AWARE, Church of Our Saviour, & Bigotry

[SNAblog]

http://kentridgecommon.com/?p=2638

Criminalizing attempts aimed at provoking discrimination against sexual minorities

By Kelvin Teo ⋅ April 21, 2009

SINGAPORE - Much has been written about the anti-homosexuality history of the newcomers in AWARE’s executive committee together with their supporters, especially their links to the Church of Our Saviour, a charismatic anglican church. The concern with the Church of Our Saviour is that its history has been laden with the anti-homosexuality rhetoric, which explains the alarm of members within the gay community in the wake of the latest developments at AWARE.

When the Singapore government opened its doors of employment to homosexuals to positions within the civil service, the senior pastor of the Church of Our Saviour, Mr Derek Hong, was visibly opposed to such an action. Mr Hong made a passionate speech, vowing to mobilize churches in Singapore to stand up against the homosexual issue, and highlighted his goal of making Singapore a nation of righteous Christians without contamination of the homosexual lifestyle. Mr Hong felt that homosexuality should not be allowed to come out to the surface and made acceptable to the nation. Mr Derek Hong and the Church of Our Saviour aside, a group of 20 Christians from different denominations, voluntary organizations and professions met and agreed on a line of action to tackle the homosexual-friendly hiring policy. Mr Yang Tuck Yoong, a pastor of the Cornerstone Community Church encouraged Christians to express their concerns regarding the new hiring policy to their Member of Parliaments via letters or during meet-the-people sessions.

It can be argued that the actions of such religious figureheads are bordering on sedition, i.e. attempting to create ill-feelings and enmity against a certain group of Singaporeans, the sexual minorities. While the government deserves its fair share of plaudits for adopting a tolerant approach in hiring homosexuals, it should have considered implementing laws equivalent to the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) laws in the U.S.. LGBT laws in the U.S. include anti-discrimination laws to counter employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. President Bill Clinton’s Executive Order 13087 prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation within the U.S. civil service, and our government should consider having a similar bill.

And more can be done to protect sexual minorities against discrimination. For starters, a new Anti-discrimination against Sexual Minorities Act should be enacted, and this is applicable to everyone regardless of religious beliefs. Such an act criminalizes attempts aimed at provoking discrimination against sexual minorities. What is allowed and not allowed for this proposed Act?

Allowed
1) Expressing one’s personal opinion against the sexual practice/lifestyle of a sexual minority. For instance, a speech or writing expressing negative opinions of a homosexual/lesbian practice is permissible.
E.g. I find anal sex by homosexuals disgusting and extremely unhealthy.

Not allowed
1) Making an attempt either directly or indirectly to curtail the progress of a sexual minority, be it in education, career or in other areas, on the grounds of his/her sexual orientation.
E.g. An organized campaign by a religious figurehead to prevent the employment of homosexuals to the civil service. If the religious figurehead explicitly informs his followers to influence Members of the Parliament to discourage the employment of sexual minorities in the civil service, the figurehead will be violating the Act.

2) Partaking in speeches/campaigns/activities that stirs up ill will against sexual minorities.
E.g. Hate speeches and actions that directly lead to contempt against sexual minorities.

In every mature society, tolerance of differences should be practised. Bigotry still remains a serious scourge and poses a danger, especially to the vulnerable ones who are affected. As such, the latter should be protected by specially designed laws, which ensure that their interests are not curtailed by discrimination.

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[nickers9]

Hi,

i have a question to ask everyone, how did you come to this world? you were born through a woman, which is a man and a woman coming together, rite?

you were not born through a man and a man or a woman and a woman coming together. so putting religion aside, having a next generation is through a proper male and female relationship. this is my point of view.

 

[jw5]

Hi,

i have a question to ask everyone, how did you come to this world? you were born through a woman, which is a man and a woman coming together, rite?

you were not born through a man and a man or a woman and a woman coming together. so putting religion aside, having a next generation is through a proper male and female relationship. this is my point of view.

Agree, but I also have a question to ask you.
If a man and a man or a woman and a woman choose to come together without begetting future generations, that should be their right, right? Should it be any of our business?
PS: I am not gay by the way, neither am I a supporter of gay rights. I just hold the view that people should have the right to choose and do what they want, if it doesn't harm other human beings or the environment.

 

[denzuko1]

Hi,

i have a question to ask everyone, how did you come to this world? you were born through a woman, which is a man and a woman coming together, rite?

you were not born through a man and a man or a woman and a woman coming together. so putting religion aside, having a next generation is through a proper male and female relationship. this is my point of view.

This is a question you best ask your country's own men/women/she-male. You solve that one, then you come here.

