Archive for the ‘Random Links’ Category
Joint declaration on the freedom of religion and the right to conversion
It seems to me rather than side stepping this matter it’s better to be up front about it. In Norway, they have taken the initiative to combat islamophobia. How about in Malaysia? Combat christophobia anyone?
The Islamic Council of Norway and the Church of Norway Council on Ecumenical and International Relations jointly declare that everyone is free to adopt the religious faith of their choice. We denounce, and are committed to counteracting all violence, discrimination and harassment inflicted in reaction to a person’s conversion, or desire to convert, from one religion to another, be it in Norway or abroad.
We interpret our religious traditions such that everyone has the right to freely choose their religious belief and faith community, and to practice their religion publicly as well as privately.
Missionary activity and information to others about our faith must be done according to ethically accepted standards, that is, without the use of any form of force or manipulation. If freedom of religion is to be upheld, all conversion must happen freely.
As religious communities we experience joy within our respective contexts whenever a person wishes to share our faith and join our religious community. Therefore we also respect a person’s right to convert to a different religion than our own.Oslo, 22nd of August 2007
Missionary Activities and Human Rights: Recommended Ground Rules for Missionary Activities
Rather than telling people that we should stop missionary activities, perhaps the better way forward is the raise the standard and our code of ethics in the way we share about our faith to others and how we invite others to adopt our “religion” or “world view”. Let’s start with an excerpt on educational services.
Missionary activities and educational services
- When providing education for others, religious organisations should be transparent about their religious affiliation and/or objectives.- Missionary organisations maintain the right of those who run schools to promote their own belief traditions. However, religious organisations should never use the offer of education merely as a tool to gain a foothold within another religious community.
- When running preschools and schools, religious organisations should respect the religious affiliation of the pupils and not involve them in religious activities or expose them to religious propagation without explicit and voluntary consent of their parents or legal guardians. The schools should not prevent or discourage such children from practising the religion of their family while attending the institution.
- Where such instruction is customary, organizations that run schools which provide religious instruction should allow access to alternative religious instruction for pupils with different religious affiliations.
Guiding Principles for the Responsible Dissemination of Religion or Belief
14 Principles. Here are some:
To teach, manifest, and disseminate one’s religion or belief is an established human right. Everyone has the right to attempt to convince others of the truth of one’s belief. Everyone has the right to adopt or change religion or belief without coercion and according to the dictates of conscience.
In disseminating faith or beliefs, one should be truthful and fair towards other religions and beliefs. This requires comparing the ideals of one’s own community with the ideals of other communities, and not with the alleged failures of others.
No one should knowingly make false statements regarding any aspect of other religions, nor denigrate or ridicule their beliefs, practices, or origins. Objective information about these religions is always to be desired in order to avoid the spreading of ill-founded judgments and sweeping prejudices.
Using political or economic power or facilitating its spread under the guise of disseminating religious faith or belief is improper and should be rejected.
Malaysia tribes ‘forced to convert’
Malaysia in the news for the wrong reasons again 
Indigenous groups in Malaysia are accusing the government of using religion as a condition for development aid.
The ethnic tribes say infrastructure is offered to them if they abandon their animistic ways and embrace Islam – a claim the government rejects.
Foreign medical workers among 10 killed in Afghanistan
Blog reveals Afghanistan medic Karen Woo’s dedication
This is so tragic in the light of so much good these medical workers have done for Afghanistan.
The BBC understands that Dr Woo gave up a well-paid job with private healthcare provider Bupa to work in Afghanistan for minimal financial reward.
She died alongside six Americans, a German and two Afghan interpreters who had been working with Christian charity the International Assistance Mission to provide eye care in remote villages.
Her blog posts reveal that she was driven by a desire to improve the lives of ordinary Afghans – and spread the word about their plight.
RETHINKING THE SEX CRISES IN CATHOLICISM AND ANGLICANISM, PART 1
RETHINKING THE SEX CRISES IN CATHOLICISM AND ANGLICANISM, PART 2
RETHINKING THE SEX CRISES IN CATHOLICISM AND ANGLICANISM, PART 3
I’m glad I slowly ploughed through the three articles. My favorite line is a quote from Gregory of Nyssa
"Any theory divorced from living examples … is like an unbreathing statue."
My Response to Al Mohler and the Age of the Earth
How Should BioLogos Respond to Dr. Albert Mohler’s Critique: Pete’s Response
Interesting to know why Peter Enn’s had to respond.
