Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
Bumi churches hit back at anti-Christian campaign by Bob Teoh
Thursday, May 02, 2013
From Malaysiakini Stung
by the incendiary anti-Christian campaign in the run-up to polling day,
bumiputera churches in Sabah and Sarawak are hitting back with
unprecedented vigour. A "pastoral communiqué" on the 'Allah'
issue has been hammered out to be circulated on Friday, just two days
before polling to all city and interior churches. The move is
unprecedented in its unusually hard hitting language uncharacteristic of
bumiputera pastors and church leaders who have traditionally maintained
a cordial relationship with the government. "We,
the native Christians of Sabah and Sarawak have kept silent for a
considerable length of time. Some have taken our silence to mean
something else. Therefore, the time has now come for us to speak," the
communiqué said in its opening line. "Surely the way forward is
no longer found in the status quo which expects the bumiputera Church in
Sabah and Sarawak to remain silent," it added. "Two-thirds of
the Church in Malaysia is made up of bumiputera Christians in Sabah and
Sarawak. In this respect, we speak with pastoral and moral
responsibility and authority against religious bigotry, racism and
extremism in any form. "But we are not alone as our
non-bumiputera brothers and sisters in Christ have also expressed
similar concern over the ‘Allah' issue on other occasions. We,
therefore, speak as one voice," the communiqué said. Call on EC to act swiftly Meanwhile, their non-bumiputera counterparts in the peninsula issued an equally hard hitting statement yesterday. The
Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM), the umbrella Christian body,
issued a strongly-worded statement at what they call a "despicable and
heinous" anti-Christian message on election campaign boards and demanded
the Election Commission (EC) act swiftly to douse the sparks of such
religious fear-mongering from catching fire once more. "These
fears are real given the recent history of Church burnings and threats
to burn the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia," said Rev Eu Hong Seng,
chairperson of CFM, and its executive committee. "The message
pits one community (Muslims) against Christians by spreading fear
through scare tactics using the issue of ‘Allah' which the High Court
had allowed as a right to freedom of religion." (The decision is
under appeal by the government to be heard on May 8, three days after
polling day). BN has since denied the allegations and claimed they did
not put up the advertising boards. Clearly upset with Najib
Razak's flip-flop over the ‘Allah' and Alkitab controversy, the
bumiputera communiqué pointed out that, "when the caretaker prime
minister first mooted the Global Movement of Moderates, we were
enthusiastic in extending our support for the initiative. But
ironically, the movement is being incessantly and blatantly distracted
by unscrupulous elements from within its own ranks, whose strange
proclivity is leaning more towards racism and extremism." Authorities' tolerance of bigotry hit "A
manifestation of such extremism is the extent to which fringe groups
within our midst would go to advance their racism and religious bigotry
over the controversy of the use of the word ‘Allah' to refer to God by
non-Muslims. "They have even suggested an open season for burning Bibles (pesta membakar Alkitab). Nothing can be more seditious and incendiary. Yet they were tolerated by the authorities," it added. It argued that the ‘Allah' controversy is not really about religion as such but about unreasonable government policies and laws. "In the face of such unreasonableness we cannot and should not remain silent. The time for us to speak has come," it said. It
was also careful to point out that, "Indeed, in speaking we are mindful
to extend love to those who may not agree with us. The essence of God
is love (1 John 4:8) thus we are compelled to love even our enemies
(Matthew 5:44)". The outrage has been simmering for a while but
it was at the recent biennial general meeting in Kuching of the
Association of Sarawak Churches, the umbrella Christian body in the
state, that its chairperson, Rev Bolly Lapok, the Anglican Archbishop of
Sarawak as well as the newly appointed Archbishop of the Anglican
Church in South-East Asia, delivered his no holds-barred address. Those
involved in drafting the communiqué revealed that the body of the text
was largely taken from the Archbishop address with his consent. It
was known as the "three Ks initiative" with members of the drafting
committee including their lawyers drawn from Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and
Kuala Lumpur scrutinizing the numerous drafts. Meanwhile, most
churches, especially those in the remote interior are shifting the
Sunday worship to Saturday to ensure their members vote in time as
polling there closes earlier at 1pm.
"We,
the native Christians of Sabah and Sarawak have kept silent for a
considerable length of time. Some have taken our silence to mean
something else. Therefore, the time has now come for us to speak," the
communiqué said in its opening line.
"These
fears are real given the recent history of Church burnings and threats
to burn the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia," said Rev Eu Hong Seng,
chairperson of CFM, and its executive committee. "The message
pits one community (Muslims) against Christians by spreading fear
through scare tactics using the issue of ‘Allah' which the High Court
had allowed as a right to freedom of religion." (The decision is
under appeal by the government to be heard on May 8, three days after
polling day). BN has since denied the allegations and claimed they did
not put up the advertising boards.
