By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
April 14, 2011
The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) remains unconvinced with the government’s 10-point solution to the Alkitab row, calling it “ad hoc and short term” and pointing out that it still did not address the impasse over the use of the word “Allah”.
The Najib administration had come up with the solution on April 11, ahead of elections in Sarawak, the state with the most number of Christians.
“We consider the 10-point solution to be an ad hoc and short term solution to the two consignments of Alkitab which have been impounded at Port Klang and Port of Kuching,” CFM president Ng Moon Hing told reporters here.
Did you ever wonder why HuffPost articles on the Bible elicit such strong reactions? Almost any piece about the Bible typically receives a couple of hundred comments and some garner far more. Why? I have a hunch it’s because our attitudes about the Bible reveal our attitudes about religion more generally. The Bible is, after all, a primary religious authority and so how you react to it discloses how you feel about the religion it mediates.
So what kind of book do you think the Bible is? While there are any number of possible ways to answer this question, I’ve outlined four that seem most typical of the responses I’ve read to my recent posts and conversations I’ve had over the years about the Bible. Read them over to see if one reflects your beliefs about the “good book,” and then take the survey below to register your opinion and see what others are saying.
Two quick caveats: 1) Because I’m most familiar with the Christian Bible, that’s the one I have in mind, though I suspect the categories below will transfer to the scriptures of other faiths. 2) The categories are not necessarily mutually exclusive — one might, for instance, believe the Bible is supernatural and a book of moral guidance, or that it is no different than other sacred texts but also provides good guidance for living. If you decide to take the poll, select the choice that gets closest to capturing your core belief about the Bible. Okay, with these two notes in mind, here are four options.
1. Supernatural Revelation of God’s Eternal Will
This view of Scripture believes that the Bible is divinely inspired and inerrant in terms of doctrine, morals and history. It is in this sense quite literally supernatural in that it is not of the natural order but instead was written by God (working through human agents) to reveal God’s eternal and infallible will for all people. Therefore, if the Bible says the world was created in seven days, then the world was in fact created in seven days. Similarly, the laws the Bible contains — unless superseded by newer ones (as when Jesus says some ritual laws no longer apply) — are valid for all people in all times and places.
2. Inspiring Moral Guide
Although adherents of this view may not believe the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, they nevertheless find much inspiration and moral guidance within its pages. The Psalms bring comfort, for instance, and the Proverbs give good advice. The Ten Commandments and teachings of Jesus offer excellent moral counsel that would contribute to a better world if more people followed them. At the same time, there are some pretty strange rules and regulations that clearly no longer apply. One therefore needs to bring some common sense to the reading of Scripture and sift through some of the outdated material to find timeless wisdom and inspiration.
3. Sacred Literature Like All Other Sacred Literature
From this point of view, the Bible represents the sacred literature of a particular religion and is no different than the sacred literature of any other religion. One therefore may profit by studying the Bible in order to understand the religion it represents. Similarly, one may be interested in the historical and cultural influence the Bible has exercised or in reading it as great literature. But all notions of its divine or supernatural status are at the very least misplaced and may in fact be dangerous as they can invite blind obedience to one religious faith and lead to intolerance toward others.
4. Faithful Confessions and Family Album
What holds all the various parts of the Bible together, from this point of view, is that they all represent faithful attempts of persons to witness to their experience of God. Taken together, all these different confessions of faith provide something of a record, or album, of the history of one people and their beliefs about God. Not unlike a family scrapbook that’s been passed down through the generations, the various bits and pieces combine to tell a story about this particular family of faith and the God they worship. In this way, the Bible invites readers to enter into the narrative truth it provides and make this story their own.
Given the diverse ways to think about the Bible, it’s no wonder that articles about Scripture elicit such strong opinions and engender so much conversation. What we say about the Bible inevitably says something about us — about what we believe or don’t believe, and about the place faith holds or doesn’t hold in our lives. So now it’s your turn. What kind of book do you think the Bible is? Can you find a view that represents what you believe? Take the survey below and let us know.
Ng explained that while the 10-point solution had dealt with the impounding of the Alkitab, it had failed to address the root cause of Christian discontent – the prohibition of publications containing the word “Allah”.
He then cited three laws which were the root cause of the “problem”:
• The 1982 prohibition of Alkitab and 1983 prohibition of “Perjanjian Baru” under the Internal Security Act on the grounds that the Alkitab is prejudicial to national security interests of Malaysia;
• The 1986 administrative order prohibiting the use of the term “Allah” in Christian publications on the grounds of “public order” and prevention of misunderstanding betwen Muslims and Christians;
• The Home Ministry’s guidelines of publications on the control of Quranic texts (Garis panduan bahagian kawalan dan penerbitan buku teks Al-Quran) prohibiting the use of Allah.
“The 1country 2 policies is confusing and unacceptable,” said Ng today.
