More than ever before, the line between public and private religion has become thinner and in some cases has disappeared altogether. What is even more alarming is the use of religion to intimidate, repress and stifle discourse. It seems that when it comes to religion in this country, we are unable to say NO, to argue reasonably and rationally, or to even use common sense. I stated that Malaysia is on the verge of religious fascism. But here in Malaysia, if the call is to mean something more than a public relations exercise, we will need to do some self-reflection and soul searching to see whether we ourselves have passed the test of moderation, particularly when it comes to religion. The world is very much in need of moderation in more ways than one. It is encouraging that the past week has seen Malaysia sounding the call for the formation of a Global Movement of Moderates. Yes, there are those malay kids wearing punk gear and hairstyles wandering confused around Ipoh town and getting mistakenly branded as black metal acolytes and devil worshippers but those guys are really harmless. There are neither cadres of malay wearing brown, black, red or putting on scarfs of chequered patterns nor the sound of jackboots marching here and there.
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