Catholic bishop Dr Paul Tan Chee Ing, SJ, said he hopes that the ongoing debate on the ‘Allah’ issue will have the eventual effect of liberating Malaysians from the superstitions that have inhibited inter-religious dialogue in Malaysia.

“Inter-religious dialogue is a good thing because it paves the way for believers of different religions to arrive at a grasp of our common humanity with its beautiful variety of forms and colours - and that is ultimately more unifying than it is divisive, more cohesive than chaotic,” said the head of the Catholic Church in the Malacca-Johor diocese.

“I know it is a paradoxical notion but it is our differences that unite us since we are thereby prompted to approach each other to study the differences, to appreciate the good and to reject the bad,” asserted the bishop.

“In fact this is what brings true progress to civilisations. Stagnation,or worse still, regression, is precisely the closing in on oneself, the refusal to interact with people with views different to yours.

“Admittedly, we are not always charmed by the way in which others differ from ourselves, yet it certain that by our curiosity we are made cognisant of one another,” added the Jesuit-trained prelate.

Bishop Paul Tan said the quest for full inter-religious dialogue in Malaysia has been baulked by the apprehension of those from the Islamic side who fear that their participation would imply acceptance of the notion of the parity of all religions.

“You will have noticed that in this ongoing debate on the ‘Allah’ issue the people from the Islamic side who are more amenable to the notion that the term is not exclusive to Muslims are the ones that have been least averse to the notion of inter-religious dialogue,” he remarked.

“I don’t think one can credibly argue that these amenable ones are less Muslim than the ones that object to followers of other religions using the ‘Allah’ term,” he contended.

“I don’t think that one’s religious rectitude is determined by factors as superficial as the linguistic terms used to hail the divinity one pays obeisance to.

“I think one’s religious rectitude revolves around our behaviour’s consonance with our religious beliefs and the effect of that behavior on one’s community and larger society,” he said.

Bishop Paul Tan described as “refreshing” the opinion expressed recently by PAS vice-president Husam Musa that as a Muslim, the latter felt pride that followers of other religions want to use the word ‘Allah’ to worship their god.

‘Opinion that freshens like the morning breeze’

“This is the type of opinion that freshens like the morning breeze. It challenges our ability to comprehend and makes us shed the staid for the stimulating.

“It challenges our pre-conceived notions and makes us sit up and look anew at our starting premises, and that is a good thing,” he elaborated.

Bishop Paul Tan praised the police for keeping partisans in the debate away from confrontational gatherings and postures.

He said the worst thing that could be happen in the course of the ongoing debate was the preferment of sedition charges against assorted participants because that “would accentuate the antagonistic forces and confrontational impulses prevalent in certain quarters of the discourse”.

“The ongoing debate in advance of the decision of the Federal Court is a good thing because it will air the issue and have a becalming effect on subterranean distempers,” he said.

“May we not be wise above measure or sobriety but cultivate truth in charity,” concluded the bishop.