Ancaman RECS yang berbahaya: Bekas Diplomat cuba melindunginya?

Ahmad Fairuz Uthman


Abstrak

Dalam satu persidangan antarabangsa yang dianjurkan oleh Kementerian Dalam Negeri (KDN) pada 5 Januari 2018 berlangsung di Hotel Marriott, Putrajaya dan turut dihadiri oleh YAB Perdana Menteri dan YAB Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif (CEO) Institut Kajian Strategik Islam Malaysia (IKSIM) telah membentangkan kertas kerja dan juga slides kepada para peserta. Beliau telah menyentuh hal keselamatan negara dalam kertasnya berjudul, “Islam as an Instrument of Moderation and Security: Defending Islamic Sovereignty & Human Rights”  dan mendedahkan buat pertama kalinya dalam sebuah persidangan antarabangsa tentang wujudnya sebuah pergerakan yang dinamakan sebagai “Radical Evangelical Christian State – RECS” yang dipelopori di kalangan penganut agama Kristian tertentu dalam negara.

Kumpulan ini dikatakan amat radikal dan melampau, hampir  menyamai pelampau agama Islam lainnya seperti ISIS dan DAESH; cuma mereka tidak menganjurkan pengeboman dan pembunuhan. Ia lebih bersifat indoktrinasi dan mempengaruhi pengikut-pengikutnya dengan sermons dan lectures yang diberikan oleh penceramah dalam dan luar negara dalam sesi dan upacara keagamaan mereka di gereja-gereja di Malaysia. Indoktrinasi sebegini juga amat berbahaya dan melanggar peruntukan undang-undang sedia dalam bawah Seksyen 121, Kanun Keseksaan (Penal Code).

Pengamalan kefahaman Kristian mereka dikaitkan dengan Zionis Yahudi sebagaimana yang pernah didedahkan oleh Ian Buchanan dalam bukunya, Sang Nila Utama and the Lion of Judah - Dominionism and Christian Zionism in Malaysia (2015).” Buku ini ditulis dengan cukup detail  yang menghuraikan pengaruh evangelis tegar ini  sebagai  “Dominionism” and “Christian Zionism” yang telah mula masuk ke Asia Tenggara termasuk Malaysia dan berkembang biak sejak 2010 lagi.  Fahaman ini berasal dari luar negara, dikembang-biak di Amerika Syarikat malah  telah menjadi modal politik yang sangat berpengaruh bertujuan mengawal politik dunia.

    Berikutan itu, seorang penulis yang dipercayai seorang pastor berwarganegara Malaysia dan bekas penjawat awam yang pernah berkhidmat di Kementerian Luar Negeri dan berpengalaman sebagai Duta Malaysia,  telah menulis pada 8 Januari 2018 atas tajuk, “IKSIM should stop demonizing Christians” seperti yang tersiar dalam  https://dennisignatius.com/2018/01/08/iksim-should-stop-demonizing-christians/  berkaitan laporan berita oleh  New Straits Times bertarikh 5 Januari 2018 berjudul, “Other countries encouraged to emulate Malaysia’s way of combating terrorism, extremism” seperti yang tersiar dalam https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2018/01/321899/other-countries-encouraged-emulate-malaysias-way-combating-terrorism.   

Dennis telah mengkritik pembentangan CEO IKSIM lalu saya terasa terpanggil untuk memberikan sedikit ulasan dalam Bahasa Inggeris seperti berikut di bawah ini.


I read with enthusiasm and tried to feel what and how Dennis Ignatius in his https://dennisignatius.com/ article entitled, “IKSIM should stop demonizing Christians” wishes to deny the presentation made by Professor Dato’  Mahamad Naser Disa, CEO of IKSIM (whom, lately has been a focus by many) during the Putrajaya International Security Dialogue (PISD).

Apparently the writer did not read the whole paper (in which he should have done that in the first place before presenting his piece),  that was provided to all guests and participants of the KDN Conference. Or unless, he wasn’t there at all!

Therefore again, I am almost certain again that he could have written his comments solely based on the New Straits Times (NST) news article, entitled, “Other countries encouraged to emulate Malaysia’s way of combating terrorism, extremism” dated January 5, 2018 @ 4.30pm as in https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2018/01/321899/other-countries-encouraged-emulate-malaysias-way-combating-terrorism.

