A Christian Takeover Conspiracy? Really?

Because of course, nothing scares voters like aggressive religious machinations.

In its last gasps of desperation Perkasa UMNO (oh come on we know it's you) has resorted to playing the over-used religion card. And 'overused' really is the most apt term here.

Just like the annoying +4 Wild Card.

Obviously, everyone's totally terrified that Malaysia will one day throw open its doors and invite Pope Benedict XVI to come over and rule Malaysia (never mind the Christian-Catholic differences, I doubt Ibrahim Ali can tell them apart) and eventually make pork consumption more widespread than it already is, to the horror of Muslims in Malaysia.

But here's a few simple reasons WHY there's (probably) no Christian conspiracy to take over Malaysia and knock Islam off its sacred position:

1. Christians are a small minority in Malaysia.

Christians make up only roughly 9% of our population - only one in ten of us are Christian, and then most of them are probably living in a long house somewhere in East Malaysia. Awfully difficult to muster enough numbers to push for such a change when most of the people you'd like to canvass for support are being kept down and shackled by - surprise, surprise - Barisan Nasional. People who only worry about day to day living probably couldn't care less which religion's the official one - if it doesn't put food on the table, who cares?

Even Condoleezza Rice says so.

2. The DAP cannot get a majority in Parliament (oh yeah, and it's not a Christian party)

In 2008, the DAP contested only 47 seats, way short of the 112 seats it needs for a majority in Parliament, and far less than the 148 seats it needs to amend the Constitution. Oh, and it only won 28 seats. If the DAP indeed intends to change the Constitution, where on Earth will it get the votes? Even if Pakatan rakyat came into power, there is no way PKR or PAS would allow them to change the nation's official religion. And even if they became the majority party, getting 2/3rds of the vote is awfully difficult when you're up against all those other parties.

Just do the math, morons.

Hey, it's not A-level math or anything.

Oh yeah, and it's not a Christian party. It is a multiracial, but Chinese-majority party. How does that equal Christian? A social democratic party, yes, even a socialist party, but not religious in any way whatsoever.

3. A Christian Prime Minister Isn't Unconstitutional Anyway (So Why Go To All The Trouble?)

Oh yes, and there's this little niggle in the whole let's-change-the-Constitution-so-a-Christian-came-become-PM argument; you can just become the PM even if you're Christian. The Prime Minister, according to the Constitution, need only be someone who, under the reckoning of the YDP Agong, can command the confidence of the majority of the members in Parliament. Heck, it doesn't even need to be the leader of the majority party (though mathematically of course if your party is the biggest and they trust you enough to be the party's leader, you'd likely have the numbers).

So why go through all the trouble? If the DAP is conspiring to get a Christian into the PM's office, all it has to do is put forward a candidate who can appeal to Malaysians across race and religion, and can command the majority of the 222 MPs in Parliament...wait, why's that a bad thing again?

Yeah, since Malays are the majority, then the PM will likely be Malay. Nothing wrong with that, so long as he does a good job, right? Well, but then again that Malay PM may well turn out to be a secret Christian! And while we're at it, we'd better check to make sure all our potential PMs were really born in Malaysia (where's The Donald when you need him?)...

Seriously, what shit.

Obama would agree.

4. Uh, WHY Would Making Christianity the 'Official' Religion Help Christians?

Well, why? Unless they also amend the Constitution to state that practising other religions is illegal, then making Christianity the religion of the country (which won't happen) pretty much does nothing to advance the Christian agenda, if there is one.

Consider what would happen; the 'Christian Movement' would then be facing the prospect of governing a country with at least 70% of its population pissed off at it. If the others join in, then probably only 10% of the population will even support the 'Christian Government'. With those numbers (and I don't know how they'd get into power to begin with) who wants to govern the country? Just ask Hosni Mubarak or Gaddafi how lousy it is to try and control a country where most of the people are against you.

"Seriously, not worth it."

"What? But my people love me!"

If their intent is to spread Christianity, then wow, taking over the country and attempting to force/mass-baptise them is definitely the best way to go. And then watch as your measly 10% mostly parang-wielding sampan-riding warriors (and the fraction of urbanites) go at it with your 90% strong non-Christians, bearing in mind that the Malays dominate the Army and the Civil Service, AND the Police Force - man is life going to be hell for people when you try and mass-convert the Army. No, this 'Christian Movement', if there is one at all, is not nearly that stupid.

And that's all for Common Sense 101 for today.