THE CICAK.com

Are we too “tolerant” of other religions?

By MARC JITAB

Malaysia is a diverse nation comprised of varied cultures, peoples and beliefs. And the word “tolerance” is embedded in all of us. It supposedly holds Malaysian society together.

Tolerance is a beautiful word, really. The problem with this word, however, is that it is often thrown around without people really knowing its meaning, thus undermining its true meaning. So the question that is frequently asked but rarely answered is: What is tolerance?

The two highlighted forms of tolerance in Malaysia would be racial tolerance and religious tolerance. Generally, Malaysians do recognise and respect the beliefs or practices of others when it comes to cultural and racially related events such as Chinese New Year, Deepavali/Divali, Thaipusam, Ponggal Wesak, Ramadhan, Hari Raya, and Hari Gawai, among others. These events are usually celebrated in true muhibbah spirit, as they occur every year.

However, a more sensitive and rarely discussed issue is religious tolerance. The problem with religion is that it is a somewhat sensitive topic in Malaysia for two reasons: Religion is ingrained into our society, and it is a very personal issue.

For something so sensitive and personal, we are not taught what it really means to tolerate one another’s religion. It makes it difficult to discuss religion in Malaysia because there are many so many religions here, and a general rule of thumb is to be an appeaser of others rather than question the status quo.

A serious hurdle that needs to be cleared before religious discussion can be brought out into the open is the problem of religious pluralism. To the uninformed, religious pluralism is the belief that all religions are right, or rather, all religions construe one correct interpretation of “religion.�

However, it would be intellectually dishonest for someone to claim that all religions are right. Allow me to explain very simply.

Islam says there is only One God, and Muhammad is His prophet, Christianity claims a Triune God and Jesus as God in the form of Man, Hinduism teaches a world that is not real, that we are living in a maya, a virtual plane, and Buddhism teaches one to be free from their body and senses, thus achieving Nirvana and total “nothingness,� devoid of a Godhead. The more one delves into the specifics of each religion, the more one has to work to prove that all these religions are actually agreeing on the same thing.

A simple argument would be that Judaism says Jesus is not the Messiah whereas Christianity says He is. They can’t be both true, one has to be right and the other wrong for you can’t be something and another at the same time. You can’t be two metres tall and one foot tall at the same time.

But of course, saying that one is correct over the other in today’s world is anathema. It is impolite. It is incorrect. It is ludicrous. You just don’t say that anymore. It is simply bad manners to suggest there is only one right way. Because of this, religion has become a private affair, kept to oneself, a far cry from the public discussions of religion between the Muslims, Jews and Christians of Cordoba in the ninth century. The society prospered because of their understanding of real tolerance, and Cordoba became a thriving cultural and intellectual Mecca, a shining example of a tolerant and inquisitive society.

When I was living at my previous house a long time ago, there were two people at the gate dressed in black pants and white shirts. They wanted to talk to us about something. It turned out they were Mormons. My mom listened to what they had to say, and soon after, they walked off. I remember that occurrence because I had never seen people proselytise before.

Mormons proselytise, among other religions, but now the number dwindles. People hardly share their religion in public for fear that they might offend another. But why should we be offended by such efforts? Shouldn’t we consider it an honour that others care about us enough to warn us of our impending doom as they see it? Or are we being too “tolerant� – that is, in pretending to agree with one another?

Why hasn’t anyone told me that Allah is the way? Or the precepts of the Buddha? Or that this world is a maya?

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MARC JITAB is a staff writer for theCICAK.

He is loud, obnoxious, cynical, sarcastic, brutally honest, transparent and opinionated. Marc takes no prisoners and is ready to take on the world.