Open Letter to Alex Au, Political commentator and Gay Activist

Alex Au is a political commentator and gay activist based in Singapore. He writes thougtful essays at his webpage www.yawningbread.org . While thoughtful, it is by no means airtight. I came across his article "Singapore religious rightwing trains its sights on abortion" and i must say that i found his use of reason problematic on several fronts. I decide to write him the following letter appended below

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Dear Alex

I chanced upon your article entitled “ Singapore ’s religious rightwing trains its sights on abortion” and I must say that I do think your reasoning is problematic at several instances. May I respectfully highlight the following for your consideration.

(btw, Prof Tan is quoting my article in the Straits Times which started the debate, you can read if from my blog)

1. Characterizing those who disagree with you as attempting to impose their will on everybody else.

Your opening paragraphs characterized the so-called Christian rightwing as “american inspired" and "campaigning to impose their will on everybody else.” That seems to me pretty disingenuous. If I say that Alex Au belongs to the American inspired gay rights movement who is attempting to impose their agenda on everybody else in Singapore , you would surely take offense and rightly so.

Prof Tan (whom you consider as a rightwing representative) is simply in the business of influencing public opinion by writing an article. Come to think of it, so are you, hence your enormous output in an attempt to convince people of the rightness of your cause. You too are attempting to influence Singaporeans with your version of what’s best for Singapore so I would appreciate if you refrain from using this trope about imposing beliefs against so called right wing Christians.

2. Mischaracterization of Prof Tan’s position on abortion previously considered as a criminal activity

I think you may have misunderstood Prof Tan’s characterization of abortion as a criminal activity. She is not “unwilling to make a distinction between morality and law”. It seems to me that she is simply referring to the fact that prior to 1969, abortion is considered illegal and hence it was a criminal offense to perform one. As such, it would be a responsible thing to ensure that good moral reasons be provided to justify the overturning of such a law. Expedience should not be a consideration, especially when an issue involves what I would term fundamental human liberties.

For example, take a country known for its widespread practice of slavery although slavery remains illegal in its criminal code. What should the correct response be? To decriminalize slavery in the name of helping slaves get a better deal or to step up vigorous efforts to enforce the law? The answer seems obvious here.

Likewise, it would be necessary to first clarify whether the evil of abortion is on the same level as slavery, involving a fundamental human liberty or is it simply akin to cigarette smoking or gambling. The law can and should tolerate so called evils of the second order (i.e. cigarette smoking or gambling) but it should not tolerate evils of the first order (i.e. slavery, genocide, murder etc).

3. Clarification needed on your stated “moral queasiness” and “distasteful” attitude towards aborting a foetus but insisting that ultimately, it is the woman’s choice.

You mentioned that you find abortion distasteful and being morally queasy about this. Yet you did not state anywhere in your article what exactly are your qualms.

If abortion is akin to nothing more than an operation removing a cancerous tumor or a growth, then there is nothing distasteful about it.

If instead, a foetus is an individual, unique human being, then abortion entails killing an innocent human being. Arguing that it is acceptable in certain circumstances to kill an innocent human being is of course distasteful and morally queasy. Are you arguing for such a position without actually stating it explicitly?

4. Abortion and the nation’s birthrate

While it is true that it would seem simplistic to assume that simply banning abortions would solve the birth problem. Yet the point I think Prof Tan and myself are trying to make if you read my article is that it is ironic that while this country worries so much about our birthrates, we are taking away innocent human life (which we believe abortion to be) so easily and one might even say flippantly. Surely it is not unwise to encourage women faced with an unplanned pregnancy to see this as a potential unexpected blessing.

I am happy to continue this dialogue if you so choose.

Best regards
Nick Chui

Make Abortions Less Easily Available

My article in the Straits Times....

_______________
Review - Others
Make abortions less easily available
Nick Chui, For The Straits Times
675 words
19 July 2008
Straits Times
English
(c) 2008 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
IN CONSIDERING the declining birth rate, one statistic seems to have slipped under the radar screen: In 2006, one in four pregnancies here was terminated. That simply means too many babies lost.
And these terminations were not mostly limited to teenagers or unmarried women either. In fact, a 2002 National University of Singapore study reported that up to 75 per cent of such women were married. Thus, what used to be considered a desperate measure has transmuted into just another mainstream method of birth control. Surely, given our baby dearth, we need to grapple with this abortion conundrum urgently.
The fact that abortions are being used in this manner masks a problem that we may have with the notion of contraception per se. In fact, in May, the medical profession urged that there be more education about contraception here. This came after surveys revealed that Singaporeans are not warming up to the various contraceptive methods available, opting for abortions instead if and when the need arises.
This means that, for many, procreation has become a regrettable accident most of the time, which is why abortion is seen as the logical solution. What can be done to change this mentality?
First, we could start restricting the availability of abortions. Currently, they are available on demand for up to 24 weeks of pregnancy for any reason ranging from the tragic to the frivolous.
Note that when compulsory counselling and the lifting of subsidies for abortion were introduced in 1986, the number of pregnancies terminated fell from a high of 35.5 per cent to 25 per cent, which is still true today.
How and when to restrict abortion as a reproductive choice will have to be debated fully before legislating it. But it must be done soon.
Second, let us begin vigorous campaigns to help parents accept their 'accidental' children rather than choose to abort such pregnancies. We can change minds so they see that having children actually enhances marital bliss.
To do this, we must put front and centre the 9 per cent of Singaporeans who have five or more children. The media should lionise these folk. Media coverage could explain in fine-grain detail how they, in their fecund circumstances with their big families, cope ably with the same worries the average Singaporean has about work-life balance, finances, education for children, and so on.
Third, we should create wider awareness about natural methods of fertility management. For example, the Billings Ovulation Method has been certified by the World Health Organisation as being 99 per cent effective in avoiding pregnancies.
In our context, what is even more important is that the use of this method cultivates an awareness of the woman's fertility cycle and planning for a child is made much easier. Considering the significant number of couples who are having difficulty conceiving, being aware of the periods when the woman is most fertile can only help matters.
Furthermore, couples who use natural methods of fertility management attest to the fact that they find their sex lives very satisfying. A mother of six has even blogged about her experience at http://fohl.blogspot.com, though her ardent comments cannot be repeated in a family newspaper like The Straits Times.
Suffice to say that the periods of abstinence these methods require of the couple can help them demonstrate to each other that they are master and mistress of their passions. Such 'organic sex' immediately takes on a deeper meaning rather than a perfunctory satisfaction of salacious urges.
These measures may seem like bitter medicine but our national fertility rate has seen an unchecked downtrend for 32 years now. It is high time we did something new to arrest and reverse this pernicious trend. Let us limit abortions now.
The writer is a family life educator. These are his personal opinions only.

on Euthanasia

Catholic News published an edited version on my take on Euthanasia... You can read the longer version below

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For the longest time, people of goodwill have seen and accompanied their loved ones in the final stages of their very often painful process of dying. Why then, in our age of pain control and quality hospice care is there a sudden clamor for euthanasia?

