martin's open letter to the 2 covert muslim journalists is worth another reading:
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An open letter to religious 'spies'
Martin Jalleh
Jul 16, 09
7:15pm
I just read that recently you and a friend visited one of the churches that I belong to. I was surprised that you had to do it in disguise.
You should have told the Catholic community there that you were coming and we would have given you a grand welcome.
Such was the experience of the MP for Shah Alam, Khalid Abdul Samad from PAS, who was given a standing ovation when he visited and had a dialogue with the parishioners of the Church of the Divine Mercy in Shah Alam last year.
Some time back, I attended mass in a Catholic church in Petaling Jaya and was moved by the presence of a group of Muslim students and a Muslim professor who had taken them there as part of their “exposure programme”.
None of them were converted.
You see we are not an underground church nor do we function in a clandestine manner. Our hearts are on the holy and not on the hideous. We even pray for Najib, though I feel we do not pray enough for the opposition.
We also pray for people like you who do more harm than good to your religion of peace, tolerance and compassion.
What takes place in Catholic churches is highlighted in our in-house newspaper which was quite unknown until the government decided to prevent it from using the word 'Allah'.
Alas, the Herald should thank the government for making it so well-known today.
It is a pity that you took so much trouble to “investigate” under guise what is going on in Catholic churches or that “Muslim teenagers were being converted to Christianity every Sunday”.
You should have gone directly to the Special Branch, which sends it officers to visit our churches occasionally. Surely they will be able to tell you that you would be only wasting your time!
If indeed the Catholic Church has the conversion of Muslims as its hidden agenda, it would surely have started converting hundreds or even thousands of impressionable young Muslims through its Catholic Mission schools which have existed for about 100 years.
But no such thing has ever happened.
The Muslim classmates and friends that I had in St Michael's Ipoh are still good and respected Muslims today, and such was their appreciation and respect for the La Salle Brothers that they made sure that their children in turn would attend a La Salle school or a convent!
Sadly, your disrespect knew no bounds. You chose to abandon all human and religious decency with impunity as a journalist and a Muslim. Under pretense of being a Catholic, you participated in the church service and even partook of the Holy Communion (a white and sacred wafer) strictly meant only for Catholics.
You consumed the white wafer which Catholics hold as very sacred and treat with utmost reverence, and both of you spat out the remnants, photographed it and published the picture in an article entitled 'Tinjaun Al Islam Dalam Gereja: Mencari Kesahihan Remaja Murtad' which was published in the May 2009 issue of the Al Islam magazine.
for the rest of the letter, read the link below:
http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/108645
--------------------------------
from another angle, read kam weng's response here
http://libertysentinel.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/sacrilegious-acts-by-unbelieving-spies-in-church/#more-150
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PRESS RELEASE from the RC
8th July 2009
Muslim Men Spying in Catholic Churches
We are deeply concerned that two Muslim men acting on false information that the Catholic Church was converting Muslims into Christians had recently entered a Catholic Church service for the purpose of gathering information as to whether this was occurring. They were also investigating whether the word 'Allah' was being used in church services. These men participated in the church service and even took part in the rituals that are strictly for Catholics and in doing so violated the sanctity of what Catholics hold very sacred. These men later wrote about their experience in an article entitled "Tinjaun Al Islam Dalam Gereja:Mencari Kesahihan Remaja Murtad" which was published in the May 2009 issue or the Al Islam magazine.
The men had consumed the 'communion' which is a white wafer which is blessed by the Priest in a Catholic ritual that dates back 2000 years. Via this ritual the 'white wafer' is supernaturally transformed into what Catholics believe to be Jesus Christ and when consumed allows Catholics to experience life after death. The 'communion' is held with great reverence and cannot in any way be mishandled or with a lack of respect. Even Catholics are not allowed to take home the 'communion' but are instructed to consume it immediately during the service. Catholics go through an elaborate process of preparing themselves to receive this 'communion' worthily and those who have not done so are advised to refrain from receiving it.
As such we are outraged that these Muslim men consumed it only to spit it out later, have it photographed and have its image published in the Al-Islam magazine. The total disrespect shown to what Catholics hold in closest to their hearts and believe to be most Holy strikes deep into our hearts and invokes much anger. While we are resolved not to allow anger to guide our actions and instead pray that these ignorant will be forgiven by the Allah, we want to know what has become of this most holy 'communion' and demand its immediate return to the church authorities.
We are further outraged that these Muslim men have violated our sense of privacy to freely worship. Would these men tolerate non-Muslims entering the mosque and violating the sanctity and holiness of their worship? We believe that all places of worship and the form of worship practiced in these places must be respected with the greatest sensitivity and reverence be they the church, mosque, temple or gurdwaras. Entering these premises with the intention to spy and worse to violate the sanctity of the worship only serves to incite anger and hatred that could lead to potentially dangerous consequences that would tear this country apart.
As such, as concerned Catholics, we have made a police report at the Patani Road Police station on 8th July 2009 and thereafter held a press conference at the same place. We requested that the police investigate this matter with great urgency and bring to books those responsible for acting to incite hate and resentment among the Catholic Community. We also call on the police to investigate both the Al-Islam magazine and the writers of the article.
