I would like to thank Dr Syed Alwi Ahmad for his letter Religious ideals must be voluntarily observed.

I think many of the other letters crying for moral standards and religious advocacy are missing a major point - that religion is a personal journey. It is not legislated and no amount of laws and governance can force a person to successfully negotiate his spiritual destiny.

Which is why secularism does not equate to lawlessness or spiritual chaos. Nevertheless, it is often demonised as such. What secular laws do, especially in a multicultural country like Malaysia, is offer a platform for a variety of spiritual beliefs and practices to coexist in harmony.

It does not bar the individual from practicing his religion to the fullest, but it does prevent him from imposing his will onto others who differ. The argument that Islam will suffer because of secular laws is unfounded and paranoiac.

It's what the religious leaders tell you because what they really would like is to have the political power of Islamic laws in their hands.

Ultimately, all the arguments about religious laws and apostasy boil down to politics and power. Otherwise, those who feel so strongly feel for religion would be spending their time perfecting their communication with their Almighty rather than being concerned about the behaviour of others.

Just as they do not accept those who question their interpretation, they should also then understand that others also do not like theirs being criticised. A democracy is where each individual is free to form his or her own opinion. Who is ultimately right, I think, will be obvious when one meets his maker and not before.

So, unless I am wrong and Malaysia is not a multicultural, multireligious country, then I think there is a need to rethink the role of religion in governance. It's sad to see all this 'holier than thou' arguments, each claiming his religion to be correct, authoritative, better etc.

That's why I agree with Syed Alwi that we need to broaden our perspectives, learn more about what is going on around the world and educate ourselves on the beliefs and practices of other peoples.

The more people broaden their outlooks and learn to respect alternative views, the better our society will be in dealing with social ills and political misdemeanours. Then they will realise that social problems are not caused by going for a drink in the pub or wearing a low-cut dress, but that it's caused by poor education systems, poor governance and a lack of proper civil services.