Dear Brethren,

Today is a sad day. A very sad day indeed. The government has finally released the thousands of copies of the Alkitab seized illegally.

This is merely cosmetic. The core cause is not dealt with.

The decision would no doubt cause hurt and confusion among many of my brothers and sisters who are also People of The Book or Ahli Kitab .

Like me, they have every right and legitimacy to profess, practise and propagate a faith which they believe to be the perfect religion, even if others may not necessarily agree with that.

They have every reason to expect the government of the day to uphold the sanctity of Islam and not give in to pressure, especially from non-Muslims.

They may even feel betrayed by a ruling coalition that has twice declared Malaysia to be an Islamic State yet behave in ways that contradict that very confession of faith.

As a fellow believer, I want to tell Muslims that Christians do not hate them or their religion. Indeed, the Bible compels Christians to love them even if at times it may seem so difficult to do.

Love is the basis of our common pilgrimage and heritage. So Muslims must never be confused or doubt the sincerity of the love that Christians have for them.

Of course, needless to say, there are some within the fraternity who will always choose to hate the other for whatever the reason or circumstance. We can only pray that they will return to the right path.

The fact that Najib is the only prime minister to cave in under pressure over the Alkitab or Malay Bible since Dr Mahathir banned it 31 years ago, is no cause for a victory parade by Christians or others.

We only need to offer up prayers of thanksgiving to God our Father who is in heaven.

As the psalmist says: "...You are my God, and I will give you thanks."

Let me say it plainly. Christians uphold the sanctity of Islam as the official religion of Malaysia and this is enshrined in the Federal Constitution.

By the same token, Christians also expect to exercise their constitutional and human right to profess, practise and propagate their faith. No more, no less.

Everyone must be very clear on this, especially People of the Book.

As the Koran points out in Surah Al Kafirun: "...I worship not that you worship, nor will you worship that which I worship. And I will not worship that which you have been accustomed to worship. Nor will you worship that which I worship. To you be your way, and me mine." (Paraphrased).

In short, we may disagree but still we worship the same God in the manner that we have become accustomed to worship.(Surah Al Ikhlas v:1; Taurat Ulangan 6:4; Injil Markus 12:29).

Christian leaders are largely responsible for contributing to the problem right from the start. Even the Scripture Union has from the beginning agreed with the government not to use the word Allah and substitute it for Tuhan.

Only one with a lack of understanding of the theological importance of the word, would come to such a compromised position.

The same goes for Campus Crusade of Christ which has also deleted the word Allah from its ‘Four Spiritual Laws' - its signature publication, in an earlier edition.

Under the Mahathir regime, the late James Ongkili together with Anwar Ibrahim agreed that Christians cannot use the Allah word resulting in the infamous 1986 directive re-inforcing the 1982 edict. But both have no basis in law.

Worse still, many pastors in their ignorance and or prejudice or both, have also been telling their congregations that Christians should not use the word for Allah is the God of the Muslims.

I have long lost respect for the NECF, CFM, Bible Society, and the Gideons for their flip-flop over the Allah controversy. Fortunately, the Catholic Church and the SIB redeemed the situation by taking the Home Ministry to court.

They called the government's bluff and won its case on all grounds in the Catholic Herald suit. The government is now delaying the SIB suits in the hope of persuading of coercing them to withdraw or settle out of court.

I have followed these three cases long enough to know that all can be won hands down. Unless there is something that I am not privy to.

Three bold bishops saved the day for Christians when they exercised their ecclesiastical duties and responsibilities. Just as Moses told Pharaoh, they told the government in no in certain terms - Let my Bibles go! The Red Sea parted. The rest is history.

So where do we go from here? The Allah and Alkitab controversy is essentially a political problem and a problem created by an abuse of due process. It is not a religious problem as such.

What can be done is for both the Judiciary - both Bench and Bar including the Syariah Bench and Bar - to convene a closed-door roundtable and thrash out the issues and thereafter report their findings at a plenary or open session.

Similarly, the legislature should empanel an all-party select committee to come up with a code of ethics and conduct over such issues.

This should not be codified into law but be a moral code inscribed in the hearts of our lawmakers to help them in discharging their duties to their respective constituencies while helping to promote and maintain religious harmony. All this can be done within three months.

Meanwhile, the Home Minister must personally, read then sign each and every action against Christian publications and not leave this to his office boys.

He should also ensure that only Muslim publications come under the purview of the Qur'an Text Division of his ministry. It has no business to tamper with Holy Books of other religions.

Thirty one years is a long time to put the nation at ransom over just one single word. It's time to transform our nation. We owe this to our children. It's time to move on.

We are now in the Season of Lent approaching Easter; the most holy time in the Christian calendar. I would like to close by contemplating on what the psalmist says: "Search me , O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there be any offensive way in me, and lead im in the way everlasting."

Amen.