I agree with Haji Mokhtar Stork when he said people should not be hypocrites when it comes to converting one's religion. Yes, what has been said is right but have we ever pondered why such hypocrisy exists?

On the surface, it is morally and principally wrong to convert your religion for material gain but I guess this is what happens when economic and other social benefits are implemented based on religion.

There are hypocrites among us because there is a mechanism, a channel, a way for a better life and economic gain if one were to simply convert. It takes two to tango.

And I don't need to elaborate further what this mechanism is. What is there to compare to merely converting one's religion for a better and easier life? This is what happens when you politicise religion and impose its interpretations onto the masses. And worse still, when you pass them as laws.

Another factor for the creation of religious hypocrites is prerequisite of conversion for marriage. This does not happen in Turkey, Indonesia or Egypt. It only happens in our beloved multiracial country. Loving a person fully and completely is not enough. You have to renounce your religion, your belief and in most cases, your parents, in order to marry the other half.

Reluctant or not, one must convert to prove their love. And we all know that in most cases, there is no genuine heart to uphold and practice one's new religion. Therefore, the probability of the convert becoming a hypocrite is pretty high. Tell me how can we not have hypocrites in our society when people are being forced to embrace and believe in a religion they do not honestly and sincerely believe in?

I believe that to believe in a religion means one honestly and sincerely believes in it from the heart, not because the law says so. But in Bolehland, you have no choice but to comply. Even if you no longer believe in it, you must still continue to observe and uphold. To leave Islam would mean you are an apostate and some quarters are actually championing the death punishment for this.

So what do you label people when they truly practice what they truly believe in but on the outside profess something else? There you go, more and more hypocrites. I don't understand why our overzealous religious authority forces people to believe in something when the former, in all their intelligence, have already decided what is best for them.

Personally I always believed that for religion, it should be left to the individual to decide. Not you, not my parents and definitely not the government.