I have friends whom I think may be offended by what I’m about to write in this entry. It concerns homosexual practice. If you are one of these people, I hope you know by now that I believe God is real and He cares about us. He has great plans for us and I trust Him enough to know these plans are great ones. There is only one condition – that I must let Him be God and not try to play His role for Him. So, whatever my personal views may be about homosexual practice, they are secondary to what God has said in the Bible about the matter.

Personally, I don’t have any problems with homosexual practice. I am not one, have no such tendencies, and am prepared to accept that there are many with homosexual tendencies or preferences. To many, these tendencies and preferences are so strong they do not want to keep fighting them. They think perhaps life is to be lived, not fought against. They think a relationship is about commitment and sacrifice and building something together and there is nothing in a homosexual relationship which inherently precludes these virtues. I agree with these views. I would have subscribed wholly with them and would have supported same sex union as a logical consequence of these views. These however, are my personal views. As a Christian, I believe my personal views are not always the right ones. They can’t be. To insist that my personal views must prevail is to breach the condition set out above. His (perfect) plans wont work, and mine, which are no where near His (perfect ones) would kick in. My views really are a distant second to His, which is perfect.

I honestly do not know what to make of claims that homosexuality is a natural thing. It’s like someone who prefers one food to another, or has the natural tendency to use his left arm instead of his right. How can preference for one food over another or using one arm over another, be such a bad thing? Honestly, I don’t know. I dont know what harm there would be if say, half the world is gay. Maybe the world population would go down. The nucleus family would no longer be the norm. Is that a bad thing? I don’t know. If homosexuality becomes as common as a heterosexual union, it would be the first time since time immemorial, that the issue of parenthood becomes re-examined and the accepted convention of 2-sex parents is no longer. I don’t know what that does to the psyche of a child and how that affects his or her development and what sort of adult that child eventually becomes. It is such a vexed issue. It would certainly mean discarding what has worked for centuries, in favour of/exchange for acceptance of certain sexual preferences. Assuming the gays are right and it is perfectly “natural”. It is still only our way, not God’s. In fact, God wants us to subrogate our natural ways to His ways. The Bible speaks of dying to self in order to live. There are in any event, lots of things we naturally want to do but don’t, because they aren’t good for us. We wont go there for now however.

There is a Malaysian pastor who is now contemplating a gay church. This is just a bit whacky. Not that homosexual practice is whacky. It isn’t. It’s quite cool actually. It is however, against God’s ways. Jesus preached love and forgiveness and acceptance. That is true. He also however, preached obedience, repentance and judgment. These aren’t cool. They are however, core teachings of Jesus. To start a gay church would be like starting a church for any other perpetrators of any other practice which is against God’s ways.

We don’t for example, even think for a moment about say, a paedophile church. Before you scream murder, I’m not equating paedophilia with homosexuality. The obvious argument that one damages innocent young children while the other is between consenting adults is a familiar one with which I agree. However, again those are my views. They don’t matter. God’s views do. In fact they are the only ones that do. One doesn’t even have to proffer any arguments which a paedophile may put forward to justify the practice. You don’t need for example, to produce scientific evidence to show maybe some children aren’t damaged and may even acquire some life lessons. I know that is repulsive. I know society simply does not find paedophilia acceptable. My point is there will always be subjective views. Expert opinions change. Community rejection or acceptance of any matter is subjective. What is now unacceptable may be acceptable at different times, just as what was previously unacceptable may now be acceptable. The only objective standard is God’s. Okay, that is my belief. I know that to be true, because it is right there in the Bible (eg 1 Corinthians 6:9).

You know why the church today has credibility issues when they shout and thump their chests against homosexual practice? It is the issue of consistency. Homosexual practice is a sin, as is theft, lying, killing, jealousy, covetousness, and all the other practices listed in Exodus somewhere as well as in other parts of the Bible. In fact, remember Billy Graham’s 7 deadly sins? You hardly hear the church condemning these anymore. Why condemn homosexual practice but keep silent on theft for example? Why no word against murder? Why has the church not examined for example, the actions of people like George W and Robert M to see if they have perhaps committed murder? I know I know. George was defending his country, you may say. Really? From what? Terrorism? I thought that was in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and maybe Afghanistan? From oil drought? Ah…maybe he was then guilty of covetousness? Or did he not remember that and the other stuff in Exodus 20:15ff? If in lying and coveting Iraq’s oil he let his own view prevail over God’s that is as much a sin as homosexual practice is. Why didn’t the church condemn it but pretty much cover its head with ashes over homosexual practice?

