A Malaysian Catholic leader has poured scorn on politicians who stoke the flames of religious polarisation to keep their agendas burning, reports the Free Malaysia Today website.

Bishop Paul Tan, who is also the President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, said ordinary Malaysians do not want to be divided along the lines of faith.

“They know the wisdom of seeing others as fellow humans caught in the beauty and travail of ordinary human striving. Sadly, devious and conniving politicians see things differently.

“They thrive on keeping people apart to achieve their nefarious designs. It is the famous ‘divide and rule’ mentality of the crooked people,” he told FMT.

Responding to a question, Bishop Tan, the head of the Malacca-Johor Diocese, also believes that it is these politicians who were responsible for the numerous controversies involving the Christian faith.

“This is all due to the manipulation and duplicity by politicians who are out to win votes at the expense of the gullible and the ignorant,” he said.

The dispute over the term Allah, which led to the firebombing of churches, the seizure of Malay-language bibles and the alleged Christian plot to undermine the status of Islam here, were among the issues that had strained ties between the church and government.

The latest controversy being the raid on a non-Catholic church last week by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) over a complaint that several Muslims were present at a dinner event there.

Bishop Tan said: “If the claim (of proselytization) is substantiated, I will exert myself to initiate corrective and contrite action by Christians.”

“Otherwise I want a recantation and an apology. It’s as simple and clear cut as that,” he added.

“I would think that the interests of Muslims are better protected by truth-telling among its officials, not by alarmist projections.”

“But if someone wants us to share our faith with him or her, we will not hesitate to do so because of our belief that religion can be proposed but not imposed.

“Conversion is at the volition of the individual concerned; it cannot be at the persuasion of the person being asked to share the faith,” he explained.

Asked if the Christian leadership in Malaysia was doing enough with regard to facing the numerous controversies, Bishop Tan suggested that more could be done.

“They can do better by being less blinkered towards duplicitous politicians,” he said.

FULL STORY

Bishop condemns devious politicians (Free Malaysia Today)

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PHOTO CREDIT

Catholic Diocese of Malacca-Johore