OutSyed The Box |
| Posted: 18 Oct 2012 02:44 AM PDT In the Quran there is no such thing as blasphemy or any kind of punishment for anything called blasphemy. One general English language definition says "Blasphemy is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for a religious deity or the irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy" This is an English language definition taken from Wikipedia. From this definition it comes across that 'insulting religion as a punishable action' is entirely a human construct - it is a human fabrication, an invention designed to preserve one's religion or more likely to preserve the position of the religious priests or "holy persons". Here is some simple proof. In some parts of India today, especially in the northern parts of the country where the people are more psychotic and prone to religious violence, even non Hindus seen eating beef in public suffer the risk of serious bodily harm. In other parts of India, where Muslims are more in numbers, the Hindu may not take as much offence if a local restaurant is serving beef. In Malaysia anyone can eat beef, non Muslims can consume pork or consume alchohol with no threat of insulting any holy man or blaspheming any religion. However even in Malaysia, certain actions can be deemed as insulting religion and attract prosecution and punishment. The point is they differ only by a few degrees, according to the man made rules in effect in each locality.
Leviticus 24:16 "And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death." Since the Bible does not specify what exactly constitutes 'blaspheming the name of the Lord', the local "holy man" could easily condemn anyone he did not like as a blasphemer. It was as easy as that. So the idea that blasphemy (insulting religion or insulting the holy people - who are full of holes anyway) should be punished is also found in the Bible. People who follow the Bible are of course christians. We must be clear about this. People who follow the Bible are christians. They cannot be anything else. In the course of human interaction and social intercourse, it is unavoidable that people do end up insulting or taunting one another. This happens a lot at sports events, especially football games. It can also happen at the fish market or between your relatives. But you do not kill your foul mouthed aunty or the ill mannered shop girl just because they were rude to you or they insulted your mother? You do not kill the football fan just because he was rude to your favorite FA League football team. You have to be more mature and just ignore the taunts and the insults. So why should anyone be punished just because someone else thought that he or she had a clear intention to wound "religious feelings" or had an element of "religious insult"? What is so special about insulting "religion" compared to say someone insulting your country, your race or your family? In 22 years Tun Dr Mahathir built this country to be what it is today (or at least until 2003). If you want to insult him go ahead. No one is going to bomb you. In the same way why lose your cool when others are not impressed by your good for nothing, lying, sodomist, khalwatist, adulterous, racist, most corrupted, stuffed like a pig and satan inspired "holey" men and the other crap that you hoist upon your shoulders? Relak la brader. When the mad Taliban destroyed the Bamiyan statues many Buddhists and non Buddhists felt very sad and angry at the destruction. But none of them said that the Taliban must be punished or killed because they had committed a "religious blasphemy". I dont recall any Buddhists even saying that they felt 'insulted'. Lets not try to convert the Buddhists into believing in 'blasphemy' as well. It was a purely criminal and violent act on the part of the Taliban. It is very shameful that many Muslims kept quiet when those Bamiyan statues were destroyed. We should condemn the Taliban because of a criminal and violent act that they performed, not because of 'blasphemy'. Neither should we try to level the playing field of blasphemy by suggesting that other religions should also "be protected from blasphemy against them" or that other religions should also have their own criteria for 'blasphemy'. We will just be creating even more blasphemy crusaders in this world. That will be a terrible thing to happen. It is indeed a sign of maturity when an insult is dismisssed as just that - an insult. You do not punish or prosecute someone just for something insulting that they said. It is no surprise then that only the advanced nations (the negara maju) have repealed archaic laws on blasphemy. Even prior to that, their archaic laws on blasphemy existed on paper only - for a long time they were hardly implemented. It is my sincere belief that the religious people (of all religions) are the most dangerous creatures on the surface of Allah's earth. The less we have of them the better. The more you depend on