Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Of Apostacy, MENJ and the Erotica Blogger
Please read MENJ's article on apostacy before continuing here. Only then will you understand the following conversation. Dear MENJ, You said earlier this morning "What interest does a non-Muslim, erotica blogger got to do with this topic?" There are quite a few, so feel free to choose one that suits you: 1. Whilst it is true that I am a non-Muslim, I enjoy reading about the various differing religions practiced. Your blog has given me some insights into Islam. I admire your convictions and stances for Islam and respect you for it but it does not mean I must agree. 2. Knowledge is prized in Islam and that is exactly what I am seeking. I do not trust in hear-say channelled thru various conversations and personally I would not trust the average person to differentiate between true laws by God and man-made ideas. However reading your blog, I do believe that you are deeply grounded in Islam and would trust your answers. Thank you for informing me that the punishment for apostasy is death. Knowledge is always prized. 3. My interests are in seeking truths and knowledge. I favour peace and love. I want a Malaysia that is safe, where its people are productive, intelligent, progressive and a nation that is safe for its children to play together, immaterial of age, creed, ethnic or culture. 4. I am not an erotic blogger. I write about life experiences, which may include issues such as self image, sex and parent-child relationships. MENJ, You might be surprised if I say I truly mean what I wrote. Every religion has its rules and all believers must live by them. If you live in a country, you abide by its law. If you are a follower of a certain religion, you live by its rules. And if the Prophet said that the punishment for apostacy is death, then everyone (including the non-Muslims) MUST RESPECT and OBEY the instructions. There is no lukewarmness in matters pertaining to faith, so there are things that you and I share common grounds. There are two things that I have been taught about Islam whilst reading school text books: 1. Islam encourages knowledge seeking. Thus in its golden days, there were many new discoveries and advancement esp in medicine, architecture and astronomy. 2. Islam protects the rights of women. It recognize the unique qualities of women and gave women positions in society. I am sure there are more than just two good that Islam has brought about. Perhaps you can share a few more examples? *** Your blog's tagline is "Brutally honest? I like that". When I was brutally honest with you concerning SOME of your articles, you chose not to address them. Instead of addressing my questions, you choose to either ignore or smear my credibility. Thank you for your answer, despite you not having answered. A non-answer is an answer in itself. The words "nude" and "naked" in my blog name has more to do with the state of emotions than anything physical. I am sorry if you thought otherwise. I sincerely hope that you were here to read some of my posts before you passed such harsh and unfair judgement on me. "Nude" as I have explained in my earliest post is defined as "looking at sex with disinterest" and I am looking at life as it is, observing and relating stories that I hope many of my readers would share and understand. I am as brutally honest with life as you are. I do not look at my world through rose tint glasses but observe life and emotions as honestly as I possibly can. This blog is written with the intention of returning goodness to the people and reminding everyone what life is truly about - acts of love, kindness, gentleness and loyalty. It relates a lot to family life, especially father-daughter relationships, about childhood and hopes for the future. May peace be upon you, MENJ. When the sun sets tonight, you will realise that you and I have blood running through our veins, we are both born of mothers and we are both trying our best to better the world in whatever way we can. *** p/s: MENJ - when I commented on your frustrations I was trying to indirectly tell you and comfort you that I think the lady you were interested in was single and available and not married as you had ought earlier. *** This conversation has been brought back to home ground because I cannot see my comments appearing on MENJ's blog anymore. Perhaps there was something wrong with his site. Anyway I hope many people will give thought to what I have said here. I am not inciting hatred. Contrary to that, I am encouraging my readers to think. You do not need to comment in support of me. Please refrain from bombarding MENJ's site with words of hate (if there are any). All I want is for you to spend today thinking about our future and the future of Malaysia. Labels: life |
Don't worry and don't take to heart, the fella is on the extreme side. Moderation is the key not one track mind.
Otto,
Exactly what anonymous above said.
This is the guy that self-published a book "warning" Muslims that while they are aware of "fucking Christian evangelists", not to forget about the "evil" that is Buddhism that "threatens" Islam. An equal opportunity extremist.
As you said, you have read some of his posts, and maybe some of his extremely childish fights with another blogger (Rajan) filled with name calling, and misinterpreted quotes from holy texts taken entirely out of context.
AND, the guy who congratulated the headmistress of his previous school that forced students to wear the tudung.
There was also a rebuke from a Malay lawyer on blogsmalaysia.com (but for some reason the site is down) about how close-minded and bigoted this menj is.
The guy is psychotic, and he incites religious discord by bashing every other religion. He should be jailed.
Anon
Yes, moderation is the key and I hope this guy will get it someday. The sooner, the better.
John T
Personally I think MENJ has a lot of travelling and growing up to do. He has to mix with more people than his own and perhaps get his degree as soon as he possibly can.
After all, he is 26 and he hasn't even completed his basic qualifications.
I am voicing out because there is a need to voice out our opinions. His words CANNOT go unchallenged, less he and the likes of him think that they are well accepted in Malaysia.
MENJ must be made to understand his stance is NOT NORMAL and NOT ACCEPTABLE here in Malaysia.
I am also very sure that the police and government are keeping a close eye on him. And if they are not, I suggest that they do because here is the one person that is capable of overturning the government and causing chaos in Malaysia.
And for that ONE REASON ENOUGH, MENJ should be objected when his words are out of hand.
I've got nothing much to say as I'm on unfamiliar grounds. But I believe that the ability to see the world from the other persons view is very important to foster peace. It's important now, especially with the world population growing and different cultures are pushed to stay in the same place.
Bawang
I couldn't have worded it better than you -> "...the ability to see the world from the other persons view is very important to foster peace"
You are absolutely right!
OMG, let's flame the richest man in the world for not having a "basic" qualification! ;)
AnonOMG, someone compared MENJ to the richest man in the world......
I am not sure if it was meant to be sarcastic to ME or to MENJ himself.... LOL....
It is clear to me that Menj is haunted by his own fears. Nothing more, nothing less. Something happened to him that made him mistrust every human being that is beyond his own understanding. He is living with a very limited view about the world and spends so much time and energy on hate, and anger, and mistrust. Imagine he would use all this negative energy to do something positive. His tagline "brutally honest" is signifiying for his state. Brutal is force - but this negative force is straight going into his mind.
I hope that one day he wakes up and finds himself. His own identity, his own self. And for all that it is worth, yes, he can find himself in Islam.
I will be honest, I am surprised you showed such tact with him. If I were bothered to read and commented his hateful blog I would have left a slightly uh, stronger, comment there.
Really its a waste of time talking to hate-filled, bile-spewing extremists like MENJ. The sad thing is that he's always been that way. Like the time he blogged about how the word "Deeparaya" was an "Insult to Islam(tm)". Or claims Mawi promotes "hedonism". Or called Christianity a "false religion".
Immature people like him will never grow up (and are probably the source for most of the ills afflicting our world today). Why waste your breath on immature, intolerant racists?
Andreas
I believe that religion has its place in every society. Religion, all religion, gives its people hope and faith. And sometimes what life hands to us requires more than just knowledge and information... it requires hope and faith.
JoS
Personally I think it is wiser to talk to MENJ nicely and treat him with respect. Even animals understand compassion and love, what more a warm blooded man. He might just need some encouragement to travel and mix freely among the people - immaterial of religion, so his eyes can see the beauty out there.
The only thing that I will add to this is to tread religious issues lightly. No point stooping low to meet another's bigotted opinions.
GB
You are absolutely right =)
However as I have mentioned earlier, we must voice our discontentment, if there is any and we have to protect our rights, less we get trampled upon.
All we need is a sense of balance between the two.