Prince Charles - a prince among (some) men.

On BBC1 News two or three nights ago there was an item on the launch of a report by a Catholic charity.    Accompanying the launch was a statement  by His Royal Highness Prince Charles Philip Arthur George, Prince of Wales, KG, KT, GCB, OM, AK, QSO, PC, ADC, Earl of Chester, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland.

In his video message HRH Prince Charles said,  " It is an indescribable tragedy that Christianity is now under such threat in the Middle East, an area where Christians have lived for 2000 years and across which Islam spread in 700 AD, with people of different faiths living together peaceably for centuries."

The report, by Aid to the Church in Need, claimed that "across the world, Christians remain the most persecuted religious minority, while Muslim countries predominate among states with the most serious violations of religious freedom."  (My emphasis in bold).

The report also said that "as Western Europe becomes more diverse, political and social tensions are rising between different faith and cultural groups".

John Pontifex, who compiled the religious freedom report, says "all faith communities need to work together to stand up for the right to worship in peace."

"We do not want to be alarmist but we do want to tell the truth in this report about the degrees to which minority groups - Yazidis, and indeed of course Christians, are being pushed out of their homelands."

"It is in effect a genocide.  What more evidence does one need to point to it being a genocide?"

Read :  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29899571    (4 November 2014)

Also read:  http://www.ibtimes.co.in/prince-charles-asks-muslim-leaders-stop-persecution-christians-middle-east-613172


                                                               ****************

On 18 December 2013, at a reception for Middle East Christians at Clarence House in London ...

Read :  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2525604/Christians-Middle-East-need-help-says-Charles-Prince-says-bridges-Islam-deliberately-destroyed.html


......" I have for some time now been deeply troubled by the growing difficulties faced by Christian communities in various parts of the Middle East."

"It seems to me that we cannot ignore the fact that Christians in the Middle East are increasingly being deliberately targeted by fundamentalist Islamic militants."

          Judge not, that ye be not judged.  For with what judgement ye
          judge, ye shall be judged:  and with what measure ye mete, it shall be
          measured to you again.  And why beholdest thou the mote in thy 
          brother's  eye, but considerest  not the beam that is in thine own eye?  
          Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of
          thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?  Thou hypocrite,
          first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see
         clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother's eye.
         (The Bible. Matthew 7:1-5)
          

HRH Prince Charles will one day - on the demise of his mother Queen Elizabeth II - ascend the
British throne.  Fidei Defensor or 'Defender of the Faith' will be one of his assignations.  He will be the 'Defender of the Anglican Faith' (as of 1544) and this signifies the British monarch's position as the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, a position that is superior (formally) to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Another inherited title is  Dieu et mon droit - meaning God and my right - referring to the divine right of the king/queen to govern.

This you can observe in the British Passport

Note 'Dieu et mon droit' at the base of the logo

and the British coin.

The 50p coin.  FD stands for  'Fidei Defensor'.

In 1994 HRH did declare that "I personally would rather see (my future role) as Defender of Faith, not the Faith."

If that is HRH's desire then maybe he should be a bit more circumspect about apportioning blame to Islam for causing agony to the Middle Eastern Christians - in the same way that Catholics and other Christian groupings are doing.    Such people are merely 'menanggok di air yang keroh' .... or making hay while the sun shines and striking while the iron' s hot.

Let us remember: allegations that Islam and Muslims are more violent, than any other faith and groupings on this planet must always be seen in a context - and a context Westerners usually forget:

1.  Countries with the Christian heritage have killed off tens of millions of people in the wars of the twentieth century, 16 million in World War I, 60 million in World War II.  Some have attributed more deaths during WW II to "Buddhists in Asia" - because Buddhists in the Zen orders supported Japanese militarism.  And today you have the Buddhist monks of Myanmar pushing for the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingyas.

2.  Then there were those killed in the Colonial (Christian) wars against non-Christian natives. In India we have the Battle of Plassey,  the Indian Mutiny and other colonial 'skirmishes".  Belgium - a strongly Catholic country, - in its conquest over the Congo killed off half of the Congolese - at least 8 million.

3.  Does Christianity  want to be reminded of the Holocaust of over 6 million Jews - that Christianity thrived on the belief that Jews were the killers of Jesus Christ.  Who pays for this 'indescribable' crime?  They are mainly the Muslims in Palestine and by default the  Christians of the Christian Holy Land.

4.  Most recently, Christian civilization has surpassed itself in inflicting civilian deaths on Muslim populations in Bosnia, Iraq (twice), Afghanistan  - using the "official" excuse of a "War on Terror". Their direct involvement in 'wars of liberation' in Libya and Egypt, their support for Muslim radical/extremist groups like al-Qaeda, Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS is well-documented.   Of course you will not find such facts in documents and videos publicised  by Christian charity groups like  'Aid to the Church in Need'.

5.  If Muslims are slaughtering each other today, do take into account the inter-Christian butchery that took place during the Christian Reformation and Counter-Reformation.  And Christian civilization seems to have little stomach to analyze and discuss the "indescribable tragedy" of  the African Slave Trade that claimed 10 million African lives or the number of Native Americans in North, Central and South America hunted and massacred during Christian Colonial Conquests.

                                                       *****************

The killing of Fusilier Lee Rigby in May 2012 sparked off blood-curdling cries against Islam in Britain.  David Cameron regarded it as an "an attack on the British way of life".  One sane voice dared to differ.   Seumas Milne of the Guardian had this to say: "When Rigby became a target by Muslim extremists, it  was a predicted consequence of an avalanche of violence unleashed by the US, Britain and others in eight direct military interventions in Arab and Muslim countries that have left hundreds of thousands dead,  Only the wilfully blind or ignorant can be shocked when there is blowback from that onslaught at home.  The surprise should be that there haven't been more such atrocities."