At the heart of the movement to legalise euthanasia lies a notion that a human being has absolute dominion over his own life and he can do of it as he pleases, including opting for his own death in order to increase his sum total of happiness. The cry “who are you to prevent me from killing myself if I so chose” is never far away.

Yet do we as human beings have absolute dominion over our own lives? No we do not. We came into the world not on our own accord. If we believe in God, we recognize that our lives are His gift to us. If we do not believe in God, the fact still remains that we did not create ourselves, that we are linked with the rest of humanity in a state of solidarity and interdependence and our lives remain a mystery.

The campaign for euthanasia is in the final analysis a campaign for the choice to make one final defiant act of self-assertion flung into the face of the abyss.

Not to opt for euthanasia on the other hand is to experience a painful but potentially graced filled encounter with death. Life was and remains a gift. My exit from this world is but my acceptance of my mortality and my frail nature. And I am grateful to everybody who continued to show me care and love even when I am gravely ill.

And if I am a believer; I am placing myself into the hands of my Creator who in his providence will lead me home at the right time to a better place.

Open Letter to President of AWARE Constance Singam

Mrs. Constance Singam, new president of Aware was quoted as having said this in the Straits Times on the 19th November 2008

On reconciling her Catholic faith with her pro-choice views on abortion(headline)
"One of the first things I did was train myself to get rid of the guilt complex. I stopped going to church for a while and went only when i felt comfortable that i was going because i wanted to celebrate my human-ness and my connection with divinity"

I decided to write to Mrs Singam the following letter below
_______________________________
Dear Mrs Singam

I write to express my concern regarding the remarks you made in an interview with the Straits Times on the 19th Nov 2008. I do not judge your heart and your motives, i am simply responding based on what you were reported to have said.

You were quoted saying that it is possible to reconcile the Catholic faith with your pro-choice views on abortion.

If an AWARE member were to say that he is able to reconcile his misogynistic views towards women and his continued membership in AWARE, he would be rightly considered out of line and probably asked to withdraw his membership.

The Catholic Church has always considered from the very first century that direct abortion is a grave offense. The late Pope John Paul II in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae describes abortion as an “unspeakable crime”, “intrinsically unjust” and insisted that Christians have a grave obligation not to cooperate formally or to take part in a propaganda campaign in favour of such a law.


Like AWARE, the Catholic Church is a voluntary organization. No one is forced to become Catholic, and anyone is free to allow their membership to lapse if they vehemently disagree with its values and core beliefs.

What is unacceptable however is to claim that it is possible to publicly disagree with a core belief of an organization and continue to remain in good standing.

I respectfully suggest the following for your consideration

a. That you take the effort to understand the Catholic Church’s teachings on abortion, why it considers it violence towards both the child and mother, come to embrace the teaching of her Church and publicly recant your reported views.

b.. If after due consideration, you are unable in conscience to accept the Church’s teaching in this area, you are still welcome in Church. But you should refrain from claiming, especially in a public forum, that your views are compatible with the Catholic faith your profess and should also refrain from presenting yourself for Holy Communion, which according to Catholic belief, is not only the body and blood of Jesus Christ, but also a symbolic act whereby a Catholic affirms in a public manner that he is in communion and agreement with the teachings of his Church.

I work as a Marketing Executive with the Family Life Society and would be happy to meet up sometime for an exchange of views. My email is chesterton81@yahoo.com.sg or nickchui@familylife.sg

Best wishes

Nick Chui
www.familylife.sg

I can do without Mary?

Appended below is a talk i gave to some of the legionaries and their friends in NUS....
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I can do without Mary?

We know that Marian devotion is central to the official teaching of the Church. Every encyclical issued by Popes would contain a hymn to our Lady or a prayer. John Paul II himself was a great promoter of devotion to the Blessed Virgin, writing an entire encyclical entitled Mother of the Redeemer or Redemptoris Mater devoted to her, putting M on his coat of arms, the first of a kind for any pope and even attributing his very survival in the 1981 assassination attempt to the intercession of the Virgin of Fatima.

In Singapore, devotion to our Blessed Mother is strong. Novena Church as the recent Catholic News reports, attracts, thousands of people every week, all believing that the Blessed Virgin will be their mother and assist them in their needs.

Yet we hear the objection very often that Catholics place to much emphasis on the Blessed Virgin. And these days, it is not only Protestants who are objecting. I would like to sketch in this short paper, 3 objections and also attempt to at least respond in some part to these objections. Hopefully, what follows would provide material for a fruitful discussion.

The first objection comes of course from our separated brethren. Many Protestants see devotion to the Blessed Virgin as unbiblical and detracting from the unique mediation of Jesus Christ.

Many actually believe that we worship her, are uncomfortable with the statues and processions, seeing this as a lapsing into a certain form of idolatry, forbidden in scripture.

At best, Protestants who consider Catholics Christian see Marian devotion as an unnecessary distraction from the real business of worshipping God. You probably would have heard this said many times “If you can go directly to Jesus, why do we need to go to Mary?

The second objection actually comes from Catholics. These Catholics like to see themselves as influenced by the so called “spirit of Vatican II”. For those present unfamiliar with Vatican II, it was a Church council held from 1958-1963 which sought to renew the Church to better meet the challenges of proclaiming the Gospel in the modern world. The so called “spirit of Vatican II” Catholics tend to see Vatican II as a radical break from the unhappy Catholic past and a new beginning from which to construct an “authentic” Christianity. They believed that the council called for a de- emphasis on Mary so as not to offend Protestant and ecumenical sensibilities and to find common ground with Protestants on common Christological beliefs.

There are also another group of Catholics who were very much influenced by liberation theology. In a nutshell, liberation theology attempted to use the ideas of Marx and synthesized that with the Gospel. They saw Jesus Christ not so much as a saviour from personal sin but rather a revolutionary who had inspired the poor of his time to resist their oppressors. They reinterpreted much of so called traditional Christianity. For example, many saw the traditional corporal works of mercy performed by conscientious Catholics as “non transformative”, justifying an inherently oppressive Capitalist system and not going to the roots of the problem which was that of the evils of Capitalism itself.

This group of Catholics tended to see Marian devotions as non-transformative. “Too devotional” is their constant refrain, with an excessive concern with one’s private salvation and with no real impact on the world and its unjust sinful structures. The only thing of some value to the liberationists is the single verse of the Magnificat “He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and raises the lowly”. The rest of Marian devotion seems to many liberationists as what Marx himself would describe as the “opiate of the people”.

The third objection comes from people whom we can loosely define as feminists of various degrees of extremity and various degrees of religious persuasion. They usually take as their bone of contention the all male celibate hierarchy of the Catholic Church, seeing it as an unjust structure of male domination. To the reply from the Church that the Church honours no human creature more than the Blessed Mother, they rejoin that the values promoted by traditional or official portrayals of the Blessed Virgin are in the final analysis demeaning and dehumanizing to women.

