Spiritual quest for common ground
Rev Thomas Phillips speaks about the work of the interfaith body he leads and the challenges facing it.
“Like I have mentioned many times before, it’s all about looking for a common ground to approach issues concerning the Malaysian public. As long as we can find the common ground, we can alleviate a lot of problems.”
G Vinod, Free Malaysia Today
The threat of religious strife is ever present in this country of many faiths. Perhaps the worst instance of religious violence in our recent history was last year’s spate of arson against houses of worship following a High Court decision to allow a Christian publication to call God “Allah”.
Thank God that such incidents are rare.
Perhaps we should also thank God that we have the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBHST), which was formed 28 years ago to promote understanding among the believers of different religions.
According to its president, the Rev Thomas Phillips of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church, the council is a dynamic body that does not deal only in matters of faith, beliefs and rituals. For example, it is “very serious” about promoting freedom of expression in Malaysia.
“Spiritual life is more than indulging in the ritualistic process alone,” he said. “Justice, equality, fighting corruption and protecting the environment are also part of spirituality.
“That is why we throw our support behind civil liberties movements. It’s about taking a holistic approach in caring for each other’s welfare.”
Emphasising the need to promote unity in diversity, Phillips said Malaysians could find common ground if they would stop identifying too much with their ethnic origins.
“We should call ourselves Malaysians,” he said as he bit into his payasam at a popular Indian restaurant in Brickfields. “We eat the same food and we adhere to the same laws. By confining ourselves within the racial barrier, we cannot progress.”
As things stood, he said, it was as if there was a Malaysian-made caste system.
He said many members of his own family had married non-Indians and he was proud of the fact.
Natural zeal
Talking about the challenges that the council faces, Phillips said everyone had a natural zeal to promote his own religious beliefs on another.
“But it is unnecessary to tell a person of a different faith that his practices are wrong. Just teach your religion to another person provided he is willing to listen.”
He said that although there were small pockets of fanaticism, most Malaysians could accept one another despite differences in religious belief.
He pointed to Brickfields as a good example of how people could co-exist. “Here we have temples, churches and a mosque in very close proximity with no issues arising,” he said.
Phillips also referred to failed talks with the Institute of Islamic Understanding (Ikim), emphasising that every Malaysian was aware of the position of Islam as the nation’s official religion.
Last year, the government tried to sponsor an inter-faith dialogue that would include Muslims, but it came to nought when several Islamic officials told MCCBHST that Islam was superior to other religions.
“In the inter-faith council, it’s not about finding which religion is better,” Phillips said.
“Like I have mentioned many times before, it’s all about looking for a common ground to approach issues concerning the Malaysian public. As long as we can find the common ground, we can alleviate a lot of problems.”