Read :  http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/20/woolwich-attack-muslim-world-islamophobia


When it comes to selecting victims, it seems that some victims, - especially Christians and Israelis - are more equal than others.  The Judaeo-Christians shield themselves, through their media machine, from the atrocities committed by their culture on others especially in  Muslim countries.

Other than perusing videos presented to him by sources related to his Faith - HRH might try to catch some of these .......

Bound and gagged: A Taliban insurgent in US custody in Afghanistan

A few days after the end of the Gulf ground war, an American soldier inspects the carbonized bodies of Iraqi soldiers killed when their convoy ... was bombed and strafed by Allied Aircraft.

Afghani children - victims of the War on Terror

More victims 

Victim of sanctions on Iraq

Victim of phosporus in Iraq - the very same 'weapon' used by Israel in Gaza.  With the phosporus bomb, "as the charge bursts, fragments of the white phosporus would be scattered ... at speed, and the particles spontaneously ignited on contact with the air.  They had a marked tendency to adhere to naked skin, where they would continue to burn and cause painful flesh wounds."  How different is this from ISIS's beheading??

Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before. 

Of course the minority Christians in the Middle East are victims of this terror war in their homeland but no more and no less than the majority who are Muslims.  To simply blame their plight on the Muslim extremists is mischievous - and perfidious.  For 2000 years these early Christians have lived in peace under Muslim rule.  Think: would they have survived the inter-Christianity wars in Europe in the Middle Ages, in the battle for supremacy between the Catholics and the Protestants? Think again - when did their world (and the Muslims too) began to fall apart.  Who made it difficult for Christians to make their pilgrimage to the Holy Land?

Perhaps HRH should also listen to other concerned voices like CAAT  (Campaign Against Arms Trade).

Prince Charles dressed up in the costume of a ceremonial sword dance in Saudi Arabia to "help enhance military links"

And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."  And they cast lots to divide his garments.  (Luke 23:34)

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Dr Mahzan bin Haron, this posting is for you.  You (among a couple of others) nagged me incessantly to get to work on writing.  

Three days ago you wrote me  "If you stop, it's like a doctor who stops practicing because there's so much diseases and sick people around and it's only getting worse now."

I'm weary and the leaves are turning brown ...

Victoria Park - Our Haven.

.......  but you're making sense, just like my Abah, just like your Tok Antan.

Seeing Red

I did a posting about Poppy Day a year ago....

Read ...http://anaksihamid.blogspot.co.uk/2013_11_01_archive.html

.... and this annual remembrance of those British soldiers who died in the Wars,  is this year celebrated in a most impressive and glorious style.

Artist Paul Cummins placed 880,246 ceramic flowers throughout the grounds of the Tower of London as a tribute to the soldiers who fell during World War 1.

The above image was taken from this website ....  http://inhabitat.com/the-tower-of-londons-moat-bleeds-888246-ceramic-poppies/

These ceramic poppies will be sold,  after Armistice Day,  for GBP25 and 10% will be donated to service-related charities like The British Legion.

Again this year,  there's a reference to Muslims - whose loyalty to Britain is often questioned - and so this year they demonstrated their commitment to this commemoration of Our Glorious Dead.

Here's how the Muslims of Britain parade their allegiance and prove that they are not extremists. British Muslims (of course it will be the women only)  are encouraged to wear a "Poppy Hijab"  to challenge the Muslims (men mainly of course) who denounce the  'activities' of the British Armed Forces in Muslim countries.  The "Poppy Hijab" costs GBP22 and the proceeds from the sale  will go to the Poppy Appeal.

Ella Abubaker Farooq (left), Rukea Azougaya and Taslima Chowdhury (right)  from London show off the new 'Poppy Hijab' in several styles.

There is another aspect to this year's remembrance.  It is to highlight Muslim participation during the bloody wars in Europe.  In fact 400,000 Muslims fought for the Empire during World War I.  And also to remember that 100 years ago a Muslim soldier Sepoy Khudadad Khan became the first Indian soldier to be awarded the Victoria Cross.

So, this year the Muslims (the women, that is) have made a pointed contribution to indicate their trustworthiness as British Muslims. What will they have to plan for 2015, I wonder?

Every year 'at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month' the Brits remember their Glorious Dead.

And every year, I will wonder - other than Hari Pahlawan', - how will those who declare themselves as proud citizens of Negara Ku demonstrate their worthiness as Malaysians - all those Malays, Kadazans, Ibans, Muruts, Chinese, Indians, Eurasians, Sri Lankans etc ;  all those Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, atheists etc  affirm their appreciation of those who enabled and protected  their present standard of life?  Just like immigrants in Britain do,even though they are recent arrivals.

I wrote this last year and I think it bears repeating.

What about Malaysia?  Will we have a Bunga Raya Appeal to remember the sacrifices of our soldiers during the Second World War, the Emergency, Confrontation, and Lahad Datu?  There was no question that they died defending their country - their multi-cultural country!  Should we remind our children by asking them to wear the paper or plastic 'bunga raya' each year and make a little donation to support the veterans and the family of those who died?  We, the schoolchildren of  the 1950s, did it when we were ruled by the British Empire.