French feminist Simone de Beauvoir fumes “I am the handmaid of the Lord. For the first time in the history of mankind, a mother kneels before her son and acknowledges, of her own free will, her inferiority. The supreme victory of masculinity is consummated in Mariolatry: it signifies the rehabilitation of woman through the completeness of her defeat.”

Other feminists see Our Lady’s perpetual virginity as an affront to woman, a denial of the sensual and sexual part of being female.

Against this 3 pronged objection, what then is the response of the Church?

In a nutshell, Mary matters and a Catholic cannot do without her.

Against the Protestant rejoinder that Mary does not matter. The Church essentially teaches “if Mary does not matter, than neither do you.”

At the crux of the Protestant objection is what I think are confused and erroneous understandings of human freedom and Divine Predestination. Protestant reformer John Calvin held that mankind, after the fall is totally depraved and incapable of goodness. It is only through the irresistible grace of God that someone is saved. In other words, a person is saved by virtue of divine election with his human freedom playing a minimum or almost non existent part in his salvation. Martin Luther furthered argued that in his doctrine of justification that the justified human person is like “snow covering dung”. The person is still rotten but is covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. When God the Father judges, he sees the blood of Christ and the person gains salvation, even though internally, he continues to remain rotten.

From this, it would logically follow that since we don’t really matter in our being saved, Mary does not matter very much either.

The Catholic understanding of both freedom and predestination is quite different. We are not totally depraved, we remain capable of freedom, wounded as we are, we can cooperate with divine grace. Divine election is a free Yes to God, God does not coerce us. If that is the case, then Our Lady’s “Yes” is a free Yes to God empowered of course by his Grace. It was not forced or coerced. St. Louis Marie de Montfort puts it very well in his “True Devotion to Mary when he says”

With the whole Church, I acknowledge that Mary being a mere creature fashioned by the hands of God is, compared to his infinite majesty, less than an atom, or rather is simply nothing since he alone can say, I am he who is. Consequently, this great Lord, who is ever independent and self-sufficient, never had and does not now have any absolute need of the Blessed Virgin for the accomplishment of his will and the manifestation of his glory. To do all things he has only to will them. However I declare that, considering things as they are, because God has decided to begin and accomplish his greatest works through the Blessed Virgin ever since he created her, we can safely believe that he will not change his plan in the time to come, for he is God and therefore does not change in his thoughts or his way of acting.

In other words, since Mary matters in God’s plan, we also matter. God could have saved the word without Mary’s help but he chose to do it through Mary. And he choses to do it through us today when we share the good news with our friends. In other words, as a title of a book puts it, Mary is: “God’s Yes to Man”, God believes in man that even if man was responsible for his fall, man through the person of the Blessed Virgin cooperating with His divine grace can also be saved.

To the charge that images of Mary are a slip into idolatry, the Church insists that since God has made his countenance known in the person of his Son Jesus Christ, it is only right and proper that art be allowed to depict Him and the saints. “But bowing down to images and touching the feet of saints” can cause a slip into idolatry”, I have heard one person said. Now it is true that the use of images can be abused. Then again, Bible study can also be abused, with everybody coming up with their own interpretations. But should we forbid people from reading the Bible? Of course not. What is needed is a correct understanding. The same principle should be applied to the use of images.
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Against the downplaying of some Catholics towards Marian devotion, the church reaffirms that to transform the world, Marian devotion is absolutely vital. Some Catholics misunderstand ecumenism. They see ecumenism as simply Christianity at the lowest common denominator. If Protestants cannot agree about Mary, then it is better not to mention her and focus on the essentials. That would be incorrect. A correct understanding of ecumenism would be for Christians to come together, talk and share about what unites them but also to share in a respectful manner what divides them. In a spirit of friendship, walls of mistrust can be broken down. Christians should be united by a common search for truth and share the desire of Our Lord that “all may be one”.

Against the charge that Marian devotions are “non transformative” and “too devotional”, the Church insists that sin is first and foremost personal and not simply “out there.” Sinful social structures, of which a preeminent example is that of “the culture of death” alluded to by John Paul II in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae lies first and foremost in the hearts of individuals. If sin lies in the hearts of individuals, then rooting it out first in our own hearts is a necessary precondition for social transformation. I was reminded of Black US Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas’ biography “My Grandfather’s Son”. His grandfather, recounted Judge Thomas, went to Church and prayed the rosary in a still very racist southern state of Georgia not because he was a weak man. He went, in Judge Thomas’ words “to cage the beast” of anger and hatred towards such oppression, to be transformed so that he will have the strength to endure racism and to ensure a better future for his grandchildren by working hard and providing for them. Judge Thomas on the other hand, during the 1960s wanted to “release the beast” of anger and hatred and was involved in social radicalism typical of that generation. Did it actually help his people? His answer was no.

And indeed we see the same also in Latin America. While large segments of the Catholic Church turned towards a Marxist tinged liberation theology, Catholics were leaving in great numbers and flooding to the evangelical and Pentecostal sects which promised the comforts of a faith in touch with the supernatural and also a standard of ethics and community for the poor.

Indeed, Marian devotion can also be seen as a form of cultural resistance. Witness the rise of Poland’s first independent trade union “Solidarity” where the Black Madonna, Our Lady of Czechtohowa played a prominent role in reminding Poles of their true identity, in Christ and not godless Communism. If you watched the movie “John Paul II” by John Voigt, you would probably remember a scene where Bishop Karol Wojtyla’s secretary Dsiwiz informed him that the communist authorities do not allow religious images to be publicly carried in procession, thus putting in jeopardy the annual procession of the Black Madonna. Bishop Wojtyla thought to himself and said, “well they said that images are not allowed so…” He proceeded to have the procession, complete with the traditional songs to the Black Madonna but this time with carrying an empty frame without the image. Everybody knew what it meant. The communists have been outwitted by this clever bishop.

Finally, the Church insists that Mary is vital for the development of a new an authentic feminism.

In his encyclical “Redemptoris Mater”, the Pope insists that the profile of the Church is Marian before it is Peterine. What does the Pope mean by that? Essentially, it means that the Church puts “being” before “doing.” All members of Christ faithful are called to be Marian first and foremost. How so? By allowing the word of God to penetrate so deeply into their hearts that it bears fruit and divine life. That essentially was what Our Blessed Mother experienced and lived at the annunciation and all throughout her life and that is what all Christians are called to live prior to anything else he may intend to do for God’s glory. It is only with a Marian spirituality, that of being totally receptive to the will of God that the Peterine, or the function of ruling, governing and activity will make sense. Yes indeed, Peter was called to be the head of the Church. But the head of the Church, when he neglected prayer decided to swing his sword wildly at the garden of Gethsemane and eventually deny his master three times. It was activity no doubt. But activity rooted not in “being” but in “doing”.

Which bring us also to the consideration of Our Blessed Mother being both “Virgin” and “Mother”. She is both virgin and mother because both these vocations are an equally legitimate way of living out the Christian’s call to holiness, in married life and in celibacy for the kingdom of God.