He mentioned in his presentation the BioLogos Foundation as a being on the wrong side of this culture war, a since we are not biblical literalists and we feel science affects how we read the biblical account of creation. Along the way, Mohler made numerous statments about Darwin, science, and biblical interpretation that are simply wrong, ungenerous, and potentially misleading to his listeners, so we thought we would respond.
Protest at Appointment of N.T. Wright to St. Andrews
Something a little lighter but no less significant 
Ironic insights.
(1) In the USA Tom Wright is regarded in some circles as the greatest threat to orthodoxy since Marcion, yet in the UK he’s chastised as a traditionalist and no one gives a flying donut roll about his views of Paul.
(2) The liberal left is, well, not really liberal (i.e. generous). They talk and cry about "inclusiveness", "diversity", and "tolerance" which is their gospel, and yet they are not willing to include those who have a different vision of human sexuality, ethics, and religion than they do! And yet they have the gall to call evangelical Christians hypocrites
Redrawing boundaries for electoral success
Snap Elections soon?
But there is one reason why BN might not call for an election as early as 2011. And that is because the redrawing of electoral boundaries, an exercise allowed by law not less than eight years after the last one, can at the earliest commence only next year, in 2011. If the analysis that electoral delimitation usually favours the ruling party is true, then BN would want to wait until the exercise was completed, usually in two years.
Selangor PKR: Joceline Tan is wrong
This is not the first time Joceline Tan has been “outed”. Wan Saiful keeps it short and snappy:
What PKR has done in Selangor is not just good governance, but also visionary. By separating the party from the state in Selangor, PKR has leapt ahead of other parties. The party administration must be separate from the state administration. These two serve different roles. They must not be mixed.
Rosmah ad placed on govt’s behalf
This is the most read article in the Nut Graph. Interesting. A sample of investigative journalism. We are still waiting for a response? Or did I miss it?
The Nut Graph contacted both Jamaluddin’s office in Washington, DC and the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya last week about the government’s involvement in the ad, and how much it cost.
Both offices confirmed having received The Nut Graph’s questions, but neither has replied thus far
Predictable?
Muhyiddin to Umno: Change soon or risk being overtaken
I’m a little out of touch lately. Slowly getting back into the information loop. This article makes me wonder “why do we change?” to what end? Some say this is “real politics”. Hmmm.
“Umno should have changed, but it was slow. Umno is like an old ship. We are not perceived as moving rapidly, so this is more critical if we are to face the 13th general election which is less than three years from now.
“If we (Umno) do not change, there will be people who will change us. They will take over (our role),” he said when opening the Putrajaya Umno delegates meeting, here tonight.
PM tells Malay contractors fate tied to Umno
I think statements like the following puzzles those who desire a better Malaysia for all. But I guess we’ll have to wait and see how all this plays out in the coming year. More media analysis needed. Or is it so glaring for all to see?
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak told Malay contractors last night not to be complacent as their fate was tied to Umno.
“The fate of Umno and that of the Malay contractors is inseparable,” he said when officiating the 31st annual general meeting of the Malay Contractors Association (PKMM).
“Malay contractors have to continue to support Umno.”
He likened the mutually beneficial relationship between Malay contractors and Umno to twohands clapping, citing the initiatives and incentives provisioned in the New Economic Model (NEM).
Japan vs Paraguay: Penalty-kick heartbreak for Japan, but Asian soccer on the rise
It would have been really nice if Japan went through. But then, balls hit the cross bar!
We’ll win World Cup for Africa – Ghana
That’s the spirit!
“Nobody gave us a chance to be in the quarterfinals and now we have to move on one more step to set a new African record in the competition. We have everything to do well and we just have to double our efforts to achieve results for Africa.”
Top 2010 World Cup controversies
Controversies sell.
World Cup 2010 flops by United States and England bitter disappointments on both sides of the Pond
Ouch .
Now England and USA are out of the competition, those of us that love the sport can enjoy watching quality teams like Brazil,Argentina and Germany in action to see how the beautiful game should be played.
World Cup 2010: Kaka Believes Netherlands Game Is One To Watch
I think so too.
Brian McLaren’s Bible Overview – Audio Podcast Series (.mp3 format)
I just finished the first free podcast. It’s pretty good
I like TNIV too, and the Bible Experience is awesome.
Hermeneutics: Conservative vs. Liberal
I like the following one line:
Give us inquiry and awe which keeps heart and mind open to the Original Mystery.
Israel’s Two Creation Stories (Part 1)
Israel’s Two Creation Stories (Part 2)
Israel’s Two Creation Stories (Part 3)
One of BLC’s LiFE Groups is looking at the Book of Genesis afresh. I get excited when people want to seriously engage the Bible.
