re: "Malaysian trans woman arrested in Thailand says 'safe' in Australia" (BP, October 20, 2021)
Dear editor,
Australia often gets human rights wrong, as seen in its treatment of refugees on Manus Island and its centuries-long mistreatment of the Aboriginal peoples of Australia, but in the case of Nur Sajat, my country has got it right. She should be granted asylum to escape religiously inspired persecution by morally wrong Malaysian law mindlessly bowing down before blind faith in a famously intolerant and punitive god.
Whilst some might take this sad case as yet another opportunity to bash religions for being primitive superstitions preaching fake claims about reality and dubious moral values, perhaps even going so far as to suggest that religions be banned, that temptation must be resisted. We must remain tolerant, even of what consistently proves itself intrinsically intolerant, as demonstrated in this case by Islam.
Freedom of religion is a human right as much as the right to choose freedom from persecution by religion. The right for religions to exist and even proselytize by advertising their wares and supernatural promises must also be respected. But religion should never be supported by the state, nor should religious arguments ever be accepted as a reason for forming any public policy. Religions may well have everything to say on supernatural matters not of this world, but they have nothing of solid, rational worth to say on matters of natural reality or of sound human morals.
If faith-driven adherents wish to faithfully hold the dogmas and practice the rites of some religion, that is strictly a personal matter, one best engaged in in private with other consenting adults, preferably behind closed doors with the blinds down, the sheets up, and the lights out.
Felix Qui
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The above letter to the editor is the text as submitted by Felix Qui to the Bangkok Post.
The text as edited was published in PostBag on October 22, 2021, under the title "Asylum deserved" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2202159/report-responsibly
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