In the Blessed Virgin, women are not simply reduced to their biological values, valuable only when she is able to have children. A woman is still in her spiritual depths a mother and a daughter even if she is not biologically a mother. Likewise, in the Blessed Virgin, women are also not estranged from their biology. They are not hostile towards their procreative and live giving power but seek to understand it and in hope, praise the creator for their gift of femininity. Indeed, it is through the birth of a child that the world is saved.

So in the final analysis, who holds the treasure of being which without it would make all activity useless? Women and preeminently Mary the Mother of God. The Mother of God attests to the fact that the ultimate paradigm of human existence is that of love and not power, of receptivity to the will of God and not grasping and snatching at happiness from a Creator who cannot be trusted.

I have sketched both the objections towards the person of Mary and the responses to these from the teaching of the Church. I hope that as we grapple with these ideas at this patrician meeting, it can bear fruit in our lives.

Mary our hope, seat of wisdom, intercede for us.

Talk on Pornography

I gave a talk on pornography at our recent conference to commeotrate the 40th anniversary of Humanae Vitae Conference.

You can find the text here. http://prolife.sg/lovesexbabies/index.htm

Exclusivism an inter-religious dialogue: The views of a Young Christian

Recently, it was reported that nearly half of Christian leaders feared inter-faith dialogue and that young people were generally religious but knew little about the religious beliefs of their peers. This report was followed by a letter by Mr. Lim Siew Wee highlighting his enthusiasm as a young Buddhist to promote inter-faith dialogue.

I am a young Catholic Christian who takes his faith seriously. I also had the privilege to participate along with Mr Lim Siew Wee in a Regional Youth interfaith forum co-organised by the Australian Government and the European Union from the 4th to 6th December 2007.

On the one hand, I agree with Mr. Lim that more inter-faith engagements among young people are a good thing. On the other, I am also sympathetic to the Christian clergy men who are wary of such gatherings. I would like to share as one who is an insider how a Christian who wants to be committed both to his faith and to living peaceably in an inter-religious society can resolve this apparent contradiction.

I do consider the fears of so called “conservative” and “evangelical” clergymen about inter-faith gatherings legitimate to some extent. Indeed, it would seem to flow from the inner logic of Christianity. After all, if Jesus Christ is the unique mediator of God and the Savior of all mankind, it would seem to follow that dialogue, which seems to imply a process of learning from the other, uncertainty and perhaps even a rethink of currently held beliefs is anathema to the deposit of faith entrust by Christ to his Church. What Christians should do, is to proclaim Jesus as the Savior and to save souls.

The wariness of such clergymen is accentuated when they notice that some of their co religionists, who consider themselves “liberal and enlightened” Christians, embrace inter-religious dialogue as the new way of being Church. When asked by the so called conservatives what they think of evangelization, they would reply “O we don’t do this anymore in the 21st century, we must respect all religions, work towards common goals and not think that our religion is superior to theirs.”

Indeed, there is a certain attractiveness in the so called liberal position. At the forum I attended, the participants were enthusiastic about meeting other participants from different religions and different countries. Everybody was eager to portray themselves as open-minded, respectful and sincere. We came out with common statements and objectives. My discussion group declared “we as young people of diverse religious faiths, beliefs and cultures are committed to the values of peace, compassion and love and respect for human rights.”
Who can possibly object to creating such an environment? Yet the step from such a common statement to celebrating our different beliefs as merely culturally interesting rather than making actual truth claims does not seem too far away. After all, who would want to be labeled as someone who rocks the boat of harmonious inter-faith dialogue, asking tough questions and challenging the followers of other religions to respond in an equally intellectually vigorous way?

As such, must so called conservatives necessarily exclude themselves from inter-faith events? I don’t think so.

For one thing, in a world where religious violence is often linked to an intolerant and irrational fundamentalism, conservatives would do well to demonstrate that they not only eschew violence, but are also able to show that the paralyzing force of a cultural relativism will not in the final analysis be adequate in resisting the tide of religious violence. What is needed is reason informed by faith, as Pope Benedict XVI’s Regensburg Address makes it clear, to heal the pathologies of religion.

Moreover, friendship cultivated in an inter-faith setting is ideal for a deep sharing of one’s faith. There are no secrets between friends and friends can share with each other, their most intimate concerns without fear. To paraphrase Rabbi Yehuda Levin of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis, “sincere believers in several religions feel they have the fullness of truth, and thus in charity hope for a day when all people will embrace the fullness of truth to complete them and bring them to perfection.” As such, a desire for a friend’s conversion done in total freedom can be offered without fear if it is seen as a gesture of wanting what is best for a good friend.

It was in a spirit of friendship that I was able to have fascinating discussions with Siew Wee. We spoke among about the existence of the self, the purpose of the body, the significance of the Resurrection of Jesus and the teaching of Buddha.

Indeed, Catholic theologian Hans von Balthasar once said that “love alone is believable”. If, as Christians believe, Jesus Christ is truth and love personified and if all human hearts long for total truth and joy, then a presentation of the truths of the Christian religion in all its profundity, in its inner coherence and logic, through its great themes of salvation and redemption, and its answers to the perennial questions of humanity will constitute in an organic manner, the evidential power of beauty.
I do hope that our conversations did stir a thirst for beauty in Siew Wee’s heart as it did mine.

Singapore's Fertility Woes

Mercatornet picked up my article...
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/singapores_fertility_woes_call_for_a_rethink_of_sexual_attitudes/

Make Abortions Less Easily Available

This appeared in the Straits Times

___________________________


Review - Others
Make abortions less easily available
Nick Chui, For The Straits Times
675 words
19 July 2008
Straits Times
English
(c) 2008 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
IN CONSIDERING the declining birth rate, one statistic seems to have slipped under the radar screen: In 2006, one in four pregnancies here was terminated. That simply means too many babies lost.
And these terminations were not mostly limited to teenagers or unmarried women either. In fact, a 2002 National University of Singapore study reported that up to 75 per cent of such women were married. Thus, what used to be considered a desperate measure has transmuted into just another mainstream method of birth control. Surely, given our baby dearth, we need to grapple with this abortion conundrum urgently.
The fact that abortions are being used in this manner masks a problem that we may have with the notion of contraception per se. In fact, in May, the medical profession urged that there be more education about contraception here. This came after surveys revealed that Singaporeans are not warming up to the various contraceptive methods available, opting for abortions instead if and when the need arises.
This means that, for many, procreation has become a regrettable accident most of the time, which is why abortion is seen as the logical solution. What can be done to change this mentality?
First, we could start restricting the availability of abortions. Currently, they are available on demand for up to 24 weeks of pregnancy for any reason ranging from the tragic to the frivolous.
Note that when compulsory counselling and the lifting of subsidies for abortion were introduced in 1986, the number of pregnancies terminated fell from a high of 35.5 per cent to 25 per cent, which is still true today.
How and when to restrict abortion as a reproductive choice will have to be debated fully before legislating it. But it must be done soon.
Second, let us begin vigorous campaigns to help parents accept their 'accidental' children rather than choose to abort such pregnancies. We can change minds so they see that having children actually enhances marital bliss.
To do this, we must put front and centre the 9 per cent of Singaporeans who have five or more children. The media should lionise these folk. Media coverage could explain in fine-grain detail how they, in their fecund circumstances with their big families, cope ably with the same worries the average Singaporean has about work-life balance, finances, education for children, and so on.
Third, we should create wider awareness about natural methods of fertility management. For example, the Billings Ovulation Method has been certified by the World Health Organisation as being 99 per cent effective in avoiding pregnancies.
In our context, what is even more important is that the use of this method cultivates an awareness of the woman's fertility cycle and planning for a child is made much easier. Considering the significant number of couples who are having difficulty conceiving, being aware of the periods when the woman is most fertile can only help matters.
Furthermore, couples who use natural methods of fertility management attest to the fact that they find their sex lives very satisfying. A mother of six has even blogged about her experience at http://fohl.blogspot.com, though her ardent comments cannot be repeated in a family newspaper like The Straits Times.
Suffice to say that the periods of abstinence these methods require of the couple can help them demonstrate to each other that they are master and mistress of their passions. Such 'organic sex' immediately takes on a deeper meaning rather than a perfunctory satisfaction of salacious urges.
These measures may seem like bitter medicine but our national fertility rate has seen an unchecked downtrend for 32 years now. It is high time we did something new to arrest and reverse this pernicious trend. Let us limit abortions now.
The writer is a family life educator. These are his personal opinions only.

