"You’re Welcome."

Unsolicited Advice for Life, Work, Work/Life and Lifework 
Filed under

religion

 

down with the religious extremists. said the irreligious extremist.

Organized religion has been the excuse for brutality and torture in the name of God for thousands of years.
It's high time we made it illegal.

This kind of thinking makes me want to laugh. (It's a reader's comment, btw. Don't blame the Times.)

Much (maybe more) has also been done in the name of godlessness. Should atheism be made illegal?

That's what some religious extremists are trying to do, btw.
Calling for the criminalisation of religion just makes you an atheist extremist.

And knee-jerk responses just make you look like a jerk.

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   atheism   religion   stupidity  

Comments [0]

Al-Islam and the Catholic Church responded appropriately, imo. But the metacontext is still rotten.

Other faith communities, mostly comprising the other races, will just have to contend with being second-class citizens who will not be accorded the same protection as the majority.

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   Christianity   discrimination   equality   Islam   justice   Malaysia   politics   prejudice   racism   religion   state intimidation  

Comments [0]

PIX: Without apology, the highlight of my Christmas this year was @melchica's baptism.

Yes, I know I already said it, but it bears repeating.
Doulos's recently-published photo set on Flickr is the spark for this blog post.

Yes, I had a great time at the Christmas service at BLC.
Yes, I had a great time at the family dinner-and-tomfoolery.
Yes, I had a great time eating celebratory meals.

Not to discount these things - I'm grateful for them all - but they happen every year.
Not Mel's baptism, though. That doesn't happen every year.
I'm happy, excited, hopeful for you, Mel.

For photos, including shots of the Christmas service at Bangsar Lutheran Church, please follow the link to Doulos's Flickr set. Thanks, Doulos!

btw, my meal tonight was surf and turf at Monte's BSC [http://gowal.la/s/2moc].
Consequently, I'm in a good mood ;).

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   Bangsar Lutheran Church   baptism   Christmas   friends   household of faith   life   Melissa Chan   milestones   photos   religion   special moments   spirituality  

Comments [0]

As Christmas approaches: How much of this is Christianity and how much "American folk religion"? @sivinkit

On Feb 27, I asked of my fellow Christians, "How much of what we believe is Christianity, and how much of it is 'American folk religion'"?

Thanks to Sivin [http://sivinkit.net], I've discovered an American professor who's asked this question (and written a book about it, with one of the awesomest titles I've ever heard). 


I've skimmed the book and recommend it: Questions to All Your Answers by Roger E. Olson. 

Here's my original blog post ;). 

...


A good Christian would never say, "balls"!
http://blog.soulcare.net/2009/02/good-christian-would-never-say-balls.html 

In Galatians, Paul uses some strong language, my favourite of which is where he muses that people obsessed with circumcision should go ahead and cut it all off (Gal 5:12). 

Googling Galatians, I found this guy (no link love for him) who argues that the KJV (which I love) is superior, because it says, with typical English manners, "I would they were even cut off which trouble you." Contrasted with the NIV which says, "I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!" 

This guy complains that the "great apostle" would never use such "bloody" language. Well! Tut-tut. Have you ever? 

He opined, "Which one do you think the great apostle Paul said? Is wishing someone would cut off their genitals consistent with a godly, sold-out Christian like Paul?" 

The problem is, Paul did say the C-word (castrate). It is the KJV that phrases it more politely. 

Years back, reading Galatians as Paul wrote it (instead of how I thought "sold-out Christians" should speak) really opened my eyes. 

Interestingly, for this Lent, I decided to give up denial and pretense. 

Ash Wednesday service, my friend and I were talking and I remarked that the Bible is not G-rated. Ever realise that? Watching kids' Bible DVDs with my baby boy, I noticed how many things are stripped out, haha! 

Why are some people (who are presumably *not* babies) so afraid of real life? 

If anything, I would argue that "godly, sold-out Christians like Paul" need to speak *more* earthy. 

We are Christians; we are not 1950s suburban Americans. 

"Chinese folk religion" is a mix of Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism and ancestral worship. When a Chinese Malaysian says, "I'm a Buddhist," you really need to dig a little deeper to find out what he means. In like manner, my question to my fellow Christians is - how much of what we believe is Christianity, and how much of it is "American folk religion"?

... 

btw, I love my American friends ;).