Just 10 cents from each student for each year will go a long way.  It's not too much to ask, is it - from all Malaysian children and all Malaysian adults?  If Malaysians are committed enough to various causes by buying and wearing pink  and red and green ribbons and bracelets , surely pinning a little bunga raya on your shirt is no great sacrifice.  It would truly be a wonderful demonstration of patriotism, integration and unity if all our religious organisations, political parties, NGOs, Media and other concerned Pressure Groups will participate in a one-minute-silence to remember "our glorious dead" in the centre of Kuala Lumpur, Georgetown, Kota Kinabalu, Kucing and every city and town up and down the country.

I wonder how the Navigators (Pemandu) of Malaysia will approach this notion?

What millions died - that Caesar might be great!   ( Thomas Campbell 1777-1844)

Oslo Freedom Forum - "Aristocracy of Activists" - AND - UM shutdown at 4pm due to "electrical improvement"

I had planned to finish the posting  "Oslo Freedom Movement - Aristocracy of Activists"  last night but the weather's beginning to bite a little and all I wanted to do was to snuggle down and watch "War and Peace"  on TV.

Woke up this morning and read this news about the electricity problem and the possibility of  a  'rumble in the jungle'  at Universiti Malaya.

Read : http://www.nst.com.my/node/46664

There's this same character playing the starring role - he has appeared at the Oslo Freedom Forum before - and at other countless shows at home and abroad.  The other stars are Leong Yu Sheng,  the "student leader" engineering this big  pageant and  the hapless UM Academic Prof  Datuk Dr Rohana Yusoff.   What delights await us?   Are we to be indulged with the same 'demotainment'  as in the Hong Kong Student's Protest Movement - as tutored by the "aristocracy of activists" at the Oslo Freedom Forum?  Perhaps  security officials may have noticed a run on the sale and stock-up of  mineral water, Coca-Cola and Diet Pepsi.  (See paras 2 and 3 of my posting below)

Watch out too for a rise in the sale of snacks like nuts and other junk food.  I also reckon some macik and  ah soh and achi somewhere can expect big orders for nasi lemak, vaday and char siew pau to feed the rally??    Also keep an eye on how the rally marshalls get their members to pick up their litter - something which all Malaysians should learn from.  ( Again, see paras 2 and 3 of my posting below)

However, the theme for the rally - "40 Years from University of Malaya to Jail"  - is not really catchy enough.  Can't they get some panduan from the media-savvy experts in the protest-movement industry?

Hopefully, my original  post below should enlighten us (at least some of us) about the human rights, democracy and freedom movement.

I am old - but I am a cynic and I don't swallow  most things I see, read and hear about.  There is a fine line between knowing "everything" and gullibility.  The next step from gullibility is manipulation and exploitation.    I often impressed upon my students  the importance of  reading between, behind and beyond the lines.  We should apply these prepositions to many aspects of our thinking and doing.

Here's the first post.
                                                 
                                                                   ********************



Being "old dears", we spend our evenings watching re-runs of Midsomer Murders, Lewis, Morse, Foyle's War , Poirot and Miss Marples.  We don't bother much with News on BBC or ITV.  They're all very predictable, serving the same old Eurocentric agenda - with self-righteousness and double standards thrown in and of course with a good dose of fluffy news about the Duchess of Cambridge,  Dame Angelina Jolie, and Mr and Mrs George Clooney's wedding extravaganza.

But last night (22 October), I came down to earth.    I clicked on BBC2 Newsnight (by accident) at 11pm and caught a bit about the "aristocracy of activists" attending the Oslo Freedom Forum.  We heard about "meetings in the basement" where concerned and committed activists were instructed on how to organize and plan protest movements.  According to Newsnight, the student protest in Hong Kong was hatched two years ago and Jianli Yang, the well-known activist from China was keeping in touch with the protestors every hour, giving them the benefit of his expertise and experience.

In an interview with a young female activist we learned about how to use nonviolent action as a "weapon of mass destruction".  She mentioned a series of "hows" when one is organizing and running a protest: like how to keep ranks, how to use marshalls (during the protest) how to speak to the police, how to behave when arrested, how to manage a water cannon and the need to arrange the logistics of providing food and water - because a protest movement can last longer when people are taken care of.  ( I may be wrong, but I have the feeling that defenders of "free speech, democracy and human rights" in Malaysia must be taking down notes from this Forum and from the Hong Kong protestors for their next big do).

The BBC reporter - Laura Kuenssberg - also spoke to Srdja Popovic, leader of the Centre of Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies - the man credited with bringing down Slobodan Milosevic.  He claimed that he had taught in almost 40 centres but only about 6-7 had applied his teachings, including the Arab Spring Movement.

At this "Freedom Forum", according to Newsnight, deals were done - and there was schmoozing for democracy - over glasses of champagne and Norwegian canapes, against a backdrop of activists dressed up like penguins (males) and Hollywood celebrities (females).  The reporter described this setting as "Davos for Dissidents".

For more details read : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-29708917

You may ask - what is this group that managed to get the attention of the pukka BBC's Newsnight?    And why should we even care?  

The Oslo Freedom Movement is a gathering held annually in Norway's capital city by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) which is headquartered in the Empire State Building, New York.  HRF was founded by Thor Halvorssen Mendoza, a Venezuelan film producer and freedom activist. (Wiki).

The Oslo Freedom Forum's founder Thor Halvorssen speaks at the opening sessionMonday.  To his left is Amnest International Norway's general secretary Joh Peder Egenaes.  (Berit Roald/AFP/Getty Images) 

Its mission  is to "unite people in the common cause of defending human rights and promoting liberal democracy"  (Wiki).

Aaahh, now I see why Datuk Ambiga Sreenevesan  and Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim (DSAI) have been  guest speakers at this Freedom Forum.  After all, in their book, Malaysia is a violator of human rights; and according to DSAI an example of Governments  "that hide behind a facade of democracy and commit crimes in its name".

