I welcome the appeal from various quarters to make it easier for Malaysians to learn about all major religions.

It is indeed high time that we all learned something about one another’s religious beliefs and practices, because this is an important way to replace the current fear and suspicion with mutual respect. I am confident that we will find many shared principles and values which will enable us to cooperate in addressing and finding solutions for a multitude of social and national issues which affect us all.

For all religions in the country, this effort should be in the form of simply making information accessible to those who voluntarily seek it. Any element of coercion should be avoided, whether through social or psychological pressure, or due to use of aggressive marketing methods.

While it makes eminent sense to present the teachings in the language(s) with which the target audience is most comfortable, to avoid confusion and suspicion writers and translators should avoid using terminology exclusive to a particular religion in articles or books about another religion.

An example would be using ‘Allah’ (the Quranic name of God) in books on, say, Hinduism or Christianity, which might be construed as an attempt to mislead Muslims to believe that the book is about Islam. At this point in time, we need to be sensitive about such things.

Religion is an intensely personal matter, and each individual should be given every chance to learn whatever he or she wants and needs to, and then be given the necessary space to make his or her own assessment.

A person should not be condemned for simply wanting to know something about a religion different from his or her own. In many cases, such knowledge will only reinforce understanding and appreciation of one’s own religion, while also making one more respectful of other religions.