Videos of Pastor Tan preaching the Truth of God’s Word:
Matthew 10:34-39:
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.
1 Peter 2:7,8:
Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient,and
“ The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,”
“ A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.”
They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.
At 9am yesterday, just as Singaporeans digested the news of Lighthouse Evangelism’s founder and Senior Pastor Rony Tan publicly apologising for his “offensive” and “insensitive” comments about Buddhists and Taoists, the pastor turned up at the Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery.
Arriving alone, he wanted to extend, in person, his “sincere” apologies to representatives from the Buddhist and Taoist faiths.
Tan, who was dressed in a long-sleeved shirt and trousers, met Singapore Buddhist Federation president Venerable Kwang Sheng and Taoist Federation chairman Tan Thiam Lye at the monastery, also known as Bright Hill Temple.
“He (Pastor Tan) initiated the apology,” Venerable Kwang Sheng recounted. “When he first came in, he said he wished to apologise to us … He realised that it was a mistake … he realised it was a serious issue … that he had done a great deal of harm to the Buddhists and Taoists and he wished to apologise to the Buddhists and Taoists. We accepted his apology but we also hope these things will not happen in the future.”
The Buddhist leader said that during yesterday’s one-hour meeting, Tan was “very apologetic” and he had given the Buddhist and Taoist leaders assurances that this incident would not be repeated, adding that he would “try to clean up all the things he had spoken in the past”.
“We exchanged name cards, and perhaps in future we may be able to meet and talk about our religion and his religion and if there are any misunderstandings in future, we can communicate,” said the Buddhist leader.
The Singapore Buddhist Federation began receiving complaints about the video clips early last week. The three video clips originally posted on the website of Lighthouse Evengalism church, showed Pastor Tan questioning Buddhist and Taoist beliefs.
They were subsequently posted on YouTube and various online forums. In two of the videos, Tan spoke to church member Joseph Wee about the time he was a Buddhist in the 1980s, including a short stint as a monk.
This upset Buddhists as they do not consider Wee to be a monk, and were of the view he had instead put “up a show”.
Two days ago, Tan was called up by the Internal Security Department (ISD). He issued a public apology on his church’s website later that night.
Replying to media queries, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng noted that what Tan had said and done was “clearly offensive to Buddhists and Taoists” and, in fact, “has angered even Singaporeans who are not Buddhists and Taoists”.
Wong, who is also the Home Affairs Minister, said he was glad to note that Tan had “met up with the Buddhist and Taoist leaders today to personally apologise for his actions” adding that this was “the right thing to do”. Just as it was the right thing for the Buddhist and Taoist leaders although “understandably upset with the incident” to accept Tan’s apology and urge their religious communities to show “restraint”.
Wong also reminded Singaporeans that mutual respect, tolerance and restraint are critical to maintaining communal peace and harmony in the Republic’s multi-ethnic, multi-religious society. “Religious leaders, especially, must lead and set the right example in this regard,” he said. While everyone is free to propagate his religious beliefs, Wong reiterated, “it must never be by way of insulting or denigrating the religious beliefs of others”. “This is a fundamental OB marker that we must steer by in Singapore,” he added.
Yesterday, the National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS) welcomed Tan’s “public apology” and his promise that “such insensitivity will never happen again”. The council said it has in place a guide on inter-religious relations which advised Christians not to denounce other religions and to always be respectful of the beliefs of others when carrying out evangelism. “The council is committed to continuing its efforts in promoting religious understanding and respect while we go about practising and sharing our Christian faith,” president John Chew said.
“We trust that Christian groups that are not our members will also share our values.” Lighthouse Evangelism is not a member of the NCCS. — Today
