the matter of religion...

In a multi-racial-religious-ethnic country, there are bound to be sensitive issues which are best not to be touched on. it's everyone's responsibility to try to accept and respect a person's belief or way of living, as they say..ignorance is bliss.

but sometimes, it's hard to ignore news such as this when it is widely publicized in mainstream media such as in print or electronic and as much as we want to put it at the back of our mind, the nagging feeling of wanting to know the actual truth still remains.

take the recent raid of a multi cultural dinner at a church in Damansara Utama (for those who do not know where this is, it's in Petaling Jaya, in the proud country of Malaysia) that claimed the church was trying to apostatize Muslims in its activities. my first reaction was to condemn the church for being insolent, but after awhile I was dying to know what had actually transpired. was it really as what was claimed or was it just a propaganda of some sort. for this case, the investigation is still on going so can't really say much about it.

a particular mainstream Malay paper has been following up on stories such as these with the recent one about a Christian shelter in another part of the country trying to convert Muslims to Christianity either by monetary or goodwill assistance. as a christian myself, this is quite worrisome. not because of the fact that Muslims are converting but because the churches are 'inadvertently' pushing them to do so. i believe that everyone has a right to choose what they believe in, but to impose a belief on others by means of dirty tactics is outrageous! i do not recall being taught that we must convert people, but what i do remember is to show who we are as a person with religion. if these reports are unbiased and true, i would be in league with those who are trying to bring the church down.

on another note, although it is appreciated that this issue was highlighted in the aforementioned paper, the way it was reported could be done in a more tactful manner, for instance:

'mereka yang menyertai kumpulan ini akan lupa pegangan agama asal buat seketika aabila kerap diberi minuman air suci dan selepas menjalani upacara Black Tiding pembatisan dalam kolam renang'

-pg 8, Tuesday, 9 August 2011-

translated as:

'those who participate in this group will momentarily forget their original religion when they are (frequently) given the holy water to drink and after undergoing the Black Tiding baptism ceremony in the swimming pool'

i went like what?!!! drinking holy water doesn't do that and besides, the holy water isn't meant to be drank and even if it was, it doesn't make you forget..it's only water for f*** sake! and what the hell is a black tiding ceremony?!!! i couldn't even find anything about it when i googled it up. reports such as this not only give a bad portrayal of the religion but also hinders the understanding of inter-faiths...not unless, the paper was never intended for the Christians to read.

the other thing which made me uncomfortable whenever the paper report this kind of issue is how they generalize all Christians as the same. at least mention the name of the places or churches who are making all the ruckus, as what they did with the Damansara Utama Methodist Church so we can do our own digging.

Nothing much to say again, just that to all the Christians... if you want to evangelize, do it to those who are willing to listen. if you want to help others, do it out of the goodness from your heart. and if you think you have the (so called divine) right to convert others, it's not your call to make. Just remember that having a religion alone doesn't make one good, its your actions which proves it.

anyway, it's common sense for us to know what respect is all about, as the proverb goes:

"Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 7:12)

which roughly translates as:

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

or for those who finds this a bit tough to understand:

If you don't like anyone trying to convert your brothers or sisters, try not to convert anyone yourself!

now that felt good :)

Peace to all of us :)

love interrogated...

I was doing my usual blog hopping when i chanced upon a blog of an acquaintance by profession. A quote in her entry caught my attention...:)

"Love makes no excuses, doesn’t bargain nor does it make you feel worth less than you really are. If a man truly loves you, there is no such thing as an obstacle.” - Mel's Dad

How often can one person fall in love in their lifetime? once, twice or more? well, newsflash..those who says that they can be in love more than once in their lifetime is nothing more than just idiots who couldn't differentiate between love, lust and desire. let me make it simple then:

1. LOVE: a blissful feeling of pure affection and care for another soul/person.

2. LUST: a sensual feeling which is caused by the stirring in the loin..

3. DESIRE: the need to want something for personal pleasure or satisfaction.

(disclaimer: dont be an idiot by taking the definitions at face value, look up the dictionary for their actual definitions :))

Falling in love is relatively easy, all you need is someone whom you like to like you back and walla...you now have a loved one. but guess what, whoever thinks of it that way are desperate and lonely idiots who has nothing good going on in their life.

How exactly does falling in love works? does it consist of two people professing their innermost feeling to each other or does it only require one of them to show what being in love really means? the word 'love' itself is quite a strong word and anyone who uses the word nonchalantly should be punished severely.

it's a wonder how anyone can say it freely without actually knowing what they really feel. the word should be regarded as something sacred and shouldn't be said in vain (maybe they should put it in the 10 commandments: thou shalt not use the word 'love' in vain. hahaha) because not only it's mysterious and confusing, but it's also misleading.

everyone of us are constantly looking for that one special person to come into our life and when that person appears, we would instantly know that she/he is the one for us. for most, love comes sooner while for others, love would appear quite later in life. but nonetheless, most true love are never without obstacles. therein lies the question of how far would you go to defend your love of your life? would you let the obstacles come between what is meant to be or would you stick to what is meant to be?

obstacles are what makes the love stronger. no matter how much we wish that love should be without any obstacles, the plain fact is that these obstacles are the very thing which makes the relationship stronger, makes love stronger. but if you give in to the obstacles, that only proves one thing...that what you think was love, wasn't love at all.

there are sacrifices to be made when you really love someone, as they say...love doesn't come cheap but it's priceless in the long run. so, how exactly do you know that you've met the right person? put it this way...whom do you think about or where does your mind lead you when you're thinking about someone? or, on a deeper level...take a few moments to close your eyes and imagine that you're on the verge of dying, think of someone whom you'd like to spend your last moment with. the person which appears strongly in your mind should be the one you should commit to. well, speaking about death, what would you do if the person you're really in love with suddenly died? would you regret not telling them how much you really feel for them? (okay...love and death should be discussed in another topic hehe)

am not sure why i'm rambling about love when i myself is single (but not looking hehe) and probably clueless in this area, so don't mind me hehe. but one thing i do know is that, if you really love someone, always tell them how much they mean to you and don't let them wonder otherwise. but if you cant say it, then at least do something to show that you still do..be creative :). just because you're together doesn't mean that you should cease saying or showing what you really feel...

okay, am gonna quit rambling now. probably part of the reason why i'm writing this entry is because my parent's 30th anniversary is just around the corner..and honestly speaking, i am envious of how they stayed together for this long hehehehe.

ciao peeps...