Issue of Inter-faith talks

The Straits Times, major daily newspaper in Singapore, has published my letter to the Editor in its entirety without editorial changes. I append another letter and report on the same topic. They arise from the launching of the 723 pages book "Religious Diversity in Singapore" published by the Institute of Policy Studies, an autonomous research centre in the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. My commendation is printed at the back cover of this important book which carries a Foreword by President S R Nathan. YKH

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>> Back to the articleSep 6, 2008Issue of inter-faith talks must be addressedI REFER to Wednesday's report, 'Clergy 'wary of inter-faith talks''. This is the situation we must address if we want to work for religious harmony in our multi-religious society. We cannot afford to be embroiled in conflict among the different faith communities. The cost is too high. As Professor Tommy Koh has warned, 'it will threaten everything we have build for the last 43 years'. While the Christian clergy are fearful that religious dialogue will compromise their beliefs, other religious leaders are afraid their members will be proselytised. Until they cast out such fears, faith communities will continue to exist in isolation and refuse to interact and engage with one another. We need to break down the walls that separate us as people of faith and those who claim no religious affiliation. We share a common humanity. Christianity, as well as other religions, tends to be exclusive in order to maintain its distinctive identity and convictions. Each religion will claim it is true and its beliefs are revealed by God. If one claims one's religion is the only true religion, then all other religions are necessarily false. The claim that my religion is the Absolute Truth means the doors to dialogue are shut tight. In studying the historical developments of different religions, scholars are saying to us that, in our understanding today in the postmodern world, there is no one Absolute Truth. No one Sacred Text contains all the truths. No one religion has the monopoly of Truth. No one single religion can dominate the entire world. We witness the resurgence of religions which have been suppressed in the past. We see the emergence of new religions in rejection of traditional religions in the present. We watch the increase of the numbers of 'free thinkers' and atheists. Admittedly, it is difficult to bridge existing differences. No, all roads do not reach the same God. Yes, there will be different roads to God and we travel our chosen path in faith. At the same time, we have to recognise that there are fellow travellers on other roads. On the journey, we need to borrow the light from one another. We may meet common dangers and we come together to defend ourselves. We may see some common tasks and we can work together for our common good. The hope of each of us is that, ultimately, the road I chose to travel is the one that leads to God. In the context of religious diversity, we have to lay aside our exclusive truth claims and admit we do not possess all the truth. It is through interaction and engagement we learn to comprehend the differences and appreciate the commonalities. This will eradicate the fears and remove the suspicion we have for one another. Only then we can ensure harmony in our multi-religious society. Dr Yap Kim Hao
Sep 6, 2008It really depends what the talk is aboutI REFER to Wednesday's article, 'Clergy 'wary' of inter-faith talks'. Since the article was based on my research, I hope to provide some clarification so the report may not be interpreted wrongly. My research shows that, among some quarters of clergy, there were some concerns about inter-religious dialogue. This was particularly the case if dialogue was conducted with the aim of presenting that all religions are really very much the same. This becomes a problematic exercise for conservative Christians who hold truth claims which they do not want to dilute. On the other hand, clergy seemed more willing to engage their non-Christian religious counterparts if the dialogue was aimed at working on social concerns pressing society. The main point of my paper, then, was that, even among conservative Christians who may hold rather exclusivist positions of their faith, there are ways to reconcile their theological beliefs and evangelist styles to cope with the reality of a secular and multi-religious society. Dr Mathew Mathews Sep 3, 2008Clergy 'wary of inter-faith talks'Nearly half of Christian leaders fear such dialogue will compromise their beliefs: PollBy Li Xueying THE bulk of Christian clergymen in Singapore are apprehensive about inter-faith dialogue, said a sociologist who is also a Pentecostal church pastor. Dr Mathew Mathews came to this conclusion after conducting a survey of clergymen here. One of its key findings: Nearly 50 per cent feared inter-faith dialogue would compromise their religious convictions. Dr Mathews, a visiting fellow at the National University of Singapore's sociology department and who is trained in theology, interviewed 183 clergymen for his study. It sought to determine how Christian leaders relate to others in Singapore's multi-religious society. The key findings were presented at a forum organised by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) yesterday on religious diversity in Singapore. Attended by 200 religious leaders and academics, it also saw the launch of a book on the same subject. Edited by multiculturalism researcher Lai Ah Eng, the book, titled Religious Diversity In Singapore, has 28 chapters by academics and leaders of various faiths. A theme that ran through the book and forum was that of tolerance and the way religions can bridge their differences. One issue was whether religious leaders themselves would take the step. Dr Mathews noted that Christianity in Singapore tends to be conservative, evangelical, 'embracing an exclusivist stance' in viewing other religions. This spills into the clergymen's attitudes towards collaborating with other religions: 41.5 per cent would find it difficult to collaborate with a non-Christian religious leader for a charity drive. They fear it would lead to the perception that 'all religions are equal'. The study sparked a discussion at the forum on the extent religions here can tolerate and understand one another. Some were pessimistic. One participant asked: 'If religions hold on to that exclusive point of view, there is no hope. Am I right to be depressed?' Replied Dr Mathews: 'Though one holds on to the position that the other is wrong...you can still relate to them on other levels - as a citizen, as a human being, for instance.' Professor Ten Chin Liew, a philosophy don, earlier noted that some differences were simply irreconcilable, for instance those on afterlife and the divinity of Christ. He is 'a little sceptical' about whether they can be eliminated. Even when religions share common values such as kindness, it is not possible to 'water down', say, the Catholic faith to such general values, he said. 'You just have to find common ground on as many issues as you can.' That would be an uphill task, suggested another study of 2,700 young people. Done by sociolinguist Phyllis Chew, it showed three-quarters of them are tolerant of other religions, but this was seen as 'not talking about it' rather than genuine understanding. However, others were more optimistic that the differences can be bridged if more is done at the grassroots level. Inter-faith dialogue advocate See Guat Kwee called on civil society and religious leaders to take on this responsibility from the Government. 'We need deep friendships and to talk frankly, behind closed doors if needed.' Another participant also asked religious leaders to 'do what the academics have done' in openly discussing differences, rather than treat the matter with 'such sensitivity'. In response, IPS chairman Tommy Koh said Singapore does need to be sensitive when talking about religion. He cited events in the region, like in South Korea where Buddhist monks are accusing President Lee Myung Bak of being pro-Christian. 'If Singapore becomes unstable over the issue of religion, it can threaten everything we have built over the last 43 years,' he added. xueying@sph.com.sg