Christians against AWARE takeover: an appeal by a Christian lecturer
April 30th, 2009 | 
Author: By Dr Gwee Li Sui
[NOTE: Dr Gwee is a an assistant professor of English Language and Literature at the National University of Singapore. The following article was published on his Facebook and is reproduced here with his kind permission.]
Christians in Singapore, listen! You should not be this conflicted about the AWARE debacle. It appears that a few churches have already taken the opportunity to preach on the issue of homosexuality from the pulpit. Some Christians have also been rattling on about it being time to make a stand and be counted for what one truly believes.
So this is me making a stand right here. I have been a Bible-believing Christian for 25 years now. I want first to acknowledge fellow believers who, like me, are shocked, angered, and saddened by the takeover and feel that their faith has been hijacked and their views ignored. I know that a lot of such affected Christians are out there. There is also another group which may not agree with the new team’s tactics but admires its fervour or sympathises with it for the heat it has been getting.
But, most of all, I want to address a crucial third party: Christian women who have been encouraged to stand up and be counted for their beliefs. I wish to appeal to their good sense in these last hours. You may be one of these and have even joined, or are planning to join, AWARE to help swing the votes in favour of the new ex-co on Saturday. Especially if I am describing you, please read on!
Yes, there are times when a Christian needs to make a courageous stand – but, in every event, always ask yourself: For what cause is this? What context does it serve? The current scenario is not one where we are being asked what our beliefs on certain issues are or whether Christianity and homosexuality are compatible or we are being mocked or discriminated against. It is a simple context where a group of well-meaning Christians infiltrated a secular organisation in order to be in a position to dictate their own values in its daily running. In this light, what a Christian may feel about issues like homosexuality is besides the point!
As a secular body, AWARE rightly cannot have a vision that treats women from different backgrounds through the outlook of just one religious system. Indeed, I dare say that an appropriate Christian response is to resist the actions of these Christians. Just as God gave every person free choice and the opportunity to believe, we ought to support the sanctity of this right for others to make up their own minds and live their own lives. Just as we do not force the Christian faith down someone’s throat against his or her will, we should not take over a non-religious organisation for the single purpose of making others unlike us behave as we believe. To do this would be a gross misapplication of the message of Jesus.
If you support the new ex-co’s actions, be aware that you are sending a string of possibly irreversible wrong signals to every Singaporean. Consider carefully whether you are willing to shoulder the responsibility of damages that would affect the longstanding good work of Christians in Singapore. Since the government has chosen not to be involved in the matter so far, whatever happens will be seen clearly by all as the response of particular sectors of society.
Here is my short list of obvious implications:
[1] Support the new ex-co, and you are effectively saying that you condone its quasi-corporate act of infiltration, with related strategies of secrecy, disinformation, moral coercion, and fear-mongering. You are saying that you support its less-than-Christian covert moves more than traditionally Christian ones like dialogue, open engagement, honesty, and clarity.
[2] Support the new ex-co, and we will go down a slippery road with wide-ranging repercussions for all. Don’t believe for a moment that the manoeuvring will stop here. What this invites others to see is that infiltration is the most effective way for small groups of like-minded individuals to seize power quickly — and where will this end? What is to stop any religious or ideological group from doing the same to any social institution at every level? In the long run, who do you think loses?
[3] Support the new ex-co, and you potentially make light of the freedom that is God’s gift to every human being. Against your best intentions, you may send out instead the message that we Christians think that we know better than everyone else and that we are willing to outflank, overpower, and overwhelm if we do not get our way.
[4] Support the new ex-co, and, if they stay and behave as predicted, you will be directly responsible for undoing the trust that many Christians have taken years to build with their non-Christian friends. This is a trust built on mutual respect. You will have made the Gospel of Christ more difficult to hear for years to come because people will think that they know what it is about. You will have created a new generation of Christ-haters.
This matter, in short, is not to be treated lightly. Jesus tells us all to be “wise as serpents, and harmless as doves”. There are times to be passionate and helpful in a gungho way, but this is not the time. Christians can be wrong about many things too. So please, by all means, pray for the AWARE debacle to be resolved amicably and for Christians in AWARE, but do not, in the name of our common faith, go in blind support of other Christians because you are Christian!
Yours Truly,
Gwee Li Sui
Source: Dr Gwee’s Facebook
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Should be “an” NUS..
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I am at your side. DR Gwee Li Sui
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You rock Gwee!
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I salute you Dr Gwee !
This is THE MOST SENSIBLE & COGENT PIECE OF COMMENTARY I have seen regarding this saga.
I hope it can be published in mainstream media like ST so that this single beacon of reason can clear the dark clouds of hysteria & confusion.
Well done !
