YOURSAY | In religion, force is never the answer

YOURSAY | ‘Education, understanding, peaceful settlement better options.’

My Muslim dad doesn’t object to me being Buddhist - teen

RedSalmon6011: Many empires fall and finally end due to people’s dissatisfaction and people power against the leaders. History always repeats itself.

In Malaysia, 70 percent of the population have no freedom to decide their religion, and the other 30 percent are given the right to choose.

Force is never the answer but education and understanding are better long term. To change this, the 70 percent should be the one to ask for change while the other 30 percent should not interfere and enjoy your freedom (if you are not part of the major group). Peaceful settlement is always a better option.

WhatTheFish: In this country, the status of Muslim children at birth is determined by the religious courts and not at their own volition, even if they have come of age in law.

Parliament has taken away agency from the rakyat in this situation and placed control in the hands of state institutions.

The religious court only has the power to decide on their status as Muslims and there are legal procedures to be followed. That court has no power to determine agency.

There may be a recent move to create a Federal Syariah Court through the mechanism of the conference of rulers to keep any decision of the state syariah courts within the syariah legal system and so that no more cases go to the civil courts.

What does the general Islamic law say? The state picks and chooses from this general pool of legal principles to be state legislation although that pool of general principles may recognise the right of agency in conversion.

Should the state have this power and determine the fate of its citizens?

I do hope if indeed the apex Federal Syariah Court is in the works, it must have the power to set aside any state legislation that offends the principle of karama or human dignity, which is the basis of human rights in the Quran. This may be the way forward.

The apex court can apply the more humane principle to set aside a state court decision. I think this would be the better and more civilised Madani approach we are hoping for. In God and wise legislators, we trust for the betterment of our country.

Proarte: Not surprisingly, the case ignores the Constitution which gives citizens the freedom of worship. If they are under 18, then the parents have a say in the religion of the child.

In this case, the non-Muslim mother has sole custody of the son and hence she has the right to determine the religion of her child. Furthermore, the Muslim father has no objection to his son being a Buddhist.

So, why is the National Registration Department being obstructive? They must realise Sarawak has a non-Muslim majority population and that Islam is not the state religion. Let us hope rationality prevails in the upcoming court ruling.

OMG: This powerful belief system has something we can call a holy book, which sets out the main principles of the system. There is a group of men who use the book to rally people and gradually acquire power over millions of poor souls.

Once in power, they slowly train people to follow what they preach and apply techniques to persuade people to join them. They say: It’s up to you. There is no compulsion. What they did not say is, that once in, you’re always in.

Followers are given all kinds of benefits and told of the great rewards that await them. Oh, you want to know the name? Communism. Their bible is Das Kapital, by Karl Marx.

Today, it’s a largely discredited thing, but under it, fearsome bloodthirsty despots like Stalin, Lenin, and Mao were responsible for the deaths of millions.

The thing is, whether you're peddling fairy tales or systems you claim will help the common man, human weakness, greed, and corruption eventually bring everything down.

Democracy, free markets, and freedom of belief have many flaws, but they are the best things humans have fashioned thus far. We shall overcome.

VioletCondor6908: The past eight months have seen the country evolving into religious extremism in an extraordinary and immensely frightful manner. And several politicians and religious leaders are stoking it continuously.

I hope and pray we all can move into a more enlightened environment, where inter-racial harmony prevails and the nation progresses.

Otherwise, I believe, we are moving towards a “Failed State” status like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Somalia, Myanmar, Iraq, and Syria.

Saudi Arabia is advancing tremendously, can it be an example to us all? Are we still gripped tight by the tentacles of race and religion?

Are we Malaysians not ashamed of the “dot across the ditch”, south of Johor, which has attained Super City-State status that is the envy of the world?

Apa pun boleh: It will be interesting how the court in Sabah decides on this case as under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) Sabah and Sarawak are said to be not bound by the draconian religious rules in the peninsula.

The courts are caught in a bind as the application if granted may open a Pandora's Box flooding the state with any others in similar plight.

Recently, in a TikTok video, an Indian man alleged he was shocked to find his religion stated as Muslim on his birth certificate. He has made his complaint to the NRD and is awaiting the rectification.

In fact, the video advised Indians to go to NRD and ascertain what is stated in their birth certificates.

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