Relativism and priorities

Is sex the only thing we should be concerned with? Is this all that there is to Islam? What about corruption, abuse of power, robbing the rakyat, election rigging, persecution, discrimination, murder, ethnic cleansing, and a host of other crimes against the citizens and crimes against humanity? Why is PAS not also foaming at the mouth and up in arms about this?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

My article today is in response to today’s news item in Harakah Daily, Batal konsert Elton John atau biar remaja hancur, which you can READ HERE.

Basically, what Nik Nasri Nik Malek, the Ketua Lajnah Penerbitan dan Penyelidikan Dewan Ulama PAS Terengganu is saying is that Elton John is a bad influence on Malaysian youth, which will bring about a decline in morals. And the bone of contention is, of course, regarding his gay marriage.

First of all, morals are relative. In some societies, it is immoral to abort a baby you are carrying (in fact, it is regarded as murder by some) while in other societies it is mandatory to abort the baby if you already have one child.

So, is abortion a must or is it a crime?

In most societies, suicide is a crime and anyone who assists a person to commit suicide could be charged for murder. In some societies, they have special clinics where you can check in to get assistance if you wish to commit suicide. Normally, the circumstances would be when you are suffering from terminal cancer and the pain is so unbearable you would rather go now than in a month or two (since you are definitely dying anyway).

Gay marriages are not a crime in England. You can even get married in church now. And when Elton John got married he received a congratulatory message from the British Prime Minister.

Polygamy is not allowed in England. A man with more than one wife would be frowned upon. Should Britain now ban Malaysians who have more than one wife from entering England?

Malays would argue that polygamy is what the Prophet practiced so it is allowed in Islam. Would Malays keep quiet when non-Muslims call the Prophet a sex maniac and consider those with more than one wife as sex perverts and demand they not be allowed to enter the UK?

Those who condemn the Prophet and look down on Muslims who have more than one wife are looking at things from their perception of values. And is it also not so that those who are foaming at the mouth asking that Elton John be banned from Malaysia are looking at things from their perception of values?

Anyway, Elton John has been on the scene for more than 40 years now. Two or three generations of Malaysians have been listening to Elton John since the 1960s. Nik Nasri Nik Malek is almost 50 years too late in trying to save the souls of Malaysian youths.

Would banning Elton John from entering Malaysia do any good now? Are you also going to ban Elton John songs from the airwaves? Are you going to get MCMC to block all websites that feature Elton John songs? You will have to close down the entire Internet to do that.

What stupidity!

What about all those other singers, actors and actresses who are also gay? What about those other singers, actors and actresses who are living with their partners as husband-and-wife but are not legally married (and have children as well)?

You will need to ban every song, movie and whatnot to be able to block ‘immorality’ and ‘bad examples’?

Is sex the only thing we should be concerned with? Is this all that there is to Islam? What about corruption, abuse of power, robbing the rakyat, election rigging, persecution, discrimination, murder, ethnic cleansing, and a host of other crimes against the citizens and crimes against humanity? Why is PAS not also foaming at the mouth and up in arms about this?

Muslims are being persecuted in China. Why don’t the Malays ask the government to end diplomatic relations with China and stop all trade with China?

The Americans are invading Muslim countries and are toppling and murdering Muslim leaders. Why don’t the Malays ask the government to end diplomatic relations with the US and stop all trade with the US?

Okay, if we end diplomatic relations with China, the US, Britain, Italy, France, etc., because of how they treat Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, etc., this would mean Malaysia will go bankrupt and Malaysians would become poor and everyone would be out of work and many would die of starvation and all forms of horror you can imagine.

So what? So we suffer. So we die. But is not God’s work more important? Isn’t, as what Nik Nasri Nik Malek said, menghadapi murka Allah (suffer God’s wrath) worse than going broke or dying of starvation? At least we will die and go to heaven. Now, we die and go to hell because we are friends of China, the US, Britain, Italy, France, etc.

Sometimes I just can’t see where these people put their priorities. The country is going down the drain. Corruption and abuse of power is the order of the day. Persecution and racism is government-sponsored. And we worry about Elton John singing in Malaysia?