I WISH to commend Ash Layo’s courage to raise the issue of bad judgment among some Sarawak Christians with regard to the Israel-Gaza conflict.

I am a Christian from Sarawak with a PhD in World Christian Studies and I agree with him that some of my compatriots may be extremely pro-Israel, which is not healthy.

This problem of overzealousness affects every society. Just as some Muslims who see the Palestinian cause and the war between Israel and Hamas as their own jihad, there are also those among Christians who are quick to idolise anything and everything Jewish or having some connections with the “holy land” as many would call it.

Baseless allegations

Not all the claims made by Ash are entirely true. In fact, he made a few sweeping statements in his letter to the editor.

For example, the Israelis are not even Christians (bearing in mind that the Jews handed Jesus to be crucified); how then can Ash Layo label the evangelicals as “Christian Zionists” or agents of some imperial powers? It is at best a sweeping statement which is utterly unfair to the Christian community at large.

The statement is uncalled for especially from someone who has benefited from the labour of hardworking missionaries.

The authority of the Bible is the basis for our Christian conviction. True evangelicals endeavour to be faithful to the teaching of the Bible and do not serve the agendas of any imperial powers.  

Students of church history know that it was the evangelicals, especially the Baptists, who were the key advocates for the separation of the church and the state during the medieval period, and they suffered severe persecution from the autocratic governments.

The Christian mission history is full of narratives about the sufferings of evangelical missionaries in the hands of the imperial powers that were colonising Asia, Africa, and South America.

At large, most evangelicals support peace between Israel and the Palestinians, calling for a ceasefire. This is because killing each other is against the teaching of the Bible.

Ash’s allegation that the evangelicals “have corrupted us, broken us from our history, our heritage, and moulded us in their image…” does not stand on solid ground. 

At best, Ash’s letter presents a vivid anthropocentric view of religion, and I sympathise with his lack of understanding of the meaning of the word “evangelicals”. Unless this was intentional by the writer, to fool the readers who are not aware of the actual meaning of the word, I doubt if Ash truly understands the meaning of the word.

Grateful we shall be

The Australian evangelical missionaries who came to Borneo made unimaginable sacrifices for the sake of the gospel of Christ. They suffered the enmity of the tribal peoples and were even tortured by the Japanese in Borneo during World War II.

As claimed by Ash, I am glad that it is the missionaries who have taught us well through the word of Christ to “save us from our savagery…” If not for their efforts, the tribal wars between fellow Sarawakians would have continued to this day!

We, including Ash and his forefathers, are all beneficiaries. The Missionary Aviation Fellowship, for example, flew in medical supplies into the interiors of Sarawak. These initiatives were supported by churches, without any funding from the government of the day.

For this reason, we Sarawakians have even more reasons to thank the evangelicals for advocating community development, health awareness, and social empowerment among our tribal communities.

I wish to state categorically that, as an evangelical, I do not support war or any form of violence, whether it is done by Israel on the Palestinians or by Hamas.

Killing is a sin which God clearly forbids in the fifth commandment given to Moses. Jesus further provide us the basis for our relationship with our fellow men and women: “Love your neighbours.”

A world where people hate and kill each other will eventually be self-destructive.

* Franklin Karong reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.