them, the more doomed you will become. Trust me on this one. And the less we have to do with the laws fabricated by the religious people, the better for us all. As a Muslim and an ardent believer of the Quran, let me share with you what the Quran says about handling insult, provocations, annoying talk, noxious talk, speech that irks and speech that hurts. [3:186] You will certainly be tested, through your money and your lives, and you will hear from those who received the scripture, and from the idol worshipers, a lot of insult. If you steadfastly persevere and lead a righteous life, this will prove the strength of your faith. Here is another translation of 3:186 : (3:186) You shall certainly be tried respecting your wealth and your souls, and you shall certainly hear from those who have been given the Book before you and from those who are polytheists much annoying talk; and if you are patient and guard (against evil), surely this is one of the affairs (which should be) determined upon. Here is another reference : [33:48] Do not obey the disbelievers and the hypocrites, disregard their insults, and put your trust in Allah; Allah suffices as an advocate. Here is another translation of 33:48 (33:48) And incline not to the disbelievers and the hypocrites. Disregard their noxious talk, and put thy trust in Allah. Allah is sufficient as Trustee. This is the Quran, which are also the words spoken by the Rasul. This is the teaching of the Rasul or Messenger. When you hear a lot of insult, when you hear annoying talk, when you hear noxious talk then what must you do? Especially to my fellow Muslims - what must you do? You must be patient. Persevere. Lead a righteous life. Disregard their insults. Put your trust in Allah. This is what you must do if you want to obey the Rasul and the Quran. The Quran does not say that you must kill or jail or bomb people who you thought threw insults at you. In other words - please grow up. Please stop being childish. Dont become a raving madman just because someone threw an insult. The Quran does not prescribe any punishment for anyone who throws an insult at anything or anyone. I have another question for my Muslim readers. Do you think that when these ayat Quran were revealed to the Rasul a. he refused to believe them? b. he believed them and obeyed them to the letter? Your answer must be (b). The Rasul believed and obeyed every single word of the Quran that was revealed to him. The Quran tells you that when you hear insulting talk, just ignore them, go about your business and carry yourself in a righteous manner. Put your trust in Allah. That is a better way prescribed by the Quran. If you are a Muslim then learn to obey and respect the Quran. If you reject the Quran then you reject the Rasul as well. If you reject the Quran you become 'blasphemous' yourself. So listen to the Quran.  | |||
| Melayu Di Pulau Pinang Kena Halau Sekali Lagi Posted: 17 Oct 2012 08:15 PM PDT In recent history, Johor gave birth to Singapore. In fairly modern history Kedah has given birth to two states ie Perlis and Pulau Pinang. Here is some history about Province Wellesley in Penang or what is now known as Seberang Perai. "Province Wellesley was originally part of the state of Kedah. It was ceded to the British East India Company by the Sultan of Kedah in 1798. Seberang Perai was originally named Province Wellesley after Richard Wellesley, the 1st Marquess Wellesley, Governor of Madras and Governor-General of Bengal (1797–1805)." The British obtained the Province from the Sultan of Kedah through the usual colonial scheming - bribing, intrigue, causing chaos then stepping in as saviours and other normal stuff like that. The British were (and still are) masters at this game. They are even nosing around the Bangsamoro peace process in Mindanao - better watch out. Anyway after getting Province Wellesley from Kedah, the British had a problem. There was land to be opened but they had little manpower and resources to do it. So they came up with a simple, completely legal method to develop the land. The only people in sight were the kampong Malays. They told the Malays that if they cleared the trees and opened up new land, then the British would survey the land parcels (which the British had identified) and issue Land Titles to the Malays as the owners of the land. So in no time the kampong people started working hard on the jungles and swamps, fell the trees, cleared the rocks and dug drains to drain the swamps. After they did all this, the British officially surveyed their newly opened lands and issued them Land Titles for their hard work. The Malays were happy. Then the British told them that since they now had Land Titles, they had to pay Quit Rents, Assessments and such (Cukai Tanah, Cukai Pintu). After all, everyone pays quit rents. There were a few catches though. The Cukai Tanah had to be paid in cash - which was still a rare thing among village Malays in Province Wellesley over 200 years ago circa 1798. And the British said the only cash acceptable for payment of Quit Rents was the Spanish silver dollar - which at that time was minted in Mexico or Spanish America. The Spanish silver coin was in use around the world but they were still rare - especially in jungle clad Province Wellesley. Masalahnya pada masa itu, there were no mamak money changers in Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling.  