To Understand Truth and to Attain the True
Sacred Language and Vernacular Translation of Scriptures: Why Some Muslims Just Cannot Understand/Accept the Use of “Allah” in the Alkitab (Bahasa Bible) I. Sacred Language and Religion of Diffusion Some Muslim activists have repeatedly charged Christians for having ulterior motives when they use the word “Allah” which include attempting to “deislamize Malay language” and to [...]
Read more...The authorities from Shah Alam City Council declared that “the sale of all alcoholic drinks including beer will not be allowed at Muslim-majority areas”. The logic underlying this declaration goes as follows: 1) The majority population has the right to decide whether a cultural practice is acceptable 2) Muslims are the majority in Shah Alam [...]
Read more...BEWARE OF MIND-HUNTERS On the Dangers of Large Group Awareness Training (LGAT) Ms Lee appears to be a happy go-lucky person but behind the facade is a worldly-wise business executive. It wasn’t surprising that she shrugged her shoulders when I asked her what she thought of the motivation training that her company had just sent [...]
Read more...The Deputy Minister of Internal Security, Johari Baharum, recently declared that only Muslims may use the word ‘Allah’ to describe the God they worship…. This article offers a firm, rational and clear rebuttal to the flawed rationale that underlies the Deputy Minister’s declaration.
The declaration is questionable for the following reasons: 1) its logic is flawed 2) it omits historical facts 3) it shows disrespect for cultural identity and 4) it disregards Constitutional rights of Malaysian citizens.
Read more...Maybe scholars debating on the subject of cultural relativism in splendid isolation in the university could benefit from the work done by colleagues who have taken the trouble to collect data from field works. For this reason, I offer below some of the insights on culture taken from scholars from a generation earlier. Presumably, they spoke with authenticity given their vast experience of first hand encounters with other cultures.
Read more...Newbigin offers just an ordinary dictionary definition. Culture as “the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another.?78ctc9
He added – A social product of human initiative, not an unchangeable datum. It comprises the “vast variety of human ways of living? including “all of that which constitutes man’s public life in society.?
There is defensiveness among some of the Asian literati who wax eloquent on the need for cultural planning and censorship to defend national culture against Western influences. These literati often justify their anxieties by claiming that Western powers have historically exploited the intellectual discipline called Orientalism to undermine not only the dignity and self-identity of Orientals but also the will to resist their colonial masters.
Read more...
Dr. Ng Kam Weng
Research Director
Kairos Research Centre
FREE ACCESS TO KAIROS LEGAL HANDBOOK
Kairos has decided to make available online - with free access - the full text of our legal handbook, Doing the Right Thing. Our hope is that the book will help readers to gain confidence to defend their right to profess, practice and propagate their religion and to remain vigilant in defending their religious rights.