I read the report with much amusement. 'Harsh'? You gotta be kidding me.

The prominent Chinese leaders gotta be kidding themselves. Unlike them, I am not going to sugar-coat the issues. As compared to Muslim countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, religious freedoms for minorities in Brunei are limited and lacking. I had friends from Singapore and Malaysia over and even they were shocked by the reality of the situation here, as such basic abuse of human rights were not present in their countries. What are some of these issues I am talking about?

Here's a short list.
a: Christian mission schools not even being allowed to teach bible studies for christian students b. Islamic education being made compulsory for non Muslims whether they want it or not
c. news that a Christian school being asked to remove a cross hanging because it 'upset' Muslim parents
d. severe restrictions on building temples and churches - requests for permission will always be circumvented by too much bureaucracy and red tape, for God's sake - these are places of worship, not gambling dens or brothels!
e. literature for religious minorities being consistently banned by customs.

The list goes on and on, I can give you a hundred specific examples, but some of these would be far too sensitive to post in a public forum.

As I've reiterated time and time again, belief in the divine is a PERSONAL issue, between a man and the supernatural being he believes in and should not be subject to legislation by the state. Nobody quotes this better than Thomas Jefferson when he says "The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg." Thank you.

Comments (10)

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Religous Freedom
written by Richard Smith , November 23, 2009

I have to agree with Iron Lady, you know, it feels like the idea of practising one's religion is only limited to one's personal and private domain and not allowed to practise it publicly. Another thing, even though it seems like people of other religions are allowed to practise their rites. They're not allowed to promote their religion and get other people to join their beliefs.

The Americans are the people we should look up to. Especially since they are the "watchdogs" of human rights issues. Just forget about the Patriot Act or the people who are detained in Guantanamo Bay for being Muslims/Terrorists.

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written by Jaber , November 23, 2009

During the early age of the Prophet, the Rashidun, the Umayyad & Abbassid, to the Ottomans time. The Muslim empire was very tolerant, at that time they flourished while Europe was in the dark. Sadly, the table turned today. Something is very wrong there, it is like the Muslims today become what the Christians in Medieval age were like, and the Christians today become what the Muslims in Medieval age were like. I believe there is some serious misinterpretation that need to be sorted out.

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get real.
written by not a malay/muslim/citizen but love brunei , November 24, 2009

don't get me wrong-i LOVE this country BUT if your NOT born here as a Malay,Muslim or with automatic citizenship then you won't know what its like to have your birth right denied you and the fact that religious tolerance level here is only at a low level compared to the good old days.

And you know what we will be told? The usual- "if you don't like it here then leave" like HELLO i was born here I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE.

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seriously???
written by pinnochio , November 24, 2009

seriouslly??? Americans are the people we should look up to?? seriously?? They have one of the highest rate of rape, drug abuse, pedophiles.. name it they're up there on the list.. please get yourself educated before you say such things.. even americans dont look up to america anymore..

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written by Gilbert , November 24, 2009

Your IQ must be pretty low if you can't see the 'lookup to American part' is very sarcastic.

And seriously, we shouldn't look up to anyone but ourselves and only ourselves, though many here would like to be the servants or slaves of the Arabs.

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get your facts right
written by jangan kan tuduh tuduh , November 25, 2009

its the same for every country, do u remember the news when the Muslims in German try to construct a mosque and already all the Christians in the area already started a riot like 'NO MOSQUE IS ALLOWED'. Remember when the muslims wanted to pray on the roadside in Italy just to celebrate and pray for the hari raya but the citizens also don't like it. just respect the law in the country and you'll be fine. its not like there is NO church, there is some. and the Christians population in Brunei is only 11%, so reasonable number of churches are available. and i think bible studies must be conducted to all school including to the muslims in all christians countries, so its about the same.

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written by N Cullens , November 25, 2009

I heard from my previous "amah". Back in Singapore, she worked for this Chinese Christian family. This "amah" is a Muslim. However, this family she worked for strictly prohibited her from performing the Islamic obligations such as the mandatory 5-time prayer a day. As a result, this "amah" had to perform the prayers superstitiously whenever she had a free time. How sad it could be and you are saying that countries like Singapore doesn't put any confinement or restrictions in their beliefs in divine. This is where racism of the religions takes place. Thank you.

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written by Goldilock , November 25, 2009

Hail China, Russia, Vietnam, Cuba, North Korea. See how communism reduced religious disunity and problems.

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written by justify , December 28, 2009

Facts? Are we here to adopt the disparity of human rights from other countries? So we can call ourselves proud rakyats? We know that's not right and we would happily adopt them?

Please ask yourselves, is this justifiable? The right thing to do?

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written by fuzzy , December 28, 2009

I know of no all-christian country who taught bible studies to non-existent muslims.

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