Pardon me for being a simpleton, but doesn't this 'facade of democracy' also apply to UK and USA as well - don't they too commit crimes in the name of democracy and human rights?


Check :  https://oslofreedomforum.com/talks/confronting-half-a-century-of-one-party-rule

Image 1

Image 2 - Enlargement of the text above

Furthermore, at this Freedom Forum, DSAI  claimed that Malaysia "has suffered under this new type of authoritarian rule".   (See link above).  If that's the case how do you explain the results of the 2013 Election and the fact that the Opposition are 'alive and kicking' - not only in their "home states"  Penang and Selangor but in the rest of Malaysian politics?

Their antics in my home-state Selangor in the last few months would not inspire their comrades, the aristocracy of activists, at the Oslo Freedom Forum

Democracy in India (the world's "largest democracy") has brought to power the Hindu fundamentalist-inspired Bharatiya Janata Party - a party that advocates Hindutva  (Hindu-ness), with an "ideology that sought to define Indian culture in terms of Hindu values" - and a leader like Narendra Modi, who is proud to describe himself as a "Hindu nationalist".   Halvorssen's HRF and Oslo Freedom Forum would have no quarrel with India as a model of democracy. Is this therefore a good model for  'authoritarian'  Malaysia?     Is this the 'democracy' that DSAI and his acolytes 'trust' and spout about?

DSAI  implored the audience (at the 2010 Freedom Forum) "to scrutinize the validity of vote-winning slogans such as freedom, democracy, and human rights, which are now too often used as empty promises or skewed in meaning".  Of course, he was referring to the Government.   But these very same slogans of freedom, human rights and democracy are  also bandied about and manipulated by the NGOs  (religious and secular) and by the Opposition!

.
                                                              *******************

But in the global scheme of world politics, Malaysia is just a small fry.  Of greater concern is the make-up of HRF and the Oslo Freedom Forum  and their ties with funding groups who inspired the mass killer and Islamophobe Anders Breivik - Norway's "crusading knight"  on his 2011 mission to save Europe from the scourge of Muslim Immigration.

Read the article by Max Blumenthal in the  link below.

http://electronicintifada.net/content/oslo-freedom-forum-founders-ties-islamophobes-who-inspired-mass-killer-anders-breivik/12451

Here are excerpts from an interview with Max Blumenthal.

Read: http://www.shoah.org.uk/2013/05/17/podcast-max-blumenthal-on-investigating-the-islamophobia-industrys-financial-network/

Image  3

Image 4

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Read and think - between, behind, and beyond the lines.

Christian Evangelization - Rites of Reply

When I was a sprightly and happy-go-lucky 17-year-old,  my Sixth Form History teacher Miss T - who was normally an unfriendly and po-faced character - turned on her smile and niceness at me when she 'lent' me a book about Christianity.  She said,  "Do read this, take your time and let me know if there's any other information you want."  Of course I was astounded, wondering "what did I do to deserve this special treatment"?   I kept it for two weeks, and  just gave it a quick scan.  I had no interest in another religion, what I already had suited me very well, thank you very much.  Something told me there was an agenda in this 'kindness' and I returned Miss T her book with a thank you.  She "sweetly" asked me what I thought of it and I gave a  timid reply of  "it's quite interesting".  I can't really tell her what I thought of it and how I suspected her motive - after all, she's my History teacher and  an authoritative figure in my time at RGS !

When I was a 30-year-old  'woman of the world'  (or so I thought), I was doing my Academic Diploma in Education at London University.  I was invited by my Greek classmate to a party at her flat.  I am (and am still today) very uncomfortable when I attend such social gatherings.   And when, as a party piece, my classmate's English husband imitated the genuflections of his Pakistani Muslim flatmate at prayer and watched how the others  found this quite hilarious - I left the room in tears.  I vowed then that no Christian or non-Christian shall denigrate and mock my faith, leaving me in tears and unable to defend myself.

When I was 42 and  happily married to a Caucasian academic,  I got to meet a couple of the spouse's students.  There was a couple, extremely friendly and nice, who visited us several times at our house.
They were too sweet and too nice and they reminded me of Miss T, my History teacher at RGS.  One day, I was cycling at Victoria Park near the University, when I bumped into this sweet couple.  After the usual chit-chat, they invited me to a meeting that they were heading for.  I asked what it was all about - they mentioned a Christian Fellowship - I gently declined.  For heaven's sake, I was as old as their parents and they reckoned they could inveigle me into their flock.  I wonder why they did not try it on the spouse!  

[And this particular story has a special twist: that very same year, my spouse's Head of Department and senior professor (a fervent evangelical Christian) invited us both to dinner.  He didn't know me well, but he did know very well that I was a Muslim. However, he assumed that I was a lapsed Muslim - and we were served pork, twice (once for starters, and once for the main meal).  I was stunned. Twice, very politely, the spouse refused the food we were given, and in the end we were given a hastily prepared omelette each. With great irritation on the host's part, and without apology - after all, we had the effrontery to actually both be Muslims!!  And to stand firm. So much for the sweet approach.]

As a Muslim in a foreign country and especially today, as a Muslim in Malaysia, one's radar system has to be carefully tuned to the siren song of Christian evangelists.  Today their agenda is camouflaged in secular outfits of education, health, welfare and anti-poverty schemes,  'human rights' campaigns and environmental concerns.  Their tactics are very different from Miss T's approach  and you ignore them at your peril.

More crucially, for those who are concerned about evangelization in their community and country, they have to learn how to counter the arguments the evangelists (and other anti-Muslim groupings) put across to plug their faith and diminish that of others.

