To Understand Truth and to Attain the True
It is good feeling no doubt to have the server up and running. Unfortunately I won’t be able to give new postings for the next 3 weeks. I am at the moment too busy preparing for a Christian-Muslim Dialogue in Rome. I also have to prepare a few sermons as a church camp speaker.
Hopefully good [...]
POSITION VACANT:
RESEARCH WRITER FOR KAIROS RESEARCH CENTRE
Read more...SOCIAL CONTRACT AND THE SPECIAL POSITION OF THE MALAYS
Some observations on the Historical Context
Excerpt
Malay ethnic nationalists (UMNO politicians in particular) in the past usually avoided making reference to the Social Contract. But recently, these UMNO politicians seem to have overcome their reservations and are urging Malaysians to respect the Social Contract. What is the [...]
In the religion of the pre-Islamic Arabs, the word Allâh is used to denote the highest god among the other gods who each has a name. But the word Allâh itself is not a name, as explained earlier. Therefore, the word Allâh was already in use before the arrival of Islam, i.e., even during the so-called ‘time of ignorance’ or the days of polytheism. The word is not a creation of the Muslims and its existence does not begin in Al-qur’ân Al-karîm. From the standpoint of linguistics, it is an ordinary Arabic word which is not specifically linked to a particular religion.
Read more...Malaysian citizens should be greatly disturbed by recent events that give alarming evidence of the erosion of religious liberty in the country. Do these events reflect the implementation of a more fundamental Islamic policy? This public forum will provide an analysis of current trends in our nation and explore how Christians may firmly and constructively respond to these challenges that threaten religious liberty in general and the Christian faith in particular.
Read more...The government directive also emasculates Christian religious language and strips it of a sense of sacredness that helps to usher the worshipper into the presence of God and enables the worshipper to relate to God….It is prepared to invent/coin words just to deny Christians the right to identify and express what God has said/revealed to them: Wahyu should be substituted with ‘Revelasi’, ‘Nabi’ with ‘propet’ and ‘Al-Kitab’with ‘Baibel’ (note that these words are not even found in the Kamus Dewan)….n effect, the government is not respecting Christianity; and is asking Christians to commit sacrilege, that is, to dishonor their God.
Read more...The lofty term ‘language planning’ degenerates to a form of interest-bound modern social-political planning. Williams (1981:221) points out that it is high time that we recognize that language planning is undertaken by those who are in a position of power to undertake such policies and is therefore designed to serve and protect their interests…The recent policy to prohibit non-Muslims from using certain terms on the ground that there are Islamic is in reality a projection of power for the purpose of controlling minority groups – euphemistically described as cultural and language planning for social harmony when in reality it is cultural and religious cleansing.
Read more...The article written in Malay refutes the assumption that a few million Muslims in Peninsular Malaysia have the exclusive right and final authority to define how the Malay language may be used for religious purposes.
Sudah di masa pra-Islam, al-ilâh disambung menjadi Allâh. Dan dalam agama orang-orang Arab pra-Islam, kata ini digunakan untuk menunjuk pada dewa yang paling tinggi di antara dewa-dewa yang lain yang masing-masing mempunyai namanya sendiri. Namun kata Allâh itu sendiri bukan nama, seperti di atas diterangkan. Dengan demikian, kata Allâh sudah ada dalam bahasa Arab sebelum Islam dalam zaman jahiliyya atau zaman politeis. Kata itu bukan ciptaan orang Islam, ia juga tidak baru muncul dalam Al-qur’ân Al-karîm, melainkan, dari sudut bahasa, ia merupakan kata biasa dalam bahasa Arab lepas dari ikatan dengan salah satu agama tertentu.
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...Anthony Thiselton links Postmodernity to the crisis of truth. To this one would naturally ask the question, “Why a crisis of truth�? Is the linkage a matter or causality, that is, to suggest that Postmodernity is the cause of the crisis, or is the linkage merely descriptive? In the latter case, Postmodernity would be a description of a general condition of society where people in general and intellectuals in particular have lost confidence in attaining consensus regarding matters of truth.
What are the contours of the contemporary crisis of truth? One cannot help but be struck by the proliferation of theories spinning across the various disciplines of Western academia. Such proliferation is accompanied by intense disputes with no obvious winner. There is no evidence that the competing theories will be subsumed under an overarching, unifying framework. The resulting fragmentation of knowledge leads to doubts about the viability of the academic enterprise in securing certain or indubitable knowledge
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.