By Bishop Hwa Yung

Christians need to think hard on how to respond to issues in our country.

At the end of July, I was invited to help out with some work at the 18th World Assembly of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) in Poland. IFES is the mother body of many Christian student fellowships all over the world, including FES in Malaysia and Singapore, OCF in Australia and New Zealand, and UCCF in UK. But the invitation had a special attraction for me because the Assembly was being held in Krakow. What so special about it?

First, Krakow is only an hour’s drive to Auschwitz, the largest concentration camp built by the Nazis during the 2nd World War. I would never want to pass over the opportunity to see it, although it is a horrible place to visit. The best estimate is that 1.2 million (1.1 million were Jews, and the rest included Gypsies, Poles, and handi-capped persons) were murdered there. The prisoners were first gassed with hydrogen cyanide and their bodies were then burnt to ashes to hide the crime. People like Ahmadinejad, the current President of Iran, who deny that the Holocaust ever happened should pay a mandatory visit there. In face of all the facts, such silly denials would indeed have been so funny and laughable, if the reality had not been so tragic!

Since 1947, Auschwitz has been set up as a museum by the then Communist regime, as a reminder to the world of the depth of human evil and the final logic of racism of any kind! It is also a reminder to us all of the danger of remaining silent and not mak-ing a stand in face of rampant evil. Martin Niemöller, a German pastor had initially supported Hitler for nationalistic reasons. But when he finally came to realise how evil Nazism was, he began resisting it and ended up imprisoned for 7 years. After the war, he summed up the danger of staying silent with the famous quote:

‘First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out--Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out--Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me- and there was no one left to speak for me.’

The second reason why I specially wanted to see Krakow is a much happier one! Krakow is ancient capital of Poland and the location of Jagiellonian University, the second oldest university in Eastern Europe. Here in this city the late Pope John Paul II went to university and, during the 2nd World War, trained for the priesthood in an underground seminary. In 1964, at the young age of 42, he was appointed the Archbishop of Krakow—with the permission of the Communist authorities in Poland, who wrongly thought that he would be a political pushover! Instead, he proved to be an outstanding pastor, a first-rate administrator, and brilliant thinker. But there was more. During his time as Archbishop he fearlessly, though always tactfully, stood up to the communist authorities in Poland. In October 1978, against widespread expectations, he became the first non-Italian pope in five hundred years!

Pope John Paul II’s work has a special relevance to us today. He had lived through the war years under the Nazis, and knew evil for what it is. Then as the Archbishop of Krakow, he saw with absolute clarity how destructive Soviet communism was of almost all that is good and beautiful in life. Thus he took a firm stand against it and all its oppressive and dehumanising power. Repeatedly, he encouraged his people to reject the tyrant’s most important weapon, fear! His unflinching advice in the 1950s to the Polish clergy in face of intense persecution was ‘Don’t be afraid!’

Even though he played down his own contribution, many have credited him as being one of the major forces behind the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. Gorbachev, the then Soviet leader, had no doubts about that. Writing in 1992, he said: ‘Everything that happened in Eastern Europe in these few years would have been impossible without the presence of this pope and the important role … that he played on the world stage.’ Stalin, one of the worst of 20th century tyrants, once asked mockingly: ‘How many (military) divisions has the pope?’ He finally got his answer!

I write this against the background of the many happenings in our country today. In the past few months alone, we had the drama of the Sarawak state elections where corruption was the central issue. This was soon followed by the Bersih 2.0 demonstrations of 9th July calling for clean and fair elections in the country. The movement was initiated by some 60 NGOs, representing all major racial and religious groups, because of the perceived failure of the Electoral Commission to protect the electoral process against manipulation. Did the government’s heavy-handed response to Bersih arise out of a sense of deep insecurity and fear? For example, government censors even blacked out parts of The Economist (16 July 2011) report on the event. This seems silly in our internet age as the full report was and still is freely available on the net! In any case, the scenes of police action on 9th July beamed around the world did much damage to Malaysia’s image.