I have compiled in this posting the 'dialogue'  that followed the previous "The Trojan Horse and Footballers from Brazil"  (28 September 2014).   Both the article in the posting and the reply to the Comments belong to Iain Buchanan.

                                                      *****************************

The First Part of the Dialogue

**********************************************************************************************************************************
    The Second Part of the Dialogue                              

Iain Buchanan's Reply.

********************************************************************************************************************************

The Third Part of the Dialogue

Iain Buchanan's reply


The issue is not simply one of evangelization - it is also one of honesty.   The evangelical movement has long been corrupted by two rather unhealthy tendencies:  a belief in the utter supremacy of Christianity as the basis for global government  (the ideology of the New Apostolic Reformation is an example);  and a belief that the end (of fulfilling the "Great Commission") justifies all manner of  means - many of which are at best morally questionable, and at worst downright dishonest.   In a myriad ways, these two tendencies interweave, leading to a form of evangelization which is often aggressive, surreptitious, and extremely seductive.   And the key to the problem is the packaging - or the "contextualization".

The entire "contextualization" strategy is based upon the intention to subvert, by whatever means possible, and involves tactics which  (if practised by businessmen) would be winked at as barely permissible.   Of course when evangelicals talk about penetrating "closed " or "difficult" countries under secular guise, they don't use the word "subversion";  no, they talk about "creative access",  "tent-making",  and "Business as Mission".   It is one thing to be all things to all men; it is quite another to set out deliberately to deceive - as evangelicals have done, on a well-coordinated, industrial and global scale.   Especially since the 1970s under the Lausanne Movement.   Two examples - "Insider Movements"  and disaster aid - illustrate the problem.

(a)  Insider Movements.    Since the start of the Lausanne Movement, much of the 
      "contextualization"  effort has been geared towards infiltrating Muslim societies, in a
      variety of ways calibrated along the  "C1-C6 Scale"  of penetration  (from friendly 
      conversation to  "messianic mosque").   The intent to deceive has been very clear, and is
      even given biblical justification by academics:  in the words of Rick Love,  Professor of
      Muslim Studies at Columbia International University,  "Jesus, after all, did not raise his 
      and say   'I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth'  ". 
      The intention is often presented as a kind of discretion:  again and again, evangelicals
      talk about the need to keep a low profile, to go behind doors, to affect local styles, to hide
      real names and motives.   The Red Sea Mission put it this way:  "Think of us as
      'secret agents'.   Inside the raincoat pockets are hidden gospels in Urdu, Arabic, Persian,
      Turkish, and Gujerati.   We are not what we seem.   And our best stories cannot be told.   If
      our target is the hidden people .......  then we must be somewhat hidden ourselves."

      Of course not all evangelicals approve.   According to Patrick Sookhdev:  "Many
      mission agencies are keeping secret their support for the Insider Movements for fear
      that donors will stop giving to them in protest.   Some of their missionaries also keep
      their identities secret, presenting themselves as ordinary foreign workers rather than as
      preachers of the Gospel.   This apparent lack of integrity calls the Christian ethical basis
      of the Movement into question."

      And it is not only "Insider Movements".


(b)  The disaster aid industry also involves a lot of evangelical double-dealing.   There are 
      hundreds of evangelical agencies posing as altruistic providers of vital practical aid.   But
      what are their motives?   Well, many see catastrophe as a God-given opportunity to
      increase their flock  (and even to punish non-believers)  rather than as a cause for
      altruism:  John Piper, of Desiring God Ministries, claimed the 2004 tsunami was "just
      and good";  Pat Julian  (Southern Baptist relief coordinator)  saw it as "a phenomenal
      opportunity",  while K.P. Yohannan  (of Gospel for Asia)  saw it as "one of the greatest
      opportunities God has given us to share His love for people."   And then,  of course,
      there is Beram Kumar, responding to Cyclone  Nargis as  " a tremendous opportunity to
      see the Kingdom of God expand."

      Clearly when you see disaster as a golden opportunity, you have to be pretty "creative"
      in the way you present your case to the public.   In other words, evangelization has to be
      "contextualized"  to be attractive to those in the direst of straits.   A truly  "good
      Samaritan"  will give succour with no strings attached.   You cannot say that about a
      great many of the evangelical agencies which rush into disaster areas.


(c)  It is the same with  "Business as a Mission"  (and the "Seven Mountains Theology"  for
      taking over whole societies, sector by sector, for Christ);  it is the same with the "human
      rights"  industry  (which is overflowing with agencies which, at best, are coy about their
      evangelical connections - witness the policing of human trafficking by World Vision and 
      and its spin-off  International Justice Mission).

      And it is the same with sport.   There is no question whatsoever that evangelicals  (at the
      highest levels)  have devised a thorough-going and systematic project to infiltrate sport in
      order to evangelize surreptitiously.   As the example of Brazilian footballers testifies.




And so, once again, it is NOT so much a problem of evangelization, as it is a problem of
dishonesty.   People of all faiths evangelize, or seek to spread their own particular gospel.  There's nothing wrong with that.   The problem arises when we seek to deceive.


**********************************************************************************************************      
                   Welcome, thou kind deceiver!
Thou best of thieves; who, with an easy key,
Dost open life, and, unperceived by us,
Even steal us from ourselves.

                              ( Dryden, 1631-1700)

   
       

Moonstruck

Looking around me, I do not see a state-of-the-art world.  That's to be expected when one is (for the moment) residing in and looking at the world from behind the eyeballs of the West.  But it's no better when I read the news and views from my tanah air  and all I can see is this.

I think it's time for a a little pick-me-up.

