Hot coffee on the table, eyes on the screen, hands on the keyboard, emotion in check, heart intact right here but the mind is all over the place. Like trying to kill a mosquito in the forest with an insect repellent without hurting the butterflies after your guide told you beforehand not to put on any perfume before the walk.
Cloaking it. I'm going to rant. Start dozing off.
A few words of warning: Be careful with the reading and I'll be careful with my rant. If I tend to be a little tipped on one side on this scale of tolerance whatsoever, keep calm and read on. My written opinions may never be viral, may never even make it to Cabinet meetings, may never even be read by people who actually comprehend, but I stand here not quite corrected, because some stuffs have got to be put into words. In my words anyway, because I've read theirs and I've read yours. I don't always get it either, but collectively, I hope we make a point or two because there is no knowing how anybody will take our opinions, or if they'll even bother to digest them for what they are.
Have you read the headlines these past few days, or for the past few weeks? The part about the religious tolerance (or intolerance, if you will) in our country? Yes, the one talking about sensitivity (or insensitivity, if you will) and What-not-to-do-when-it-comes-to-other-people's-religion. Somehow it feels like there's more to it than meets the eye. If I don't know any better, it's as if somehow we're literally trying to put ourselves in the international spotlight, grabbing whatever issue when it comes to religion and making it so huge even a murder story pales in comparison.
A pretext somewhat.
You cannot state your opinion freely these days without fear of it
haunting you in the coming future -- Some very recent as a day ago, some
a week ago, and some goes as far away back as three years ago. The
minute you open your mouth, or type your opening line, you're
immediately bound by the unwritten rule of Be Careful Where You Tread.
You know exactly what I am talking about, so let's both stop being coy. It is undeniably disrespectful and totally uncivilized to insult or making fun of other people's religions. It is morally wrong to offend other people's feelings when it comes to their beliefs and faith. So when you step over the boundaries of what is morally right and what is not, logically the offended parties will use whatever applicable law there is on you.
So, while you think that being an exhibitionist or a porn connoisseur in your own website and in your own world is not wrong -- and perhaps there isn't anything so horrible or perverted about it -- other people may not perceive it that way. Then again, the question of 'What do I care about what people think? This is my life'. Hear ye hear ye! This is Malaysia, or haven't you heard?
I am not agreeing nor am I disagreeing that the
Alvivi couple should be put to jail or slapped with such a hefty fine, I am merely saying that their crime is say, something akin to a couple of kids offending a group of big guys by calling their parents all sorts of nasty names, and yet the authority treats their crime like a first degree murder ... complete with handcuffs scene and all. What they did is insensitive, but I can name a few other of my acquaintances doing the same thing on Facebook and the rest just shrugged it off. There's the difference between those already in the spotlight and those who are just faces in the crowd.
Yes it's insensitive, yes I'm hurt by it if I'm at the receiving end, but no I won't create a group to put them down real bad, nor would I want to see them rot in jail, neither do I want to shoot or kill or maim them in any way. What for? If we do that to everyone for committing a crime of acting offensively towards others, hey, there would be no politicians left in this country, there would be no one left to even live to tell stories about it! You, me, them, we will all go down eventually.
Google pic
First rule of all religion anyone: God does not condone violence. And God teaches His congregation to forgive. Maybe 'to forget' is a little bit too much for some, but how about Do Unto Others What You Want Them To Do Unto You?
A little stringent, that. But that's when you offend other people's religion. Now, how about when you offend your own religion? I supposed in some ways, that is uncalled for. I would rather this group of religious officers, take the errant people aside and chastise them privately, so as not to humiliate anyone, least of all to make themselves look bad. Not make it into headlines!
I mean, come on ... handcuffing beauty pageants in front of everyone? Is that really necessary, and to what end? What do you hope to achieve? To teach them and everyone else a lesson should they attempt the same? But hey, I'm sorry, but I feel like God is looking down and frowning. If this is a lesson on decency, how about you start a decency law on women in national TV, in local movies, in the drama series? I can name a few. In fact, the late Tan Sri P. Ramlee might have committed more than one offense, if you can count those years back. Or say, women in sports. Swimming, to be exact. What is the difference between 15 years ago than now? What is the difference between our country and other similar countries? Shouldn't we be evolving and advancing, instead of going backward? Wait... don't tell me, have religions evolved too? Hmm.
Oh sigh. Poor trainer girl with the dogs in the video. A video that was dug up from a 3 year old archive. My, we are a truly tech-crazed nation. Dig up some more, I'm sure there are a lot more in that YouTube archive. But do me a favor, be fair. I know someone threaten to burn the Bible in there somewhere. By the time you're done, the National Day celebration will come and go, and we're still not even near the finish line or whatever humanly code of conduct there is possible.
Gawd, I hate to write mad craps like this. It annoys me.
Coffee break!
Let's be honest. We all like the idea that our country is rich with diverse cultures,
that we're living in racial harmony, that we have skyscrapers, and
modern technology. Hey genius, the former two are not in the same category as the later two. Take away moral civilization and social maturity from modern physical establishment and infrastructure advancement, what do you get? An overbalanced colony teetering on the brink of slow destruction.
There's a code of conduct in there somewhere that points out the fact
that while Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Atheists, Pagans etc
CAN co-exist in peace and harmony, it really doesn't take a genius to
also point out that if we really look deeper AND at the rate we're going
here in this country, we're better off living in seclusion of each
other. Why? Because it's like constantly tiptoeing on eggshells. Like a
time bomb waiting to explode. Merely waiting for something to trigger
it, to push it off its perching balance.
Hey, waiting doesn't take too long, does it? It takes two...
three... four instances of religious insensitivity, of hard pokings, to
start a war. You poke a small hole, eventually you can break out of
prison (not counting the other security breaches, ie). And we're not
even touching on the conflicts and of divided opinions in the internal
zones caused by the outside factors.
Are we building that civic rehab center, Sir? Or are we just planning it for certain people with certain crimes offending certain people only?
Sometimes I wonder if we're all better off alone, each of us, all by ourselves, equipped with fast Internet connection, and a huge bank account, in a cave, alone, to each his own district. Self running, self sufficient, self lived. No law, no crime, nobody to judge and be judged, nobody to ram anything down our throats. Just peace and quiet. And a strong faith in our religion and in our God. Waiting to die and go to Heaven. Assuming we all die as a good person in this ideal land.
Hard shell. That's not happening ever, even if Bruce Willis is the director of the movie.
With all due respect, we tend to react more when we're offended than
when we're grieving over a loss. Unfathomable. People watch
CSI for the
science of solving a mystery, all things precise and sometimes
circumstantial, but that's as far as it goes.
LEVERAGE, on the other
hand, is a play of mind strategy on how to exact a confession so as to
avenge a certain issue. Two different drama series, two kinds of
audience. Which are you?
I am more of a Hart Of Dixie kind of person, and a CSI for the wrong reason, so I'm not going to judge you and does not expect the same from you. Move on and grit it.
Right now, I don't have an exit statement to end this, except a by-note that this is my story and I'm sticking to it. No offense to anybody, just stating the obvious by what I observe from where I stand. Hey look! I've written a whole book!
Haha.
Just don't ban my coffee. That's just asking for it.
P/s: Oh and don't make me leave my country, Sir, I have every right to be here, same as you.
