A slip of the tongue is a fault of the mind

Raja Sara Petra

There is an English saying: a slip of the tongue is a fault of the mind. That means the reason you ‘accidentally’ say something is because it is something that is in your mind all along. So it is almost like speaking out loud or expressing what is in you.

That is the reason why The Star ‘accidentally’ equated Muslims in prayer with terrorism. This is because certain people in The Star perceive pious Muslims or Muslims who pray as terrorists. That means liberal Muslims are those who do not pray, a very simple yardstick to measure liberals and terrorists.

This reminds me of the other Chinese newspaper that recently equated Muslims who wear turbans as monkeys. Muslims took offence to that because Prophet Muhamad also wore a turban. So, if Muslims who wear turbans are similar to monkeys, then this would be insulting Prophet Muhammad as well.

When are these people going to learn that loose lips sink ships — another English saying? The excuse that many terrorists are Muslims so it is not wrong to insult Muslims or Islam is endorsing the same thing against Jews, Christians, Hindus and Buddhists — since there are also terrorists in those religions as well. This is like supporting what the Nazis did to the Jews just because the Jews killed Jesus Christ. And are those terrorists who are killing each other in the Ukraine also Muslims?

On the one hand we have people lamenting the erosion of racial harmony and the rise of racism in Malaysia while on the other hand these same people are contributing to the race and religion divide. Are these people dumb or do they think the rest of us are?