It takes a nation to protect the nation
Absolute Power
Brunei Darussalam is a sultanate ruled by the same family for more than 600 years, and it has a population of approximately 428,000. Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah governed under emergency powers that place few limits on his power.
Political authority and control rests entirely with the sultan. A 29-person legislative council (LegCo), which has no independent power and was composed primarily of appointed members, provides a forum for public discussion of proposed government programs as well as administrative deficiencies. It convenes once a year. Council members may be disqualified from service on the basis of various offenses, including disloyalty to the sultan.
Citizens do not have the right to change their government peacefully. The same family has ruled the country for more than 600 years. In 1962 the then sultan invoked an article of the constitution that allowed him to assume emergency powers for two years. These powers have been renewed every two years since 1962. The state of emergency places few limits on the sultan's power. The sultan also serves as prime minister, minister of defense, minister of finance, chancellor of the national university, inspector general of the Royal Brunei Police Force, and head of the Islamic faith.
Restrictions on Religious Freedom
The government continued its restrictions on the religious freedom of non–Muslims. There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom by the government during the reporting period.
Since the early 1990s, the government has worked to reinforce the legitimacy of the hereditary monarchy and the observance of traditional and Muslim values by promoting a national ideology known as the Melayu Islam Beraja (MIB), or Malay Islamic Monarchy. MIB principles have been adopted as the basis for civic life. All government meetings and ceremonies commenced with a Muslim prayer. When attending citizenship ceremonies, non-Muslims must wear national dress, including Muslim head coverings for men and women.
Despite constitutional provisions providing for religious freedom, the government restricted, to varying degrees, the religious practices of all religious groups other than the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islam. Proselytizing by any group other than the official Shafi'i sect was prohibited. The government placed strict customs controls on the importation of non-Islamic religious texts such as Bibles and Islamic religious teaching materials or scriptures intended for sale or distribution.
Anyone who teaches or promotes any "deviant" beliefs or practices in public may be charged under the Islamic Religious Council Act and punished with three months incarceration and a fine of BND 2,000 ($1,550).
The government routinely censored magazine articles on other faiths, blacking out or removing photographs of crucifixes and other Christian religious symbols. Government officials also restricted the distribution and sale of items that feature photographs of religious symbols.
There were credible reports that agents of the government's internal security department monitored religious services at Christian churches and that senior church members and leaders were under surveillance.
Tags: Zbrunei, Zcaste, Zchristian, Zdiscrimination, Zfreespeech, Zmalaysia
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Joe on
-
I had a muslim friend from Brunei. He said everyone lived in fear of the secret police and of neighbours reporting people for criticising the Sultan.
The above description of Brunei sounds like it comes straight out of the Hizb ut Tahrir playbook. http://4freedoms.ning.com/group/theology/forum/topics/hizb-ut-tahir...
In the light of the similarities between Brunei and the islamo-fascist Caliphate, it comes as no surprise to read that the Sultan of Brunei funds Al Qaeda and knew in advance of the 7/7 bombings. http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/02/report-unnamed-asian-head-of-stat...
-
-
-
And the description of Malaysia also makes it clear that it too is modeled on the Caliphate. A non-malay could be President, provided he is a muslim. But a non-muslim? Not on your nelly.
http://www.mysinchew.com/node/73788
Pan-islamism is simply pan-national fascism.
-
-
Permalink Reply by shiva on
-
Joe said:And the description of Malaysia also makes it clear that it too is modeled on the Caliphate. A non-malay could be President, provided he is a muslim. But a non-muslim? Not on your nelly.
I very much doubt a non Malay could be President, due to anti Chinese and Indian sentiments
-
-
-
Well well! Another observation
Minimum age for marriage34. The Marriage Act (cap. 76) provides for the solemnization and registration of church and civil marriages. Under this law, minor is defined as a person not being a widow or a widower who is under the age of 18 years. The age for marriage is 14 years old. Where there is a solemnization of marriage and one of the parties to the marriage is a minor, consent of the father or the guardian or the mother of the minor is necessary.The act provides that it is an offence to solemnize the marriage of a minor where the requisite consent is absent. This is an offence punishable by a term of three years’ imprisonment and a fine. This act does not apply to Muslim marriages, as such marriages are governed by the Shariah laws. Despite these provisions, according to the Registry of Marriages the number of marriages among minors are small and are usually between people in the rural areas or among the indigenous groups.35. The Religious Council and Kadi’s Court Act (cap. 77) does not limit the minimal age for a Muslim to get married and as outlined by Shariah law such marriage may be registered under the provisions of section 137 (3) of the act. -
-
-
Girls as young as 11 are married off in Kelantan (the same province of Malaysia that is forcing buddhists to build their temples as mosques - I wonder why the muslims might be anticipating moving into those temples??)