Joachim Francis Xavier & Sudhagaran Stanley
---------------------------------------
An open letter to religious 'spies'
Martin Jalleh
Jul 16, 09
7:15pm
I just read that recently you and a friend visited one of the churches that I belong to. I was surprised that you had to do it in disguise.
You should have told the Catholic community there that you were coming and we would have given you a grand welcome.
Such was the experience of the MP for Shah Alam, Khalid Abdul Samad from PAS, who was given a standing ovation when he visited and had a dialogue with the parishioners of the Church of the Divine Mercy in Shah Alam last year.
Some time back, I attended mass in a Catholic church in Petaling Jaya and was moved by the presence of a group of Muslim students and a Muslim professor who had taken them there as part of their “exposure programme”.
None of them were converted.
You see we are not an underground church nor do we function in a clandestine manner. Our hearts are on the holy and not on the hideous. We even pray for Najib, though I feel we do not pray enough for the opposition.
We also pray for people like you who do more harm than good to your religion of peace, tolerance and compassion.
What takes place in Catholic churches is highlighted in our in-house newspaper which was quite unknown until the government decided to prevent it from using the word 'Allah'.
Alas, the Herald should thank the government for making it so well-known today.
It is a pity that you took so much trouble to “investigate” under guise what is going on in Catholic churches or that “Muslim teenagers were being converted to Christianity every Sunday”.
You should have gone directly to the Special Branch, which sends it officers to visit our churches occasionally. Surely they will be able to tell you that you would be only wasting your time!
If indeed the Catholic Church has the conversion of Muslims as its hidden agenda, it would surely have started converting hundreds or even thousands of impressionable young Muslims through its Catholic Mission schools which have existed for about 100 years.
But no such thing has ever happened.
The Muslim classmates and friends that I had in St Michael's Ipoh are still good and respected Muslims today, and such was their appreciation and respect for the La Salle Brothers that they made sure that their children in turn would attend a La Salle school or a convent!
Sadly, your disrespect knew no bounds. You chose to abandon all human and religious decency with impunity as a journalist and a Muslim. Under pretense of being a Catholic, you participated in the church service and even partook of the Holy Communion (a white and sacred wafer) strictly meant only for Catholics.
You consumed the white wafer which Catholics hold as very sacred and treat with utmost reverence, and both of you spat out the remnants, photographed it and published the picture in an article entitled 'Tinjaun Al Islam Dalam Gereja: Mencari Kesahihan Remaja Murtad' which was published in the May 2009 issue of the Al Islam magazine.
for the rest of the letter, read the link below:
http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/108645
--------------------------------
from another angle, read kam weng's response here
http://libertysentinel.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/sacrilegious-acts-by-unbelieving-spies-in-church/#more-150
--------------------------------
PRESS RELEASE from the RC
8th July 2009
Muslim Men Spying in Catholic Churches
We are deeply concerned that two Muslim men acting on false information that the Catholic Church was converting Muslims into Christians had recently entered a Catholic Church service for the purpose of gathering information as to whether this was occurring. They were also investigating whether the word 'Allah' was being used in church services. These men participated in the church service and even took part in the rituals that are strictly for Catholics and in doing so violated the sanctity of what Catholics hold very sacred. These men later wrote about their experience in an article entitled "Tinjaun Al Islam Dalam Gereja:Mencari Kesahihan Remaja Murtad" which was published in the May 2009 issue or the Al Islam magazine.
The men had consumed the 'communion' which is a white wafer which is blessed by the Priest in a Catholic ritual that dates back 2000 years. Via this ritual the 'white wafer' is supernaturally transformed into what Catholics believe to be Jesus Christ and when consumed allows Catholics to experience life after death. The 'communion' is held with great reverence and cannot in any way be mishandled or with a lack of respect. Even Catholics are not allowed to take home the 'communion' but are instructed to consume it immediately during the service. Catholics go through an elaborate process of preparing themselves to receive this 'communion' worthily and those who have not done so are advised to refrain from receiving it.
As such we are outraged that these Muslim men consumed it only to spit it out later, have it photographed and have its image published in the Al-Islam magazine. The total disrespect shown to what Catholics hold in closest to their hearts and believe to be most Holy strikes deep into our hearts and invokes much anger. While we are resolved not to allow anger to guide our actions and instead pray that these ignorant will be forgiven by the Allah, we want to know what has become of this most holy 'communion' and demand its immediate return to the church authorities.
We are further outraged that these Muslim men have violated our sense of privacy to freely worship. Would these men tolerate non-Muslims entering the mosque and violating the sanctity and holiness of their worship? We believe that all places of worship and the form of worship practiced in these places must be respected with the greatest sensitivity and reverence be they the church, mosque, temple or gurdwaras. Entering these premises with the intention to spy and worse to violate the sanctity of the worship only serves to incite anger and hatred that could lead to potentially dangerous consequences that would tear this country apart.
As such, as concerned Catholics, we have made a police report at the Patani Road Police station on 8th July 2009 and thereafter held a press conference at the same place. We requested that the police investigate this matter with great urgency and bring to books those responsible for acting to incite hate and resentment among the Catholic Community. We also call on the police to investigate both the Al-Islam magazine and the writers of the article.
Joachim Francis Xavier & Sudhagaran Stanley
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