Other silver coins (ringgit-ringgit, ringgit geroda, ringgit matahari and much later ringgit patung) were also in use in South East Asia but in 1798 they were not as standard as the Spanish silver dollar. The British also said that the Cukai Tanah could only be paid at the "pejabat tanah" which was located across the water in George Town on Penang island. For poor villagers who had little use or need of a cash economy and who hardly travelled outside their kampongs for anything, all this was simply beyond their means. They had neither the Spanish silver dollars or the capacity to travel by boat with the Spanish dollars to Georgetown to pay the cukai tanah. Soon the villagers defaulted on their cukai tanah. However the default notices were put up at the same "pejabat tanah" in Georgetown. At that time there was no Pos Laju, FedEx Courier, Citylink, SMS, Facebook or Twitter to inform the villagers that their land was in default. The villagers lived far across the water in Province Wellesley. To cut short the walkabout, the Brits seized the lands of the Malay 'cukai tanah' defaulters and auctioned them off. Guess who appeared at these auctions to buy these lands? The British, usually the plantation companies. They got their land, all nicely cleared and surveyed. The British had studied the natives and they knew what to do. (Imagine today, in 2012, issuing land titles to the Orang Asli and insisting that since they had title they must pay cukai pintu using a Bank Draft or Postal Order at the pejabat tanah. Have you ever seen an Orang Asli at a Bank, a Post Office or at the 'pejabat tanah'?) So by using simple tricks like these, the Malays were exploited and then their lands were taken away. Now here is a news item from The Star today : Penang property prices soar PETALING JAYA: Property prices have shot up by about three-fold in Penang
They include
Khoo said the lack of affordable homes had adversely affected the low and middle-income groups which made up more than 80% of the population. "During the era of (former chief minister) Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, the Government compelled the developers to build low and medium-cost homes. "But the current government under (DAP's) Lim Guan Eng seems to be more interested in filling up the state coffers rather than meeting the needs of the people," said Khoo. Valuation and Property Services Department data shows a drastic increase in residential property prices between the first quarter of last year and this year. In an immediate response, Penang Housing Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said he had forwarded the queries on surcharges to the Penang Municipal Council. The Star then lists quite astounding current house prices in Penang as follows: 2011 2012 Bungalow RM1.7m RM3.5m Low Cost Flat 68k 175k Flat 132k 580k Condo/Apt 450k RM2.7m I thought the following point is most revealing : "contribution of RM120,000 per unit in lieu of building low-cost homes." The DAP gomen in Penang has discovered a loophole to make more money. They are "auctioning off" low cost home allocations for RM120,000 per unit. For example, for a 200 unit development, the DAP gomen makes an extra RM24 million. Welcome to the Republic of Singapore North. Of course there will be hungry developers who will fork out RM120,000 extra (per unit) as "contribution charges" to buy up these 'low-cost homes' allocations. Why would they do that? Because they can then build condos and apartments and sell them for RM2.7 million each. That is why. And Guan Eng knows this. This means that the poor people in Penang (all poor people - Malay, Chinese, Indians, Sikhs etc) will have less opportunities of owning an affordable home. Guess who are the rich people in Penang who will end up buying these RM2.7 million condos and RM3.5 million bungalows? Malays? Indians? Chinese? The hardest hit group of people will of course be the Malays. If the DAP rules Penang for another five years, the Malays will just disappear from the island. Kepada semua sahabat kita di Tanjong, kepada chacha, nana, mamu, mami dan macha think carefully when you vote. Vote wisely. Also think of your children and grandchildren. It will be wise to teach your children and grandchildren tree climbing skills. Because very soon, that is where they will be living - on the tree tops in the Botanical Gardens. Even for that the DAP gomen may collect contribution charges - pisang satu ikat, nak buat nazar di Masjid Maqbul.   |
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