Inclusivity Unites: Love of God and Love of Neighbour

By Ivy Chai

KUCHING — The Malaysia Interfaith Harmony Week Forum 2023 was held on 20 February at a local hotel. Organised by the Unit for Other Religions (UNIFOR) under the Premier’s Department, the forum was held in conjunction with the 60th anniversary of Sarawak Merdeka and was graced by Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.

Seven panellists representing the various religions and faiths of Baha’i, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism and Taoism in the country, shared their perspectives on the theme: “Love of God, Love of the neighbour, Love of the Good, and Love of the neighbour”.

Chairman of the Association of Churches in Sarawak (ACS), Catholic Archbishop Dr Simon Poh shared on Christianity.

Archbishop Simon began by saying that Harmony is “God’s design for the world.” Quoting from the Bible, he said the chapter on Creation in the Book of Genesis told that out of chaos, God created a world that is in harmony. God saw everything that He had created “and it was very good.”

He pointed out that God is the source of all goodness, and nature and the human race belong to one eco-system. It was God who gave life by breathing His Spirit into man who became a living being on earth. (Genesis 2:7)

Sin breaks and destroys Harmony and Relationships

Archbishop Simon explained the consequences of sins. Good relationships and harmony are broken by humanity when the following happen:

• Harbouring hatred and resentment in one’s heart.
• Oppress the lowly through arrogance and pride.
• Prejudice that leads to racism.
• Intolerant of others’ beliefs.
• Using derogatory words.
• Unfair treatment.
• Jealousy and envy.
• Stealing, killing and murder.
• Greed for power and money.
• Lack of respect for a human person or neighbour.
• Considering others as inferior.
• Treating others as objects to be exploited for sex and money…and other sins.

However, Religion seeks to overcome sin and selfishness with Forgiveness, Mercy, Love and Reconciliation.

A good Neighbour

To illustrate how to be a good neighbour, Archbishop Simon gave the story of the “Good Samaritan” (found in Luke 10:25-37) and why Jesus said, “Go and do the same” with reference to what the foreigner did to help a stranger.

He went on to say that the pandemic we experienced over the last two years “brought NGOs, government and many of us together to respond to the needs of all who lacked food and basic needs. I have learnt that COVID-19 virus does not distinguish race, creed or social status. The pandemic has shown us that we are all in it, together as ONE human family.”

Faith in God must be seen in Action

Archbishop Simon said love cannot hurt our neighbours, but “love builds harmony, trust and neighbourhood” as seen in the Scriptures (James 2:14-17). “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,’ and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”

Harmony in Self + Neighbours + Creation

Faith in action can be seen in individuals and families, by observing the following:

• Be good neighbours with families around (my/our) house.
• Visit one another during open house, celebrating and sharing cultural festivals among families and friends.
• Doing acts of charity: blood donation, charity sales…
• Peace begins with (me), let me examine my heart…
• Protect (my) heart so as not to allow prejudice, malice, jealousy, resentment, hatred or anger to grow within my heart.
• Eliminate racist or demeaning words from (my) vocabulary and thoughts, especially in conversations and social media postings.
• Seek to accept each other as brothers and sisters.
• We are all God’s children whom God has created.

As for harmony in self, others and creation we can:

• Join groups to promote ecological and green practices.
• Support advocacy work for ecological and climate issues.
• Respect creation in responsible use of resources – water and air.
• Renounce deforestation, destruction of ecology in water catchment areas, protect mangrove swamps, rivers and primary forest to ensure biodiversity and medicinal plants in the forest.
• Be ready to respond to climate change.
• Give donation to alleviate human suffering especially during natural disasters, floodings and earthquakes, etc.
• In collaboration with other faiths, seek to put into practice the golden rule, “Treat others as you would like to be treated”.

In the Bible, Jesus teaches (Luke 6:31), “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

Love and Sacrifice

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Jesus may not perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16)  Also, Jesus says: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (Gospel of John 15:12-13)

With these verses, Archbishop Simon said, “Let our willingness to make sacrifices for others be the tangible expression of following our Lord. Our faith will then be clearly visible and experienced by others through our actual actions of love towards neighbours, strangers and poor.”

From Tolerance to Mutual Respect and Acceptance

In closing his sharing on Christianity, Archbishop Simon Poh expressed his preference to adopt the concept of sincere love of God and neighbour through “a behaviour of mutual acceptance and respect” and to embrace a mindset change of “tolerance” for diversity in unity of the various race, faith and culture in Sarawak. We need “to love God and love our neighbour as God loves us.”

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.” (Luke 10:27)

As an anak Sarawak, the Archbishop credited Sarawak leaders for setting up UNIFOR to address and promote the welfare of various Faiths. He implored “the harmony and unity be protected and promoted at all levels of education, employment and civil service,” and “work for the development of the common good and welfare of all peoples, irrespective of race, culture or creed.”