Calling it a naughty move by the Penang chief minister, MCA spokesman Ti Lian Ker said involving churches in a political initiative like the Citizens’ Declaration could give the impression that religious institutions had political leanings.

Such a perception, the MCA Religious Harmony Bureau chairman warned, could subject the churches and the Christian community to attacks by political parties that misconstrue such affiliations.

“Lim ought to know the danger of bringing politics into the churches, or temples for that matter, especially in a multi-racial and multi-religious society like ours and when race relations are not as strong as it should be.

“There could be some who would equate the churches and the Christian community to be pro-Opposition and this could pit one community against another,” he told FMT.

Ti was responding to Lim’s call for churches to be agents of change by encouraging their flocks to sign the Citizens’ Declaration.

The DAP secretary-general had also said that churches played an important role in fighting corruption.

Ti then took a swipe at Lim stating that the latter had no moral grounds to advise parish leaders on their role to fight corruption in view of his purchase of a bungalow below the market price recently.

“Instead, it should be the other way round. The churches should be reminding Lim to walk his talk on Competency Accountability and Transparency (CAT) which he espouses.”