Organization: Lycos Communications (http://comm.lycos.com:80)
(for personal reflections only. not for publication)
The al-Ma'nuah incident should afford us an opportunity to learn to be more sensitive to the need to preserve a multi-faiths and multi-ethnic society by clarifying some essential concepts, social, political, legal and theological.

First and foremost is the recognition that suspects (not criminals yet as suggested by the mainstrain media because they have not been charged and convicted by any open court of law) involved in the arms heist, should only be charged under the common Penal Code for criminal offences like mutiny, illegal possession of firmarms, kidnapping, murder or etcetra, but NOT for "deviationist activities" because it smacks of sectarian persecution not unlike the persecution of the Methodists, Society of Friends or other protestant churches by the Christian Theocracy in the counter-Reformation period.

From a point of view of common national law, no one should be prosecuted or proscribed for spiritual beliefs as long as the belief does not involve the following elements :

(1) Human sacrifice, and
(2) Incest (between biological mother and son, father and daughter, or sister and brother), or sexual intercourse with animals or beasts.

Second, in the case of al'Manuah, only Muslims or Islamic authority are competent to rule whether it is a "deviationist cult" according to the theology of Islam; it is not for non-Muslims to say or suggest if al-Manuah. Similarly, whether Unitarian or Trinitarian theology is a "correct" form of Christian belief, or whether walking bare foot on burning chacoals is cultish, can only be determined by Hindu and Buddhist authorities on theologies; otherwise, the danger that one religion accuses another religion of "deviationist" would arise and threaten social peace and inter-religious and inter-faith harmony.

Third, atheists, while they have the right to exist and to believe there is no god, should be mindful that atheism should not unconsciously become the judges of all religions, or they risk becoming a Religion for all religions itself, and atheists the Teachers of all religions, which is ridiculous;

Fourth, for knowledge's sake, we should ask if al'Manuah is more a pre-Islamic Malay/Javaese tradition beliefs that has always been associated with nationalist aspiration in politics (the politics of "merah-putih in Indonesia), than the so-called "Islamic fundamentalism", and Islamic authorities in PAS and Umno should clarify this to Malaysians and the world;

Fifth, to suggest or imply that PAS as a party is a "deviationist cult of criminal violence of anti-non Muslims nature" is utterly childish, simplistic, irresponsible and condemnable that reflects a psychological state of paranoia and its associated symptoms like hallucination and the delusion of persecution, which call for medical attention and advice.