“Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty.”

- Henry David Thoreau

Islam has always been problematic for me. In the old days, those who warned that the rise of Islam heralded a clash of cultural values accused me of being an amateur Arabist. These days those Muslims who find succour in the Umno state accuse me of being anti-Islam.

The amateur Arabist moniker persists. Unfortunately, any discussion on Islam is simplistically divided along those lines. In Malaysia, it is worse.

State-sanctioned Islam has created an atmosphere where any discussion on the way how Islam is practiced not conforming with the practices of the Umno state is met with charges of sedition or the rejoinders from outsourced thugs.

This is why the words of so-called deviant Wan Ji Wan Hussin, a political operative from PKR, should be welcomed and disseminated everywhere and translated in Malay so it could reach the target audience where it would do the most good.

I have always been sceptical of the opposition and downright scornful of the Umno establishment. While Umno during elections season attempts to bribe non-Muslims with goodies - and it is open season on non-Muslims when votes need not be counted - the religious politics of the opposition has been a mess of political opportunism and homages to political correctness. Neither approach is suitable for the long-term social and political stability of Malaysia.

Here are eight takeaway points from the Wan Ji Wan Hussin profile that rational Malaysians should pay attention to...