A Solution For The Christian/Muslim Battle In Malaysia- Lets All Call God, Bob

Muslims in Malaysia are very angry. The reason for their anger is a recent judgment by Malaysia's High Court that the word Allah is not exclusive to Muslims. Judge Lau Bee Lan ruled that others, including Catholics who had been prohibited by the Home Ministry from using the word in their publications since 2007, can now use the term. She also rescinded the prohibition order freeing the Malay language–edition of the Catholic monthly The Herald to use Allah to denote the Christian God. After widespread protests, however, the judge granted a stay order on Jan. 7. The same day the government appealed to the higher court of appeal to overturn the ruling.

The anger seemingly turned violent late Thursday night after masked men on motorcycles firebombed three churches in the city, gutting the ground floor of the Metro Tabernacle Church located in a commercial building in the Desa Melawati suburb of the capital. The attacks, which police said appeared uncoordinated, were condemned by the government, opposition MPs and Muslim clerics alike. On Friday Muslims demonstrated in scores of mosques across the country but the protest was peaceful. In the mosque in Kampung Baru, a Malay enclave in the city, Muslims held placards that read "Leave Islam Alone! Treat Us As You Would Treat Yourself! Don't Test Our Patience!" This, amid cries of "Allah is Great!" (Source)

I think the judge is on to something. Lets face it, wouldn't it be wonderful if  the three major monotheistic faiths all called God by the same name?  Over the last few years so many countries and media outlets have adopted a common name for things. For example someone who kills civilians to create terror is called a terrorist. Someone that kills Jewish civilians to create terror is called a militant. If we can unify language with regards to terrorists, isn't it even more important to come up with a common name for the creator of the universe?

Where the Judge is straying from common sense using the term Allah for God. Allah has much, too much baggage for the non-Muslims, besides as you can tell by the story above the Muslim people are not happy about non-Muslims adopting the Term Allah. And you can be sure that Muslims would not want to use the term God, it would almost be like converting. So I think we should come up with a new non-denominational term for the Lord. My Suggestion is BOB.

BOB would be a perfect name for God. First of all you wouldn't have to perform major redesign of the Bible, both Bob and God have three letters so the new name would fit in perfectly. Obviously the Koran would have to be changed but we could sell it based on the two fewer letters in the name and how much paper and ink costs would be saved.

God's new name would make our Maker seem so much more, personal, approachable and real. If we make the change I guarantee that you will never see a Time Magazine cover that asks "is Bob Dead?" And think about the people who have the habit of using the word "Dammit" after the word God. Their favorite expression will now be allowable since God will have a new name.

For those of you who are into political correctness, think about the people who suffer from dyslexia. No longer will they have to be embarrassed by saying to their friends..."I swear to dog" because Bob spelled backwards is--BOB.

Think of how the kids will feel so much more comfortable going to a house of worship praying to Bob. How much easier it will be to have a personal connection with their Deity, Bob is so warm.

The only objection I can find is that Bob is also a name for people. Things could get a little confusing. Human Bobs might start to wonder why every time someone hears a sneeze they call out Bob Bless You, or why the famous Marlon Brando movie is renamed the Bobfather But as far as I’m concerned, that’s a small price to pay.  Besides, It really shouldn't be a problem. I have two Hispanic friends who are very Catholic--are named Jesus and there is no confusion.

There it is--my case all laid out. I think that the Judges ruling is a Bob-send. After all now that we can all agree to what to call God, I mean Bob,maybe, just maybe we can stop trying to figure out what to call God and spend more time listening inside of us, try to hear the voice of God, Bob or Allah that is within each one of us--I'll bet you Bob would prefer it that way.