    If that’s the case, the modus operandi (MO) of the “attack” is almost identical to Emeritus Professor Datuk Dr. Shad Saleem Faruqi’s comment in The Star dated 23 November 2017, made based on alleged  IKSIM’s “March 28 booklet” (see  https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/columnists/reflecting-on-the-law/2017/11/23/religious-radicalism-on-the-rise-doctrinal-and-cultural-diversity-existed-in-muslim-societies-even-i/)  based on Sin Chew Daily report resulting in the learned Emeritus Professor being summoned by PDRM.

    There are many angles of refutation that could be brought against his article. Before I refute those allegations made by the former Malaysian ambassador (whom was reportedly  had stayed in Canada as a pastor after his final assignment in Ottawa, Canada – really? Wisma Putra, PDRM and security related agencies should start checking their files I suppose!), to be fair at least, let us requote his salient points of discontent first, followed by my comments as follow:

“In the first place, Christians are scratching their heads because no one has ever heard of such a group. A Google search reveals exactly zero references to RECS.”

Comment:  Which Christian groups are you referring to, Dennis?  Don’t waste your time on that the term “RECS”. We are talking about evangelicalism and its all over in the web. Perhaps you should also watch TV Hijrah 8pm news clip dated 11 January, 2018.


“Whoever came up with it apparently wanted it to sound like the Christian equivalent of Islamic State and make it out to be some sort of Christian terrorist organization.”

Comment: You got it Dennis. It’s almost equivalent I would say and this movement became more apparent in the web around  2010, prior to GE-13. The “RECS” evangelicals are very near to what Ian Buchanan had documented in  his “Sang Nila Utama and the Lion of Judah - Dominionism and Christian Zionism in Malaysia (2015)” as  “Dominionism” and “Christian Zionism.”

“….if RECS poses such an imminent danger to Islam and the nation, why haven’t the authorities moved against the group, identified their leaders or charged them for whatever crimes they are guilty of? Does IKSIM know something that Bukit Aman is not aware of?”

Comment: Many peace loving and law-abiding Malaysian Muslims, Buddhists, Indians and “Non-radical” evangelical Christians  are wondering about the same too. That was exactly what the presenter had said during the PISD conference.  It’s all about radicalism dan extremism ie. being radical and extreme. Perhaps with your support, finally the authorities would be able to shed some light on it….


“It’s hard not to conclude that this is nothing but another sordid attempt to stigmatize Christians, part of a wider strategy to sow dissension and suspicion between Christians and Muslims.”

Comment:    “Sordid”?....I don’t think so, Dennis! You definitely did not read the IKSIM’s CEO paper that was given to all participants on that day. Poor Dennis, what a menace! This ‘RECS’ has nothing to do with the non-radical Christians in Malaysia at large. In fact they are identical  to those radicals and extremists amongst the Muslims or any other religion for that matter.


“It is utterly shameful, as well, that this is what passes for “strategic studies” these days and by a tax-payer funded institution no less.”

Comment: IKSIM might have their own way of seeing things and netizens might view it in a very completely different angle. And please do your homework so as not to be brought to court under the Sedition Act, 1948 or any other Act for that reason by IKSIM. My brief research proved that IKSIM does not use tax payers money, not like some part-timer pastors whom are being paid from tax payers money (being politicians and government officers) and yet actively propagating evangelicalism all these while.  Proselytizing Muslims in Malaysia contravene the Constitution – period.  Try read Buchanan’s book and rebut if you do not agree on some of the arguments or perhaps all. It’s worth the reading rather than spinning stories around.  


“Since when is praying considered a threat to national security? Are groups like IKSIM so insecure, so paranoid that the mere prayers of an obscure Christian group (if they exists at all) are enough to drive them to distraction?”

