this IS christianity in singapore…

 

(source)

Thailand. The land of the free. The constitutional monarchy with a very well-loved and respected King. The country of smiles.

But did you know? Thailand is a place of little true joy. Buddhism is so much a part of the Thai national identity and permeates into every level of society and culture that only about one hundred Thais accept Christ each year in the country of over 68 million people.

Do you share the burden of being that one small change agent, bringing the gospel to the Thais, one at a time?

With its many temples and monks, it is hard to ignore the fact that Buddhism is Thailand’s national religion. With only 16% christians, most Thai students see christianity only as a foreign religion. The land of smiles needs to hear the gospel message. Come and share with Khonkaen University students that Jesus is the way, the true and the life!

Go Change. World.  

 

For someone who lives under the christian subculture in Singapore, it is easy for me to mock the online cacophony over the poster above as white noise. In fact, I invite any practising christian in Singapore, to challenge me on this – that the above IS REPRESENTATIVE, very accurately indeed, of grassroots christianity as subscribed (orthodoxy) and practised (orthopraxy) in this country.

 

NUS student group says sorry for insensitive remarks

 

For anyone blissfully ignorant of Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC), of which the NUS (National University of Singapore) campus branch is responsible for the above advertisement (which caused much noise in the online community), it is an evangelical parachurch organisation founded by an already deceased William (Bill) Bright. Its main purpose is to spread (really, to proselytise) the christian religion all over the world. It has many branches, with sub “ministries” in tertiary campuses, all over the world. The main polytechnics in Singapore, namely Singapore, Ngee Ann, Temasek and Nanyang, have CCC ministries (I am not sure about the newest polytechnic, Republic) along with the two main universities, NUS and NTU (Nanyang Technological University).

 

I was a member in one of those branches during my school days.

 

And so let anyone accuse, dishonestly and deceptively, that I have no credibility to assert what I am asserting now. In fact, in the deluded madness of my youth, I wanted to enter the seminary to become a pastor. This led me to years of personal study and research (and anguish) into christian theology, biblical studies and historical criticism (which eventually led me to my free-thinking secular humanism). I suppose that is one of the reasons why I am still earnestly interested in the academic study of the bible.

 

Now, contrary to what CCC Singapore as well as the rest of the christian community who want to distance themselves from CCC claim; the theological premise which undergirds the alleged poster has always been constant in christianity, at least as practised and believed in this country; which is namely, that the person of Jesus Christ, as the Son of God (jews and muslims would disagree), is the ONLY way to personal salvation (of the soul) and thus upon death, the ONLY way to an eternity in heaven. This means that in the perception of christians, buddhists, muslims, hindus and free thinkers are all DAMNED to an eternity in hell. Full stop.

 

Now, a conniving dishonesty comes when a non-christian confronts the christian in a media or national capacity.  It is common for the christian to make the non-sensical statement that it is not up to him to judge anyone – only god knows – the destiny of all men. No streetwise christian would be so daft as to state the truth point blank that the poor interviewer will be damned to hellfire. But this is a red herring which distracts the public from the real issue – what does christian theology teach?

 

Classical christian theology has always been religiously exclusive – there is only ONE TRUE religion – and ONE TRUE scripture. It is precisely this very deluded view that compels practitioners to proselytise non-christians as much as possible – they are really sincere about it – they want you to go to heaven!

 

So let me be clear. Any christian who claims that CCC is not representative of christianity is being deliberately dishonest.

 

In making this assertion, I am not claiming that no christian in Singapore disagrees with the bigoted exclusivity of classical christianity; there are perhaps many who do privately. But as an institution and a social movement in Singapore, christianity is religiously exclusive, and theoretically unaccepting towards other religious or nonreligious traditions.

 

There is no point in interviewing, let’s say, a spokesperson for the National Council of Churches in Singapore. Or some lecturer in Trinity Theological College Singapore. Folks like these do not represent the average church pastor, let alone the christian person on the street. In classic Singaporean style, bishops and theologians would offer politically correct and nuanced views on the matter, deflecting any potential conflict.

 

Politically correct spin are nothing but half-truths and testicle-licking lies.

 

Anyhow, the alleged poster is very tame by my book. Just drop by any of the tongue-speaking, hand-raising, demon-casting and chriss angel-like magic mumbo-jumbo charismatic megachurches in Singapore and you will see that Jesus Camp and Teen Mania is more closer to the truth than meets the eye.

