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Religious leaders must speak upDate : 7 March 2010 The Straits Times - Religious leaders must speak up07 March 2010 Rebutting offending remarks from their own flock will reassure other faiths, says Vivian By Goh Chin Lian A Cabinet minister yesterday appealed to religious leaders to speak up if a leader within their own religion makes comments that are offensive, dangerous or divisive. Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan said such rebuttals of offending remarks will assure people from other religions that the offensive views were not held by the religion's mainstream. Doing so also avoids a clash if religious leaders from another faith join in the fray. The minister was addressing about 300 participants of the National Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circle (IRCC) workshop yesterday, including grassroots and religious leaders, when he departed from his prepared speech to comment on recent incidents involving offensive statements touching on religion. He did not name anyone in particular, but the Internal Security Department called up Lighthouse Evangelism senior church pastor Rony Tan last month for remarks disparaging certain beliefs associated with Buddhism and Taoism. Said Dr Balakrishnan: 'If each religious leader takes it upon himself to do good housekeeping, to rebut and explain that those (remarks) are not the views of the mainstream of that religion, I think other religions, other people listening, will feel more reassured.' He addressed one possible reservation towards speaking up: Most people do not want to criticise those who are close to them or who belong to the same religion. But he drew a parallel with senior religious leaders having to speak louder against extremism and terrorism, 'so that the world understands and does not get the wrong view of what is your religion and what are your views'. His take on those people who put others down was that they probably did not really know their religion well and were insecure in their own faith. 'People who truly understand their own faith have no need to put others down,' he said, after launching a new website on the IRCCs' activities, at www.ircc.sg The confidence circles were set up in 2002 to build friendship and trust among community and religious leaders in the aftermath of the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. Yesterday's closed-door workshop covered such issues as engaging youth and the Internet's impact on inter-religious issues. While dealing with offensive statements, Dr Balakrishnan also laid out what he felt would not work for Singapore. One view was to have no talk about religion at all so that no one would say anything offensive. But people are already talking about such things on the Internet, he noted. An opposing view was to have lots of talk in the belief that someone who says something wrong will be drowned out by a chorus of people correcting him or her. Overly optimistic was how Dr Balakrishnan described this latter view, which he said was popular among younger people of a Western, liberal bent. What about leaving it to the Government? While the Government will investigate complaints and can prosecute or restrain errant religious leaders under existing legislation, he felt that such actions do not ultimately build trust, religious harmony or social cohesion. 'So these three fallacies - no talk, all talk or all Government - don't work,' said Dr Balakrishnan. (With thanks to SPH - StraitsTimes.com) Note : No reproduction or downloading of this Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) article is allowed in any medium. Permission has to be obtained from SPH. The Straits Times - Religious leaders should correct offensive views07 March 2010 Religious leaders and political observers welcome minister's call for self-regulation By Goh Chin Lian Religious leaders welcomed the call yesterday by a Cabinet minister to correct someone from their own religion if he makes a comment that is offensive and not in line with the mainstream of that religion. And while political observers note that there are some religious communities without a central authority, they said it would still be easier for leaders of the same religion to do the correction than for those from other religions to do so. They were responding to Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan's speech yesterday. Singapore Buddhist Federation secretary-general Seck Kwang Phing feels that a person who makes offensive comments would be more amenable to correction by someone from his own religion. 'The religious leaders of his religion can go deeper, and ask him whether or not he has fully understood others' teachings,' he told The Sunday Times in Mandarin. Mufti Syed Isa Mohamed Semait, Singapore's highest Islamic authority, feels there is no guarantee that people do not make comments that deceive those from other faiths. But such views should be quickly rebutted by someone from within the same religion. Otherwise, criticism by those from outside might stir emotions, making it hard to resolve matters, he said. And if religious leaders publicly correct their own people, those from other religions would feel assured, he added. Mr Lim K. Tham, general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Singapore, said he agreed with Dr Balakrishnan's view. Asked if the council had reservations or concerns, Mr Lim noted that it was a voluntary council of churches and spoke from a consensus arrived at after consultation with its member churches. While there was a diversity of denominations and churches, he pointed to a commonality in the belief that Christians should have the nation's welfare at heart by serving the needs of the community and fostering harmony among all Singaporeans. The council also appreciated Dr Balakrishnan saying in his speech that having no talk on religion or relying entirely on the Government were not workable solutions. Said Mr Lim: 'We appreciate that the minister is not overreacting or proposing any extreme measures to curb religious expression.' Dr Gillian Koh, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, noted that self-regulation was the preferred strategy used to calm the ground in the wake of the Sept 11 terrorist attacks. 