Bersih 2 was followed in rapid succession by the release of the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Teoh Beng Hock’s death. Although produced by highly respected individuals, nevertheless many have questioned whether the report told the whole story. Be that as it may, even the conclusions of the report as it is are enough to leave the reputation of MACC in tatters. What credibility can the nation’s primary anti-corruption agency have when three of its officers, at least one who is senior, have been shown to lie publicly?

The latest episode is that of the JAIS raid on an NGO dinner held on DUMC premise on the evening of 3rd August. Leaving aside the charge of alleged proselytisation, for which no evidence has been given, two fundamental issues are at stake. First, such a raid by a government agency for Muslim affairs on a church premise demonstrates a total disrespect for non-Muslim religious groups in the country. So much for slogans about 1Malaysia! Second, since no court warrant was obtained, it appears that the whole raid was strictly-speaking illegal, despite claims to the contrary! Otherwise, why would the JAIS Director be back-pedalling, and now saying that it was not a raid but only a ‘check’ (The Star, 12 Aug 2011)?

One certainly hopes that this is not the beginning of a downhill slide in which our country ends up a failed state where lawlessness prevails, like Somalia. Neither would we wish to see our citizens being haunted by the constant fear of raids, like those of the Gestapo or the KGB. But what is certain is that the JAIS episode (together with other issues) does raise crucial questions about the future of religious freedom in the nation.

With some exceptions, in the past Christians have generally taken a rather low profile in the politics of this country. Yet this is fast changing. As Joceline Tan says, increasingly Christians are a ‘Minority with a major role’ (Sunday Star, 24 July 2011; Focus, p.23). This is not a bad thing in our context today as Christ has called us to be ‘salt’ and ‘light’ in the world. But it can be a dangerous thing too—not because it is wrong to be concerned and involved, but because it is too easy to be naïve and starry-eyed in our involvement! What do I mean?

A recent study on evangelical Protestant participation in politics in Africa, Asia and Latin America, sponsored by the Pew Research Center, revealed some interesting observations. In his review of this study, Joel Carpenter (‘Now What? Revivalist Christianity and Global South Politics,’ Books and Culture [Mar/Apr 2009], pp. 26-28) highlighted a number of concerns about Christian political involvement.

First, in contrast an earlier reluctance, evangelicals in the non-western world are increasingly getting involved in politics and public life in recent years. Secondly, although they can mobilise their followers quickly for action at special critical moments, evangelicals are not good at sustaining political involvement long-term. Thirdly, evangelicals, once in power, are just as prone as others to corruption and cronyism. Fourthly, although there are growing signs of political maturity amongst evangelicals, in general their greatest weakness in their efforts at electoral politics is the lack of any serious political thought, based on clear principles and long-term goals. As Carpenter puts it, evangelical ‘activism often work against their valuing intellectual work, engaging traditions of Christian social and political thought, and developing principle-driven, long-term strategies.’

In other words, evangelicals are strong on enthusiasm and short-term activism, but often naïve about long-term strategy in electoral politics. Even worse, they are just as easily sucked into the culture of corruption and power abuse that often goes with political power. This brings their public usefulness to a quick end and the church is discredited in the process. Does this bring back echoes of Sabah from not too long ago?

When I look at the present Christian responses in the country, I sense a real problem. I suspect that many think that if they can only win the battle in the ballot box, they will be able to save the nation from our present mess! Even if this is the answer and proper course of action for the moment, nevertheless, it is short-term at best. What the Pew study clearly shows is that it is naïve to think that there is all that is to it, if we are truly concerned about our nation’s future.

Today we are faced with an extremely complex national situation, as well as a deeply divided nation. Christians need to avoid merely knee-jerk reactions, but to think hard about how we respond. Our actions must be based on both carefully thought-out short-term actions and long-term strategies that will truly enhance nation-building in Malaysia. In the next few issues of the Pelita I hope to discuss further what some of these short and long-term considerations should be. May God grant us much humility and wisdom as we wait on Him to lead us forward!