The AWARE takeover: An appeal by an NUS Prof to support the old guards

April 30, 2009 by admin
Filed under: Voices of the People 

EDITOR’S NOTE: This message was penned by Dr Gwee Li Sui, an Assistant Professor of English at the National University of Singapore.

Dr Gwee message, which is addressed to Christians who are concerned with the recent takeover of AWARE, was posted on his facebook notes page, and has attracted over 200 comments to date.

I would like to encourage everyone regardless of their religious affiliations (I am an atheist, by the way) to take note of the larger message that Dr Gwee is trying to convey, about the role of religious belief and affiliation in multi-racial and multi-cultural Singapore.

By Dr Gwee Li Sui, on Facebook
29 April 2009

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

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Comments

6 Comments on The AWARE takeover: An appeal by an NUS Prof to support the old guards

  1. B K TAN on Fri, 1st May 2009 12:29 am

    2. for goodness sake, if the new exco, their pastor , their church feel strongly about their stand, their belief. pls pls go set up your own organisation . you are a bunch of professionals, surely you are capable of setting and running your own. Unless otherwise! WHY TAKEOVER! WHY INVADE! why ruin the hard work of the old guard.

    in time of recession now, help the needy , the retrenched, the jobless, the depressed and their families. if the new exco is so free- then be volunteers and help those who really need them. donate money .. do something meaningful

  2. Jackie Chan on Fri, 1st May 2009 1:10 am

    3. Christians like Mr. Gwee are the true representatives of their faith. Pretenders like Dr. Thio and her coven of followers are blinded by their own ego, drunk on the power which is accorded to them by unquestioning followers.

    They break one commandment after another…. “thou shalt not lie”….. “thou shalt not use the name of the Lord in vain”….. they twist every situation to explain their deceitful and morally bankrupt ways. Yet they still dare to call themselves Christians.

    This is not only a battle between secular Singaporeans and fundamental extremist Christians. This is also a battle between loving, aware Christians and pretenders who have hijacked the Christian faith to further own pathetic agenda.

    True Christians arise!

  3. Whee on Fri, 1st May 2009 9:21 pm

    4. It is truly scary that even Pastor Derek Hong is blindly garnering support for the ’sisters’ of the church during the EGM tomorrow. I hope he could take a look at this article and realize the gravity of his actions.

  4. E. Anwar on Sat, 2nd May 2009 2:32 pm

    5. I think may be…may be AWARE should be take over by homosexual group. Then may be the next step is – homosexuality should be accepted as part and parcel of life in our sex education system. Then next step – Gay marriage should be accepted and then they are allowed to adopt sons or daughters. And who knows, may be in the future we have gay churches. I suppose this will make some people happier.

  5. Christians Against the AWARE Takeover! « Gweek Culture: World of Terrifying Secret Opinions on Tue, 4th Aug 2009 8:31 pm

    6. [...] influential websites such as The Online Citizen, The Wayang Party (now called The Temasek Review), sgpolitics.net, PLURAL, and Singapore Daily as well as blogs such as God in Cyberspace, Scholar at Large, Mathia [...]

  6. A Christian Solution to the AWARE Conundrum « Gweek Culture: World of Terrifying Secret Opinions on Tue, 4th Aug 2009 11:12 pm

    7. [...] 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 Cyberspace, Scholar at Large, Mathia Lee ~ [...]

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