Muslims in Kelantan who want to marry underaged persons can ask for permission or exception from the 'kadi' giving reasonable gounds, said Kelantan Syariah Court Chief Judge Datuk Daud Mohamad.
He said without permission, they could be fined up to RM1,000 or imprisoned for six months or both by the Syariah Court according to the Kelantan Islamic Family Enactment 2002.
He said the regulation stipulated the age condition to prevent divorce of incompatible persons.
Daud was asked to comment on the controversy of a 11-year-old girl who married a 40-year-old man in Kampung Jelawang, Kuala Krai, recently.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/3/11/nation/2010031...
It's no wonder that non-muslims have been fleeing Malaysia. It is on course for full-blown sharia within a generation.
shiva said:The age for marriage is 14 years old. Where there is a solemnization of marriage and one of the parties to the marriage is a minor, consent of the father or the guardian or the mother of the minor is necessary.
-
-
-
Another effect of the absolute of the Sultan is Brunei is the on the Bumiputera laws.
Whereas the delineation between Bumiputeras and other groups in Malaysia has been the cause of much conflict and unrest of late, it does not appear to have had the same consequences in Bruneian society. This may be because affirmative action strategies are not so prevalent or obvious in Bruneian society.
A lack of opposition to the Bumiputera concept in Brunei may also be because as an autocratic sultanate, the country does not experience a great deal of political diversity. This is in contrast to the situation in Malaysia, where protests against Bumiputera privileges in Malaysia are often backed by opposition parties in order to raise dissatisfaction with the government.
And who said there is no racism in islam
-
Welcome to 4 Freedoms!
(currently not admitting new members)
Page Monitor
Just fill in the box below on any 4F page to be notified when it changes.
Muslim Terrorism Count
Mission Overview
Most Western societies are based on Secular Democracy, which itself is based on the concept that the open marketplace of ideas leads to the optimum government. Whilst that model has been very successful, it has defects. The 4 Freedoms address 4 of the principal vulnerabilities, and gives corrections to them.
At the moment, one of the main actors exploiting these defects, is Islam, so this site pays particular attention to that threat.
Islam, operating at the micro and macro levels, is unstoppable by individuals, hence: "It takes a nation to protect the nation". There is not enough time to fight all its attacks, nor to read them nor even to record them. So the members of 4F try to curate a representative subset of these events.
We need to capture this information before it is removed. The site already contains sufficient information to cover most issues, but our members add further updates when possible.
We hope that free nations will wake up to stop the threat, and force the separation of (Islamic) Church and State. This will also allow moderate Muslims to escape from their totalitarian political system.
The 4 Freedoms
These 4 freedoms are designed to close 4 vulnerabilities in Secular Democracy, by making them SP or Self-Protecting (see Hobbes's first law of nature). But Democracy also requires - in addition to the standard divisions of Executive, Legislature & Judiciary - a fourth body, Protector of the Open Society (POS), to monitor all its vulnerabilities (see also Popper).
1. SP Freedom of Speech
Any speech is allowed - except that advocating the end of these freedoms
2. SP Freedom of Election
Any party is allowed - except one advocating the end of these freedoms
3. SP Freedom from Voter Importation
Immigration is allowed - except where that changes the political demography (this is electoral fraud)
4. SP Freedom from Debt
The Central Bank is allowed to create debt - except where that debt burden can pass across a generation (25 years).
An additional Freedom from Religion is deducible if the law is applied equally to everyone:
- Religious and cultural activities are exempt from legal oversight except where they intrude into the public sphere (Res Publica)"
© 2023 Created by Netcon.
Powered by
