Malay-speaking Christians spurn Jala’s ‘Yahweh’ overture (Malaysian Insider)

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It is sad that the "name of God" is a cause for tension among Christians. Bu then again, it is about theology and convictions, and I am just as "stubborn" as the rest in my view on this :-(

Malay-speaking Christians spurn Jala’s ‘Yahweh’ overture




By Debra Chong
September 29, 2010
Jala’s personal appeal for his church mates to concede the “Allah” dispute has ruffled feathers. — file pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 — Cabinet minister Datuk Seri Idris Jala is heading the Barisan Nasional (BN) government’s efforts to convince Christians to use the word “Yahweh” instead of “Allah” in Malay, but he is facing stiff resistance from within his own church.


Putrajaya has dispatched special envoys — including Jala, a Christian — to parley with his community and seek a peaceful end to the “Allah” court dispute, amid Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s overtures to world leaders urging pragmatism in dealing with extremists.


The Malaysian Insider understands, however, that the move at home may have caused a rift within the Christian community — in particular Jala’s own Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) church — with the English-speaking, urban and middle-class members on one side and the poorer, rural churchgoers who mainly use Bahasa Malaysia in their worship, on the other.

 Sources disclosed that the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) had last month tried to sway his SIBKL church mates to adopt a less hard-line approach in what word to call their God.

“Idris Jala said he’s willing to use ‘Yahweh’ instead of ‘Allah’,” recounted a man who had attended the three-day church conference from August 26 to 28 with Idris.

“He made quite a few people there unhappy with his statement,” observed the man who requested anonymity as he was a church leader and considered Jala a friend.

“But he added that it was just his personal opinion,” the stout man said.

“Actually, Idris, he’s not a politician. He’s only a man doing his work. He is genuine… he has the heart for the country, but [there are] a lot of ‘hanky-panky people’ around him,” the man added, in defence of the Sarawakian pastor’s son.

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