Interfaith group visits burnt SIB church in Seremban 2

Seremban, Malaysia (January 13) – Fifteen religious leaders made up primarily of members of the Negeri Sembilan State branch of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBHST) paid a social visit to the Sidang Injil Borneo (Borneo Evangelical Assembly) Church in Seremban, which was recently fire bombed.

The church's front wooden door was charred in the pre-dawn attack. According to Pastor Eddy Marson Yasir, the senior pastor of the Church, the arson incident was discovered on the following morning by a church member and he was contacted immediately. “We have been occupying this building for the last 4 years and we’ve never had any incident. We have lived peacefully with our neighbours and do not know of anyone having any issues against us.”

The Seremban church incident brought the number of churches attacked in Malaysia within the week to nine. A Sikh temple was attacked with stones yesterday evening.

These incidences of violence to places of worship is unprecedented and follows after the controversial protests over the High Court ruling in favour of the Malaysian Catholic weekly newspaper, The Herald, allowing the latter to use the word “Allah” in its publications. Both Christians and Sikhs use the word “Allah” in their scriptures and publications.

Mr. Goh Kim Seng, the Buddhist representative in the interfaith council, said that all parties should respect the High Court decision to allow the use of the word for their own religious purposes.

“These incidences of violence could have been avoided if all parties were committed to regular dialogue. We live in a multi-religious society and country where we should learn to dialogue with one another for the purposes of living together in harmony,” added Rev. Christopher Mun, senior pastor of Tabernacle of Worship Church.

The interfaith group decided to pay to visit to the church as a sign of solidarity with the pastors and members of the congregation. “It all started as an informal conversation between the local Anglican priest, Rev. Albert Walters and I over steps that could be taken collectively in response to this incident,” said Fr. Michael Chua, the parish priest of the Roman Catholic Church of Visitation, who had initiated the visit.

During the visit, various suggestions were put forward and discussed as to how the interfaith council and the various religious communities should handle the current security situation in Malaysia. There was a consensus that the different communities should be reminded to remain calm and not to blame any party for these attacks. They also agreed to allow the police to handle the security situation.

The chairman of the interfaith council, Mr. Alfred Selvam said that his committee will be organizing a dialogue session with the state police head over the security situation of places of worship.

The visit concluded with a moment of silent prayer for peace and harmony.

Bishops' Conference: Keep Calm, Do not React and Pray

Malaysian Bishops Respond to Violence
Note Muslim Support; Say Root Is Politics, Not Religion

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, JAN. 12, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Malaysian bishops are urging reconciliation in the wake of attacks against nine Christian churches over the weekend, and affirming the incidents stain the reputation of the country's Muslim majority.

The prelates responded to attacks on three Catholic and six Protestant churches in a communiqué made public today by the Fides news agency. The prelates are beginning their plenary assembly of bishops from Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

The assembly, planned some time ago, had to change its agenda completely in the wake of the violence.

Known as moderate

The bishops' communiqué noted harmony between Islam and Christianity in Malaysia, and said the attacks stain the reputation of Malay Islam, "known for its moderation and its peaceful coexistence with other religions."

In fact, Fides reported, moderate Muslim groups have organized watches in churches to prevent a repeat of the violence.

The communiqué stated Christians "are committed to do everything possible to keep calm, not to respond to the provocations, and to pray so that the violence will not spread."

The attacks over the weekend come in the context of a Dec. 31 high court decision overturning a ban on Christian groups referring to God as Allah.

Both Christians and Muslims pointed to political motivations behind the violence.

Interview with Fr. Lawrence Andrew, Editor of The Herald

Malaysian court rules Christians can use 'Allah'

By EILEEN NG
The Associated Press
Thursday, December 31, 2009; 6:27 AM


KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- A Malaysian court ruled Thursday that Christians have the constitutional right to use the word Allah to refer to God, striking down a government ban as illegal.

The landmark ruling appeared to be a victory for freedom of religion in the Muslim-majority country, where the ban had become a symbol of what minorities say is institutionalized religious discrimination.

Government lawyers said they will consult with the Home Ministry before deciding whether to appeal Judge Lau Bee Lan's verdict in a higher court, where the ban could still be reinstated. They have one month to appeal.

Lau said in her judgment that Christians have the "constitutional right to use Allah" and that the Home Ministry is "not empowered" to impose the ban.

She was ruling on a lawsuit filed in late 2007 by the Herald, the Malaysian Roman Catholic Church's main publication, after the government blocked non-Muslims from translating God as Allah in their literature.

"This is indeed a landmark case for our nation," the Herald's editor, the Rev. Lawrence Andrew, said in a statement. He said the verdict upholds constitutional liberties of freedom of speech, expression and religion.

Authorities have insisted that Allah is an Islamic word that should be used exclusively by Muslims, and its use by other religions would be misleading.

The ban had affected the Malay-language edition of the Herald, which is read mostly by indigenous tribes who converted to Christianity decades ago. The Mandarin, English and Tamil editions do not use the word Allah.

About 60 percent of Malaysia's 27 million people are Muslim Malays. A third of the population is ethnic Chinese and Indian, and many practice Christianity.

Thursday's verdict means "that the Bahasa Malaysia-speaking community of the Christian faith can now continue to freely use the word Allah, a word that has been in their worships and instructions in the faith without any interference from the authorities," Andrew said.

The government had argued that the Herald's online edition can be easily accessed by Muslims. Although the government has not said it explicitly, the fear among authorities is that Muslims might be tempted to convert to Christianity by reading Christian literature.

Lau said the government argument is outdated. She said the Herald's readership is largely limited to followers of Christianity and "that is a sufficient safeguard."

Minorities have often said their constitutional right to practice religion freely has come under threat from the Malay Muslim-dominated government. The government denies any discrimination.

Recently, the government confiscated 10,000 copies of Bahasa Malaysia-language Bibles because they contained the word Allah.

The National Union of Malaysia Muslim Students urged the Home Ministry to appeal the decision.

In the Malaysian context, "the word Allah is exclusive and only refers to the concept of God that is understood by Muslims," it said in a statement. It warned that allowing the Herald to use Allah could cause confusion among Muslims who may leave their faith.