Face to Face with the Archbishop

CANA the Catholic Centre is organising a Face to Face with the Archbishop for young adults aged 25-35. i would not be able to be there... So i decide to write an open letter instead to pen down my thoughts for the Archdiocese of Singapore

____________________

Dear Msgr. Nicholas Chia

As a 27 year old Catholic who has the privilege of working for the Archdiocese’s Family Life Society, teaching Catechism in St. Joseph’s Church (Bukit Timah) for the past six years and being involved in the Legion of Mary I am pleased to offer the following sharing and suggestions which are particularly close to my heart.

The University Chaplaincy

I studied at the National University of Singapore and during this time, many students faced challenges to my faith from a variety of sources. It was not only hostel life or a new found sense of freedom which may provide temptations. It was also ideas coming from the subjects students study which can prove to be a challenge for the faith. I was in the History department as well as in the University Scholars Program, a multi-disciplinary program and very often, various theories and philosophies proposed deny either the existence of objective truth, champion an anarchic concept of freedom without reference to human solidarity, promote a scientisitc and materialistic outlook or suggest that all grand narratives were simply power plays and “truth” is simply a mask for power. One can see quickly that these ideas will inevitably affect the faith of many Catholic students who if already poorly catechized, would not be able to articulate a sensible response to these philosophies and ideas. They either retreat to the realm of private religion i.e. “I have a Jesus experience and that’s enough for me” or they lose their faith altogether. I personally know of at least one student who studied sociology and who began to see the difference between the sexes as purely biological and gender as a social construct, articulating the very error which Pope John Paul II sought to address in his “Letter to the Families”.

My hope is to see the cultivation of a chaplaincy, full time perhaps and staffed with appropriate people and volunteers who not only provide spiritual, emotional support for students but are able to expose students, and not only Catholic ones, to the best of the Catholic intellectual tradition. That I believe is what is unique to the University where students are exposed to a marketplace of ideas. When I was in the University, I did a lot of reading up on my own, especially documents coming form the magisterium of John Paul II as well as from good Catholic authors, Peter Kreeft for Philosophy, Professor Robert George for Law and Politics, Jacuqes Maritain and Alisdair Macintyre for natural law theory, then Cardinal Ratzinger for almost everything else etc. It would have been wonderful and fruitful if there was a formal course i.e. “Catholicism 101” maybe at University standard where Catholics and non Catholics can take and be exposed to the best of Catholic thinking of the issues of the day.

Great spiritual fruit can come forth from such a course. When Catholics are alive to their intellectual heritage, they can make a difference in the world of ideas and offer solutions to pressing problems. Not only that, when they are convinced that they have discovered truth, they would be naturally fervent and would seek to convey this to others. Very often, vocations emerge from these convinced and convicted people who may desire to serve in a priestly or religious life and even also in parish and archdiocesan level settings. Indeed, an article describing the effects this have in Princeton University seems to bear out this fact. See here http://catholiceducation.org/articles/education/ed0277.html
http://catholiceducation.org/articles/sexuality/se0144.htm
Perhaps we can suggest to the Catholic chaplaincy to subscribe to top-notch Catholic journals suitable for the issues discussed at University,
Communio, http://www.communio-icr.com/

Logos (from the University of St. Thomas) http://www.stthomas.edu/cathstudies/logos/

and Nova et Vetera (Ave Maria University) http://www.aquinas.avemaria.edu/journal.asp

come to mind

The Hiring of Well Qualified Full-Timers in Parish and Archdiocesan level Settings

In a typical Protestant Church, a 4000-5000 congregation is served by about a staff of 80 full timers. The same cannot be said of course for a typical Catholic parish. While it is not my intention to simply say that as such, there is something “wrong” with the Catholic parish system, it is nevertheless a striking fact. Dedicated and well formed Full-timers, I believe can make a crucial difference in parish life. Indeed, many parishioners are already volunteers doing pretty heroic work, sacrificing their time to teach catechism, lead prayer groups, the choir etc. Would it not be wonderful if the parish/archdiocese offer them a full-time position with reasonable renumeration? I think many of them will be grateful.

Also, if we want to ensure that our parish/Church full timers receive the best ongoing formation, the Archdiocese could consider sending them overseas to the best Catholic institutes for training. One thinks of the Franciscan University of Steubenville, the various John Paul II Institutes for Marriage and Family Life, where many graduates go on to work for family ministries at archdiocese and parish level, the Catholic University of America etc. THe President of the Cardinal Newman Society has compiled a list of good Catholic collegues here.
http://www.catholichighered.org/TheNewmanGuide/tabid/356/Default.aspx

Indeed, offering fresh graduates the opportunity to go overseas to study and be bonded later to serve in parish/archdiocese settings may be a worthwhile investment. This will cost a lot of money but then again, the government spends heavily on educating every Singaporean to ensure that we receive a good education so as to contribute to Singapore. Our Church can and should, I believe see this as a wise and prudent investing in human resources.

Beauty in the Liturgy

Modern man may be skeptical of truth and reason but they still cannot help but being moved by beauty. The Church has declared in Sacrosanctum Concilium i that Gregorian Chant should have a pride of place in the liturgy and it is a treasure which should be assiduously cultivated. I am not even talking about Latin or the extraordinary form of the Roman rite. I am talking rather about simple plain chant, which is set in the vernacular. It is easy to sing, and its tunes immediately remind congregations that a sacred action is taking place. This is what makes us uniquely Catholic and we are heirs to this musical heritage. It is a pity that so few parishes actually adopt this.