For readers today, there are four very good reasons to focus on the differences between the creation stories in Genesis.
First, if this is what Scripture presents, as many alert readers have indicated, it is reason enough for us to look at it carefully.
Second, two different perspectives on creation in Genesis suggest (as it did to Philo) that “recording history” is not the point. That is clearly a very important point to ponder in the discussion between Christianity and evolution.
Third, outlining the distinctives of the two creation stories encourages respect for what is actually written, rather than obscuring those elements in order to achieve some artificial unity. Genesis 1 and 2 is not the only place in the Bible where two different versions of the same story are placed side-by-side. (For example, there are two genealogies in Genesis 4 and 5 and two accounts of the spread of humanity in Genesis 10 and 11. There are also two distinct histories of Israel, one in Samuel/Kings and the other Chronicles, and four distinct tellings of the story of Jesus.) So, when we see the “two-ness” of the creation story, we should pay close attention to what we can learn from this.
Fourth, perhaps ironically, seeing how Genesis 1 and 2 differ will help us appreciate what role they play together at the beginning of the Bible.
One commenter said: “I’m becoming a Lutheran.” I was thinking, “I’m already one! ROFL”
On at least one occasion, Luther castigated a man who married a woman without revealing beforehand his impotence. Luther viewed the man’s deception as completely and utterly outrageous. Since he wasn’t able to fulfill his husbandly duty, in Luther’s mind he was not a real husband at all. Thus, Luther advised the woman to simply start a sexual relationship with someone else (though he did think she should ask her legal husband’s permission first). But he also said that if her husband wouldn’t allow it, then she should simply bolt in the night and find a new husband somewhere else (See WA 6, 558-59).
However, Luther was equally hard on the women who didn’t want to give out as much sex as their husband’s felt like (Luther advised sex at least 2-3 times per week in marriage, by the way). If a wife isn’t open to fulfilling her husbands needs, then according to Luther, “. . . it is time to say: ‘If you don’t want, then another one will. If the wife does not want sex, then let the maid come.’ However, this should only be said when the husband has warned her wife two or three times, and thereafter he has informed other about her stubbornness . . . if even then the wife is unwilling, then let her go and let an Esther be given to you, and let the Vasthi go, just as King Ahasuerus did” (WA 10/II, 290, 8-14).
I’m loving these titles for this series of blog posts
“My father and mother have abandoned me (Psalm 26:10). The psalmist has made himself a little child in relation to God. He has made God both his father and his mother. God is our father because he created us, because he calls us, gives orders and rules us; he is our mother because he cherishes us, nourishes us, feeds us with milk, and holds us in his arms” (Exposition 2 of Psalm 26, par. 18).
We’re sticking with more embodied ideas.
“Jesus’ community with his disciples was all-encompassing, extending to all areas of life. The individual’s entire life was lived within this community of the disciples. And this community is a living witness to the bodily humanity of the Son of God. The bodily presence of the Son of God demands bodily commitment to him and with him throughout one’s daily life. With all our bodily living, existence, we belong to him who took on a human body for our sake. In following him, the disciple is inseparably linked to the body of Jesus.”
~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship (DBW4), 232.
Just in case we’re tempted to think “Here I stand” from Luther makes him individualistic. Read on.
“Those who seriously want to be Christians and to confess the gospel in deed and word ought to write themselves in by name and perhaps gather by themselves in a home for prayer, Scripture reading, Baptism, Holy Communion, and other Christian exercises. In this kind of order one can know those who do not behave as Christians, punish them, reform them, cast them out or excommunicate them according to the rule of Christ (Matt 18:15f). Here one could also impose common aims upon the Christians which would be contributed willingly and distributed (II Cor 9:1,2,12). One would not need a lot of grand singing there.
“Here one could also conduct Baptism and Communion in a brief and fine manner, and direct everything to the Word, prayer, and mutual love. One should have a good, brief catechism. . . . In sum, once one has the people who seriously desire to be Christians, the orders and procedures could quickly be brought about. However, I cannot and may not yet have the people for it. And I do not see many who are urgently seeking it.”
~ Martin Luther, Preface to the German Mass.
Ong Kian Ming got it wrong for Hulu Selangor, but will he get it right for Sibu?
Live – Eve of polling for Sibu by-election
As always the ever reliable Anil Netto keeping us updated LIVE.
Is KL really so far away from Sibu?
