I fear for my life these days, but I find this increasing urge to be a bit of a kay-poh-chi and express my two cents on the recent fatwa ruling against the practice of yoga among Muslims. This of course, is partially triggered by a recent e-mail written in Malay regarding possible fatwas that might be announced in the future, including fatwas against pingpong (kerana banyak dimainkan oleh orang di Negara China) and against rootbeer (Kerana rootbeer contains the word 'beer' and anything that suggests association is hence, guilty, by pure association).

Of course some people are up in arms over people who are wondering why it is that the folks up there in the National Fatwa Council are not focusing their intellects into the more pressing issues like rising crime rates or spousal abuse and children abuse, but putting down rules on practices like Yoga which can't be that dangerous at all.

My two-cents are coming in now, and personally I believe I might be 'more right' than other people, even though I ain't Islam in anyway, because I do come into contact with people who are very very fervently religious, in both ways really – whether they're religiously Christian or religiously Buddhist-Taiost-Malaysian folk-style.

The first cent is how it is important that those of us who profess to be more liberal and well read and therefore we understand the religion more than how these fundamentalists are, ought to practise what we preach and really be 'liberal' enough to be accepting of the yoga / tomboy fatwas. Some Christians might have gone through this before (I know I have), where the overzealous Church overseers suddenly have some vision of destruction UNLESS the people united under Christ are commited enough to denounce anything that has got to do with the devil. Categories associated with the devil, well, that could be anything. Out go the Chinese dragon embroideries, out go the practice of yoga (and throw in aikido, judo, taekwondo, kungfu and any form of martial arts), throw out those Dan Brown books n burn those Dungeons and Dragons novels and games. Please God entirely, and a very pleased God will bestow blessings upon us.

I don't want to be lop-sided, because I had a friend, who calls herself a devout follower of some Chinese deity, who told me off because I invited her to my wedding at church. Then she told me that she couldn't come to the wedding because it was against her religion, and she didn't want to affect her karma or something.

In the same way I had many Muslims coming to our wedding and singing Fairest Lord Jesus with us during the ceremony. I wonder what would the NPC think had they had known that…. would these humans play the earthly judges for Allah and loudly proclaim that these lost souls would find themselves burning in hell?

…

My other cent will be on how the death-fearing human will do almost anything to stay alive, and how amazing that fear is that they would even bring that 'I shall not ever die, ever' spirit beyond the grave, and think up of all sorts of rules to ensure heaven will be a certainty. Despite the fact that death seems to be the only certainty we known, and so far there's not been a single human being who has come back to tell us exactly what living in the afterlife is like, we have had plenty of prophets and visionaries (of the otherkind) who have turned themselves into leaders of sorts. Oh so powerful this force we call fear, that we humans would build walls of all sorts to protect us from anything.

And so you have to understand the reason why those kind people in the National Fatwa Council, or your local Church leadership, or that medium you visit before you start a new job for your blessing amulet, tells you that you cannot do things that are strange to the religion. They really have our best interests at heart, and then they also understand that thing about being unable to please the whole world. They also know that universal understanding that if you do believe in a God, then you have to please God above all, after which it should follow that God will grant you favour, which in turn will make you likeable. And if you're not likeable now, you know, at least you will be likeable in the afterlife.

By now we should have already known it. Hasn't 9/11 and recently the Mumbai attacks taught us anything? Look a little back, and hasn't that crazy time called the Spanish Inquisition taught us anything? Humans will be humans wherever andwhenever they exist, and we will just have to live with these people. But here's the fun part, at least we know that sensible people like us are likeable in a world that exists now. At least we know that we're living life to the fullest ina world that we're living in now. When its time to get to the other side, I'm sure we'll discover things in that world that we'll adjust to it then.

My sympathies go with those kind, loving, yoga-practising muslims who have to go through this period. I feel for you, but trust me, I know what it's like to be throw into Catch-22 situations that mushroom out of ridiculous religious decrees. In the end, truly, the Truth shall prevail.