An Open Letter to Brother Robert Judah Paul Living as a religious minority in a plural society is never easy. It is made even less easy when we as members of this minority try to make a difference to the society around us. Nonetheless, your love for the urban destitute and your work among them are known and can only be seen as a manifestation of Christ’s call for us to love our neighbors as ourselves. We are nonetheless troubled by a quote attributed to you in Free Malaysia Today that “Christians will take to the street if our voices are not heard legally”.[1] What troubles us is the word ‘will’ because if ‘take to the streets’ means displaying our anger with placards and reacting with provocative slogans, we will not do that. As part of the Christian community in Malaysia, we are, of course, alarmed at the call by Ibrahim Ali of PERKASA as well as the threat to organize a Bible Burning Festival in Butterworth on the 27th of January 2013.[2] We are nonetheless compelled to heed what our Scriptures clearly command us to do, to be “quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger” (James 1:19). We find it wise to take counsel in the statement of the Christian Federation of Malaysia, a body that represents more than 90% of the Christian community in Malaysia, who have, through Bishop Datuk Ng Moon Hing that “Christians are peace-loving people who will continue to seek peace and harmony across all religious groups for the well-being of our great country. We pray that good sense and moderation will prevail for all people in times such as these.”[3] We also take heed of the warning from our fellow Malaysian theologian, Dr. Ng Kam Weng, who has counseled all concerned parties to avoid polemics.[4] Similarly we note that politicians on both sides of the political divide like MCA’s Loh Seng Kok and YB Baru Bian who have come out not just to condemn Ibrahim Ali for his inflammatory and seditious call but also to exercise restraint with reference to the “Allah” issue. [5] This is especially so during an electoral season where there may be irresponsible actors who would be more than happy to brew religious controversy for personal gain. And to our delight, we take comfort and encouragement in the fact that our fellow Malaysians of different walks of life as well as faiths have stood in solidarity with the Christian community by issuing public statements condemning the Bible burning threat as well as making police reports against this.[6] Our first call as Christians in the light of these challenges is to take to the prayer room rather than the streets. We ought not to add fuel to the embers stoked by the original provocateurs and become a party to the ‘bridge burners’. We do not deny that Christ calls us to speak out against injustice and to confront ‘bridge burners’ as we continue our work as ‘bridge builders’ with all Malaysians. We stand, as we must, in solidarity with victims of injustice regardless of religion. We oppose, as we must, tyranny that terrorizes all communities in this country. But we must also act justly, with mercy and humility (Micah 6:8) and seek to be peacemakers (Matthew 5:9), building bridges across communities. These are trying times for Christians and other minorities in this nation. We call for Christians to be discerning and prayerful while modeling the way of Jesus in confronting these trials. We urge Christian leaders to be in consultation with the relevant institutions like the Christian Federation of Malaysia and the Bible Society of Malaysia who have labored hard for the last 30 years to resolve the difficulties that have arose from the restrictions imposed on Christian worship in our national language, Bahasa Malaysia. Your fellow Malaysian pilgrims in Christ, Yee Siew Meng (Theology student, Seminari Theoloji Malaysia Wong Tien Li (Layperson, Friends in Conversation) Steven Foong (TEE Student, Seminari Theoloji Malaysia) Rev Sivin Kit (Pastor, Lutheran Church in Malaysia, PhD Student in Religion, Ethics, Society, University of Agder) Rev Pax Tan (Pastor, Baptist) Rev Ng Kok Kee (Pastor, Pentecostal, Theological Educator) Rev Dr Lim Kar Yong (Pastor, Petaling Jaya Evangelical Free Church, Adjunct Lecturer, Seminari Theoloji Malaysia & Malaysia Bible Seminary) Lim Swee Bin (Mother, Focus on Sarawak) Lee Soo Choo (Layperson, Lutheran) Kevin Thomas (Layperson, Baptist) Joshua Woo (Preacher, Presbyterian) Gina Phan (Layperson, Lutheran) Freddie Acho Bian (Layperson, Sidang Injil Borneo Sarawak) Eugene Koo (Layperson, Methodist) Dr Samuel Ong (Cardiologist, Methodist) Dr Alex Tang (Elder, English Speaking Presbytery of Malaysia) Davin Wong (Layperson, Anglican) Daniel Lee (Layperson, Brethren) Chris Chong (Layperson, Friends in Conversation) Bob Kee (Layperson, Lutheran) Alwyn Lau (Layperson, Lutheran) Adrian Pereira (Human Rights Activist, Catholic, Coordinator, Community Action Network Rev Tryphena Law (Pentecostal, Social Concern friend, Pastoral Counselor, teacher) Christopher Cheah (Layperson, Methodist)