A young Catholic or a non believer attending mass may not know what is going on consciously, but sub-consicously they cannot help absorbing the beauty of chant and one can only imagine the effects this would have on faith. Our Holy Father in fact has said that "True knowledge is being struck by the arrow of Beauty that wounds man, moved by reality, "how it is Christ himself who is present and in an ineffable way disposes and forms the souls of men"
http://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/library_article/601/Contemplation_of_Beauty_Cardinal_Joseph_Ratzinger.html

As such, I propose that greater effort be made to cultivate good music in the Archdiocese of Singapore. The Cathedral Choir of the Risen Christ is a fine example. Perhaps effort and money can be spent again by sending people for training in various Church-approved Sacred Music Institutes

The Promotion of the Theology of the Body

I have been involved in the promoting of the Theology of the Body with the Family Life Society as well as helping out with Wonderfully Made!, a group under the Catholic Medical Society and I have been very inspired by the enthusiasm of the members. What was particularly striking was that this was an exciting message for young people who feel strongly that the Pope’s message speaks to their head and heart. They discover who they are as people, what it means to be male and female, what they are called too, and the Church’s teaching on sexual ethics as a liberating message.

It is no surprise then that a part of World Youth Day Catechesis is precisely the promotion of the Theology of the Body. I would not be surprised if even more youth locally and around the world would be inspired by this message after World Youth Day. If we could “catch the wave” so to say, we could again send people overseas for more systematic training. http://www.lovelifelink.org/ll/schedule.html

The Archdiocese of Melbourne is offering a Theology of the Body crash course taught by Fr. Jose Granados, Professor at the John Paul II Institute. Could the Archdiocese sponsor/partially sponsor the relevant people to attend this course? It is held from the 23rd -30th July 08

To speak out in defence of the unborn

The Church is moving to focus on social issues with the formation of the Catholic Social and Community Council. I do hope that this council will consider the unborn child as the most vulnerable of groups which needs to be defended. While the other causes, i.e. migrants, the poor and needy, old people are “politically correct” and socially acceptable, raising our voice in defense of the unborn be in against abortion or against embryonic stem cell research is something not very popular but as Church, we must do it.

Over 10,000 abortions are done annually and our birth rate has been devastated partly because of the high number of abortions. Also, the government has introduced a consultation paper asking if it is ethical to make cybrids (human embryos and animal eggs). Could the Church speak out on in a pastoral letter to all parishes and also to engage in reasoned discourse with the Singapore Bioethics Advisory Committee?

Yours Sincerely in Christ
Nick Chui

Regional Youth Interfaith Forum: Embracing Diversity: Delivering messages of understanding. – Reflections on Proceedings

Introduction

The first Regional Youth interfaith forum co-organised by the Australian Government and the European Union was held in Perth from the 4th to 6th December 2007. Over 50 young people from Europe, Australia as well as Southeast Asia representing different faiths participated in this 3 day event which saw a mixture of fellowship, fun and serious discussion on the role of religion in the world today. What follows is a series of reflections on the proceedings. I will not give a chronological account but rather, would group my thoughts into categories which would be illustrated by memorable incidences at the forum.


Inter-Faith Dialogue and Evangelization: A Contradiction or Two sides of the Same Coin?

For some Catholics, inter-faith dialogue smacks of heresy and religious indifferentism. After all, if Jesus Christ is the unique mediator of God and the Savior of all mankind, it would seem to follow that dialogue, which seems to imply a process of learning from the other, uncertainty and perhaps even a rethink of currently held beliefs is anathema to the deposit of faith entrust by Christ to his Church. What Christians should do, is to proclaim Jesus as the Savior and to save souls. I did not encounter any Catholic who held these views at the conference for obvious reasons.

For other Catholics, influenced by the so called “spirit of Vatican II”, they are keen to embrace inter-religious dialogue as the new way of being Church (and Catholic). When asked by other Catholics what they think of evangelization, they would reply “O we don’t do this anymore after the Second Vatican Council”, we must respect all religions and not think that our religion is superior to theirs.

Indeed, a Catholic delegate from Mindanao actually shared this with me on the last day while we were having the swan river cruise. She sees her very important work in building a peacemaking culture in that troubled part of the Philippines as an intrinsic part of her Catholic identity. While I fully support that and would definitely pray for the success of her work, I was slightly perturbed when she shared that her Jesuit education has led her to see that conversion to Catholicism is not a priority. Indeed, she seemed proud to say that her peace building program resulted in no conversions to Catholicism from Muslims and members of the Mindanao indigenous community. While I fully understand that conversion is a sticky business in that part of the world unlike in Singapore, I could not help being somehow saddened by this. While it is true that being involved in peacemaking is definitely part of the Church’s social mission, and we should offer this to every person of good will, I could not help but wonder if in our eagerness to do good, we obscure the person of Christ and play down his unique salvific role. Inter-faith dialogue becomes an important means to build a peace-making culture. The need for Conversion and evangelization is downplayed or perhaps even not on the agenda at all.

Indeed, in such inter-faith gatherings, Catholics who are not well formed in their own faith may actually, in their enthusiasm for peace and good relations with members of other faiths and also to highlight how much similarities there are among different faiths, end up in a form of religious indifferentism which says either that all religions are the same or that all religious are equal paths to truth.

That seems to be only natural. In the three day conference, participants were enthusiastic about meeting other participants from different religions and different countries and during the three days together, relationships were cordial and friendly. Everybody were eager to portray themselves as open-minded, respectful and sincere which I believe were real qualities emanating from the participants. We came out with common statements and objectives. My discussion group declared “we as young people of diverse religious faiths, beliefs and cultures are committed to the values of peace, compassion and love (understood uniquely contextually and culturally) and respect for human rights.”

Who can possibly object to creating such an environment? Yet sometimes in our enthusiasm to discover similarities, or to celebrate our differences as merely culturally interesting rather than making actual truth claims, we as Christians would have failed to proclaim Christ and his often demanding truths. After all, who would want to be labeled (as Cardinal Ratzinger was labeled so often) as someone who rocks the boat of harmonious inter-faith dialogue, asking tough questions and challenging the followers of other religions to respond in an equally intellectually vigorous way?

Inspite of these so called dangers or concerns highlighted, I do think that Catholics should continue to engage in inter-religious dialogue and also see it as an avenue for evangelization. For one thing, the atmosphere of friendship cultivated in an inter-faith setting is crucial. Meeting people as friends is important. There are no secrets between friends and friends can share with each other, their most intimate concerns without fear. The time will come where deep questions and differences will naturally emerge in any discussion of religion. It is in these situations where the Catholic must testify to the person of Jesus Christ and give an account for the hope that is in him. The wish that you do hope that the other person comes to know Jesus one day should also be extended. Conversion can be done only in total freedom but one should not be afraid to extend the invitation.

