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'MIND YOUR OWN RELIGION' Wednesday, May 26, 2010, 4:58 PM |
UNLIKE Mr Lee Kok Lin ('Let 'mind your own religion' be your mantra', Monday), I do not believe it is healthy for any multi-religious society to adopt a principle of minding one's own religion, especially if it means denying inter-religious dialogue.
Most religions, by nature, claim to uphold the absolute truth for all mankind; this means on some fundamental level that a religion is justified at the expense of others.
Christianity, for example, arose as a purported fulfilment of Judaism, while Protestantism's raison d'etre is anti-Catholic. So while peaceful coexistence and dialogue are still possible, this inherent tension must always be recognised, even embraced.
In practical terms, this does not mean condoning Senior Pastor Rony Tan's offensive remarks. Accepting that religions will always disagree with one another on the 'Truth' means exponents of a particular faith can stay credible only by rigorous study of other religions.
Trivialising other faiths is a sign of insecurity about one's own religion, showing an unwillingness to face the professed truth of other religions and make a proper, intellectual case for one's own religion. Simply preaching, for example, that non-believers of your faith will not be 'saved' does not fare better.
How then to prevent the principle of inherent disagreement between religions from spilling out of control?
For all faiths, it is important to recognise that while other religions may not contain your view of the 'Truth', they may still contain traces of the truth your religion professes, for example, compassion and social justice. (Embrace differences)
Gentlemanly debate and dialogue are welcome, but uninformed bashing is not.
Michael Wee
