Catholic Lawyers' Society's Press Release on the "warning and show cause" letters

PRESS STATEMENT ON THE WARNING AND “SHOW CAUSE” LETTERS ISSUED BY THE HOME MINISTRY TO THE HERALD

A series of warning letters culminating in a “show cause” letter have been issued by the Home Ministry to the HERALD-The Catholic Weekly in respect of articles carried by the paper which, according to an official from the Home Ministry, were allegedly “politically inclined and touched on Islamic issues”.

The Herald is a weekly publication printed by the Catholic Church in Malaysia. It carries news of current affairs and religious and educational articles with a view to propagating the Catholic faith. The Herald is sold in churches and not by newsvendors. The Herald has a circulation of 13,000 copies per week and a readership estimated at 50,000.

In seeking to control the contents of the Herald, the Home Ministry’s warning and “show cause” letters go against Article 3 (1), Article 10 (1) (a) and Article 11 (3) (a) of the Federal Constitution i.e. the right to freely practice one’s religion, the general freedom of speech and expression and the right of a religious group to manage its own affairs. Such controls would deprive the Catholic community of current information and education relating to their faith and such an act by the authorities is tantamount to a curtailment of religious freedom.

The Honourable Home Minister has said that the Herald should restrict its articles to matter pertaining to religion only. In an article carried by the Sun on 14.8.2008, he was quoted as stating:

“If you are to write on religion, then you are supposed to touch on matters pertaining to:

• questions on rituals,

• adherence to God,

• followers

• and anything related to your divine mission.”

It is significant that the Honourable Minister referred to matters pertaining to the adherence to God, followers and anything related to the divine mission. The Catholic Church teaches that it is the duty of Christians to contribute along with the civil authorities to the good of the society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity and freedom. This contribution of Christians to society is rooted in love. This love manifests itself in social and political charity. Social charity is to seek the good of all people not only as individuals but as a larger, social community. In order to promulgate social charity, it is necessary to organise and structure society in order that no member of society is left in need. Organising and structuring society requires the application of political charity. This teaching in found in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church and for the purpose of easy reference this can be read on pages 207 & 208 under the section “The Way of Love”.

The reporting in the Herald is in line with the teachings of the Catholic Church on social and political charity and on each Catholic’s mission as an adherent of the faith.

Ultimately, the interpretation of what constitutes religious matters should be left to the leaders and adherents of the faith in question. The Home Ministry is not in a position to dictate to Catholics (or for that matter, the proponents of any other faith) the scope of their religion.

The Catholic Lawyers’ Society of Kuala Lumpur calls on the Home Ministry to withdraw its warning and “show cause” letters and maintain the Herald’s publishing permit.

Dated this 18th day of August 2008

Mabel Sabastian
President
Catholic Lawyers’ Society Kuala Lumpur

No reason to penalize Herald

Herald only fulfilling its obligation

The government’s decision to issue show cause letter to the Catholic weekly Herald is regrettable. Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar’s directive to the tabloid to stick strictly to purely religious issues is unfair. His contention that religion is all about rituals and the adherence by its followers is a myopic view of tenets of every major religion in the world. Spirituality is inter-twined closely with social charity and they cannot be divorced from each other.

Rituals may be an important part of a religion but rituals alone without a commitment for the well being of mankind would give little credence to a particular faith. The basic and fundamental teaching of all religions is the promotion of love for fellow men, regardless of the race, creed, social and political status. Fighting for justice and a concern for the underprivileged is a fulfillment of this love for mankind. It is of utmost importance for the followers of a particular faith to adhere to this fundamental rule besides the rituals of their particular religion.

Politics deals with fairness, justice and the rule of law. If these are tampered, especially by those in power, for any reason, then it is the duty of every citizen, regardless of his faith, to speak up against such injustices, otherwise one would be failing in his duty to the nation. It should be the duty of the various religions to emphasize to their followers this important duty to the nation, which is also a religious duty. While politicization of religion is morally wrong, nevertheless religion itself has a duty to infuse the much needed morality into politics.

