‘Martyr’ or ‘bigot’? Charlie Kirk’s divisive impact on Singapore Christians
A polarising figure in life, the recent death of US right-wing personality Charlie Kirk has seen his divisive legacy being played out in countries such as Japan, South Korea and Australia - and Singapore, too.
www.tnp.sg
Why does a Singaporean Christian care about what Charlie Kirk is supposed to symbolise? Hell, what does a Christian in general care? Even a cursory reading of the New Testament would show that very little of Kirk's beliefs align with Christ's.
Every pastor that celebrates Charlie Kirk should be invited to lim kopi. Imagine if some Muslim scholar in Sg celebrates Zakir Naik's teachings, who himself is banned from entering Sg. We absolutely do not need that shit here in Sg.
I actually know Christians in Singapore who are all in on MAGA. They don't appear online but THEY EXIST. We shouldn't be blind to it, or worse blindsided by it.
Yes. Last November I was in a cafe in Toa Payoh Central having dinner with my wife. Overheard a convo from another table, all ladies, one of them saying “Thank God Trump got elected”. 🤦🏻♂️ How trump aligns with Christian values I don’t know. As far as I can see he’s the antithesis of everything Christ taught, the personification of the seven deadly sins.
The number of pastors praising Charlie Kirk in that Salt and Light article is disturbing. I am increasingly concerned about what is happening in these churches, and what is being said in sermons on Sundays. The government wants to talk about foreign influence? The imported talking points from right wing churches in the US is I think one of the most dangerous trends, as it has the potential to undermine our multicultural and multi religious society. What is the government doing today to deal with this? I mean I find it hard to believe that they don’t know about the right-wing rhetorics against women and Muslims (or any non-Christians really), not to mention our LGBTQ citizens among others. If Muslim sermons are vetted by MUIS, perhaps the same practice should be extended to the Christian ones. 20 odd years ago when I still attended church, they invited a pretty famous Christian author to give a talk for Sunday school. This was at a pretty mainstream Methodist church. He then proceeded to talk about how Islam is the enemy and gave an analogy of Christians being akin to the US soldiers landing in hostile territory during the Vietnam war (I think the author was in it). It was all couched in the language of warfare. I remember being extremely uncomfortable with it, and during a break (the speaker had finished his session then), turns out my pastor (himself a pretty traditional pastor wearing a clerical collar and a genuinely good guy as well) was likewise as uncomfortable as we discussed what he said. I am not sure if anything was done as I stopped going to church thereafter (not entirely because of this incident), but that incident always remained at the back of my mind. I think the pastor did speak to that author about what he said thereafter. And all this was 20 odd years ago when the influence was still in its infancy. I cannot imagine how it is today in our churches.
I think after the AWARE saga, the govt should have been monitoring what is going on in churches, not only mosques. Militant Christianity is as harmful as Militant Islam and closing the eyes to this rising problem of Singaporean Maga is a mistake. Also, the fact that some Singaporeans with traditional values support Maga is stupid in itself cause racist right wing groups who would lynch a Singaporean for being the wrong colour...are happily Maga. You get no brownie points for being traditional and they would happily set up slavery again with you as their help.
It’s alarming that the Christian right isn’t seen more of a threat to our social fabric. I have plenty of friends who are Christians (mostly from the more traditional Protestant denominations, and Catholics), and are repulsed by how their faith is being used to justify intolerance, bigotry and hatred towards certain groups. I know they speak out when the opportunity avails itself but looking at how dominant these evangelical churches are here, sometimes I feel like they are being overwhelmed. I mean look at what happened at Cornerstone Community Church a few years ago with their invitation of an American speaker that went on an anti-Islam spiel.
If a Singaporean Christian says Kirk is a good guy, it's a MASSIVE red flag. You can make a good guess on what their views on non-Christians, Muslims and LGBT people are like. If you can't guess, it’s the kind that can land your ass in court here.
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