Comment:  Ahaaaa…..trying to agree to what IKSIM had pointed out? Do I smell some sense of guilt here? IKSIM and other Islamic Agencies are far from being “paranoid” or “insecure” with those “prayers.” We are saying that those “unusual prayers” being presented in such manner and in some cases with Israeli flag being marched in the hall, are full of provocative strong words  uttered such as “claiming this nation (are you serious?)”, “to take possession of this land (wow …this is another ‘treason’ and challenging our national security perhaps?)”, “allow me to chase away the enemy (who are the enemy?), “..give me Johor Baru or I’ll die (for what reason?)” and “…..I’m waking up the Giant of Asia (with a hidden agenda?).”   These words are far from normal prayers for Christians that many had befriended and are still best of friends. Come on, Dennis! As a “reborn Christian” that you had repeatedly said in your writings and a staunch evangelist, you know exactly what I am saying here!


“And given all that’s going on in our nation today – the corruption, the sleaze, the injustice, the abuse of power, the racism and extremism – why should IKSIM be surprised if Christians are fervently praying for godly values – peace, tolerance, respect, love, compassion, justice, and integrity –   to “invade” the nation? Surely that’s the heart cry of every decent law-abiding Malaysian today and we are not going to apologize for it.”

Comment: A reverse psychology attempt perhaps? It won’t work here because that’s my major!


“It’s high time that Islamic groups like IKSIM stop demonizing Christians and start practicing some of that “wasatiyyah” or moderation that they are so fond of talking about.”

Comment: Demonising Christian? Hello….are you OK, Dennis? It’s doubly confirmed that you did not read the whole paper and digest its contents, what else to understand the term “wasatiyyah” from the Islamic scholars point of view.  In fact, Christians should be thankful to the Professor for being so honest in bringing up this “hot” issue – so hot that many Christian European diplomats felt so uneasy with the facts laid out by him at point blank. Read Ian Buchanan’s book, Dennis and you will understand that all these are not new.  Jangan terkejut keling, kata peribahasa Melayu!  

“It is for over three decades,” said Buchanan (2015, p. 16), “that Malaysia has been targeted  by Christian Zionist groups – and the effort has gained momentum since 2010. The result can be seen not so much in a discreet and readily identifiable Christian movement – rather, Israel both ancient and modern has evolved is a comprehensive network of pastors, congregations, and evangelical infrastructure for which Israel both ancient and modern is a divine trust, and which is dedicated to moulding the country’s Christians (especially the Chinese) into an effective Trojan horse – for work both in Malaysia and in the wider region.”

“Evangelical is a form of warfare” according to Buchanan again (p. 23). “It is a battle to win hearts and minds (and the territory they occupy) from the grip of the powers of darkness. In the process, inevitably, the boundaries between the secular and the blurred – sometimes innocently, sometimes guilefully – and so are the lines of battle. Above all, it is often very hard to determine where the spiritual purpose shades into the purely political purpose.”

Now, that is “Dominionism’ together with the Spiritual Warfare. The “theology” of Dominionism is inseparable from the ‘theology” of modern Spiritual Warfare, in which organized prayer is the key weapon which the righteous bring to bear against the Devil. Or that, at least, is the official version (Buchanan, p. 24).

For Dominionists, with their emphasis on political and economic change at national (and global) scale – and the complete restructuring of diverse and complex societies – “spiritual warfare”  is somewhat omnibus term, shading easily, and necessarily, into a range of more worldly tactical options (Buchanan, ibid.).

Understanding these, perhaps that is what IKSIM had in mind and how they had defined “Radical Evangelical Christian State – RECS”. If that is so, inevitably, ‘RECS’ is a real threat, not only to Islam as the federal religion, but also  the whole nation could be at stake. As such, the proposal by IKSIM for the Malaysian security authorities to start digging the files or charge them to existing laws accordingly, is most apt and spot on!  

It has now become necessary to present the true implications as well as interpretations of facts and ideas pertaining to ‘RECS’ and what Dennis Ignatius had presented at hand  wherever they are found to be falsely presented, implied and interpreted, before calling ‘a spade a spade.’ Never allow a preacher of hate to roam freely in a complex society comprising of diverse culture and religion like Malaysia.  

Semoga semua warga dapat memahami ancaman gerakan RECS ini dan betapa bahayanya indoktrinasi kegamaan yang sedang berkembang-biak ini yang sebenarnya bertentangan dengan peruntukan 121B, Kanun Keseksaan (Penal Code) sedia ada dalam Akta Hasutan 1948.