart attack if he was to really receive one.

hikazew - hahaha... funny indeed. as for muslims walking into a church... quite a rare sight.

zewt said...

purple mushroom - and does that mean we should all give up? i understand your predicament... but then again... it's a decision of yours.

Mcmercedez - it was only few days ago that my pastor said "God will only help those who help themselves" is not true... ironic eh? forgotten about the explanation though. you're right, God never asked us to head down the valley of death. but someone pointed out... instead of christians being with the ppl of poverty and helping them... why not ask why they are poor in the first place? as for ignoring the current issue... it's a choice of yours.

F.O.N @ frostee - elections is very near... maybe a electoral reform is too late.

Elizebeth D.L - indeed... plenty of mess around.

Zawi - it's good to have muslim friends like you pak zawi... yeah, i hope the walk will be a success.

anon @ 1.35pm - yup... so i think whatever decision the Agong made... will be very very significant.

rinnah said...

I don't know if I can be there on 10 Nov... will try though. But... the scaredy cat in me asks if the walk will be a peaceful one? :)

Anonymous said...

All major religions have hypocrites. Look into the Quran, the Talmud, the Bible, the Torah, and tell me if you actually find someone who actually obeys everything written in one of them.

Seldom do I see you take a stance on a political related matter...lol!

As for the march on the 10th of November,and judging by Nazri Aziz's reaction of how he sees the march as an "Opposition's doing", I see the entire act as not gaining any credibility unless the country hosts such marches in every state as a show of people's support towards the cause.

Anything less will not garner any reaction from this government.

Theodwyn said...

Go Zewt!!! I may be joining you guys on Nov. 10.

Chee Ching said...

Love the picture. XD

Observer said...

the last quote was simply brilliant !

J u n e said...

Wooo, if i say " To me..Christians have always been a bunch of hypocrites " my blog sure close down cause of hypocrites who read my blog.

Have fun Walking Zewt! Haha I'll be in school, doing spm..T_T

may said...

I'm already too busy managing my own mess... lol!

zewt said...

rinnah - whether it is peaceful or not will depend on us... dont u think? also, the lawyer march has proven that a peaceful march is possible.

Aput - well, at least it's something. if otherwise... i take it as a walk to stretch my legs :)

Theodwyn - hope to see u too.

chingy - thanks :)

freethinker - indeed... it's absolutely brilliant.

AngryYoungChild - it's a saturday woh...

may - priority... priority... hehe...

KwangErn Liew said...

Matthew 7

1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

6"Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.


:P

Anonymous said...

zewt, please proceed to send reminders to all people of our faith. seriously, they need some reminder too. but just in case you wonder, not every church is the same. what made me very encouraged at times is when my church actually post newsletter to remind the church members on their responsibility as a citizen i.e. register to vote and hear more of the current state of affair and act accordingly. now, we don't want to be bias against any political parties and we want to remain apolitical but certainly some actions are needed to send a message across.

the challenge is for us to realise that in our relative comfort and prosperity, the danger is that we squander everything unknowingly like a live frog sitting still in a pot of water slowly being boiled to death.

frostee said...

zewt: True, guess we have t otry to put the very little faith and hope we have that something would be done eventually. If not in this elections, perhaps at the next, provided that the jokers in the government do not pull a dirty one and remove whatever little rights and goodnes we have left in this country of ours.

zewt said...

ke liew - hi and welcome to AZAIG. errr... care to elaborate... i am not exactly a theologian :)

anon @ 7.33am - hahaha... yeah, my pastor that day asked us to fulfil our responsibility as a citizen and vote. what a refreshing things to say.

F.O.N @ frostee - i dont think the country (or the people) can wait for another 5 years. i certainly cant.

colin said...

Wish i could be there Nov 10 but i'll be on an overseas business trip...keep us posted. I wanna hear the point of view from a person who's actually there, rather than just what comes out in the papers. I pray that something good will come out of this, cause Malaysians just want simply fair elections.

zewt said...

sodium chloride - hey there and welcome to AZAIG. will certainly blog about it if i make it there.

Huei said...

Will u be going to the walk?

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/11/2/nation/19359749&sec=nation

suddenly i feel like going! hahahah =P

zewt said...

huei - if medically possible... i will try to make it.

KwangErn Liew said...

You don't need to be a theologian to understand the Bible... ;)

Am not one. So by definition, I'm not suitable to explain to you. :(

zewt said...

ke liew - :)... okay, i shall consult my pastor...

Anonymous said...

Zewt,

Suggest you read "In Good Faith" by Zaid Ibrahim. Yes, he is an UMNO MP. He gives his views on Malaysian polictics/judiciary. While he may be a single voice, its good to know that there are bright politicians from the ruling party who want to see better things for this country and better things for all Malaysians. The book is cheap RM30 plus and cash goes to handicap children's home in Kelantan. Can get it at MPH.

zewt said...

anon 3.58pm - yes, i have heard of him. one thing though, i heard he is also fast being shown the door out, no?

Anonymous said...

Not true, zewt. Most of his constituency love him, just like how most of those in Johor love Shahrir.

They're the independent people in the government, and they're loved because of that.

zewt said...

aput - that's becos many are still sheltered from the real world... controlled and manipulated by mainstream media.