A Christian Social Vision For Nation Building

By Ng Kam Weng

(This article originally published in the Kairos Magazine, issue September 2007, and at Ng Kam Weng's website Krisis & Praxis, 10 October 2007.)

A Christian Philosophy for the Common Good

“The Church must exercise prophetic witness towards wider society and to government,” exclaimed the young man as he urged his friends to join a candlelight vigil in front of the High Court to express their concerns over a recent High Court judgment that was seen to be in conflict with fundamental liberties.

Asian Human Rights: A Critique

By Ng Kam Weng

(This article originally published at Ng Kam Weng's website Krisis & Praxis, 25 June 2007.)

Asian critics offer more sophisticated arguments than expediency in their resistance against demands for greater implementation of human rights policies. Of the various arguments voiced by Asian governments I shall focus on four: 1) that human rights are culture specific; 2) that community takes precedence over individuals; 3) that social-economic rights have priority over civil political rights, and 4) that the implementation of human rights should be respected as a matter of national sovereignty.

Rendering to Caesar: A Theology of Church-State Relations.

By Roland Chia [1]

(This article is originally published by the Centre for the Development of Christian Ministry of Trinity Theological College, Singapore, in periodical Church and Society, issue 7.2 [2004], p.41-46, and reproduced at Church and Society in Asia Today website.)

In a White Paper entitled Maintenance of Religious Harmony[2], published in 1989 and accepted as a Bill by parliament in 1990, the Singapore Government adumbrates its position concerning religion and politics. Emphasizing that for Singapore, ‘the safeguards for political rights and democratic values must be secular, not religious, institutions’ (21), the White Paper postulates the separation of religion from politics. By this it refers to the prohibition of the promotion of any political party or cause by religious groups or leaders and under the cloak of religion (20). Recognizing the fact that the division between religion and politics is really a matter of ‘convention’ (24), and that any such division in reality is not entirely possible, the White Paper nevertheless insists that such an approach is the most appropriate one, especially in the case of multireligious Singapore. The White Paper also acknowledges the fact that ‘some religions explicitly deny the possibility of this separation, because to their followers the faith encompasses all aspects of life’(25). It concludes, however, that it is precisely because some faiths proffer a holistic view ‘that they must collide if they all attempt to carry out to the full their respective visions of an ideal society’ (25). The document makes clear that ‘the purpose of attempting to separate religion from politics is therefore not to determine the validity of various religious or ethical beliefs which have political or social implications. It is to establish working rules by which many faiths can accept fundamental differences between them, and coexist peacefully in Singapore’ (27).