“Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them.”

- Barry M Goldwater

Not many people know this but close friends know that I have a soft spot for Barry Goldwater; some mistakenly now say was the Donald Trump of his time. Far from reality of course but American punditry being what it is, these misconceptions are peddled as the truth. The above quote deals with Christian American extremists but replace Christian with Muslim, the general principle shines through that religion and politics do not mix.

Which I realise seems like I am backtracking from an earlier article of mine where I argued, “We have to be careful when we cross that line between church and state but cross it we must, if we want to save our country.”

However, PAS’ latest hissy fit that it would derail the proposed amendments to the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 in retaliation for non-Muslims interference for their carefully laid out plans for turning Malaysia into an Islamofacist state is laughable because these amendments are needed as Islam often interferes in the private and public lives of non-Muslims in Malaysia.

PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan talks about “playing fair” but I would argue that people who oppose this bill are the only ones who are thinking fairly in this country. In numerous articles, I have explained how Islam has had an overt effect on the non-Muslims polities of this country. The literature of how a Wahhabi-influenced Islam has taken this country down an intolerant road is cogent, probative and indisputable.

This threat by PAS is exactly why many others and I warned the opposition that they were playing with fire when they embraced PAS and propagated the ‘PAS for all’ propaganda. I know many opposition supporters have no interests in articles like these but instead of going after MCA when it comes to this issue, there should be some attempt at bipartisanship between the opposition parties and their BN counterparts.

This need not be a hug fest but when a BN component party takes a position that aligns with the opposition, the discourse should be moved in the direction of commonality instead of wallowing in the clichés of “running dogs” and dredging up the numerous scandals of the Najib regime that frankly has not gained traction where it counts...