                                             =======================================

It will be a full moon tonight on 8 October at 11.50am BST.  Also on this day the eclipse of the moon will be visible from countries around the Pacific Ocean including Malaysia.

Down here , this is all the moon I can get.  I think it's just as spectacular because I love the moon and moonlight in whatever shape and colour it comes.

Here are my feeble attempts at capturing the full moon, using my not-the-state-of-the-art camera (for dummies) from the vantage point of our not-the-state-of -the-art abode in a middling midland city.

Image 1.  The full moon playing hide-and-seek behind the clouds, taken from the front of our abode at 8.10pm.

Image 2.  Same place, same moon, a few minutes later - the moon  (like The Truth) is veiled from our eyes

Image 3. The moon has shifted,  clockwise to the rear of the house at 11.25pm.

The moon has always been a symbol of romance and childhood (and witchcraft and lunacy as well!).  I have often been described as loopy, loony and a right old wicked witch of the east.  But my love of the lure of the moon comes from schooldays, the beginning of a fascination which I picked up from Malay and English school textbooks.

In Malay: from my Primary School textbook Beneh Akal.

In English: from a poem by Mathias Barr (1831 - ?)

Moon, so round and yellow,
Looking from on high, 
How I love to see you,
Shining in the sky.

Oft and oft I wonder, 
When I see you there, 
How they get to light you,
Hanging in the air.

Where you go at morning,
When the night is past,
And the sun comes peeping,
O'er the hills at last.

Sometimes I will watch you,

Slyly overhead,
When you think I'm sleeping,
Snugly in my bed.


Nevertheless, I still hope to see 'Hey diddle, diddle's'  The cow jumped over the moon!

                                         ========================================

Murni sungguh ciptaan Tuhan,
Bulan bintang lampu alam.
Andai kata bintang menyepi,
Bulan tidak berseri.
Malam menjadi sunyi.
Tidak berseri lagi.

We still have  the moon and the stars over Malaysia but there is very little light - it has been obscured by the heat of hypocrisy, greed, deceit and opportunism.

The Trojan Horse and Footballers from Brazil

I came across this in the New Straits Times, 25 September.
Read: http://www.nst.com.my/node/36987
It was all about football players from Brazil 'hanging out' with Malaysian children.
Anyone would  say "Aaah - how wonderful - it's such a treat for our kids."

But my radar started sending different signals.

However, I shall let Iain Buchanan deal with this.  He can do it better.  He has previously been a guest of AsH in  http://anaksihamid.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/whats-in-word-context-of-allah.html .

I shall now get myself a mug of coffee, sit back and put my feet up.

ps. Remember the story of 'Helen of Troy'? She was known for her beauty, as 'the face that sank a thousand ships'.  But there was also the Trojan Horse.  Helen was stolen by Paris of Troy from her Greek husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta.  For ten years the Greeks fought to bring back Helen, but the city walls were too strong.  So, they built a large wooden horse...

... left it outside the city and departed.  The Trojans were delighted, they brought the wooden horse inside the city gates.    What a great gift!    But that night, the Greek soldiers who were hiding inside the horse crept out, opened the city gates and let in their comrades.  According to the story in Homer's Iliad, the Trojans were slaughtered and that was the end of Troy.

Hence the saying; 'Beware of Greeks bearing gifts'.  However my mother had her own take on that. She always cautioned us.  'Do not take sweets from any strangers'.  And I still keep to that ... even though I am 'three score years and ten'.

      ====================================================================


                    "FOOTBALL  EVANGELISTS?  NONSENSE!"

                                            Iain  Buchanan 

      Youngsters the world over love football, and kids in Malaysia are no different - especially when there's a chance to rub shoulders with a few legends of the game.  And if these happen to be Brazilian. so much the better.

      And so the story in Thursday's NST was hardly surprising.  Here was a team of football stars from Brazil and Angola, visiting Malaysia, coaching kids from poor backgrounds, planting dreams.  The stars themselves were heroic, approachable and helpful.  "We had a great time coaching them," said one; "Football has helped change our lives," said another, "and we want these kids to know how this sport could help change theirs too."  And the kids were over the moon and wanted more.

(http://www.nst.com.my/node/36987?d=1)

     The visit was a nice exercise in international diplomacy - and in bridging all manner of divides that separate people.  The children were from orphanages and low-income families: the tour, said one player, "was an initiative to reach out to the community" and a way of teaching "how to become a better team player, how to gain self-control, and other skills that can be applied to our daily lives."  Surely there was no hidden agenda.  And maybe, after all, footballers could do as much to spread goodwill as politicians, pop stars, or experts in development economics.

     It certainly seemed churlish to be cynical.  Besides, on the matter of visiting footballers, cynics had already been roundly lambasted by various pillars of the community.  Take, for example, the indignation shown by both Baru Bian, head of PKR Sarawak, and PAS Member of Parliament Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusuf Rawa, when speakers at a conference at UiTM claimed that visiting football coaches could well be undercover Christian priests.  Baru Bian, a lawyer and son of an SIB pastor, dismissed the accusations as a sign of "weak government":

      "Baru said he was aware of Brazilian football coaches, who are Christians, who had held football clinics as he was also involved in a similar clinic in his constituency.  'I don't think they are missionaries.  What is wrong with Christians who want to contribute to young people of this country?' he asked.  'You cannot just accuse people of proselyting (sic) to Muslims."

(http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/pas-mp-slams-uitm-event-attacking-christianity-challenges-undercover-priest)

(http://www.theborneopost.com/2014/05/08/no-undercover-priests-evangelising-muslims/)

     You certainly can't.  At the very least (as any lawyer will tell you) you need evidence of intent - if not culpability.  And, judging from the NST story. there was no hidden agenda, no hidden intent, behind the latest Brazil Tour of Hope by Joga Limpo Brazil.

