VOXPOP 'In another country with an independent police and judiciary, I doubt Najib will be able to refuse to comment on such a damning claim.'

Scorpene case: French lawyers apply for work visa

Kairos: As long as BN is in control, they will do everything in their power to prevent the truth behind the Scorpene corruption scandal to be exposed.

The reason is obvious. Somebody very high up is directly involved in the corruption involving hundreds of millions of ringgit as well as a gruesome murder thrown in.

What amazes me is that the whole government machinery is used to stop the truth to be revealed, including prohibiting the French lawyers from entering the country. Why?

Is there not one single righteous man left in the current government who wants to see justice done?

Is it true that every single person in authority are so demonised that no one has the guts to stand up for what is right? What kind of a demon is controlling the people in the government?

Loyal Malaysian: Silence cannot be golden in PM Najib Razak's case since he has been named explicitly. In another country with an independent police and judiciary, I doubt he will be able to refuse to comment on such a damning claim.

Anyway, I doubt the French lawyers can get their working visas.

Alfy: Dear lawyers, don't you guys think that you really are dreaming that you will really get to come here? Did you forget what happened previously?

A crook will never allow anyone into his lair.

Dood: Expect the application to be delayed, then mysteriously get lost, and when they reapply, the application is finally rejected without reason.

Sadirah: If you are clean and have nothing to hide, then the visa should be issued.

However if you are fearful that the truth is harmful to your interests, especially if it is tainted with corruption, then as PM, you will ensure that no cooperation is extended and the visa application rejected.

In many ways, any attempt to prevent the disclosure of truth will be harmful to the persons concerned and to Malaysia's international standing.

So much money has been wasted for submarines a nation like ours does not really need. But the money that could be made from such deals is what promoted such spending sprees.

Let the truth emerge. Their karma will work out their fates.

Kazakh: I would not be surprised if the Umno-BN government bars the lawyers from entering the country.

But that should only pour oil into the burning fire. There is always the Internet conferencing facility that can be used to access the dialogue between Suaram and their lawyers.

Manji: Allah made gays and lesbians, too

Galpasqueen: There is nothing wrong in someone promoting their concept or idea. If it's accepted it becomes popular, and so be it. If not, who cares.

Author Irshad Manji is merely asking people to think and sometimes question wisely. I don't see anything wrong with that. It's something we do in our daily life and most of the time, on unimportant matters.

Disaster has always brought people together beyond religion, race, caste or creed. Why? Because we start to think humanely.

When we do that, humility sets in and automatically we realise, we are all part of one humanity.

YF: Manji, I understand your dilemma in finding answers on the matter of gays and lesbians in the faith that you profess as there are hardly any books on this subject, written by authors that share your faith and the same religious text that you read.

Even if there are, they are more persecutive rather than corrective. May I suggest you read books from Joseph Nicolosi in understanding that gays and lesbians are not necessarily born that way.

It is said that nine out of the 10 Caesars of Rome practised gay relationships. So by your logic nine out of 10 people should be gay?

The fact that most of your family are not gay proves that the "born this way" claim is really inaccurate.

Conditioning plays a lot more part in it, but such information has been suppressed by the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual) movement through lawsuits and false accusations.

Swipenter: What Manji is saying is that a perfect being cannot create something imperfect. It does not make any sense for a perfect being to create something imperfect unless it is done deliberately.

But the big question is why do it? Taking it one step further, is man created in the image of God?

These are hard questions to ask and to answer. That is why faith is essential in any religious/spiritual endeavour, but definitely not blind faith and blind devotion.

Telestai!: I agree that God created all human beings whether they turn out to be straight or gay, lame or blind. Those born with physical deformities have no choice.

But who is to say that gays were born that way? I don't believe that there is scientific proof of that and I believe that they are a product of conditioning.

Just because a male is born with an effeminate character doesn't mean that person is born gay. I have come across many such people raising families in straight relationships.

Arguing that God created gays and lesbians is as defective an argument as saying that God created people to be conmen, drug traffickers and murderers.

It is a choice that people make, and I think we all should not judge but respect that choice.

Louis: I can't agree more with Manji. Every person born, whether blind, deaf, lesbian or homosexual is God's creation. No one asks to be born that way.

If I can really ask how I want to be born, I definitely would like to be born as smart as Bill Gates or Warren Buffet.

As a believer in God, I do not blame Him for me being born as an ordinary guy without the talent of the two giants mentioned above, nor do I have the looks of David Beckham.

Similarly, no one should condemn a gay or lesbian who does not want to be that way.

Blind Freddo: Did Allah make the Christian gays and lesbians too? And the atheists, and the Buddhists, and the Hindus, and the Taoists, and the pagans?

As I read it, sexuality, like every other biological function, is a chance event in an evolutionary process which began millions of years ago, before the concept of gods was even thought up.

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