Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
Religious extremism in Malaysia - Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Monday, January 23, 2023
Malaysiakini : I know that is politically incorrect to say. So you ask, how do I
define religious extremism? The answer to that is simple. If you believe
that the state should legislate on behalf of your religious beliefs and
impose such laws on non-believers, then you are a religious extremist.
It
doesn't matter if you are a Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or Christian. Of
course, by this definition, the only parties that are not religious
extremists in nature are the DAP and PSM, which also demonstrates why
this country is in such trouble in the first place.
That is the
wonder of secularism, it is there to protect the religious beliefs of
everyone, treating everyone equally but not conforming to any particular
set of beliefs.
Of course, this is anathema to religious
extremists and what they desire to the hegemony of thought and deeds of
every citizen of the country, regardless of whether they believe or not.
People who vote for PAS truly believe what that Indian import Zakir
Naik says about being better to be led by corrupt Muslim leaders rather
than honest non-Muslim leaders.
PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang
PAS
president Abdul Hadi Awang, the true voice of the opposition has said
more or less the same thing. He has also noted that non-Muslims should
be pak turut and during the pandemic, he claimed that religion superseded economic relief. All this is a matter of public record.
Rafizi talked about this attitude when he returned to politics, especially on the issue of corruption and the Malay polity.
“For
example, when I first came back in 2010, one thing I really wanted to
change was the Malay attitude towards corruption. Generally, Malays back
then said corruption is okay because at least Malays got it, rather
than the Chinese.”
For decades, the Islamic bureaucracy through
its various tributaries has moulded a young now voting polity to despise
democratic traditions and norms believing that doing so makes you a
better Muslim.
In fact, the demonisation of Muslims who do not
follow this groupthink is the underlying cause of tension within the
Malay community even more so than the cultural war with the non-Muslim
communities.
Remember what Hadi said
- “The stink emanating from the rotting corpse (of DAP’s alleged
Islamophobia) cannot be hidden by its faeces-covered hands, although it
has a facade of a Muslim.”
Ethnoreligious bigots
Tuaran MP Wilfred Madius Tangau recently wanted moderate Malaysians
to reclaim the word sensitivity from the ethnoreligious bigots.
Tuaran MP Wilfred Madius Tangau
First,
moderate Malaysians are defined by electoral boundaries and since
electoral boundaries are weighted in favour of those very people who
think that PAS is a sure bet, it is pointless advocating such a
position.
I would rather the state go after these ethnoreligious
bigots as they go after anyone these ethnoreligious bigots define as the
enemy. This way, at least moderates are protected from these
ethnoreligious bigots.
Of course, this will never happen. No
matter how many police reports are filed against them, the reality is
that what they are saying is a dogma which has infected the state
security apparatus.
Religious and racial provocations spewed out
on a daily basis by PN do warrant state intervention using the various
laws currently on the books. But this will never happen, of course.
Does
anyone think the state will assess how religion influences people to
spew incendiary rhetoric? They may ban communist writings, for example,
for influencing the rakyat but would anyone ban the texts of Hadi?
There are only two strategies that these religious extremists political movements have.
The
first is to destabilise institutional processes which include voting
and the peaceful transfer of power, and the second is to disrupt
institutions like the royalty and the state security apparatus because
this is what theocratic political parties have done the world over to
supplant the will of the people and democratic norms.
Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil
And
Pakatan Harapan leaders, unlike their supporters, spook so easily. A
PAS operative and news stories quoting unknown denizens online complain
about a movie being pornographic and Communications and Digital Minister
Fahmi Fadzil declares that the trailer is not suitable for public consumption.
Two
points. First, Fadzil's distinction between a trailer and a movie is
bizarre. Second, who is the "public'' that this trailer is not suitable
for?
Keep in mind that this is how it starts. A slow drip of
seemingly inconsequential issues building up to something more
momentous.
Remember Alexander the Great quote. “An army of sheep led by a lion is better than an army of lions led by a sheep.”
Well most often it seems that Harapan is leading an army of lions and Hadi is leading an army of sheep.
I do wonder though, what the religious extremists in this country think is more of an effort.
Allowing
Harapan to conform to their political agenda and eventually turning
this country into a theocratic state or winning elections which then
turns this country into a theocratic state?