      Or was there?

                                          *           *            *            *            *            *

      Joga Limpo Brazil was brought to Malaysia by a body calling itself Wawasan GMR, in partnership with another body called CBME.  The initials "CBME" seem straightforward - they stand for "Children, Babies, and Maternity Expo", and presumably indicate commercial sponsorship.  But "Wawasan GMR" is a rather different matter.

      It is murky, to say the least.  Officially, it is "a business/investment consultancy focusing on community-based economic projects in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region as well as the greater Southeast Asian region."  Its CEO is "B.K. Raj",  its General Manager is Peter Shankar, and it also employs (among others) Mark T.R. Pillai, Michael Soh, Alex Lim,  and one Geoff Elwell.  It engages in agricultural development and infrastructural work, and is connected to a travel business called  Pearls of Mekong.  It seems a strange organization to be managing football coaching.

      Strange, that is, until one digs a little deeper.

      It then transpires that CEO B.K. Raj's advisor is a roving Pentecostal evangelist called Dennis Ignatius - who also happens to be retired ambassador to Canada and various South American countries, and a staunch Anwar supporter.  Dennis Ignatius lives in Canada and the US, is a fellow of the Ezra Institute for Contemporary Christianity  
(http://www.ezrainstitute.ca/about ), and founded a mission called "Arise Ambassadors".  He will be known in Malaysia as a columnist for the Star newspaper, for his " Open Letter to Barack Obama" - and for his attack on the Malaysian Foreign Ministry.

(http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/an-open-letter-to-barack-obama-dennis-ignatius)

      Peter Shankar will be more familiar to football fans: he managed the 2008 Brazil Tour of Hope, and was also involved in the Brazilians' 2012 visit.  Both tours were for worthy causes:  "We hope to raise about RM345,000 from the Malaysian tour,"  said Peter in 2008, "to rebuild schools in Myanmar in aid of the victims of Cyclone Nargis."  And the 2012 tour made a special visit to Bandar Aceh, which was wiped out in the 2004 tsunami.

(http://www.thestar.com.my/Story/?file=%2F2008%2F11%2F12%2Ffootballeveryday%2F2519916&sec=footballeveryday)

      But there is a bit more to Peter Shankar than organizing charity football.

      Peter is Secretary-General of the Malaysian Centre for Global Mission (http://mcgm.net.my/ ), a Missions Associate of the WEA Mission Commission ( and a member of  ETHNE, the Commission's official network for Unreached Peoples, ( http://www.ethne.net/ ).  He is also an instructor with Emaus Road International  (http://www.eri.org/ ),  a close associate of STAMP   (the Strategic Missions Program of MCGM), and Director of Program and Member Care for STAMP's Malaysian Cross Cultural Missions School.

      In all these capacities, Peter has extremely close links with a certain Beram Kumar.  Beram Kumar is the Executive Director of STAMP Partnerships Inc.  He is also a founder of the Malaysian Cross Cultural Missions School, a member of ETHNE, a member of the Sangati Network for Nepali Migrant Workers, a Mission Associate of  WEA Mission Commission, and a director of  SEALINK  (which "connects the body of Christ's people, churches, organizations, and resources together to serve and reach the Southeast Asian Unreached Peoples Groups more effectively" ).  Beram Kumar was also organiser of the Myanmar Christian Coalition for Cyclone Relief.

      It was in this last capacity that Beram Kumar had a special interest in Peter's 2008 Brazil Tour of Hope: he was one of the main beneficiaries of its proceeds.  As co-ordinator for mission agencies that were denied visas into Myanmar (such as Baptist Global Response), Beram Kumar was concerned with rebuilding in the broadest of senses:

"Our hope is that the Myanmar Church will be much stronger by the time this relief effort ends ...... .....This is a tremendous opportunity to see the Kingdom of God expand in this nation."

(http://www.bpnews.net/28113/training-manual-to-bolster-myanmar-relief)

      And Beram Kumar has a particular qualification for entering "difficult" mission fields.  He is the Southeast Asian representative of Tentmakers International Exchange (TIE), a mission agency dedicated to the creation of  secular aliases  for evangelical workers (so that they can gain access to "countries that are otherwise closed to traditional missions and evangelism"), and to the expansion of networks within which  such workers can spread their influence.  "We look for people who have vocational skills because that is one of our best strategies to gain access to unreached peoples around the world"  says Danny Martin, founder of TIE and member of the Malaysian Cross Cultural Mission School.

(http://www.ijfm.org/PDFs_IJFM/14_3_PDFs/11_Hupp_Martin.pdf)

(http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1995/november13/5td080.html)

      Beram Kumar puts it this way: "Jesus first did 'good works' and as a result of that was asked questions about 'eternal life' and 'the kingdom of God' ....... if we want to have a strategic entry to ALL peoples, even those who are resistant,we must adopt a similar pattern."

(http://svm2.net/abandonedtimes/community-economic-transformation/)

      And so, as an evangelical "tentmaker", Beram Kumar is interested in whatever gives him a helpful disguise - be it a disaster or football tour, or a combination of both.  He is also interested in networking with others in the same business - in order to "synergize" and expand the evangelical movement.

      In both respects, Brazil is a huge asset.  It has a strong tradition of Christian football, and it has one of the most aggressive evangelical movements in the world.  It is a potent synergy:  indeed, Pele's "beautiful game" according to mission expert Joao Mordomo, is "beautiful" precisely because "it opens doors for Brazilians time and time again, all over the world."  Brazilians, that is, like players in Joga Limpo Brazil -all of whom are Christian evangelists.



