1. Union of Catholic Asian News (http://www.ucanews.com)
Protestant couple sentenced to jail for sedition, 12 June 2009
SINGAPORE (UCAN) -- A Protestant couple found guilty of sedition for mailing religiously offensive material to three Muslims have been sentenced to eight weeks' jail each.
Local media reported that in his verdict on June 10, District Judge Roy Neighbour said the tracts the couple sent out were "not only offensive for religious content but also have a tendency to promote feelings of ill-will or hostility between Muslims and Christians in Singapore."
Ong Kian Cheong, a technical officer at a major telecommunications company and his wife, Dorothy Chan Hien Leng, an associate director with UBS, a premier global financial services firm, were convicted on May 28 after an 11-day trial.
Media reported that the couple were convicted of distributing a seditious publication, "The Little Bride," to two Muslims in October and March 2007; and sending out another seditious booklet, "Who is Allah?" to another Muslim in December that year.
According to the local Channel News Asia website, the district court said that in sending out the tracts, the couple "clearly did so with the intent of convincing the Muslim reader to convert to Christianity."
Judge Neighbour, on passing sentence, said that such "intolerance, insensitivity and ignorance of delicate issues concerning race and religion" in Singapore "clearly warranted" a custodial sentence.
Singapore is a multi-racial and religious country where ethnic Chinese form the majority of the population. There is also a significant Malay Muslim and ethnic Indian presence.
Common sense, the judge said, dictated that fervor in spreading a faith "in our society, must be constrained by sensitivity, tolerance and mutual respect for another's faith and religious beliefs."
The couple, who used to attend the Berean Christian Church, were arrested on Jan. 30 last year after the Muslims filed complaints over the booklets.
The tracts are from American publisher Chick Publications. The company publishes a series of controversial Christian evangelical-themed tracts which are said to contain derogatory statements on religions such as Islam and Catholicism.
The couples' lawyer, Selva K. Naidu, told the court that they had filed a notice of appeal against the conviction and were awaiting instructions from the court to proceed, according to Channel News Asia.
2. My Sin Chew (http://www.mycinchew.com)
Evangelicals upset with National Service doctrinal errors, 16 June 2009
PETALING JAYA: Evangelical Christians are upset with doctrinal errors in the National Service. This was highlighted by the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship of Malaysia (NECF) in its current newsletter to members.
NECF said it has notified the Christian Federation of Malaysia--the umbrella body--about this matter which will be brought to the attention of the relevant authorities
"Christians, especially Christian parents whose children are attending the National Service programme, need to be aware of the grave doctrinal errors on Christianity contained in the workbook used by the NS integration programme on religion," the NECF pointed out in an article entitled "NS doctrinal errors."
It said the workbook is entitled "Buku Kerja Program Integrasi" on "Keagamaan," 4th edition, 2009 with the chapters on Christianity on pages 12 and 13 contain the following errors:
- On page 12, under the heading "Agama Kristian," bullet 2 states: "Pengikut Christ menganggap beliau sebagai penyelamat yang diutus untuk membela Bani Israel daripada penindasan bangsa-bangsa lain seperti bangsa Rom yang pernah memerintah Palestin."
(Translated: Christ's followers regard him as the saviour sent to deliver the Israeli race from the oppression by other races, such as the Romans, who once occupied Palestine.)
This is erroneous as Christians do not regard Christ as the saviour for Israel's political and territorial oppression. Instead, the Bible clearly states He came to deliver the human race from the bondage of sin, the article said as no where in the Bible does it say that Christ came to deliver the Israelites from human oppression.
- On page 13, bullet 6 states: "Jesus mengajar konsep tuhan yang esa, pengasih, penyayang, pemurah dan pengampun. Bagi orang yang mengamalkan ajaran ini, mereka akan menikmati kesempurnaan hidup di akhirat."
(Translated: Jesus taught the concept of God as loving, merciful, forgiving and compassionate. For those who follow this teaching, they will enjoy eternal life in the hereafter.)
Again NECF said this is erroneous as Christians have always maintained that salvation in the hereafter is not based on merely knowing God as a loving, merciful and compassionate God, but believing, confessing and accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour.
It also pointed out that Protestant Christians do not subscribe to the description written under the heading "Agama Kristian," bullet 3 which says that Christ "menghidupkan burung yang dibuat daripada tanah liat dan sebagainya." (Translated: brought clay birds to life.) (MySinchew)
(End)