I’m heading for Sibu next month after the by-election, it will be interesting to observe all things “post”
To Christian believers in Sarawak, I respectfully say to you as a fellow Christian: the good news of the biblical gospel can only be understood and appreciated in the light of bad news. Bad news cannot be so easily dismissed. Facts remain as facts even though they are bad and may reflect badly on the good name of a person, people or country. When bad things happen in church, as a Christian I cannot just ignore them and keep quiet about the matter. How may we rectify anything which we don’t think is wrong? It is in facing up to the reality and truth of any given situation that good things and therefore good news can emerge from bad situations. It is when people face up to the bad news that concerns them that they can recognise and receive the good news.
If there are still people in Sarawak thinking that there is no freedom issues that affect them, religious or otherwise, they will need to think again. Yes there are always “local issues” and an elected member of parliament must seriously attend to them. But not at the expense of the many serious “national issues” the country faces. If left unresolved, these problem issues will boomerang and harm your children and their children in turn.
DAP remains shaky in rural Sibu
The voting is on Sunday, Christians will go after church “beramai-ramai”?
it’s interesting how Christians are challenged to consider themselves as a voting bloc these days. But then we need to look beyond power to principles.
There are 15.47 million people who are eligible to vote. Of this, nearly one third or 4.39 million have not yet registered as voters. This potential new 4.39 million voters will make a significant difference in how the country is governed. Among them are Christians who have also not registered.
The Christian block of voters is the largest after Malay and Chinese votes. It is even higher than what MIC can deliver.
Yes, the Christian vote makes a real difference. It does not matter who or how you vote but vote you must. If you have not registered, do so now. If you know someone in your church who has not registered yet, get them to do so. Better still get your church to start a registration campaign.
Romans 13 talks about governments being ordained by God. You can ensure that the next government is a just and righteous one. Register now unless you choose to be remain an unbiblical Christian.
It is time to stop asking the question “Was Jesus political?”
For me is what kind of politics does Jesus operate with.
Having been a Christian for quite some time now, I notice that whenever the question of Christian involvement in politics crops up, it would inevitably lead to the question “Was Jesus political?” It is not my intention here to give a detailed answer to this question as many heads more knowledgeable and wiser than mine have attempted to answer it.1 But I personally find this question unhelpful.
Gordon Brown: ‘Thank you and goodbye’
What would you say if you had to say “Thank you and goodbye”?
David Cameron is UK’s new prime minister
The youngest prime minister in recent UK History. There seems to be a trend here since Obama.
Ninety minutes that made history
This has a movie like ending, or perhaps more precisely a beginning. of course, a media analysis would have been interesting as I enjoyed following the reports last night on how in a way, people were prepared for this moment.
Tory-Lib Dem coalition: Now for the difficult part
This is where reality begins. Beneath the speeches which gives the broad vision and ideas, what’s the details and implementation?
Another example of the excellent work of BBC reporting and educating on and after the elections.
* * *
My immediate impressions after doing these two random links posts on UK with relevance for Malaysia, is that in the past, we had a Look East policy especially in terms of economy, maybe we might need to look West again in terms of politics. There have been a treasure chest of lessons from our friends in the UK.
BBC Live coverage – General Election 2010
This has been my one stop to following what has happened in the UK 2010 elections. funny how I came in to this later, but the way things are reported it’s terribly educational!
Q&A: Electoral reform and proportional representation
I first heard of the concept of proportional representation from my friend Josh Hong. Will Malaysia head there some day. It’s interesting to see how the different systems would change the outcome.
Would the alternative vote have changed history?
Fascinating relook at history.
Lessons from coalitions in working it out
Interesting to take a more global view. Looks like we can never be parochial in our thinking.
Where They Stand: What the parties say on the big issues:
Just back track a bit. While I don’t fully understand UK Politics, but I do appreciate how informative this page is on issues that the parties stand for.
Now even further back to the basics. So while looking across the ocean, as Malaysians we need to look back at ourselves.
BN holds edge; Pakatan builds momentum
10,000 ceramah crowd boosts Pakatan hopes
Anil Netto giving us a feel on the ground. That’s what he does best.
Hulu Selangor assessment and strategies
How does one decide to vote? On principles or more on sentiments and promises?
Felda settlers slowly warming up to PKR
On Sunday evening we’ll know how warm it is.
Launch of the ‘Kuburkan BN’ civil society initiative in Hulu Selangor
Apparently, some people from this initiative got arrested while distributing the material. I’m watching it to see what caused the authorities to be alarmed. discern for yourself. Cool sound track