BALIK PULAU, Malaysia - Penang police are hunting down two suspects in an arson attack on the Church of the Assumption in Lebuh Farquhar in Penang.
Two Molotov cocktails were thrown at the 228-year-old church at about 1.30am yesterday.
Both petrol bombs landed in the compound and did not hit the church.
The incident had Penang CPO Senior Deputy Comm Datuk Wira Abdul Rahim Hanafi hot under the collar as tension was already running high over the use of the word Allah.
"I'm giving a strong warning to those trying to create tension.
"Don't play with religion and cultural issues!" the outraged police chief said, his voice thundering at a press conference held at the southwest district police station here yesterday.
"We believe two men on a motorcycle committed the crime before fleeing the scene.
"One exploded but the other remained intact. We are checking all CCTV recordings in the area to identify the suspects," SDCP Abdul Rahim said.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who also visited the church, urged Penangites to remain calm.
"SDCP Abdul Rahim told me that patrols have been increased for churches and mosques to ensure the safety of the religious places and also to ensure peace and public order."
It is strange when it comes to religious matters. Often time, rationality has NO CHANCE against emotional outburst that religious matters always manage to stir in human beings!
Lessons for me are:
1. while some prominent Malaysians, including Marina Mahathir, the daughter of the ex-PM of Malaysia, had commented it is silly to be arguing, much less threatening with violence that causes injuries and death to human and damages to properties, on the use of a WORD, it is a VERY serious matter. It CAN lead to one section of the society treating another section with merciless violence! So, what is the RIGHT response by the people involved?;
2. the 'RIGHT' response to me in this type of situation may not be acceptable to everyone but I will give it a go:
a. what is the ultimate outcome we want to see? If it is 'peace' and 'false harmony' and keeping the status quo, since there were NO violent actions, not given ANY EXCUSES, against Christians and the Churches by the 'culprits' - identity unknown at press time - before the insistence of using 'Allah' for 'God' in the bibles, just STOP using 'Allah' for 'God'. Simple and effective!;
b. if it is FACE or 'WHY can't I insist on my right to use the word in my church?', then it will lead to violence as the other side, which is supposedly 'politically motivated' or 'with ulterior motives' will continue to fan this 'irrational hatred or displeasure' against the Christians who want to BREAK the status quo! Is it worth it? Only the people living in the 'peace and fake harmony' vs. the 'violence and disharmony' environment have the RIGHT to decide! We, the outsiders, can just speculate!
For me, option 2a above works for me.
3. longer term, can human being be 'rational' about religious matters? At least seeing beyond the superficial things like a 'word' as surely the 'God' can be bigger than that! :-)
Two Molotov cocktails were thrown at the 228-year-old church at about 1.30am yesterday.
Both petrol bombs landed in the compound and did not hit the church.
The incident had Penang CPO Senior Deputy Comm Datuk Wira Abdul Rahim Hanafi hot under the collar as tension was already running high over the use of the word Allah.
"I'm giving a strong warning to those trying to create tension.
"Don't play with religion and cultural issues!" the outraged police chief said, his voice thundering at a press conference held at the southwest district police station here yesterday.
"We believe two men on a motorcycle committed the crime before fleeing the scene.
"One exploded but the other remained intact. We are checking all CCTV recordings in the area to identify the suspects," SDCP Abdul Rahim said.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who also visited the church, urged Penangites to remain calm.
"SDCP Abdul Rahim told me that patrols have been increased for churches and mosques to ensure the safety of the religious places and also to ensure peace and public order."
It is strange when it comes to religious matters. Often time, rationality has NO CHANCE against emotional outburst that religious matters always manage to stir in human beings!
Lessons for me are:
1. while some prominent Malaysians, including Marina Mahathir, the daughter of the ex-PM of Malaysia, had commented it is silly to be arguing, much less threatening with violence that causes injuries and death to human and damages to properties, on the use of a WORD, it is a VERY serious matter. It CAN lead to one section of the society treating another section with merciless violence! So, what is the RIGHT response by the people involved?;
2. the 'RIGHT' response to me in this type of situation may not be acceptable to everyone but I will give it a go:
a. what is the ultimate outcome we want to see? If it is 'peace' and 'false harmony' and keeping the status quo, since there were NO violent actions, not given ANY EXCUSES, against Christians and the Churches by the 'culprits' - identity unknown at press time - before the insistence of using 'Allah' for 'God' in the bibles, just STOP using 'Allah' for 'God'. Simple and effective!;
b. if it is FACE or 'WHY can't I insist on my right to use the word in my church?', then it will lead to violence as the other side, which is supposedly 'politically motivated' or 'with ulterior motives' will continue to fan this 'irrational hatred or displeasure' against the Christians who want to BREAK the status quo! Is it worth it? Only the people living in the 'peace and fake harmony' vs. the 'violence and disharmony' environment have the RIGHT to decide! We, the outsiders, can just speculate!
For me, option 2a above works for me.
3. longer term, can human being be 'rational' about religious matters? At least seeing beyond the superficial things like a 'word' as surely the 'God' can be bigger than that! :-)
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