I refer to the Malaysiakini article Much ado about sexuality.

In the present state of polarised ideologies throughout the world, the question of whether ethics is possible without religion needs to be asked in a different and more subtle way.

The right question is to ask whether it is possible to act ethically without belief in God and the answer is definitely yes. An ethical act is a humane act of kindness, of giving up your own interest in favour of the interest of others.

And this understanding that human beings have a common need for goodness, however ambiguously defined it may be, is actually the foundation of most civilised societies in both the West and the East.

Even people who do not believe in God will be prepared to sacrifice themselves for an ethical principle such as injustice towards the poor, the persecuted or the oppressed.

So does that mean that these atheists have no ethical values just because they do not believe in God?

I myself am a Christian and I can see the dangers Malaysian society is presently facing with regards to religious freedom as enshrined by the constitution on the one hand and religious extremism as espoused by people who do not wish to separate the state from religion on the other hand.

When the religious extremists see that secular laws are laws that are meant to govern the ungodly, then they will think they are justified by supplanting secular laws with their religious laws.

Whether or not their religion encourage them to impose religious laws on everyone is besides the point.

One of the reasons why the Taliban became powerful in Afghanistan is because they saw the degraded life of Western society and equated that with the failure of secular society.

As your columnist pointed out, the mark of Christian faith is that it is a faith that is subject to your free will as God does not impose Himself on us just like a parent who does not demand the love of his children.

Love is a gift and should never be legislated. Let us live in a secular society with secular laws that protects the rights of all citizens and yet at the same time, respect the rights of every citizen to pursue their own faiths.