Indeed, it was in a spirit of friendship that I was able to have fascinating discussions with both my Buddhist and Muslim friends from Singapore. For instance, my Buddhist friend Siew Wee and I spoke about the existence of the self, the purpose of the body the significance of the Resurrection of Jesus, the teaching of Buddha. If, as Hans von Balthasar writes, the story of salvation should be seen as both a “theo-aesthetic” and a “theo-drama” than the presentation of the truths of the Christian religion, its inner coherence and logic and its answers to the perennial questions of humanity will constitute in an organic manner, an apologetic of beauty. Logical syllogisms and examination of the evidence would remain a necessary part of evangelization. Yet there is another way, a way perhaps less intimidating, the evidential power of beauty. If Christ is the truth and if all human hearts long for total truth and joy, then such a presentation would be enough to stir a thirst in the other person to know more about the Christian religion.

Government and Religion: Respect, Cooperation, Cooption, Conflict, Tolerance, Indifference.

“What can governments do?” was the theme of the 2nd plenary session on the first day of the conference. As a Catholic, I do not oppose the government for the sake of doing so. Governments can and have done a lot of good and a Catholic should support such initiatives in any way they can. Yet governments too may have agendas which run counter to the convictions of religious believers. A “religious cover” would nevertheless serve a government well and provide endorsement for what may well be an immoral an unjust policy. One have only to think of Robert Mugabe’s boasting that he is a good Catholic who attends Mass frequently or the posturing of Hilary and Bill Clinton that faith is an important part of their lives while simultaneously promoting the destruction of innocent human life through abortion to see how religion can easily be co-opted into the service of some bigger agenda.

Indeed, on the first day, we actually received an exhortation by a certain professor Amir that one should not be reading the scriptures literally but always in a contextual manner for to do so is a sure way of lapsing into fundamentalism, absurdity and even violence. Yet such an assertion while sincerely made still leaves many questions unanswered. Who decides whether something is to be read literally or in a contextual manner? How about “love your neighbour as you love yourself”? Governments would surely hope that believers read that piece of scripture literally. How about the account of the Resurrection? Liberal demythologizes are eager to read this in a “spiritual” and “contextual” fashion which betrays immediately a philosophical bias against miracles. How about the absolute claims of Christ and Christianity?

Also, I felt a hint of co-option during the hypothetical forum held on the 2nd day where the theme was climate change. Participants in that hypothetical forum were supposed to agree that climate change and global warming are serious problems and that they would have to plan strategies to “sell” this message back to their communities. A sensible question to ask in this instance is who is setting the agenda? Are religious communities mere appendages of government and state apparatus’ designed to soften or sell messages and agendas already pre-determined or do religious communities possess autonomously their own agendas which will come into creative tension with that of the state?

In her keynote address author Randa Abdel-Fattah said that religion ought not simply to be tolerated but respected. Indeed, there is a world of difference between tolerance and respect. We tolerate something undesirable where eliminating it would do more harm than good. We respect on the other hand, positive goods. Indeed, French President Nicolas Sarkozy once commented that he found it strange that in his own country, when a school, a stadium or a community centre is built, there is enthusiasm from the state. But when a mosque or a Church is built, the state quickly distances itself from the project wanting no part of it seeing it purely as a private business. While not endorsing any form of religion, the state may well consider if the endorsing of religiosity, a certain civic religion if you will, within of course certain sensible limits might not be a public good in itself. Running for the Republican nomination for the US Presidency, Mitt Romney said it quite well in his recent campaign speech that he is inspired when he sees mosques, temples and churches whose spires reach out to the heavens as that was a recognition from all religions of the common source of our origins.

Avoiding Sloganeering and Motherhood Statements: The importance of Language and the Parameters of Discussion.

Flannery O Connor once said that “compassion leads to the gas chambers”. This shocking statement should cause us to pause and reflect on the importance of clarifying positive concepts, discovering what they really do mean. Nobody would say that they do not want peace, justice and harmony. But what this constitutes remains vague. As such, the declarations made by the various groups, while important first steps, need to be clarified and examined thoroughly. The caveat in our declaration (about understanding the statement contextually, uniquely and culturally etc) was at least to my mind a problematic statement. In some cultures, widow burning is considered an act of compassion. Do we have a response to that or are we to be silenced by the paralyzing force of cultural relativism? Reason, as the Pope’s Regensburg Address makes it clear, must be the common language across cultures so that pathologies both of religion as well as science can be healed. As such, it was a pleasant surprise to discover from the Polish delegate Magdalena that the organization she belongs to, “World Youth Alliance” www.wya.net does exactly that, organizing such activities around the great and important themes which humankind can ill afford to get wrong.

Against, hypocrisy, self-interest and deceit: Cultivating habits of the heart for fruitful Inter-Faith Dialogue.

As one of the delegates from Germany, Friedrich mentioned, he detected a certain angelism in the discussions as if good intentions and the elimination of ignorance through education were all that is needed to create a better world. As Catholics, we know that sin lies in the depths of the human heart, perennially tempting human beings to hypocrisy, self-interest and deceit. In such instances, mere good intentions are not enough. Habits of the heart, virtues, need to be cultivated. Persons who are insincere cannot be trusted to engage in any form of fruitful dialogue. In such instances, niceties will not do. Denunciations are sometimes in order.

Inter Mirifica and New Media; Challenge and Opportunities

On the second day of the conference, both Mr. Peter Dunn and Dr Martin Mhando were given time to exhort delegates to understand and make full use of new media, i.e. internet discussion groups, online forums, youtube etc to spread the message of inter-faith harmony. Indeed, the impact of New Media ought not to be underestimated and may well be a vibrant and fruitful avenue for publicity. One has only to think of how the use of new media enabled persons in Myanmar to broadcast images otherwise not seen in the Junta’s bloody crackdown of Buddhist monks and other anti-government demonstrators. Or how, as a Filipino delegate puts it, new media was able to spread the world out via sms to many people to come for a people’s power rally which resulted in the overthrow of former President Joseph Estrada.

Yet the use of New Media is essentially a disembodied medium, useful for spreading information but perhaps less so in developing genuinely human relationships. One has only to think of countless hours spent in online chat groups and computer games to see the numbing effects of such a disembodied way of interaction. Indeed, one of the speakers Mr. Kuranda Seyit was talking about finding answers through the body. If Christians are to use New Media, they should see it as a field for evangelization. New Media tools, besides spreading information can be used to encourage a more embodied form of existence.

Nation and Religion: On the possibility of Trans-national allegiances

“Universal, religious and Australian values” declared Mr. Jeremy Jones when addressing what kind of qualities a religious Australian should possess. Indeed, it was a truly trans-national experience for me, meeting members of different faiths from different religions. What mattered to me a lot was meeting Catholics from different countries. It was exciting to talk about the faith with Frs. Venancio and Joseph Thieu from East Timor and Vietnam respectively and to share experiences. When I told Magda that we had the Jeweller’s Shop in Singapore, she was very excited. I was also able to talk excitedly with Friedrich about the latest encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI and with Aubrey of Brunei about the Theology of the Body. I discovered national solidarity with my Singaporean delegates as we were justifiably proud of the achievements of our country in terms of inter-religious harmony.

