Unban the Bible sales to Muslims

Posted by Raja Petra
Wednesday, 02 April 2008,

Ref: Malaysia Today

With the recent progress made by the opposition in the last general elections, I believe that a more benevolent , tolerant Malaysia is emerging. The ultra-nationalist, somewhat Islamo-fascist style of thinking must be put behind us forever as we evolve into a higher mold of thinking.One of the things which was indicative of BN’s closed-mindedness was the banning of the sale of the bible for Muslims. The PM very unambiguously said that the ‘bible was not for Muslims’. In wake of the last general election results, I suggest a thorough review of this policy. As a Malay-Muslim, I believe that the study of the Bible is very helpful in the understanding of not only Christianity which is obvious, but also the understanding one of the roots of Western civilisation itself. The bible was for at least a millenium and a half, the cornerstone of Western thought. Even the appropriation of Greek philosophy happened so extensively because scholars wanted reconcile Christianity with the universal tenets of logic and to use the bible as an answer for philosophical problems.

Even to this day, there are Christian scholars whose incursions into the field of philosophy contribute to the perpetual evolution of Christian thinking. As also mentioned, bible contains the crucial principles of Christianity. While catholicism also draws on the teachings of the church elders as well as the bible, Protestant denominations tends to focus on the teachings of the Bible itself which is what Martin Luther strived for. Luther’s faced numerous dilemmas which can help us to think about our religious experience today. This division in principles led to some very interesting debates between the Catholics and Protestans and the fruits of such debates would be such great stimulus to all our minds.Around the bible itself grew a tremendous complex body of literature such as a few types of exegesis, theological discussions and various kinds of criticisms. Examples include historical criticism, textual criticism and psychological criticism. These types of criticisms helped see the Bible under a new light. This body of literature I believe has helped stimulate the minds of the embryonic West during the periods of Renaissance and Enlightenment. Ultimately, these people used their strong foundations and springboarded into modern philosophy we see today.Of course, the best reason of all to unban the sale of the bible to Muslims would be allow us to simply build better relations with Christian fellow Malaysians. After all, when we see the ideals which the Christians aspire to, would our hearts not warm to them? I believe it would.

As RPK mentioned about how the NEP is nothing but a milk bottle we won’t let mommy take away, this religious molly-coddling is tantamount to hiding behind mommy’s skirt and not daring to allow our minds to digest notions provided by other ideologies. It shouldn’t be just the Bible either but Muslims should be allowed and even encouraged to study any and all religious texts. Lets hope with the winds of change which are upon us, we can move beyond this parochialism and allow our nation to mature.