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   American folk religion   books   false religion   recommendation   religion   Roger Olson   truth  

Comments [0]

We become what we behold. For better or worse. #Malaysia @Aisehman @Asohan

Aisehman (@Aisehman)
12/17/09 1:40 PM
Mufti calls for law to govern practice of black magic http://bit.ly/4YntMY Salem anyone? God pls dont let this happen

Sent with Tweetie

Interesting how the fundamentalists end of sounding like Puritans and the supremacists end up sounding like Zionists. 

I guess we really do become the thing we hate.
 
Hating evil is not the same as loving good. 

Dying for a cause is not the same as living for a calling. 

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   ambition   calling   hate   love   Malaysia   politics   religion   spirituality  

Comments [0]

11 Thoughts (plus Subthoughts) After a Week in Penang for a Spiritual Conference

1. We were having lunch with K & S (& S) before driving back to KL today. 
I ordered a cheeseburger. It was the kind of burger that’s served on a plate, with sides of fries and slaw, and impossible to fit into your mouth fully assembled. 
I took off the top bun and placed it on the plate Adeline was using to feed Seth. (Seth likes bread.) 
When she noticed it, Adeline said: 

Why is there a burger cover here? 

Burger Cover. That’s the word of the day. 

- 1.1. What’s “burger cover” in Malay? “Penutup burger”? “Tudung burger”? “Topi burger”? 

2. Catching up with “old friends” proves to me again that everything turns out right when you’re seeking what is right in your life and lifework. Grace makes up for your missteps (and others’ missteps against you) and God guides you in a good path. 
Even if it’s not the nice upward-trending linear graph you’d envisioned at the start. 

3. “Old friends” I met who are in a better place in life than I’d last seen them: D. E. K. S. 
I thank God. 

4. We are still singing “There’s Gonna Be a Revival in This Land”. 

- 4.1. That was the first search result on YouTube. Please don't blame me. 

5. No one can tell me what on earth “revival” is, in any measurable, achievable way. 

- 5.1. Hence “revival” will never be here, but will remain like the pot of gold at the rainbow. 

- 5.2. Maybe the journey is more important than the destination, so the pursuit of revival is good enough, in a pragmatic sense? 

- 5.3. I can’t stand that much pragmatism. 

6. Some parts of Penang look like Singapore. Is it an “island” thing? 

- 6.1. I love the idea of having a beach just a short drive away at all times. 

- 6.2. The Klang River just doesn't cut it. 

7. Penang char koay teow is good. Penang ho chien is better. Both are better than any you’ll find in KL. 

- 7.1. Penang food generally is better than KL food. How annoying to have to concede this. It must be how Windows fanboys feel about Mac. 

8. All KL drivers need to watch this video: 

 

- 8.1. All Penang drivers need to watch it twice. 

9. The "love of the world" in you is proof that the "love of the Father" is not in you [http://bible.cc/1_john/2-15.htm]. Yet God “so loved the world" that he gave his only begotten Son [http://bible.cc/john/3-16.htm]. 
Obviously, loving the people in the world is worlds apart (heh, I pun) from loving the constructs of these same people. 

- 9.1. If the “world” (kosmos in Greek) is the “ways or systems that people construct”, then perhaps the “world” is also in the church, and some Christians are inadvertently “loving the world”? 
When they say and believe: 
“You have to pray one hour a day.” 
“If you’re not jumping up and down, you’re not passionate enough for God. (I mean, he died for you - can’t you just jump up and down a little bit?)” 
“You have to pray loud or it doesn’t work.” 
“You have to pray quietly or it isn’t authentic.” 
Ad nauseam. 

10. It really is more fun to coast along at a “sensible” speed on the highway, rather than driving exactly at the speed limit. 

- 10.1. The little time lost is way worth the exponential increase in the quality of ride and conversation. 

- 10.2. I have a habit of praying in tongues when driving on the highway. 

- - 10.2.1. In between conversations, that is. 

- - 10.2.2. I hate the “charismatic kosmos” that keeps charismatics [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charismatic_Movement] blind to certain things, while at the same time deluding them into thinking that they see more clearly than others, in these matters. 

- - - 10.2.2.1 Maybe it’s because I love the charismatic people, that I hate the charismatic kosmos. 

- - - - 10.2.2.1.1. Yes. 

11. True religion is a powerful force for liberation. 

- 11.1. False religion can be a powerful force for control. 

