I agree with many of the civil rights concerns Mr Subang brought up in the letter 'Muslim revert' offensive to some . However, I think Phar Kim Beng did nothing wrong in referring to himself as a Muslim revert.

It is true that the underlying assumption to the term 'Muslim revert' is the belief that everyone is born a Muslim and only due to upbringing falls away from that. Mr Subang (and I) do not hold this belief, and so the term seems somewhat disagreeable to us.

However, Phar was simply expressing his own beliefs, and I think that in a free society, one should be able to do that.

As an aside, a 'born-again Christian' is not necessarily one who was born in a Christian home and fell away, only to return. Jesus used that term to describe the process of spiritual rebirth - that we were first born of the flesh, and then when we turn to God, we're born again of the Spirit. (For the full story, see the Gospel according to John, chapter 3, verses 1 till 21.) Hence, I can be considered a 'born-again Christian' although my parents are not Christians.