Marina slams hypocrites and their idea of freedom

PETALING JAYA: Hypocrites who abuse the concept of freedom by distorting its meaning to suit their own needs, should be named and shamed as and when they are spotted lurking in society.

In her latest blog posting, activist Marina Mahathir said “barefaced hypocrites” thought nothing of restricting another’s freedoms but cried out in anger when theirs was seen to be curtailed.

“The same people who say that ‘too much freedom is a bad thing’ can suddenly invoke freedom of speech when someone they like is banned from speaking,” Marina said, calling this breed the “Human Rights Are Good But (HRAGB) defenders.”

She said the word “freedom” was constantly abused, especially the concept of freedom of religion, which many had “distorted” beyond recognition, preferring instead to accept that it only meant the “freedom to embrace one religion and not to ever even consider any others.”

For those born into a family of a particular religion, she argued, there was “no freedom” to leave it even when one was mature enough to think for one’s self or even to make the conscious decision to stay, if one indeed chose to.

“Such is the distorted version of freedom that some people believe in,” she said, adding how hypocrisy was evident in its many myriad of forms.

“They (hypocrites) defend the right to dress as they want while sneering at those who are different. They tut-tut at personal sins while blithely ignoring major sins like corruption. They talk about always obeying God while at the same time forgetting God’s injunctions to always be just.”

She said that when faced with such hypocrisy, it was only right that those guilty of it be “called” out.

“When they put on a pious face and then lie, we have to say so. When they chastise others for being sinful, then we should ask if they have no sins themselves. When they are blatantly unjust, those of us who consider ourselves believers must heed God’s word to put right the injustice.”

While Marina herself does not attach any particular incident or individual to the topic of her blog posting, her observations do come in the wake of the controversy surrounding Indian preacher Dr Zakir Naik, whose various lectures on Islam have offended those of other religions.

While many quarters demanded he be banned from speaking in the country, the government gave him the green light after some of his lecture topics were changed to less incendiary issues.

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