Just kongsi raya can or not?!?

Americans are damn bloody stupid about holidays - both the hardcore atheists who want to see no sign of religion in public life and the fundamentalists who think it's caving in to paganism to be sensitive to your non-Christian friends. I can't believe the right-wingers are making a fuss about Bush writing "happy holidays" on his cards. It's not like it's a new thing for presidents to do.

They really need to take a look at Malaysia. Say what you like about restrictions on freedom of speech, say what you like about racism and corruption in the government, but at least we know how to celebrate holidays together. Portmanteau phrases like "Kongsi Raya" and "Deeparaya" may sound a bit corny, but they're ten thousand times better than the absolutism that exists over here, which is threatening both to people of other religions AND to evangelicals who realize that Jesus had better things to do than this nonsense.

Plus, they're making the holidays not fun.

My dad never let us have a Christmas tree. He must have gotten a lot of questions about it over the years, since he's a pastor and our house was always busy around Christmas, but his answer was that "It's an European symbol, not a Christian symbol." The Lausanne Covenant (made at the 1974 International Congress) has a pertinent clause (from section 10, "Evangelism and Culture"):

Missions have all too frequently exported with the gospel an alien culture and churches have sometimes been in bondage to culture rather than to Scripture. Christ's evangelists must humbly seek to empty themselves of all but their personal authenticity in order to become the servants of others, and churches must seek to transform and enrich culture, all for the glory of God.

If we want people to take God's word seriously, we have to be cognizant that it's not the white man's religion.

Last year, for the first time in history, a Malay Muslim prime minister sent Christmas cards to about a thousand Christians. See...we CAN get along.

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Oh yeah, and I honestly don't see why the IFC should be a big problem for Muslims, except for the clause about taking away the tax exemption for zakat (item #5.xiii). Sure, let the Muslims keep their tax exemption for giving zakat. Just let people of other religions have tax exemptions for donating to their organizations too. The article linked to was from a sidebar ad on the Malaysia Today website that shows religious symbols dangling from a puppeteer's hand, btw.