YOURSAY | ‘The church advocates clean governance. So, there is nothing wrong for it to support Bersih.’

Church no place to invoke Bersih, preaches Gerakan Youth

David Dass: Firstly, the exercise of one's constitutional right to peacefully assemble to urge free and fair elections or even to protest some proposed government activity is not mixing religion with politics.

Secondly, all citizens whatever their religious persuasion must be concerned with the state of our democracy, governance and the rule of law. All, whether they be clergy or laymen and women, should be concerned with justice and injustice and with right and wrong.

Gerakan Youth deputy chief Andy Yong should not make his point about the imposition of the syariah and hudud by other parties in this way. Here there is no attempt to preach the superiority of any religion over the other and neither is there an attempt to impose the religious beliefs of one group over members of another religious group.

The central question is whether the leaders of all faiths should be concerned with issues that affect democracy, the rule of law and justice and fairness in this country. Is God not about right and wrong?

Vent: "History has provided ample proof that when religion is mixed with government or political affairs, it will cause serious problems and lead to violence," said Yong.

Spot on, Yong. Now you go and spread the word among members of your own Islamic-centric component party Umno and their hired thugs. After that, perhaps you can preach to the rest of us.

Restless: Yong, I like your comment that politics should not mix with religion. Indeed, why don't you tell the obvious to your coalition partner, Umno?

Don't tell us, we are not dumb. The church/es got involved on this auspicious day of wearing yellow because they are right-thinking people who want change, and not because they want to propagate an agenda related to their religion. Get that right, please.

Negarawan: During the Second World War, the churches around the world prayed for and provided whatever means of protection it could to the victims of Nazi Germany and its allies.

The late Pope John Paul II was then a young priest, but he fought for the cause of all of those who were being politically and racially persecuted, including the Jews who were victims of the Holocaust. He almost lost his own life. Many lives were saved and were transformed by his heroic actions.

People like Andy Yong would have restricted the church to just activities of worship. Religion goes beyond politics because God is the Creator and He is above all.

Where there is human suffering and injustice, God will be there. There is much for Yong to understand about God and life in general.

Middle Path: Isn't it every citizen's duty to protect this country and to uphold justice and fairness and ridding the country of corruption and crime?

Such duty falls on everyone, irrespective of whatever faith one practices. So, Yong, not only you have failed miserably as a politician to protect the people you are supposedly to represent, you now turn around to criticise those who did the right thing.

Anonymous 1689721435778173: Yes, it is incumbent upon people of integrity to stand up for what is right. Hence there is nothing wrong for people, religious or otherwise, to support Bersih's advocacy for free and fair elections and all that it entails.

If BN pits itself against Bersih's objectives, it is BN's problem. It is so sad to see that BN's representatives in Parliament dare not make a stand to ask the PM to stand down to facilitate a thorough and independent investigation on the 1MDB issue.

They appear to have no principles. Perhaps their respective parties have received financial benefits from the PM's allegedly ill-gotten gains from 1MDB. As they say, there is even honour among thieves!

Odin Tajué: Yong, although you are involved in politics, you do not seem to know the meaning of the noun.

But your consolation is that you are not alone. There are many others like you. While we are on this subject, there seem to be many who also do not understand the meaning of the verb ‘politicise’ and have used it wrongly to describe the action of someone else or of some other people.

You are involved in politics when you are performing activities related to the governance of a country or of a state therein. State assemblypersons and ministers are two examples.

You are involved in politics when you are going into a debate with another person (your opponent) or are in conflict with one or more other persons in the hope to gain power by being elected into office from where you will govern or help to govern.

‘Government’ means the governing body of a country or of a state. That body comprises humans. They are, in effect, the rulers of a country or of a state. In Malaysia, those ministers in the cabinet are the government. They are the rulers of Malaysia. Are we clear so far?

When you disagree with and object to the erring ways of any of the agencies of the government and/or of those in power, you are not involved in politics. That means when the Church or any other party object to the wrongdoing of the Election Commission, such as gerrymandering and other forms of giving advantages to the government in power, they are not involved in politics.

When the Church or any other party object to the wrongdoing of a member of the government, such as his stealing of billions from the citizenry and demand that he vacates his seat to enable proper investigations to be conducted without let or hindrance, they (the Church and/or any other party) are not involved in politics. Are we clear now?

Unafraid: The Gerakan Youth leader got it wrong. While it is true that the church should not be partisan, there is nothing wrong with the church being concerned with politics.

Politics is the science of government. It is neutral by itself. As God-fearing believers, the church must and should stand up against corruption, injustices and exploitation of the poor and marginalised.

The church advocates clean governance. So, there is nothing wrong with the church supporting Bersih. Some of those who wore yellow support the opposition, while some support BN.

That's their prerogative. We don't argue over that. But all are against dirty and corrupt governance. That's what Bersih is all about. It transcends race, religion, gender and social status.

Ahmad_Mizi: When political parties such as Gerakan fail to uphold justice, human rights and the rule of law, while condoning massive corruption and rape of the country, it is incumbent upon all sincere religious men and women to step in and shine a light in the darkness.

Like others, Christians too have a right to stand for justice

Editor's note: Yong has issued an apology on Twitter yesterday.

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