Faced with an unyielding Christian community days ahead of a crucial state poll in Sarawak, the government offered early this month a 10-point solution to the Alkitab impasse which will allow the Bible to be freely distributed across the country in all languages.
The Cabinet offered a new list of suggestions to put an end to the month-long stand-off over 35,000 Alkitab seized by the Home Ministry in a bid to head off a possible backlash against the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) during Saturday’s vote by Christians who make up half the population in Sarawak.
However, it insisted that Malay-language bibles in the peninsula be marked with a cross and “Christian Publication” on the front cover.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak also gave his assurance yesterday that his administration would never again impound bibles.
But Muslim groups and leaders have accused the government of capitulating to pressure from Christians and failing to uphold Islamic laws and dignity.
The Control and Restriction of the Propagation of Non-Islamic Religions Enactment bars non-Muslims from using Allah to refer to God as is done in the Alkitab.
The law applies in all states besides Sabah, Sarawak, Penang and the federal territories.
“We reiterate that the Bible is our holy scripture and it is our right to read study and pray with it in the language of our choice, as freedom of religion is enshrined under Federal Constitution,” said Ng today.
He then referred to item 9 of the 10-point solution which “reiterates the government’s commitment to address religious issues.”
“The government should therefore take immediate steps to remove root causes by revoking clauses made under the ISA and the administrative order and to amend the garis panduan (guidelines) to remove the prohibition,” the CFM chairman added.
Forget the TV babble. Never mind what you read in the papers. Here’s the real skinny: The average Catholic is young, old, middle-aged and every color of the human rainbow. She prays the rosary or chants a mantra or doesn’t use words at all. He reads the diocesan newspaper or a religious magazine or, most likely, nothing “Catholic” at all. She goes to a Bible study group at the parish or to a yoga class at the civic center or watches CNN and considers from her sofa what life is all about. He reflects on the teachings of Jesus or meditates on a spiritual book or simply remembers the chosen part of things learned long ago. She is interested in what she is here for and what it all means and what to snack on when American Idol comes on. The average Catholic does not fit easily into a square or a circle but belongs to a big triangle that holds all shapes and sizes.
The average Catholic is outraged at the crimes of many in the hierarchy but refuses to throw the baby out with the bathwater. She knows the baby is precious, real, never grows old, can still give her joy, peace and assurance, and it’s not dependent on people.
Napoleon once told a Cardinal that he could destroy the Catholic Church with his fists, in an instant, if he wanted to. The Cardinal laughed and said, “We bishops have been trying to destroy the church for 1,800 years with our sins and stupidity but haven’t come close. What makes you think you can do better?”
The average Catholic could not care less about the issue of papal infallibility but is grateful that her church is a moral standard bearer. He is proud of the Pope’s affirmation of life wherever he goes. She wishes more leaders, in the church and in the world, would witness to the truth that all of life is sacred: from womb to tomb; in the unborn and the dying; the murderer on death row and the mother in a coma; the soldier in Afghanistan and the homeless family in Iraq; the child abused by a pedophile and the pensioner who can’t afford a doctor; in the oil-poisoned Gulf and the coal mines of Pennsylvania; in the Arab and in the Israeli. The average Catholic has a high moral standard but is reluctant to chastise anyone, other than himself, who doesn’t live up to it.
The average Catholic knows from experience that birth control is a blessing and that abortion is a tragedy. She values the virtues of fidelity and chastity but would never call sex outside of marriage or divorce and remarriage sins. To him that would mean calling a person he doesn’t even know a sinner. The average Catholic is deathly afraid of throwing stones. The only sinner she’s greatly familiar with is herself. When told that “God hates the sin but loves the sinner,” the average Catholic voices confusion. How can anyone separate the two? And if God is Love, how can God hate? The average Catholic prefers to cultivate an attitude of unconditional love and forgiveness — until somebody steps on his toes. Then it gets personal. And all good ideas go out the window. The average Catholic is imperfect and knows it. When she prays the Our Father and says, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,” she has to go fast or she’ll tremble in her boots. Sometimes he wonders if he’ll ever get it right.
The average Catholic is rarely interested in anyone’s sexual orientation. He finds public or private talk about the sexual activities of homosexuals or heterosexuals tasteless and can’t understand why anyone would want to flog or flaunt, persecute or parade sexuality of any kind. In her rare moments when she is in the vicinity of “being close to God,” the average Catholic knows that sex is at best a glorious distraction and at worst nothing but trouble. He can’t stop the world from emphasizing it, but he thinks it wouldn’t hurt for the church to declare a moratorium on speaking about sex for the next several years. The worst result: a better sense of balance.
The average Catholic likes priests and nuns, and is not alarmed by talk of new forms of priesthood. She has lived long enough to know that things change. He knows that appearances always change but the chosen part of priesthood — the spiritual part, service to others for the sake of the kingdom — will never change. Nor Jesus’ promise: “I will be with you always, even to the end of the world.”
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