 

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not religion?

 

It was a good thing that CEO Isabella Loh, of Wildlife Reserve Singapore (WRS), clarified that she was NOT a christian, of which many netizens were suspecting her of, due to some comments she had made about “devil worship”.

 

She clarified that she is a buddhist.

 

Wildlife Reserves Singapore apologises to President

 

Halloween event cancelled not due to Religious reasons

 

But the statement that WRS gave to the press that the event was cancelled NOT due to religious reasons is somewhat dubious.

 

It is dubious because Ms Loh has yet to elaborate on the exact content of the feedback, of which I suspect have to do with “reasons” that are not coherent with current global standards of humanistic morality, secular humanism and empirical research; but loosely based on so-called traditional “family values”, “wholesomeness”, what is “good for society and family” (as though harmless horror fun can be detrimental to the moral fabric of society), etc.

 

It is a no-brainer that perhaps those “feedback” did not actually contain words like “religion” or “christian values” or “islamic principles” as Singapore, thanfully, is a strictly SECULAR country where issues regarding the public have to be discussed rationally, with alternative views defended based on publicly available evidence and reason, NOT sacred texts or sacred principles. Such appeal to authority is no argument at all.

 

Then again – the folks who often espouse “traditional family values” are usually the religiously motivated. Thus I will still reject the claim of WRS that reasons to cancel Halloween Horrors are not religious.

 

Ms Loh apparently also commented to her management team regarding the “controversial” nature of Halloween, citing the example of some schools in the United States that banned its celebration.

 

How ignorant can she get – the United States, for goodness’ sake – much of their population even think that evolution is controversial! She should have realised that although the US is a secular nation with a secular constitution, in all practical terms, it is still a thoroughly “christian” country with christians having a lot of power in the political arena. There are schools in the US who still teach pseudoscientific stuff like Intelligent Design! It is no surprise that some of these evangelical idiots might want to ban Halloween at all costs! I know for a fact that some christians, even in Singapore, who will believe that all the gore, blood and spook in Halloween, is somehow inspired and instigated by the devil so that he can have an influence on the people through their innocent celebrations.

 

Bah!

 

Halloween aside, it is now almost a well-attested public knowledge that European countries like Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Finland have one of the most peaceful societies in the world. But they also have one of the least religious societies in the world – compare them with the United States – and it seems that religion is doing the US more harm than good.

 

And surprise, surprise, some of these Scandinavian nations have one of the most anarchic, brutal and “devilish” (if you want to use that term) death metal bands around! Death metal is a genre of music that is often characterised by lots of gothic, dark and biblical imagery of devils and demons, gore and blood, etc. But these bands do not go around spreading the message of evil and murder to their fans! It is a very ignorant stereotype which religious people make of alternative lifestyles like goth and such.

 

In fact, it is mostly the zealously religious who spread the message of hate and evil – who are the ones who love to oppose same-sex marriage? Who are the ones who love to see “God’s Law” imposed on the societies of the world? Who are the ones who believe that everyone who does not follow their code of beliefs will go to hell? Who are the ones who burn people at the stake just for contradicting them? Who are the ones who would kill people like death metal band members if they were living in the middle ages? Who are the ones who would rather obey their “gods” than love their fellow humanity?

 

You and I know the answer.

 

I suppose I got carried away again. Sheesh. Back to the WRS and Halloween Horrors.

 

It isn’t the apologies that we want to hear, Ms Loh. It is the REINSTATEMENT of the event, Halloween Horrors, for at least this year, if not the next. Although this cancellation would not have any detrimental result on the Singapore Polytechnic students’ gradings, THAT IS NOT THE ISSUE! The emotional abuse has already been executed. All the hard work that have been put – and they cannot even showcase it to the public! The pleasure of an artist is twofold – the pleasure of the creation and the process as well as the pleasure of interacting with the audience. By cancelling the event, the public can never get to enjoy the fruits of the students’ labour.

 

I have a family too – and my children are all young, too young I reckon, to appreciate and enjoy the fictional horrors of halloween. But that does not mean that I have to forbid them from doing so with the reason that it will harm them morally. There is nothing unwholesome about fiction and make-believe. Such art is neutral and it often takes an idiot to interpret such art and turn it into the rubbish and decadence that some moral pedants love.