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   advice   charismatism   Christians   church   community of faith   delusion   false religion   friends   funny   grace   gratitude   love   Penang   redemption   religion   thoughts   wisdom  

Comments [0]

Christian janitor died saving Muslim students - CNN.com

He is a national hero because he saved the life of many girls," said Shahbaz Bhatti, minister of minorities in the Pakistani government. "As a Christian, a person of minority, he stood in front of the Taliban to protect the university.

Was it worth it? I don't think he considered that question.

I think he just did what a man had to do in that situation.

A moving story that will bring on the tears.

Some find martyrdom while trying to kill innocents. Some find martyrdom while trying to save innocents.

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   Christians   girls   International Islamic University   man   martyrs   Muslims   Pakistan   religion   Taliban   terrorism  

Comments [0]

Can Malaysia be fixed? How do you "fix" a rot?

In the face of continual abuses of power and injustices in the land, it's a cinch to become jaded and cynical. And to lash back and demand change. 

Nothing wrong with demanding change when change is due, of course. The danger is when we see the problem as existing solely "out there". At that point we start to exclude ourselves from the equation of what's wrong with our country. 

But, as Ben Kingsley said, we must be the change we want to see. Or was it Gandhi? 
Either way, it's true. 

That's why I'm stoked about today's day of fasting for the nation. [ http://peace4msia.blogspot.com/ ]
Instead of "Selamat Hari Malaysia", to me, it's "Hari Selamat Malaysia". (Not "Happy Malaysia Day" but "Save Malaysia Day" - not so nice in Bahasa Inggeris.)

Of course, we do whatever we can, but do you really think that we can fix the problems our country is in? 
You can fix a car. Can you fix a rotting fish? 

A country is not just systems and institutions. It is also people. And people are organic. 
Organic entities don't break down. They rot. 
Can you "fix" a rot? 
The best you can do is cut off the rotting part before it spreads to the still-good part. 

There's a Malay proverb about the rot of fish setting in first at the head... 

Woah! Am I talking about cutting people off? Discarding them like used trash? 
(It's tempting...) 

Some or our eminent parliamentarians have said things to that effect - pendatang (migrants) go home, hahaha. 
We're all pendatang. It's just a question of siapa datang lebih awal (who migrated earlier). 

Some of us slighted ones think instead that people like these eminent parliamentarians should leave the nation. 
But then don't we espouse the folly we denounce? 
Of course. 

"God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." 
Even the worst sinners are given a measure of time in which to repent before it's too late and judgement bites. 
Are parts of the nation rotting? We can't fix that. The only hope for the rot is healing, at best, miraculous regeneration, at worst. 
The power of resurrection. 
The power of God to change a person. 

We have to do every little bit we can, rakyat jelata. But everything we can do is not enough. We have to look above. 
We have petitioned the highest offices in our land. We have to go higher. 

No, not the UN! 

Higher still. 

That's what the fasting is about. It is saying, we've reached the end of ourselves. We've exhausted our options. We need your help. 
Heal us, save us. 

It's about bowing down to pray and then rising up to walk out that prayer. 

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   fasting   God   human/divine   Malaysia   Malaysia Day   people   politics   prayer   religion   spirituality  

Comments [0]

Lame Excuses and the Mystery of Joy

A friend of mine wrote recently, that she felt her mom used religion
as a coping mechanism, a crutch. "As long as I have Jesus I don't have
to face up to the fact that I'm unhappy."

 It's easy to disdain people who supposedly imbibe Karl Marx's "opiate
of the masses". But like that Calvin & Hobbes comic where the TV said
Marx hadn't seen nothin' yet, there are far more opiates than
religion.

 In most people there is an internal code: "If I could just have x,
I'll be happy, I'll survive."

 It could be an imagined god, a supposed career, a fantasy lover, an
iPhone. Truthfully, nothing will make us happy if we aren't already
disposed to happiness. All these are add-ons, enhancers. Not creators
or originators of happiness.

 The spontaneous source of joy is the divine spark placed within by the
hand of God. And that, my friend, is a mystery.

 (Unless you believe in genetic determinism, in which case you either
got it or you don't and if you don't got it, tough on ya.)

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   contentment   happiness   joy   mystery   religion   spirituality   wisdom  

Comments [0]

Found in Melbourne: Mini Jesus & the Holy Toast

   
Click here to download:
Found_in_Melbourne_Mini_Jesus_.zip (1467 KB)

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   funny   Jesus   Melbourne 2009   religion   sacrilege  
Posted from Camberwell, Australia

Comments [0]