Herald should not be just an instrument to provide information on religious issues only as proposed by Syed Hamid but be a means to highlight the injustices in society as well as obtaining feedback from the people on their various needs from time to time. Being a Christian publication Herald, is only fulfilling its responsibility to its congregation and has always acted within the laws of the country.

Christianity, like all other faiths, besides emphasizing on spirituality also places great importance on social obligations to the people and it would be unfair to restrict Herald’s coverage to purely religious rituals. It would only be fair and just that the government withdraw its show cause letters and allow Herald to continue with its noble tasks of nation building in our multi-racial and multi-religious country.

At the same time just as Herald should be allowed to voice its opinion on the various issues that are seen as unjust, it should also in turn be receptive to constructive criticisms from its own members from within and without. Unless it can accept such critical comments with magnanimity it does not have the audacity to criticize the government for its failures.

Jesus himself was a great defender of justice especially justice for the poor and underprivileged. He fought the perpetrators of this injustice by his own peculiar way by his unjust death on the cross for what he called unselfish love. As his followers we too are asked to fight for justice wherever it is breached.

As Catholics let us take the lead,let us become the shining examples for others, by living our lives in accordance with the teachings of Christ. Let justice, love and goodwill be the guiding principles in our dealings with fellow men. Let us ourselves be more tolerant to dissenting views from our own members and especially from those of other faiths. The only way we can promote inter-ethnic harmony in a country like ours, is to have an extra-ordinary love for those different from us. We cannot love God if we do not love our neighbor, especially our ‘enemies’.

Dr.Chris Anthony

No reason to penalize Herald

Only fulfilling its obligation

The government’s decision to issue show cause letter to the Catholic weekly Herald is regrettable. Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar’s directive to the tabloid to stick strictly to purely religious issues is unfair. His contention that religion is all about rituals and the adherence by its followers is a myopic view of tenets of every major religion in the world.

Rituals may be an important part of a religion but rituals alone without a commitment for the well being of mankind would give little credence to a particular faith. The basic and fundamental teaching of all religions is the promotion of love for fellow men, regardless of the race, creed, social and political status. Fighting for justice and a concern for the underprivileged is a fulfillment of this love for mankind. It is of utmost importance for the followers of a particular faith to adhere to this fundamental rule besides the rituals of their particular religion.

Politics deals with fairness, justice and the rule of law. If these are tampered, especially by those in power, for any reason, then it is the duty of every citizen, regardless of his faith, to speak up against such injustices, otherwise one would be failing in his duty to the nation. It should be the duty of the various religions to emphasize to their followers this important duty to the nation, which is also a religious duty. While politicization of religion is morally wrong, nevertheless religion itself has a duty to infuse the much needed morality into politics.

Herald should not be just an instrument to provide information on religious issues only as proposed by Syed Hamid but be a means to highlight the injustices in society as well as obtaining feedback from the people on their various needs from time to time. Being a Christian publication Herald, is only fulfilling its responsibility to its congregation and has always acted within the laws of the country.

Christianity, like all other faiths, besides emphasizing on spirituality also places great importance on social obligations to the people and it would be unfair to restrict Herald’s coverage to purely religious rituals. It would only be fair and just that the government withdraw its show cause letters and allow Herald to continue with its noble tasks of nation building in our multi-racial and multi-religious country.

At the same time just as Herald should be allowed to voice its opinion on the various issues that are seen as unjust, it should also in turn be receptive to constructive criticisms from its own members from within and without. Unless it can accept such critical comments it does not have the audacity to criticize the government for its failures.

As Catholics let us take the lead to live our lives in accordance with the teachings of Christ thereby becoming shining examples for others. Let justice, love and goodwill be the guiding principles in our dealings with fellow men. Let us ourselves be more tolerant to dissenting views from our members and especially from those of other faiths. The only way we can promote inter-ethnic harmony in a country like ours,is to have extra-ordinary love for those different from us. We cannot love God if we do not love our neighbor, especially our ‘enemies’.

Dr.Chris Anthony