A shameful display of ignorance about Christians

An article on the ISMA website equates religious freedom to the freedom to exploit Christmas for profit.

COMMENT

To an assistant editor with ISMAweb, the organ of a right wing Malay group, the Christmas decorations currently enlivening shopping malls and hotels are proof that Christians are not persecuted in Malaysia.

This is despite claims by an “irresponsible few” that the Muslim majority was coming down hard on their Christian compatriots, according to the article written by Siti Fatimah Ishak which she admits is her personal point of view.

She also wonders whether the Sibu Christmas parade held last week was an attempt to trumpet the greatness of the 2,000 year-old religion.

Setting aside the fact that malls and hotels decorate their premises for Chinese New Year, Hari Raya and Deepavali, Siti Fatimah seems to have her own peculiar definition of the word “persecution.”

Has she forgotten the brouhaha over the crucifix displayed on the facade of a church in Kampung Medan? Is she ignoring the demonising of Christians as a group trying to coax Muslims to leave Islam? What does she have to say about UiTM’s anti-Christian seminar?

Nevertheless, most people do acknowledge that there is adequate religious freedom in the country despite the occasional inter-religious conflict, and that makes Siti Fatimah’s article rather unnecessary. What’s worse, it serves to display her ignorance about the faith of Christians.

Christmas has become a commercial affair in this country as it has in other parts of the world, much to the chagrin of many Christians. Yuletide is now synonymous with sales, bargains and other manifestations of capitalist exploitation of consumer instincts.

Santa Claus, not Jesus, takes centre stage.

Creative freedom, not religious freedom, is what Siti Fatimah is taking about. Malls or hotels are not trying to promote this “Christian celebration,” as she alleges, but trying to cash in on it.

For the record, the promotion of Christmas takes place in church, during Advent.

Siti Fatimah also warns readers against memorising or singing along to carols, saying it could be detrimental to one’s soul and have a long term effect. But few of the popular carols contain Biblical verses, unless there’s a new version of the Bible the Christian community is not aware of.

If one thumbs through the New Testament, one would find that none of the four Gospels contains verses such as “We wish you a Merry Christmas,” “Jingle bells,” “I’m dreaming of a White Christmas” and “Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer.”