Saturday, December 29, 2007

A Note About Religion in Malaysia

I saw this while parsing Google Reader today: Malaysian row over word for 'God'. Apparently the government passed a law forbidding non-Muslims from using the word 'Allah'. This is being challenged in court by a church and a christian newspaper.

Census data show that 58% of the 26 million citizens are Muslims; in addition, Islam is the official government religion. Though religious freedom in Malaysia is guaranteed, proselytizing is apparently not allowed if you are a member of a minority religious group. I'll make sure to keep my mouth shut regarding my rampant agnosticism, as well as avoid ordering the pork.

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