Levels of Support for Causes

People are motivated differently to support various causes. For people of religious faith, we make the choice or born into one religion over other religions. Much is due to the time and place in which we were born and the way we react to our  conditions. As a result we are now surrounded by a diversity of faith communities. The challenge before us in our globalized world is that we have to exist with people who relate to different religions and with no religion and those who sense they are spiritual but not religious but do not belong to any particular religious community.

Even within each religion with its own sacred text there are differences of interpretation of their holy writings leading to various schools of thoughts and sects in each religious community. I was fortunate to attend recently the lecture of Professor Farid Esack organized by Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS)  on "Text and Context" relationship to inter-faith relations and solidarity.

In all our sacred texts there are some "awkward" passages or even "clobber" verses attacking others within and outside the community itself who hold different interpretations. There is conflict within and without. All passages have to be scrutinized and evaluated by critical thinking especially by credible scholars of the text.  Our personal study and reflection lead to acceptance of a certain view or position.

In my own religious development, I had the privilege to study with professors who pursue critical analysis. I learnt to ask the question "Why." I was taught to deal with doubts and not resort too easily to suspend them and accept contradictory views in "faith." Are we honest enough that in spite of claims of revelations and loyalty to creeds, we as human beings admit that we can have approximations of truth. Only the Creator has the ultimate truth.

With our understanding of our experiences in life, we with our limitations need to plunge into the struggle  in controversial issues with faith knowing that it is only our claims of truth which often is not that of the majority of people.

When we offer support especially different causes there are nuances of the kind of support. For instance when I wrote about my impressions of Professor Farid Esack, I made the general statement which I want to correct so that it is more specific and precise and more accurate of the stance that he makes rather than the impression that I received.

My sentence “He supports the rights of gays, lesbians, bi-sexual, transgendered rights” should be corrected to  "He showed considerable insights into the challenges faced by gays, lesbians, bi-sexual, transgendered individuals when it comes to addressing the question of HIV.”

The degree and kind  of support need to be clear. However the support must show the degree also of consistency in order to gain credibility. To give full and total support to any cause is almost impossible. This is especially true in the political arena, it is generally known that compromises are expected to be made for the sake of security, harmony, economic growth. Yet, we need to evaluate how much we can accept the trade-offs in pursuit of our goals.

In the light of this perspective of support for causes and issues we must be realistic and weigh the consequences of our involvement. To engage we must. In faith take sides. Who we serve is the important criterion - the systems of domination or the poor, marginalized and oppressed.

Yap Kim Hao