 

It might be a shock to some parents, but I expose my young children to films like The Walking Dead. Of course it is not something I relish doing in the sense that I allow them to watch every episode. But I would not switch the channel if the kids happened to be still awake. And I would explain to them that IT IS ALL MAKE-BELIEVE. The zombies, or “monsters” as kids would like to call them, are NOT REAL monsters.

 

And you know what, my five-year-old son and four-year-old daughter understands. By explaining it to them, and exposing it that it is NOT REAL, I am telling them that ALL HORROR is fiction. And so are any supposedly paranormal phenomena – they are all bullshit.

 

I am appalled by some parents who create a climate of fear for their kids by telling them not to go into the dark, for it is scary, there are ghosts there. For Holy Mother’s sake! There is no such thing as ghosts. Full stop.

 

By the way, Ms Loh also made a statement regarding her feelings about the event, that she found it too scary.

 

What??! Since when Halloween has to be sugar and nice, meek and mild? Sigh. I am trying darn hard not to sound sexist now, but it seems that if she is a bloke, she would not have made such a silly remark. No bloke who’s worth his prick would think of cancelling something just because he finds it too scary for his taste!

 

Personal taste and business do not mix, my dear.

 

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i suspect wrs is not telling the truth…

 

 

Wildlife Reserve Singapore (WRS) has suddenly cancelled its annual Halloween Horrors event, just two weeks prior its scheduled opening, to the consternation and shock by many.

 

The reasons for the cancellation, as offered by the spin doctors of its website, are thus:

 

The Halloween Horrors event is cancelled because of the negative feedback received from corporations, the public and the media about the event, especially over its relevance in relation to conservation.

 

Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) will focus on organising more family-centric activities, which will include new youth-engagement and interactive activities and events.

 

In place of Halloween Horrors next month, we will organise a special Deepavali experience at Jurong Bird Park and Singapore Zoo. It will offer a great occasion for us to spread our message of wildlife conservation through educational and engaging family-oriented activities.

 

The website also mentioned that:

 

WRS will refocus our energies on events and activities with family wholesome themes and festivities like Moon Nights, Deepavali and others.

 

It is very weak-willed of the management to simply cancel something because of “negative feedback”, especially when those feedback might not necessarily affect the event’s profitability or marketing potential. Organised since 2006, Halloween Horrors have been proven to be quite a lucrative event here in Singapore, let alone in many parts of the world where Halloween has been part of their tourism marketing strategies.

 

Economy or tourism aside, I don’t see why the theme of Halloween cannot be imaginatively adapted to resonate with conservation. It is fallacious to argue that just because Halloween, at its face value, is perceived to have no relevance to conservation, should thus be scrapped. In its place, WRS decided to organise a Deepavali event – to use WRS’ argument – what has Deepavali got to do with conservation?

 

Of course, the organisers can tinker here and there to make the event somehow related to conservation – but so can Halloween!

 

I suspect that there is more to this whole fracas over Halloween than meets the eye. Relevance to conservation is just a red herring to mislead the public from perhaps the real reasons behind the cancellation.

 

WRS’ statement about “family wholesome themes” is revealing. Does the “negative feedback” have anything to do with Halloween not being “wholesome” enough for families to enjoy, childhood fears notwithstanding?

 

Does the negative feedback have anything to do with Halloween being “not good” for children, having some unwholesome connotations?

 

Come on – like the Hungry Ghosts Festival – Halloween is a harmless custom rooted in fiction. Of course, regardless of what some people might believe about these cultural customs, there is really nothing empirically true about them.

 

I really suspect that among all the naysayers of the event, a high percentage could be the modern fundamentalists of religion, trying to impose their bigoted and very ignorant views on the public.

 

And I really sympathise with the 17 or so final-year students of Singapore Polytechnic who helped to plan the event as part of their final-year projects. All their sleepless nights and tight schedules just to meet the deadlines of WRS. The potential worth of their portfolios for their future careers.

 

Furore over Halloween Horrors’ Sudden Cancellation

 

Really, even if WRS decides to cancel the event, why not do it from next year? That would be a more logical thing to do.

 

I will not be surprised if this was indeed the handiwork of christians and maybe even muslims in our midst. Only people like them can cook up something as immoral and evil as this.

 

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