'When we talk about groups within civil society, the best way forward is for self-regulation within a broader framework of what we understand as civility.' On religious communities that are internally diverse and that are less able to correct one of their own, she suggested that the mainstream group in each community take the initiative to get to know those who are not in the mainstream. The aim is not to force such people to follow the mainstream view but to build friendship and trust, akin to the Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circles formed to build bonds between people of different religions, she said. chinlian@sph.com.sg (With thanks to SPH - StraitsTimes.com) Note : No reproduction or downloading of this Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) article is allowed in any medium. Permission has to be obtained from SPH. The New Paper - Leaders must speak up 07 March 2010 Click on the link below to view the New Paper article (With thanks to TheNewPaper) Note : No reproduction or downloading of this Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) article is allowed in any medium. Permission has to be obtained from SPH. Berita Harian - Ways to avoid misunderstanding among adherents of different faiths 07 March 2010 Translation (Summary) The Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Dr Vivian Balakrishnan appealed to religious leaders to speak up if a leader within their own religion makes comments that are offensive. He explained that such rebuttals of offending remarks will assure people from other religions that the offensive views were not held by the religion’s mainstream. Doing so also avoids a clash if religious leaders from another faith join in the fray, he said in his speech at the National Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circle (IRCC) annual workshop and its website launch at the Amara Hotel yesterday. According to Dr Balakrishnan when an imprudent remark is made about another religion, the general public would tend to make the following three fallacies – ignoring the issue, being overly optimistic and discussing the issue excessively or leaving it to the Government to handle the issue. Meanwhile, Mufti Syed Isa Semait expressed his agreement with Dr Balakrishnan. He commented that such views should be quickly rebutted by someone from within the same religion. Otherwise, criticism by those from outside might stir emotions, making it hard to resolve matters. If religious leaders publicly correct their own people, those from other religions would feel assured, he said. He also added that past incidents serve as valuable lessons to Singapore and help to build a Singaporean society that understands one another.
Click on the link below to view the Berita Harian article (With thanks to SPH - Berita Harian) Note : No reproduction or downloading of this Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) article is allowed in any medium. Permission has to be obtained from SPH. Lianhe Zaobao - It's most effective for the same racial group or same religious organisation to make rebuttal when radical comments arise: Vivian 07 March 2010 Click on the link below to view the Lianhe Zaobao article (With thanks to SPH - Lianhe Zaobao.com) Note : No reproduction or downloading of this Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) article is allowed in any medium. Permission has to be obtained from SPH. Tamil Murasu - Religious leaders must speak up, emphasized Minister Mr Vivian Balakrishnan 07 March 2010 Translation (Summary) When a religious leader makes offensive comments, other leaders within the same religion should not remain indifferent but speak up against him, said Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Mr Vivian Balakrishnan. He explained that such rebuttals against offending remarks would assure people from other religions that the offensive views are not held by the religion’s mainstream. “If each religious leader takes it upon himself to do good housekeeping, to rebut and explain that those offensive remarks are not views of the mainstream of that religion, I think other religions, other people listening, will feel more reassured,” he said. Dr Vivian said this when he addressed about 300 participants of the National Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circle (IRCC) workshop. The minister did not mention anyone in particular in his speech. However, it is worth recalling that, last month, the Internal Security Department had called up Lighthouse Evangelism senior church pastor Rony Tan for his remarks related to Buddhism and Taoism.
Click on the link below to view article in PDF version (With thanks to SPH - Tamil Murasu) Note : No reproduction or downloading of this Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) article is allowed in any medium. Permission has to be obtained from SPH. |
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