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http://www.prisoners.com/relcrime.html
Religion’s Effects On
Crime Rates
By: Edgar Saint George
Editor-in-Chief
The more “Christian” a place is, the greater the social ills and crime of the area. That’s the primary conclusion of an exhaustive scientific study done by Gregory S. Paul and published in the scholarly onling journal, Journal of Religion and Science of the Creighton university of Omaha, Nebraska, a Jesuit school (http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/2005/2005-11.html)
The study showed that the most “Christian’ parts of the United States, the South and Midwest, have the highest rates of social ills and crime including murder, sexually transmitted diseases, mortality and so forth. The study also showed that the United States as a whole has far higher rates of crime and social ills than the rest of the developed world including all of Europe. The US is much more “Christian” than civilized nations.
There is no escaping the reality that Christian dogma goes hand-in-glove with a sick society. Religious fanatics and extremist are worse social dangers than drugs.
Most rational persons recognize that Christian mythology is farcicaly pathetic and that the Christians, especially the “evangelicals” or fundamentalists, are hypocrites who use religion as a weapon to demean others. Doctor Paul’s study is one of the first to quantify the real social effects of Christian doctrine. It may be that religious zealots of all cults, not just Christian, produce a similar effect of social evil. Certainly the Catholic church spent centuries oppressing its subjects into poverty and misery. The Moslem dogma has the same appeal: violence, revenge, exclusion and oppression. One is constrained to wonder why sane persons would invent such mythologies. Religion should not go hand-in-hand with cruelty the way it does in America.
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Wayang Party,
Dr Gwee is a guy, please change the typo.
Thanks.
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Gwee is male lah.
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Dear AlexTheGreat, why on earth does it have to be “an NUS”? But you apparently have no problem with “old guards”!! To use an appropriate biblical reference (albeit loosely), did you ever hear the one about the guy who complained about sawdust in his friend’s eye when he had a plank of wood in his own?
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I agree with Dr Gwee…
Most Christians have been taught to spread the good word of Christ…
But since when were Christians told to impose the will of God on others?
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Since when Derek Hong and lonely Dowager Ms Thio Su Mien like to have a good one together…….
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the moderate Christians like Prof Gwee are the one that provide good role model of what good citizenry is like, unlike those bunch of fanatics
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And letting homosexual and their sympathisers have access to teach children gay is neutral or ok isn’t imposing the will of the gay lobby on us?
Finish off the gays and their supporters once and for all this EGM. Bury their agenda!
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“I agree with Dr Gwee…
Most Christians have been taught to spread the good word of Christ…
But since when were Christians told to impose the will of God on others?”
that’s his point exactly, xtrocious
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I agree with Dr. Gwee.
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Ahhh.. at least now I read a sensible and rational Christian voicing out. This expels my perception that Christian is turning into a cult, i.e. to do anything to create or cause distrust, skepticism, untruth, community division, sadness or even hatred!!
Remember… seriously remember this… AWARE IS A SECULAR ORGANISATION. Get it into your BRAIN… Grrrrrrr.
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Thank you for sharing your view Dr Gwee. Finally, a rare, RATIONAL voice amidst the madness!
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I applaud Dr Gwee’s excellent analysis.
I am not Christian, but I would think that all religions teach us to do good things, but these teachings are often mis-interpreted by followers and this results in varying subjective interpretations and consequently misinformed or unethical, unreligious actions taken by individuals. Take for example terrorist bombings in the name of Allah, anti-homosexuality campaigns (and thus depriving others of the human rights of choice) in the name of God.
The same way that these people are now forwarding their agenda in the name of God, thinking that they are doing the nation a favour… by using very un-Christian (or un-any-other-religions) methods to take over a secular organization to impose their values on others.
We are living in the 2000s, not in the 1800s in America or some parts of Europe where Christianity was the national religion and people who do not follow Christian laws would be persecuted in witch hunts and punished. Even America today has in general become a very much more inclusive society… even if there are still groups of people who hold different beliefs. The key is about mutual respect – respecting others’ rights to choose what they want in their lives, what they want to believe in.
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Josie Lau and their COOS etc biased and skewed views of God’s true words should look first into the “Genealogy” of Christ Jesus. Jesus was even descended from an ex-prostitute who saved a few lives. This is They shouldn’t need bible reference from anyone if they do know God’s word.
Next, I feel that some quotes from The Holy Bible will not be out of place and context at this venue and juncture. For, if God IS LOVE and would forgive the most vile offender who seeks his forgiveness and also teaches us:
1. Love thy enemy as thyself.
2. Judge not less I judge you – by the same measure that you judge.For how perfect are you?
3. Why do you see the sawdust in your brother’s eyes when you have a plank in yours?
4. If you do not forgive, Father in Heaven will not forgive you.
5. Look to the things of Heaven and all His goodness will be added unto you.
Why then do “Fundamentalist” Christians CRIMINALISE homosexuals? If God’s tenets of proper behaviour and divine soveriegnty is believe and respect, why is even enlightening the uninformed about it made a criminal thing by some Christians?
Didn’t God teach us to love and behold? To pray, to seek His wisdom and healing? Where art thy faith oh faithful one? Do you have harden-hearts? Didn’t Jesus say, “Faith without deeds is dead”? What kind of deeds did Jesus mean? Remembering the preceding points referred to.
