One of the few times that minishorts did not swear was when she was writing something on religion.

Totally awesome, dudette!

Actually you may know what this is roughly about – our brother Menj’s new book Buddhism: A Muslim Primer, out in the market selling at RM7.90 each. Go get it if you really want to, it looks cool.

Minishorts asked for and received a copy of the book for ‘professional review’. Actually I was quite impressed how the review turned out. The same woman who wrote all the erotic bedtime stories could churn out such a review; I’m totally blown out of my mind and will kiss her feet for as long as she likes.

I didn’t ask for a copy of the book because I am quite malas to read more than currently required, and also I don’t think Menj would trust me to review something so close to his heart about something so close to my heart without me getting all riled up and emotional about the whole she-bang ;)

As I have said, Buddhism is something close to my heart so I feel like I have to say something, even if it’s just for the sake of saying it. This is like the best merry-go-round ever.

So today my beautiful readers and random blog-hoppers, I am going to talk a bit about religious tolerance.

Before that I am going to talk a little about ME so that you may know where I am coming from.

I am a Malaysian Chinese. I grew up going to the local church. I have read the Bible. I love Christian hymns, sometimes I still sing them because they are so beautiful and the when you see Christians praising the Lord in their all powerful embracing manner, it brings a tear to your eye. No, I am not being sarcastic, I think it’s a really beautiful wonderful thing, the spiritual and community touch. My mom used to practise Taoism, all the burning this that and a lot of relatives from my paternal side practise believe in Taoism as well. It was most apparent during my paternal grandfather’s funeral when we had to walk all the countless circles in the attempt to safely guide his soul through hell, however metaphoric the rites.

My dad (who is still very much alive; a lot of people think that he is not around anymore or estranged because I don’t talk about him much) is an atheist and a firm believer of science. I used to ask him all sorts of questions, like if people die where do they go? “Nowhere, they are just gone” was his reply. If he felt like answering more he would go on about how the body became weak and frail in time, basically your biology 101. Gods and deities? “No such things.”

I grew up playing with the Malay kids next door, spending much of my childhood with them and their family. I went out with a Malay dude for more than a year. All these people taught me quite a bit about Islam; of course not to the extent of being scholarly but enough to have lively and animated harmless discussions that furthered my understanding.

.::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::.

Personally I do not feel that many people truly understand the real purpose of religion. What is the ultimate aim for a person to embrace a certain religion? Cut through all the differences and you may realise that everyone, regardless of labels is trying to find peace and happiness within themselves. Suddenly we are not that different after all. At the end of the day it really doesn’t matter if your god and my god are the same, or if there is a god at all. Everyone just wants to find his or her own place, everyone wants to belong, everyone needs an anchor to know that there is a purpose in life.

Faith is important. Having said that, faith can be a double-edged sword. How can you use your faith to help eradicate poverty and bring an end to social injustice? On the other hand, what can stop you from using your faith to destroy the world? Some people realise that there is a higher power and stop at there. Some people realise that there is no limit to what man can do and take it further. If it is something like massive drug trafficking, then the blame lies on having too much faith in the man. If it is something like religious wars, then the blame lies on having too much faith in religion. Having faith is just not enough. You need to be aware of what you want to hold on to, what is the purpose of you having faith, why do you need faith in a certain something to begin with. I like to think that’s when logic and sensibility enter the picture.

In Chief Reverand K. Dri Dhammananda’s book ‘Why Religious Tolerance?’, he said,

Actually, there is nothing wrong with religion but either there is something wrong with man or with the methods that the man uses to introduce and to practise religion. This is perhaps why people sometimes get fed up with religions.

And another :

Only three things are required for a man to be religious : he must have good thoughts, use good words and practise good deeds.

Which brings to a famous saying by Deng Xiaoping, “No matter if it is a white cat or a black cat; as long as it can catch mice, it is a good cat.”

What I am trying to say is that we are all so different, yet we are one and the same. Yeah yeah you probably heard or read this somewhere else – most likely from U2′s One. But how many people do actually embrace and practise it?

Personally I think the wrong definition of comparitive religion is a waste of time. I got riled up because it was the first time I’d ever came across something like this – why the heck would anyone want to compare religions in such a biased and unresearched manner, I don’t know. And at the end of the day, it is like claiming that my god is better and more powderful than your god, never mind that Buddha himself did not believe in a monotheism god. Okay, so we do not agree – what’s your point, really? There is utterly no need to undermine another’s beliefs, religious or not in such an unprovoked and unresearched attack (yes, talking about Harun Yahya still, least anyone gets the wrong idea).

Basically I know you love your God. I love you for loving your God. Let’s move on.

In the 1994 ‘Conference on Islam and Tolerance’, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad said,

It should be understood that even the Qur’an had made it clear that there was no compulsion in religion and that Muslims were required to have good ties with non-uslims who did not develop animosity towards them. If all Muslims know and understand the teachings of Islam from the Qur’an, hadith and sunnah, from books and history, not only will their ties with non-Muslims improve, but also non-Muslims will really understand the teachings and principles of Islam. With this it will improve the Islamic tolerance in relation to all parties. This is an admirable attitude which should be adopted by the followers of all the religious in Malaysia.

Sometimes the old man was a bit off his rockers. But many other times he makes perfect sense.

So… peace.