- Joined
- May 6, 2009
- Messages
- 2,034
- Points
- 0
From www.christianpost.com.sg :-
This is how the writer sees the 'continued persecution' of Rony Tan:-
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td>
</td> <td valign="top"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="330"> <tbody><tr> <td>Home > Missions > Persecution </td> </tr> </tbody></table></td> </tr> </tbody></table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="10" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr> <td style="margin: 0pt 4px 4px 0pt;">
</td></tr><tr> <td width="454"> Militant Secularists Demand Rony Tan's Arrest
Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010 Posted: 1:57:06AM HKT
<center> <table align="left" bgcolor="#eaeaea" border="0" width="1"> <tbody><tr><td>
</td></tr> <tr><td>Richard Dawkins, the author of non-fiction book 'The God Delusion'. (Photo: AP/Akira Suemori)</td></tr> </tbody></table> </center> [Continued From: Page 1]
This is how the writer sees the 'continued persecution' of Rony Tan:-
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td>
</td> <td valign="top"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="330"> <tbody><tr> <td>Home > Missions > Persecution </td> </tr> </tbody></table></td> </tr> </tbody></table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="10" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr> <td style="margin: 0pt 4px 4px 0pt;">
</td></tr><tr> <td width="454"> Militant Secularists Demand Rony Tan's Arrest
Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010 Posted: 1:57:06AM HKT
</td></tr> <tr><td>Richard Dawkins, the author of non-fiction book 'The God Delusion'. (Photo: AP/Akira Suemori)</td></tr> </tbody></table> </center> [Continued From: Page 1]
On the latter point he said: “I don’t know whether members of the public talked to or tried to communicate with Pastor Tan first (prior to their online criticisms). For those who reacted by reporting Pastor Tan to the authorities as the first response, it is overreaction. If everyone does that, we would become a police state and religious dialogue would come to a complete halt out of fear.”
Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng had explained in a reply to media query that being investigated and called up by the ISD is “not less serious than getting investigated by the Police,” adding a word of assurance.
He had said: “The bottom-line in such cases is that we must ensure that the OB markers are clear and that transgressions are dealt with in a balanced and professional manner. Our agencies must be allowed to exercise their professional judgment on how best to achieve this outcome.”
Some Singapore Christians have observed the rise of militant secularism in the republic.
Singaporean Catholic Nick Chui highlighted possible signs of secular intolerance in a web log entry following the prime minister’s National Day Rally speech last year.
He pointed out that major bookstores here have carried titles by militant atheists in prominent locations, signifying ‘sizeable’ demand.
Chui, who is pursuing a theological Master’s in a Catholic seminary in Melbourne, Australia, cited an incident last year in which DBS Bank ended a charitable tie-up with Focus on the Family in support of the latter’s children’s learning centre after many of its customers threatened to cancel their card memberships and close their accounts with the local bank.
The protest was apparently led by playwright and poet Ng Yi-Sheng, who was unhappy that DBS had chosen to work with an organisation with anti-homosexuality, anti-abortion and pro-abstinence values, according to the Straits Times.
Moreover the blogger alluded to the vocal backlash against former Nominated Member of Parliament Dr Thio Li-ann when she spoke against homosexuality during a parliamentary debate in 2007 on whether the law criminalising sodomy should be repealed.
He also wrote a commentary following the controversy involving AWARE which he argued showed the large extent to which militant secularists could influence public opinion.
There was no outcry on how religion was interfering with secular space, he said, when the papers revealed that a religious foundation, Chen Su Lan Trust, had donated $113,000 to AWARE, out of which $35,000 was spent on the latter’s Comprehensive Sexuality Education workshops which promoted homosexuality in eleven secondary schools, Today reported.
In contrast a group of Christians concerned that AWARE had been promoting homosexuality was accused of hatemongering, having a religious agenda and received death threats, he said.
Explaining Chui said: “The issue is not separation of the secular and religious realms. The issue really is that when people of faith [agree] with the values of the liberal elite, they are welcomed with open arms and seen as enlightened and progressive.
“But when a person of faith dares to disagree with the values endorsed by the so called liberal elite, then they had better confine their views to the walls of their churches and temples or risk facing the wrath and anathemas of these new high priests/(or priestesses).”
Arguing that his examples showed that public dialogue in Singapore had degenerated to the point of ‘criminal intimidation’, he stressed that it is militant secularists who determine what is acceptable in society and what is not.
</td></tr></tbody></table>Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng had explained in a reply to media query that being investigated and called up by the ISD is “not less serious than getting investigated by the Police,” adding a word of assurance.
He had said: “The bottom-line in such cases is that we must ensure that the OB markers are clear and that transgressions are dealt with in a balanced and professional manner. Our agencies must be allowed to exercise their professional judgment on how best to achieve this outcome.”
Some Singapore Christians have observed the rise of militant secularism in the republic.
Singaporean Catholic Nick Chui highlighted possible signs of secular intolerance in a web log entry following the prime minister’s National Day Rally speech last year.
He pointed out that major bookstores here have carried titles by militant atheists in prominent locations, signifying ‘sizeable’ demand.
Chui, who is pursuing a theological Master’s in a Catholic seminary in Melbourne, Australia, cited an incident last year in which DBS Bank ended a charitable tie-up with Focus on the Family in support of the latter’s children’s learning centre after many of its customers threatened to cancel their card memberships and close their accounts with the local bank.
The protest was apparently led by playwright and poet Ng Yi-Sheng, who was unhappy that DBS had chosen to work with an organisation with anti-homosexuality, anti-abortion and pro-abstinence values, according to the Straits Times.
Moreover the blogger alluded to the vocal backlash against former Nominated Member of Parliament Dr Thio Li-ann when she spoke against homosexuality during a parliamentary debate in 2007 on whether the law criminalising sodomy should be repealed.
He also wrote a commentary following the controversy involving AWARE which he argued showed the large extent to which militant secularists could influence public opinion.
There was no outcry on how religion was interfering with secular space, he said, when the papers revealed that a religious foundation, Chen Su Lan Trust, had donated $113,000 to AWARE, out of which $35,000 was spent on the latter’s Comprehensive Sexuality Education workshops which promoted homosexuality in eleven secondary schools, Today reported.
In contrast a group of Christians concerned that AWARE had been promoting homosexuality was accused of hatemongering, having a religious agenda and received death threats, he said.
Explaining Chui said: “The issue is not separation of the secular and religious realms. The issue really is that when people of faith [agree] with the values of the liberal elite, they are welcomed with open arms and seen as enlightened and progressive.
“But when a person of faith dares to disagree with the values endorsed by the so called liberal elite, then they had better confine their views to the walls of their churches and temples or risk facing the wrath and anathemas of these new high priests/(or priestesses).”
Arguing that his examples showed that public dialogue in Singapore had degenerated to the point of ‘criminal intimidation’, he stressed that it is militant secularists who determine what is acceptable in society and what is not.
