I AM YOUR ENEMY

But how to share the same doctrine when many of you still believe in Buddha or the pantheon of Hindu Gods or that Jesus is the Son of God or that Islam makes it mandatory that you impose your beliefs on others and you arrest them or kill them if they do not agree?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Some very close friends of mine such as Visvalingam Dorairaju (Visu), Osman Maimunni and his wife Farisha, Erik Yong and his wife Shoo Li, plus a few others, have sent me nasty messages condemning me for ‘selling out’. Other friends have not been too direct. They just tell mutual friends what they think of me, which is nothing nice, and these mutual friends then gleefully relay that message to me.

I suppose I have to accept the fact that since I no longer share their ideology or doctrine about Pakatan Rakyat and Anwar Ibrahim then they would regard me as an enemy. This would be unavoidable since their friendship depends on sharing the same doctrine and if we do not share the same doctrine then we are enemies.

If doctrine determines whether we are friends or enemies then I would be left with very few friends because there is much I do not share. As starters, I do not share the doctrine of Malay Supremacy and the Islamic State. Hence I will hardly have any friends from Umno or PAS.

I also do not share the doctrine of chauvinism or parochialism. So I would have very few friends from MCA, MIC, DAP, Hindraf, Perkasa, plus from those native-based political parties from Sabah and Sarawak.

I do not share the Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Taoist, Jain, etc., doctrine as well. I also do not share the narrow-minded doctrine of a large segment of Muslims. Hence that would make me an enemy of most religionists or theists of all religions in existence.

Yes, if doctrine is what determines our friendship, and if we do not share the same doctrine then I am your enemy, that would mean I would invariably be your enemy. There are no two ways about it.

It is quite sad that Malaysians treat doctrine as the yardstick to determine whom their friends are and that if we do not share the same doctrine then we are enemies. That would mean we would have more enemies than friends.

Jews, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Taoists, Jains, Zoroastrians, etc., all do not share the same doctrine. In fact, for thousands of years people from these different religious persuasions have been fighting one another, even until today. Hence if you do not share my doctrine then you are my enemy stand makes perfect sense.

That is the philosophy of most Malaysians. Hence national unity would be something impossible to hope for. The only way we can see national unity would be if we all share the same doctrine. Then we would be friends, not enemies.

But how to share the same doctrine when many of you still believe in Buddha or the pantheon of Hindu Gods or that Jesus is the Son of God or that Islam makes it mandatory that you impose your beliefs on others and you arrest them or kill them if they do not agree?