 

[TeeKee]

Agree, but I also have a question to ask you.
If a man and a man or a woman and a woman choose to come together without begetting future generations, that should be their right, right? Should it be any of our business?
PS: I am not gay by the way, neither am I a supporter of gay rights. I jjust hold the view that people should have the right to choose and do what the want, if it doesn;t harm other human beings or the environment.

let me give u a christian perspective of gays...

gay is a sin and described in the bible, especially when God destroyed a town full of gays by sending down fires...in Soddom and Gamorrah.

i dun think christians really hate gay per say...

they are worried about their lifestyle which may have an impact on others, including us. who wants to live in Soddom and Gammorah? Have you watch the movie Alexandra? A king raped another guy anally and later that victim slaughtered the king out of anger?

gays are getting very vocal lately.

my personal opinion, anal and engaging in prostitutes is just a acceptable term to describe the disgusting act of rubbing your birdie in a dirty toilet bowl.

they can catch all kinds of diseases and illnessness, which many christians will be worried for them. it's not just two person affairs. what you do will have impact on others..

like writing blogs here..or if they are elected to leadership positions which may influence the future of the country.

do you want God to send fires down SGP or blessed the country forever?

 

[SIFU]

i m not gay either..

but i think man-man sex very disgusting..

lesbian sex quite nice to see though:p

 

[SneeringTree]

Hi,

i have a question to ask everyone, how did you come to this world? you were born through a woman, which is a man and a woman coming together, rite?

you were not born through a man and a man or a woman and a woman coming together. so putting religion aside, having a next generation is through a proper male and female relationship. this is my point of view.

There's a reason why these people are called sexual minorities. They will ALWAYS be the minority. No one chooses to be gay, especially not in Singapore where they can ridiculed and discriminated left, right, center.

You think human race will be wiped out because some people are gay? That's really laughable and bordering on the ludricrous.

 

[TeeKee]

There's a reason why these people are called sexual minorities. They will ALWAYS be the minority. No one chooses to be gay, especially not in Singapore where they can ridiculed and discriminated left, right, center.

You think human race will be wiped out because some people are gay? That's really laughable and bordering on the ludricrous.

there is a choice....if you watch show religulous...even though the show is extremely bias from prologue all the way to the conclusion..

there's a person who was gay and later becomes straight and got married and have children...through the help of Christ.

now his a counseller and helping others....

the path of human race has been fraught natural and man made disasters because of original sin.

do you think you can laugh about it? i dun think it helps by adding more sins to the current situation?

like promoting gay rights?

 

[commoner]

TeeKee

God hates the SIN of GAY and destroyed 2 towns with how many lives in it? The whole town is gay and lesbo? No innocence lives lost? Or was there a misinterpretation of the passage,,,,,

It is no good for man to be alone, unless he is eunuch by birth or accident, so every one must be married? Be fruitful and multiply, means no birth control?

What did Jesus do to the adulteress?

Will you be the 1st to cast the stone?

 

[nickers9]

Agree, but I also have a question to ask you.
If a man and a man or a woman and a woman choose to come together without begetting future generations, that should be their right, right? Should it be any of our business?
PS: I am not gay by the way, neither am I a supporter of gay rights. I just hold the view that people should have the right to choose and do what they want, if it doesn't harm other human beings or the environment.

In this world, what we do are directly or indirectly affect everyone of us.

Take an example like Casino or Geylang Serai Temporary Food Center.

PAP insist on opening up Casino. Yes it creates jobs or brings in revenue as what PAP says. But it has heavy social problems. If this person went to casino and loses all his money, what will he do? Maybe he goes robbing or stealing. He goes into this taxi and finally robbed and killed the driver. And when it turned out, this taxi driver is your father(I mean an example), how would you feel?

Same as Geylang Serai hawker center, someone ate and died from the mass food poisoning, and that person is someone close to you, how would you feel? And how this mass poisoning happens? Someone(NEA) never does their job properly, and an innocent person ate from it and died, who's fault?

This is a world that we lived in, and what we do are directly and indirectly affecting some people, no one is an one man's island.

 

[commoner]

and Geylang,,,, when the husbands go and practise without safe sex and get STDs or Aids ands passed it to the wives and children, what can you do.

the thing is contol, minimise damage,,,,,

if casino, geylang pros, home-cooking go underground making it more difficult to detect, that will be the day when things are out fo control

 

[londontrader]

"there's a person who was gay and later becomes straight and got married and have children...through the help of Christ."

You're talking about conversion therapy? The premise of conversion therapy is that homosexuality is fundamentally a mental disorder. If you do your reading (objectively), I think you will find that the medical professional is still debating the underlying premise of homosexuality. The WHO has gone as far as removing the "mental disorder" label. Medical evidence thus far has found no conclusive support for conversion therapy and has raised serious concerns about harmful effects. No mainstream medical organization endorses conversion therapy.

"the path of human race has been fraught natural and man made disasters because of original sin."

Is homosexuality to be viewed as a natural or man made?
I would point out that homosexual behaviour has been well documented amongst non-human animals. It's been naturally occurring for as long (and longer) as (some) Christians have been denying it.

"like promoting gay rights?"

I think they shouldn't need to promote something as basic as the freedom from persecution.

Point of Disclosure:

I'm not a homosexual but have a few colleagues and friends who are.

 

[londontrader]

"This is a world that we lived in, and what we do are directly and indirectly affecting some people, no one is an one man's island."

You need a more balanced view
While I accept your point about intended and unintended consequences, we need to consider the actual risks before deciding to curtail some one else's right to quietly get on with life.