For some reason my best thoughts/blog post topics come when I’m in the bath. Sigh. And yes, I’ll get to that list in a bit. Yes, I am back from Malacca. Thank you all for being patient with me.

I just want this whole religions thing to end. By religion stupidity I mean that religion should not be used as a means to govern the people. Especially not in a plural country like Malaysia where you have free mixing of Islam, “Asian values” that are actually a byproduct of the Victorian morals and governance by various peoples. No, this is not a political rant. Because of this various mixing, you have people being unable to accept when a non-Muslim chooses to date a Muslim guy. Everyone, and I don’t mean the general public but rather their families and friends (or people who think they have a stake in said person’s life), especially of the non-Muslim, all question the person as to why they decided to date a Muslim guy/girl. It gets worse if the dating couple says that they are simply dating and weren’t thinking of marriage. You have all this pak sibuks and mak neneks (basically busybodies) who ask you “What for you date if you’re not going to get married?”

As you can see, that remark from my uncle’s bachelor party 4 years ago still irritates me to no end. Mainly because the man was a good friend/business partner of another uncle and HE (uncle’s friend) had a girlfriend with whom he had had 2 kids (she was expecting his 3rd kid) and whom he did not seem to want to marry anytime soon. -_-” I bit my tongue to stop myself from answering back at him, “So, why aren’t you married yet?”

*Breathes* Ok, time to move on.

I hate this, really. People don’t seem to get that it’s possible to love someone because of their outlook, rather than their own religion. There really needs to have some sense knocked into such people. Then when it comes to seasons like Easter, Lent and all, it’s all about guilt. Where’s the joy in it? I mean, if we’re meant to celebrate the Good News, why are we being made to feel guilty for everything? Why are we being made to feel guilty because everyone has natural desires? Yes, we all lust. We are all gluttons at one point or other in our lives. We are all lazy at one point or other. We have all committed the seven deadly sins at one point or other in our lives. I don’t think God has struck most of us down for it, has he?

Yes, I will admit that I am very annoyed at the “talk” the father at St Peter’s Church gave. Mainly because he made me feel guilty for coming down to Malacca with my family to celebrate the death of Christ. He talked about how those who rejected Christ were all those who chose not to see the truth, where they chose instead to live free of religious constraints, that they do not believe in the resurrection of Christ because they choose to live in the World, and that means doing all the sins the Church abhors, like having premarital sex, aborting a baby because you can’t afford to keep the child, that a good man will go to Hell simply because he masturbated one too many times.

I live according to my emotions and instincts because that is my only compass. It is the only compass that God has given me. Where is the Good News, Father? That he died for us? Thank you for that, but what does that do to feed the hunger in my stomach? What does it do to clothe me, or those whom I love? What does it do for my unmarried lover and my children? What does it do to raise a child?

The Good News I live by is this:

Beauty in the world.
Not beauty in the human sense, but in nature. I saw a beautiful rainbow the other day Father, and that did more for my soul than a thousand exhortions from the book could ever accomplish.

Laughter of a child, or the birth of a baby
This one never fails to lift me up. Innocent? Yes, it is. Simply beautiful? Yes! Does it drive me on? ABSOLUTELY! I want to preserve the laughter of children, to ensure they never lose their innocence and they will carry it with them throughout their ENTIRE lives. And they will pass it on to their children. That’s why I get pissed off by people who scold kids for being kids. If you don’t want them to run around into people, then keep an eye on them! If you don’t want your kid to throw a tantrum, then say no! Take responsibility for your kids, don’t expect others to!

I’m fortunate to know of at least one girl who still retains her innocence (and to an extent, naivete) even though she’s very much an adult now. I feel even luckier that she retains much of that innocence and that others DO try to protect her and that innocence, because very few people realise just how precious it is.

Only two, but I dare YOU to tell me what’s YOUR good news that doesn’t depend on the Bible or other Holy Books, but are something tangible, or something that can be quantified. Yes, miracles like Pak Lah opening the books of his politicians and their family members count.

Or the biggest miracle of all: Complete separation of state and religion, so it’s possible for Muslims in this country to marry non-Muslims without the non-Muslims being worrried that their children will be taken away because we still follow a stupid patriarchal system that says one must follow the religion of the father, or if the mother is a Muslim, then the mother’s, because Islam is superior to everyone, and that freedom is religion is only open to non-Muslims and never Muslims.

After, some people contend that when you’re born a Muslim, you’re in the perfect religion, so if you convert out of it, you should be killed!