I am a guy and just feel I must come out in defense to help mitigate any extreme and distorted views and action that’ll hurt Christianity. Like some of those in the Islamic faith.
God is about love. Let’s have the humility, magnamity and heart to “Love Beyond Compare”.
Sncerely, Ron
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Dr Gwee Li Sui,
Gwee, ‘Li chin swee’ ! Kong kar sipeh swee !
Unlike Thio So Mien… so MEAN !
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hear hear
this is not about religion, christians or homsexuality
this is about a group of self righteous holier than thou narrow-minded people hiding behind the name of christianity, have scant regards for open debate, contest of ideas, and who engage in or “condone quasi-corporate act of infiltration, with related strategies of secrecy, disinformation, moral coercion, and fear-mongering”.
it does not matter whether they are christians or any other pressure groups..they are a menace to society…
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I saluate to Dr Gwee words.. though i’m not a christian, his words are so righteousness.. in this multi-racial society, we are to respect each religion.. not just based on their (the new comm of Aware) own belief and act through a non-religious organisation…
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i never knew Christianity is about FREEDOM!!!!!! those mediacock artistes who profusely thank *** onstage should be chastised. have you seen us taoists do that before?
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Glad I read this article. I was beginning to think that there is something seriously wrong
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Dr Gwee, you rock!!
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Good letter. I love it. Prolly I was harsh a bit on christians.
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I am a liberal and moderate Christian. Over this Aware saga, I thought to myself: “Oh no, not again! Fundamental Christians harrassing others again with their-holier-than-thou , my-way-or the highway mindset.” I am glad that moderate and libreal Christians like Dr Gwee are speaking out. Usually, the fundamentalist and extremists are the ones who are most vocal, most organised and militant. Moderates does not mean like waram, and liberal does not mean immoral. To me moderate and liberals are progressive in their thinking, and sohpisticated in their understanding. Hi hi hooray to moderates and liberals who are speaking out!!
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Maggie on Fri, 1st May 2009 10:23 am
Dear Maggie
I like what you say:
“moderate and liberals are progressive in their thinking”
I hope most christians fall into this category.
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To JayF who said: “And letting homosexual and their sympathisers have access to teach children gay is neutral or ok isn’t imposing the will of the gay lobby on us?
Finish off the gays and their supporters once and for all this EGM. Bury their agenda!”
start with your own family and relatives, then friends – finish them off first.
teaching children gay will not make them gay.
don’t discriminate and aren’t you imposing the will of homophobes on others?
read about gay sheep or penguins?
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JayF, instead of finishing off the gays, the world should have finished you, talebans, and al-qaeda off first. literally.
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This letter reads like a subtle form of ‘blackmail’ hinting that christian women cannot stand up for their values without it being misinterpreted. Therefore Christian women are asked not to be true to self but act according to the writer’s personal view of how society will perceive them.
This letter smacks of a massive male ego! Get off your high horse … your male views are only your own … women have gotten out there and done things not hide in the university room – writing ‘pious’ letters and endless papers.
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Please get off your high horse.
The new Aware women are out there standing for what they believe. Why should they conform to what you .. a male NUS lecturer perceive they should be doing. Please don’t introduce subtle blackmail citing how society will view their actions as a backlash to their religion.
Everybody has a right to express and act on their convictions. Not everyone is content to hide in a room sending pompous letters telling people how to behave!
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neutral & maxine
>> women have gotten out there and done things not hide in the university room – writing ‘pious’ letters and endless papers.
>> Everybody has a right to express and act on their convictions.
True. But how you act is also just as important. Do you mean that if I believe in murder, I have the right to act on my conviction?
So do you condone the takeover method employed in this saga? Do Dr Gwee have the rights to voice his disapproval of their method?
Should we always support people who act on their convictions? There is always a line, which you should not cross. And I think the new AWARE exco just did.
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Congratulations to the ladies of Singapore, for standing up and wrestling back AWARE from the control of some misguided religious fanatics. Singaporeans are famed across the world for being apolitical, and so the fact that so many took the trouble to spend hours on a Saturday afternoon to ensure that evil cannot perpetuate in this country is really encouraging.
It saddens me to read comments from people such as “neutral” and “maxine”, who label even well reasoned arguments (such as this article by Dr Gwee) as “getting on one’s high horse”.
To those Christians who think that the actions of Thio Su Mien and co in grabbing AWARE are good, and in some ways would please God, please, please – just talk to people of other religions or those NOT sharing your moral standards. Far from “glorifying God”, this action creates the impression that Christians are intolerant, cruel, scheming, only too ready to force down your morality upon other people’s throat. God is LOVE, so Christians believe, but I can’t see any love in what Thio Su Mien did – only HATRED.
Stop the HATRED. Try spreading LOVE instead !
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[...] as a Facebook note on 29 April 2009. It was swifly reproduced on influential websites such as The Wayang Party (now The Temasek Review), The Online Citizen, sgpolitics.net, PLURAL, and Singapore Daily and numerous blogs: God in [...]
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