The 99 names of Allah.

Janadas Devan, son of former Singapore president, Devan Nair, makes his usual etymological exposition in the Singapore Sunday Times of January 13 2008; concluding that the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) all called their God ela, ala or some variation of these.

Are the Malaysian religious officials confused about their claim for the exclusive use of Allah for Islamic texts and publications only, as Janadas Devan strongly implies. Maybe not. Some must surely have attended Al-Ahzar university in Cairo and understand quite well the origins of the name Allah.

Far from being confused, their objections to the use of Allah in the weekly newsletter of the Catholics in Malaysia, are meant to confuse malay-Malaysians. They know that the translation of "God" in English into "Allah" in Malay (or more accurately, Arabic) is sanctioned by all Malay language scholars and over 20 years of usage in this newsletter.

So are the malay Muslims of Malaysia so easily confused? Or are the religious officials confused about their ability to confuse them?

Confused by all this? Me, too.

Thinking about no-thing

I'm intrigued by the emergence of atheist thought as it is elegantly argued by the Dawkins-Harris-Hitchens trio and others. I dislike slogans but is this a "post 9/11" phenomenon? The Salafi jihadists that commit acts of violence against the innocent justify themselves with scripture. The American response in Afghanistan and then Iraq is, to some extent, justified, both by the President and his constituency, by another scripture. Fundamentalism is no longer a personal quirk that others laugh about but a political insanity expressed with lethal force.

Faith is now dangerous and its foundations must be critcally examined. Unfortunately but not unexpectedly, this will not be done by the faithful and hence the books from Dawkins et al.

Sam Harris' advise on ...

How to Believe in God
Six Easy Steps

1. First, you must want to believe in God.
2. Next, understand that believing in God in the absence of evidence is especially noble.
3. Then, realize that the human ability to believe in God in the absence of evidence might itself constitute evidence for the existence of God.
4. Now consider any need for further evidence (both in yourself and in others) to be a form of temptation, spiritually unhealthy, or a corruption of the intellect.
5. Refer to steps 2-4 as acts of "faith."
6. Return to 2.

As should be clear, this is a kind of perpetual motion machine of wishful thinking—and it leads, of necessity, to reduced self-awareness and diminished contact with reality. But it is reputed to have many benefits, and once you get it up and running you will be in fine company. In fact, from the looks of it, you will never be lonely again.

[Boon: This might be the major reason for religion: membership of a community.]