Cross-Cultural Conversations

Observations by a Malaysian studying in Australia

Preaching Propaganda : Part 1

One of the most valuable lessons you learn from your experience as a debater is the ability to view an issue from different perspectives. Debating teaches you to critically, and usually, cynically analyse an opinion in order to reach a balanced and fair conclusion.

Being a debater, I’ve never taken a liking for propaganda and preaching-in-general, as they often present points from only a single perspective, completely ignoring the other arguments in order to convert the masses to their ideology.

One of my biggest dilemmas recently has been the obligatory Friday prayers. A pre-prayer sermon is an essential part of the Friday prayer ritual, and although I am happy to listen to sermons that encourage us to be better people, all too often the khatib who delivers the sermons will misuse his position and preach with the holier-than-thou attitude so prevalent among many of us today (religious or otherwise).

In Malaysia , the sermon is not individually prepared by the khatib himself, but rather the state religious authorities. This is done, from what I understand, to avoid khatibs with an extremist bent from polluting the minds of the masses. However, it does not stop the sermons from being misused by the government as an instrument of propaganda to win the votes of the faithfuls. Moreover, because the sermons aren’t personally prepared by the khatibs themselves, there is no passion when they’re delivering the speech, and it turns out sounding like a bland reading from a book.

Other problems abound. Unsurprisingly, Harakahdaily, the online voice of the fundamentalist PAS party noted, “…khutbah yang disediakan oleh JHEAT (Jabatan Hal Ehwal Agama Terengganu) itu langsung tidak mengaitkan isu-isu yang berkaitan dengan Islam sebaliknya mengupas perkara remeh temeh seperti kedatangan pelancong, pelebaran jalan raya, lampu hiasan dipasang di waktu malam dan lain-lain lagi.” (“…the sermon prepared by the Terengganu State Department of Religious Affairs is totally irrelevant to Islam, focusing instead on trivial matters such as tourist arrivals, road widening, decorative lamp posts installed at night and other such issues.”)

More importantly, the daily noted the government’s subtle approach to highlight its achievements to the voting public, in which one section of the sermon reads "Usaha-usaha untuk mempertingkatkan infrastruktur seperti pelebaran jalan raya, pembaikan jambatan-jambatan, pembinaan Lebuh raya Pantai Timur, pembesaran lapangan terbang dan pengujudan sebuah universiti juga sedang dijalankan." (“Efforts to improve infrastructure such as road widening, bridge maintenance, the opening of the East Coast highway, upgrading the airport and the establishment of a university are well under way”).

In all honesty, I wouldn’t be surprised if the PAS government resorted to the same tactics, had they been able to implement those projects in their 4 years of idle rule.

Generally, save for a few exceptions, I’m quite content with the substance of the sermons prepared by the State Religious Authorities. They emphasise a holistic approach to religion, encompassing education and civic-consciousness, rather than get carried away with the ritualistic aspect of religion.

 

posted by: Tembaga2 at 23:30 | link | comments |