So to the Malaysian pastors and churches crying out against that gay pastor, I say well done. However to sound a bit more credible, you should also take a stand against other practices which are against God’s ways. How many church goers in Malaysian churches today are guilty of sharp business practices (theft, lies, coveting)? How many have mistresses? How many overtly support regimes which condone murder (I have in mind the Malaysian police which the general public in Malaysia believes have committed murder in the summary execution of suspects in shootouts, pushing addicts off buildings, bashings in lock-ups and prisons leading to deaths)? Why does the church single out homosexual practice as a sin to condemn and leave the other iniquities alone?

So back to that gay church – no it wont work. I believe gay people in Malaysia aren’t Christians. If they turn up, it wont be because they are Christians – it would be because they are gay. It would be just another gay club. You cant for example preach on godliness because to be godly you need to well, subscribe to His ways. A homosexual practitioner has chosen to choose his own way over God’s. If however the intention of that church is to help practising gays get rid of that practice then that would be a great thing. That pastor could set an example and say homosexual practice is a sin in that it goes against God’s ways. It wont be a cool or popular thing to do, but godly.

Badawi the Malaysian PM continues to sleep, obviously. By parotting allegations which obviously cannot be substantiated, he continues to miss the beats which matter. To those who arent sleeping like him of course, they know these were just hopeless clutches at straws.

The biggest culprit responsible for inciting racial hatred are some of the UMNO leaders, not bloggers. Whenever UMNO calls for sensitivities, it is because they have been shown up as racist imbeciles. Slander to them is when their wanton thievery is described for what it is. Thieve and liars. That’s what UMNO leaders have been for a long time now and continue to be. KJ, the only ones who continue to demonstrate they are above the law are UMNO leaders. But then that’s nothing new to Malaysians.

If there was ever any doubts that the dominant Malaysian ruling party and the police are imbeciles, Raja Petra Kamarudin has dispelled it completely. If the Agong and the Sultans in Malaysia are any smarter than these imbeciles, they should get a legal opinion about what Raja Petra has suggested and move to strike if this opinion backs it up. No time to lose ye Kings…

What were they thinking when they lodged that police report against Raja Petra Kamarudin? That they would intimidate him and others into keeping quiet? Martin Luther King Jnr once said a riot is the language of the unheard. So I guess the bullies who make up Malaysian the dominant party in the government thinks it can hold down dissent by keeping a guy like Raja Petra a few hours in an Umno sentry that is the Dang Wangi police station? What were they thinking?

No, you cant shut this one down. Lock him up and other would continue airing all the dirty laundry, gladly. Dont they realise there are now many who dont live in Malaysia and who are too willing to give it a shot to try and make it a more decent place and undo all the damage these racist, bigotted imbeciles have inflicted on the country? What were they thinking?

No, I dont think even nice, pleasant Malaysians would take this one lying down. Maybe this is an incident to start the ball rolling. I dont know. I’m just hoping the penny drops and the rulers, who have long been an a drunken spree of power and money grab, would wake up and realise they have to face up to it all one day, in the afterworld if not in the here and now.

Water! Water!

I think it rained all day today. It was very windy when I went in to work this morning and when I went to the building next door for a meeting at 9am, it had started to rain. By the time that meeting was over and I made my way back to the office, it was bucketing down. I think from then on it just went on and on. I don’t know when it stopped but when I finally crawled out of the office a little after 7, it was still raining lightly and boy was it cold. I was telling someone the other day, how I was starting to feel like an ageing tropical creature and I felt the truth of that statement again tonight.

It has rained so much in Melbourne recently, that the state government is starting to think about lifting water restrictions at the current level – 3a, I think. As it stands, we have a pretty good chance of scaling back to a level 3 restriction. I’m not sure if this means we can then wash our cars but certainly, the reservoirs have edged back to close to 33%, up from a near Level 4 restriction of 26% or something like that. So it has been a great winter so far. Cold as it has been, the rain has been a much welcomed inconvenience to Melburnians. Actually I have not heard anyone complain about the wet so far.

