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junwei said on February 19, 2010 10:32 PM... - " hi there, if you don't mind, would you support a call for a ban on the prohibition of proselytising in public spaces in singapore and a call for an open dialogue/forum from pastor rony tan? and your reasons why and why not? thanks "
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)v. pros·e·ly·tized, pros·e·ly·tiz·ing, pros·e·ly·tiz·es
v.intr.
1. To induce someone to convert to one's own religious faith.
2. To induce someone to join one's own political party or to espouse one's doctrine.
v.tr.
To convert (a person) from one belief, doctrine, cause, or faith to another.
To put the discussion right, I would like to say my personal stand does not represent any church nor christianity as a whole but all of it are my thoughts and opinions.
Pardon me for my poor standard of english here but by the first sentence I got 2 different intrepretations of what you are asking:
1) a ban on the prohibition of proselytising in public spaces in singapore:
a ban on the prohibition of proselytising means to make the prevent proselytising from being prohibited?
2) call for just prohibiting proselytising in public places (I think this is what you are trying to say?)
I would like to think that banning people from proselytising means to prevent people from trying to convert people from other religions to our own. However I feel there is no need for such a law in Singapore. Firstly, Singapore is a multi-cultural, multi-racial society. We ought to encourage the freedom of choice to practice one's own religion and at the same time be respectful and polite to people of other religions and practices. Putting a ban not just mean Christians cannot do it, but also people of other religions like Islam and Buddhists. As a Singaporean, I feel it is a loss for all of us, the values we stood for that formed the fabric of our society it is today: a tolerant and harmonious society.
Secondly, I don't feel there is a need to ban because as a christian, I do go around sharing about my faith, but NOT FORCING IT down their throats. As a christian, I share because I'm sharing about how there is a loving God that has touched my own life. And I share it because I believe that It is good. It is just like telling people about this X stall of chicken rice that's very nice. Sharing however does not equate to Forcing. I believe some christians can get aggressive, but it is my opinion that purely sharing life experiences is normal for people and we should be encouraged to share about our religion too. It does not mean when I share to a person, He/she has to become a christian. That is not sharing but forcing. I have met equally nice Buddhists, muslims and we can hit off pretty well sharing about our own experiences with regard to religion and understand why we act the way we do, and I value such friendships very much.
Lastly, there have been religious awareness weeks in NTU about various religious groups coming to setup booths about their own religion. Instead of having a ban, we should do the direct opposite: to create more awareness about other faiths and religions and cultivate that acceptance and tolerance for other religions.
"a call for an open dialogue/forum from pastor rony tan?"
If this is aimed at putting Pastor Rony Tan down, or attacking Christianity, there's no point in this at all. I personally feel that since He has already issued a public apology, we should let it rest, bearing in mind that we all make mistakes, we should live and let live.
Personally, I feel that He has made a mistake of the statements in those videos and my heart goes with those buddhists who felt they were being misrepresented. The same for us christians, it is an inaccurate representation of Christianity as a whole. As a Christian, I'm sorry for all those comments a fellow christian has made. I firmly believe that we should exercise control and tactfulness in our speech, giving due respect to other religions.
I'm sure by now though that people should have realised that the targeted audience is not non-christians for the videos. However a question I have in mind is that as a Pastor, he should have been preaching the bible and God's words. Such testimonial based sharings can be lob-sided and if there is a need for such sessions, the sharing must be objective and not made in any way to put down any other religion.
However, I feel that there is no need to create another row of problems by stirring up the dust that has just started to settle. As a Singaporean, I would like to see our society facing up to the issue together and not divided. As a christian, I will like to see we ourselves practising what we preach by acting out our faith in truth and love.
In conclusion, we must realise: has the Rony Tan issue really been the long-standing issue? Or is it exposing something much deeper?
To put the discussion right, I would like to say my personal stand does not represent any church nor christianity as a whole but all of it are my thoughts and opinions.
Pardon me for my poor standard of english here but by the first sentence I got 2 different intrepretations of what you are asking:
1) a ban on the prohibition of proselytising in public spaces in singapore:
a ban on the prohibition of proselytising means to make the prevent proselytising from being prohibited?
2) call for just prohibiting proselytising in public places (I think this is what you are trying to say?)
I would like to think that banning people from proselytising means to prevent people from trying to convert people from other religions to our own. However I feel there is no need for such a law in Singapore. Firstly, Singapore is a multi-cultural, multi-racial society. We ought to encourage the freedom of choice to practice one's own religion and at the same time be respectful and polite to people of other religions and practices. Putting a ban not just mean Christians cannot do it, but also people of other religions like Islam and Buddhists. As a Singaporean, I feel it is a loss for all of us, the values we stood for that formed the fabric of our society it is today: a tolerant and harmonious society.
Secondly, I don't feel there is a need to ban because as a christian, I do go around sharing about my faith, but NOT FORCING IT down their throats. As a christian, I share because I'm sharing about how there is a loving God that has touched my own life. And I share it because I believe that It is good. It is just like telling people about this X stall of chicken rice that's very nice. Sharing however does not equate to Forcing. I believe some christians can get aggressive, but it is my opinion that purely sharing life experiences is normal for people and we should be encouraged to share about our religion too. It does not mean when I share to a person, He/she has to become a christian. That is not sharing but forcing. I have met equally nice Buddhists, muslims and we can hit off pretty well sharing about our own experiences with regard to religion and understand why we act the way we do, and I value such friendships very much.
Lastly, there have been religious awareness weeks in NTU about various religious groups coming to setup booths about their own religion. Instead of having a ban, we should do the direct opposite: to create more awareness about other faiths and religions and cultivate that acceptance and tolerance for other religions.
"a call for an open dialogue/forum from pastor rony tan?"
If this is aimed at putting Pastor Rony Tan down, or attacking Christianity, there's no point in this at all. I personally feel that since He has already issued a public apology, we should let it rest, bearing in mind that we all make mistakes, we should live and let live.
Personally, I feel that He has made a mistake of the statements in those videos and my heart goes with those buddhists who felt they were being misrepresented. The same for us christians, it is an inaccurate representation of Christianity as a whole. As a Christian, I'm sorry for all those comments a fellow christian has made. I firmly believe that we should exercise control and tactfulness in our speech, giving due respect to other religions.
I'm sure by now though that people should have realised that the targeted audience is not non-christians for the videos. However a question I have in mind is that as a Pastor, he should have been preaching the bible and God's words. Such testimonial based sharings can be lob-sided and if there is a need for such sessions, the sharing must be objective and not made in any way to put down any other religion.
However, I feel that there is no need to create another row of problems by stirring up the dust that has just started to settle. As a Singaporean, I would like to see our society facing up to the issue together and not divided. As a christian, I will like to see we ourselves practising what we preach by acting out our faith in truth and love.
In conclusion, we must realise: has the Rony Tan issue really been the long-standing issue? Or is it exposing something much deeper?
1 Response to "Replying to a comment :)"
I agree. Just because someone doesn't believe in or adopt our practices doesn't mean that we need to have conflicts. Understanding someone is the key to knowing how to share your own faith with them. The rest is up to God.
I'm glad that the religious leaders in Singapore are mature on this issue and are willing to have more dialogue and/or sharing sessions to prevent such misunderstandings from happening again. Instead of running from or hiding the problem that might exist in our multi-racial, multi-religious country, we should address the issue upfront, albeit that it should be done respectfully.
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