The whole heart of the issue facing Malaysia and cropping up in the recent controversial speech by associate professor Dr Ridhuan Tee Abdullah is NOT about Ridhuan Tee, his genes, character nor any religion as referred in Art Harun's blog article Compulsion in Islam.
The key word is COMPULSION and whether a human being (whether you are atheist, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu or Jewish) can be forced to become more spiritual (or approved of God) if he/she adopts certain outward customs and practices.
The opposite of spirituality is compulsion/tyranny/force/legalism. The law can never make a person a better human being, it only ensures that sins of commission are not committed. Sins of omission (doing good, giving love, charity) can never be supervised or publicly enforced.
Only the most wonderful human acts are done outside the glare of organised religion. Becoming a Christian for me is an earth-shaking event but for my non-Christian neighbour or relative, it is nothing. What matters is the fruit of my faith. Am i a better neighbour, am i more considerate, more kind?
The Internet is the most effective conversion tool. It is free and it is fair for all to see: A tree is judged by its fruits. Just look at the fruits of all the religions of the world: you will quietly observe without any bias that for those religions whose faithful followers can be counted as 70%-80% radical (regardless whether they are passive or active radicals), violent, supportive of terrorists, hypocrites in all their personal lives (unequal rights between men and women) are the religions that preach to a false God/being. Whether for good or evil, the actions and lifestyle of believers advertise the tone, the inspiration and the power of their scriptures.
So the question of compulsion is already a sign of confusion about spiritual matters. The consequence (fruit) of confusion is hate, violence and murder.
We all know that the devil's aim is to kill, steal and destroy. Whether by guile (democratic means?) or by force, he will try to do it but God has already defeated the devil on his own terms so now he is after human beings. Which is why the world is in such political and economic turmoil.