Conclusion

I do hope that the time spent during the three days in Perth will lead to better things to come. The critiques contained in this reflection paper should not be seen as a lack of gratitude to the Australian Government and the EU for organizing this symposium. Rather, they are given in the hope that subsequent forums can be even more successful and may grapple with the serious and often complex issues faced by the religions of the world today as they encounter modernity and face questions of identity.

Building a Culture of Trust or Surrendering to a Culture of Suspicion

An article in YOUTHink (Monday 28 Aug 2006) featured the heartbreaking story of a young girl who was infected with HIV by her boyfriend.My thoughts and prayers go out to her and her boyfriend. I sincerely hope that family, friends and society at large will not treat her as a pariah and avoid her, but rather reach out in kindness and understanding.When tragedy strikes, people of good will are naturally concerned. Indeed, I would imagine that the suggestions offered by Mr. Justin Ng and Mr. Vanan Pillay in the article on how best to prevent such tragedies from occurring again reflects their genuine care for people and their well being. Indeed, Mr. Ng and Mr. Pillay’s suggestions seem very logical. Since there are a significant number of young people who are sexually active, educating them on safe sex practices would ensure that their risk of being infected with an STI would decrease. Yet I would think that if we adopt Mr. Ng and Mr. Pillay’s suggestions that we should “trust no one” and that we should debunk the myth that “if they run around within their usual social circles, they’re safe from infection”, we would be inevitably building a culture of suspicion which would in the final analysis spell the end of any meaningful human relationships.Proponents of the message of safe sex (or more accurately safer sex since the condom reduces but does not eliminate the risk of sexually transmitted disease), must recognise that a message that views the other party as potential threats to my health and life whom I must protect myself against instead of someone whom I can eventually share my whole life project with is both impoverished and dehumanizing.The sexual act represents for many the highest form of physical intimacy with a fellow human being. In many cultures, the sexual act is reserved exclusively to marriage so that the vital bonds of trust would be preserved.Couples enter into marriage knowing that virginity is the norm and that they could trust that the other partner has reserved this form of intimacy exclusively for the other.It is true that abstinence education does not seem to be very effective since its inception in 2002. Yet we must recognise that the culture in Singapore does not seem very conducive in promoting abstinence as a virtue. Children are exposed to prime time television programmes where sexual innuendo if not outright sexual acts between consenting adults are taken as the norm. The internet is an easy source to view sexually explicit material. Magazine racks are filled with pictures of people posing in a sexually suggestive manner and contain themes which discuss sex like any other contact sport. Teenage girls who are pregnant need not inform their parents if they want to go for an abortion. Contraceptives are freely available over the counter.Faced with all these pressures, parents have to be extra vigilant. Yet more often then not, parents are too busy at work or are themselves confused by the bewildering variety of messages emerging from the media. A couple of lessons in school will be of limited value to young people immersed in a culture that does not reinforce but practically dismisses whatever they have learnt in school.Abstinence is not only the most reliable hygienic solution to the problem of sexually transmitted diseases. Abstinence education builds a culture of trust so vital for human flourishing. To succeed however requires a fully committed effort by all major shapers of culture, the government, grassroots organisations, religious groups, NGOs and the news media. In Uganda, when abstinence was vigorously promoted by these major shapers of culture, HIV infection rates fell from a high of 35% to 6%. Likewise, in Singapore, when these shapers of culture decide to embark on a family planning campaign, our fertility rate fell from 4.66 to 1.24 births per female. If there is any lesson to be learnt by our family planning past, it demonstrates that Singaporeans are receptive to a message when it is consistently and incessantly promoted.Let’s begin to build a culture of trust. A culture of suspicion would spell the breakdown of society as we know it today.

The Supermodel and the Football Star

Here is something I wrote for the Catholic News comparing Gisele Bundchen and Kaka and their views about the meaning of sex....

http://www.catholic.org.sg/cn/wordpress/?p=1699#more-1699

My Thesis is now online!

Thanks to Anthony and his lovely wife Patricia from The Prompt who has published my Thesis "Catholic Students in the National University of Singapore": Ideas and Idendity 1951-1985 online in edited form together with pictures!

Read all about our Catholic Students, their reaction to Vatican II, and their flirtation with liberation theology....

http://theprompt.faithweb.com/nuscss1-1.htm
http://theprompt.faithweb.com/nuscss2-1.htm
http://theprompt.faithweb.com/nuscss3-1.htm

Letter to the Straits Times on 377A

Wrote this during the debate over 377A...

Headline: No to 377A, No to homosexual sex

I belong to the 70% of Singaporeans in the NTU study cited by “Keep 377A.com” who disapprove of the homosexual lifestyle. I do however think that criminalization of homosexual sex is not necessarily the best way to express disapproval.

The other day, I was speaking with a good friend who professed to be homosexual about among other things section 377A the gay lifestyle. During the conversation, he asked me jokingly “surely you would not call the police to arrest me right?”

That got me thinking. I for one would not want my friend arrested. I do want however for my friend to be happy and I really don’t think that a homosexual lifestyle will lead to that.

Our conversation continued on the need for love, intimacy and friendship and he mention that surely I am not going to say that a gay person should be deprived of that.

“Yes I replied, you are looking for love, intimacy and friendship, we all are. However, I don’t think you will find it by engaging in homosexual sex acts. I do think you would be alienating yourself from the love and the intimacy you desire. As plugs go with sockets, our bodies are made in a certain way to complement each other and I don’t think it is wise to force two bodies which do not to speak the language of union to unite when it is literally physically not possible. You may be sincere in loving your partner and I don’t deny that, yet the physical reality remains and I don’t think mind over matter will work in this instance. So to be honest, the loving thing to do really is to abstain from sex.”

I don’t know if my friend agreed with me or not but he did look like he was at least thinking about what I said.

Not everything that is unhealthy or morally wrong need necessarily be criminal. If it were, then arguably unhealthy practices like smoking and committing adultery should be criminalized as well. We don’t do that because we believe that public education is the better approach in tackling these issues.

Perhaps opponents of the gay lifestyle should do the same when we approach so called “gay issues” rather than simply lobby for criminalization and pressing the buttons of moral panic. Hopefully, gay persons will see that we are not prejudiced bigots who simply attempt to use our majority status to persecute a minority group but are able to make our case for human happiness independent of the coercive power of the law.

The Apologetic of Love

The article which inspired this Blog. http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2005/jcihak_hubapol_may05.asp

Talk on God is Love

I will be giving a two talk series on Pope Benedict's First Encyclical "God is Love". The talk will explore among other issues

1. What does it mean to say that God love's you?
2. Is there a difference between erotic love and agape love?
3. Is Christian love very different from normal human love?
4. Should we pursuit justice rather than simply perform charitable work?
5. Is there a distinctively Christian approach to charitable work?
6. What can the saints teach us on the love of God and neighbor?

It will be held over 2 Saturdays 19, 26 January at CAEC St. Luke's Room from 3pm to 5pm.

Please inform your friends/contacts about it.