I refer to the Malaysiakini report Another U-turn: Ban on 'Allah' in Christian publications remains and the letter Other Christian denominations not using 'Allah' .
The U-Turn on the Catholic Herald ban can only mean that Umno believes it is politically advantageous to make Malays feel threatened by Christians. Once again, if you cannot reform, then you find a scapegoat or bogeyman.
The palpable paranoia and stunning misinformation evident in the writer’s letter is exactly what Umno needs to leverage in the Malay heartland to win votes. It is amazing to think that some people even today believe that Christians need to confuse anybody or want to confuse anybody into becoming Christians.
Real Christians are not going to condone or excuse bribery, material inducements, threats, citizenship status or ‘confusion’ to convert anyone to Christianity. The fact is the Christians I know view such methods of conversion with anger, contempt, disapproval and disdain.
God says in the Bible ‘I chose you. You did not choose me’, and so what is the point of lying, inducements and ‘confusion’?
Material inducements, lying, threats, and confusing the rakyat are the way Umno-BN does business. I think it would be very much appreciated by Malaysian Christians if people like the writer do not confuse Church morality with Umno-BN (im)morality.
I hope by now that even people like the writer can understand that Umno's self-serving insinuations that Christians want to use the term ‘Allah’ to encourage conversions to Christianity is not just another lie but a very sick joke.
If the venerable and famous Munshi Abdullah saw fit to use the term ‘Allah’ in his translations of the Bible, then who are these upstart Umno politicians to say he is wrong? If hundreds of millions of Arabs and Indonesians see nothing wrong for Christians to use the term ‘Allah’, then why change the rules of the game now?
That PAS and PKR are closing in on Umno is what I think is the real answer. The emergence - shall we say, more accurately, the engineering - of the ‘Allah’ ban by Umno did not occur by accident.
For Umno, its very political survival depends on its ability to demonise ethnic minorities. PAS need not demonise non-Muslims to look holy and pious because leaders like Nik Aziz Nik Mat have nothing to hide and nothing to prove.
The way he leads his life has earned the respect of every Malaysian who respects upright and principled men even if they might not agree with his specific views on women or public dress.
Umno leaders, however, needs to demonise minorities because nothing else will distract the Malay voters from the no-tender hyper-inflated helicopter and airplane deals, C4 explosives, deleted immigration records, billion-dollar off-shore bank accounts, taxi permit kings, AP queens, family and crony bailouts and the mountain of damning evidence againt Umno accumulating before voter's eyes.
As far as public perception is concerned - Malays, Chinese, and Indians - Umno leaders simply behave like Mafia gangsters running a protection racket.
Tunku Abdul Rahman, Anwar Ibrahim, Nik Aziz, Lim Kit Siang, Irene Fernandez, Teresa Kok, the Hindraf 5, the Catholic Herald , Karpal Singh, Uthayakumar, Lim Guan Eng, Raja Petra
Kamarudin, and blogger ‘KickDeFella’ have all felt the brunt of Umno's special treatment and scape-goating genius.
Nevertheless I would like to believe that ordinary Malaysians - Malays, Chinese and Indians - can still tell the difference between right and wrong. There is no good reason to assume that BN leaders can do the same after decades of billion-dollar theft.
As for Umno, we would appreciate it if you will refrain from your dirty dealings, even though deep in my heart, I know you will never change. I just hope Nik Aziz and Anwar Ibrahim will kick your ass at the next general elections.