I remember how wet it was too, when we first came to Melbourne in October 2004, Theresa and I stayed in her Uncle Seng/Aunt Ann’s house in Blackburn. It was a big house with 6 bedrooms spread across 3 levels. Theresa and I stayed in a bedroom at the lowest level, which was a basement but converted into a beautiful AV room. Our room was at a corner of this AV room, just to the back of the laundry and ironing room. Theresa stayed for just over a week and returned to Malaysia. I stayed on, getting things ready for the family to move over from Malaysia. I stayed with them for about 3 weeks, during which the bottom/basement floor flooded over twice. The rain was so plentiful then. I remember waking up about 2am one night, by the commotion which went on as the family realised what had happened downstairs. As I sat on the bed trying to make sense of what was happening, I realised my feet were in about 3-4 inches deep of water.

We ended up spending the whole night cleaning up and poor Uncle Seng/Aunt Ann probably spent the next few weeks worrying about the house. They fixed the problem and have since sold the house and ironically, since then, Melbourne has faced a prolonged drought, until now. I hope the new owners of that wonderful house would not have to contend with flooding problems.

Thin Skinned Malaysian Police Bullies Young Man

There is a young man now being persecuted and abused by the police in Malaysia. Nathaniel Tan is a staff of an opposition party and runs his own blog which is critical of the ruling party, the government and the police. The thin-skinned police, instead of investigating the wrongdoings alleged in Nathaniel’s blog, has chosen to pick on the whistleblower instead. Nathaniel is a young non-Malay male – easy target for the cowardly police and the establishment. Nathaniel’s allegations include police corruption, police collusion with organised crime and the UMNO lead government’s corruption and incompetence. None of these allegations are unique in that scores of other persons have made these allegations, including Malaysia Today. Nathaniel is singled out probably because he is an ordinary citizen, has no connections and is non-Malay – easy and convenient target for these imbecile cowards.

I repeat my sincere belief that Malaysia is beyond incremental change if it is to regain any sense of being a just and equitable society. It was heartening to see the picture of a vigil just outside the police station where Nathaniel is detained but more and bigger-scaled shows of dissent and protest is necessary. The cancer has been allowed to fester for too long that major procedures are now necessary.

Why haven’t there been more widespread dissent and outcry over the events which have taken place in Malaysia in the recent past? While the previous government under Mahathir had been merely iron-fisted, this Badawi government has been both ineffectual and iron-fisted. You may put up with less freedom if you think that is the price you pay for stability and prosperity, a la Singapore. But if your freedom is taken away without giving you stability and prosperity in exchange why do you remain quiet, docile and accepting anyway? Not that stability and prosperity are good reasons to take away your freedom but at least it is understandable if you said you were willing to put up with a lack of freedom because you need stability and financial security. Not good enough, but understandable. Lately however, Malaysians suffer in all respects. Poorer economic conditions, poorer law and order, poorer public delivery systems, poorer press, and poorer freedom, including religious freedom. I suppose Malaysians are nice people, especially the ethnic minority. They would take a lot of beatings and bullying and would remain pleasant and not show dissent, and the bullies know this.

Malaysian Bench – Racist Non-appointment

Gopal Sri Ram is the most senior of the Malaysian Court of Appeal judges. Yet they wont make him the chief. The previous chief died in May and the replacement is yet to be appointed. The most senior candidate also happens to be the smartest and most hardworking one. But no, they would not appoint him. Not even when they have just elevated 8 High Court judges to the Court of Appeal and there was no chief to preside over the oath taking by these newbies. Poor Gopal has been there since 1994! He has made decisions which the wider community agree as being sensible and smart. He should be elevated and sitting on the Federal Court bench as he is smarter and works harder than many of them sitting there now. Not only has he not been elevated, they wouldn’t make him chief at the Court of Appeal. Maybe if his name was Ghafar instead of Gopal, maybe something like Ghafar Rahman instead of Gopal Sri Ram, maybe then he would be made chief. That’s Malaysian justice for you. The best and most hardworking is often the one not doing the job. Is it any wonder the standards of the bench have plummeted? But then again this is true not just with the judiciary. All public sector offices are plagued with the same disease of racism, with race and religion forming the basis of appointments, not intelligence and industry.