(http://www.juventudemetodista.org.br/home/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Folder-Joga-Limpo-Brasil.pdf )     (You need to click "translate" when you get to this link.)

      And so, naturally, Beram Kumar is a frequent visitor to Brazil.  In 2010, he spoke at a conference jointly organized by Brazil's Antioch Mission and the Associacao Missao Esperanca (Hope Missionary Association), or AME - two missions which are closely linked to the Indonesian Christian Community in Sao Paulo, and are also under the WEA Mission Commission.  Among the the conference's workshops two were of special interest - one on the Unreached Peoples of Southeast Asia, and one Sport in Missions.

(http://vilamissoes.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/conferencia-missionaria-antioquia-ame/)
(please use the translation facility)

(http://www.nucleodecomunhaopastoral.com.br/institucional/projetos/21-ame-brazil-copa-2014)
(please use the translation facility)

     Was it coincidental that, two years later, the 2012 Brazil Tour of Hope, which visited Malaysia and Indonesia, was jointly organised by Wawasan GMR ...... and  AME?

      But Brazil's evangelical ties with Malaysia don't end there.  Juventude Nazarena Internacional is a missionary sending agency which places Brazilian evangelists all over the world.  Fabio Freitas is one of these.  Fabio Freitas is a Domestic League footballer and a member of the Joga Limpo Brazil team - and he is attached to Sungai Way Methodist Church as part of their sports outreach.

(http://www.ssmc.com.my/index.cfm?&menuid=387&parentid=8)

     Perhaps it is also coincidental that at least two of SSMC's pastors - Dr Ng Swee Ming and Ng Kok Moi - also appear to be directors of  Wawasan GMR.

                                 *            *            *            *            *            *

      So we can account, it seems for most of Wawasan GMR's operatives.  There remains the mystery of its CEO, "B.K. Raj".  Could "B.K. Raj" be Beram Kumar?  It certainly seems like it:

(https://www.facebook.com/WawasanGMR/posts/664771650216116)

(http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2008&dt=1018&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Sukan&pg=su_08.htm)

(Quote from the above link: " Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif GMR, Beram K. Raj berkata, selain Malaysia, program sama turut diadakan di Myanmar, Vietnam dan Thailand.")

      Are B.K. Raj and Beram K. Raj and Beram Kumar one and the same person???

      There are very good grounds for suspicion that they might be.  After all, Wawasan GMR and Beram's Malaysian Centre for Global Mission both share the same post box  - 8036 Kelana Jaya:

       (http://www.hotfrog.com.my/Companies/Wawasan-Gmr_227947
        http://endb-consolidated.aihit.com/011758E8/overview.htm) 

      All this would be fine, if it wasn't for the coyness.  And this is the problem.  Nowhere do the organizers of Brazil Tour of Hope lay out their Christian credentials; and nowhere, in Wawasan GMR's public record, does it even suggest it has Christian connections.

      It is a strange sort of coyness.  After all, Christians have every right to go on football tours, every right to coach youngsters in the game, every right to set an example of brotherly love.  So why the secrecy?  And why the studious deception?  What do these people have to hide?

                           *           *           *            *           *            *           *

      It is not the first time that Malaysia has hosted "undercover priests" dressed as Brazilian football players.  In 2004, the World Mission Board of the Brazilian Baptist Convention set up a mission in Petaling Jaya, blessed by the missionary wife of Brazil's greatest football star, Pele, "to bring some of the magic of Brazilian football"  to local boys of every race.  The arrangement was renewed in 2008, when Pastor Henry Pillai travelled to Brazil to confirm the arrangement for a number of trained Baptist pastors to set up in Malaysia as football coaches, social workers and teachers.

        (www.jmm.org.br/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1974&Item=330)

      There were three football coaches - Lamartine Fernandes da Silva (who is officially registered with the Brazilian Baptist Convention as a "tentmaker" ), Roberto Braganca Romao, and Valdecir de Freitas - together with de Freitas' wife Elaine, who was a "social worker".

      Did these good people evangelize Muslims?  Well, a number of young Malay players certainly went to Brazil as part of the programme.

    (www.thestar.com.my/Story/?file=%2F2008%2F11%2F4%central2F2408845%sec=central)

     And Pastor Roberto clearly felt satisfied he was doing his job:

" It is a joy to teach here, because we have a few girls taking football lessons.  I work in a Muslim context, where the woman is often not treated with dignity by men and society.  But through football, we are showing these girls the joy and love of Jesus through our actions in training."

And this is the official position of the Brazilian Baptist Convention:

".......... the Sports Mission Program has been an important strategy for entering countries officially closed to the preaching of the Gospel.  In these places, Brazilian football, a strong catalyst for opportunities, serves as a perfect instrument in the hands of God to evangelize people who admire the techniques of the Brazilians.  Thus, countries like Malaysia, Senegal, India, China, Thailand, and Guinea are opening their doors to teachers and football coaches from Brazil - evangelicals committed to the Kingdom of God, and intent on transforming the spiritual situation of local people."

                                (http://www.jmm.org.br/ )  (Click for translation)

                                        *            *             *            *            *           *

      The Brazil Tour of Hope tale is just a fragment of a far larger story.  The global Christian evangelical movement is a Hydra with many, many heads - and a relentless appetite for spiritual conquest.  Malaysia, a small country, is in many ways precariously situated.  Certainly the powers-that-be are in an unenviable position trying to deal, moderately, with the pressures placed upon the country from within and without - and in the circumstances, they seem remarkably, strenuously, liberal and forbearing.