Alternative Culture: A theological view of recent moral scandals of Singapore politicians

 

According to Arthurian legends, the illicit affair between Lancelot and Queen Guinevere led to fall of Camelot and King Arthur. This screenshot is from the game Pendragon.

Recently, my country Singapore has been hit by a wave of scandals. These incidents involved Transport Minister S Iswaran, Speaker of House Tan Chuan-Jin, Member of Parliament Cheng Li Hui, Member of Parliament Leon Perera, and senior member of the Workers' Party, Nicole Seah. 

The purpose of this post is to provide a theological view of the incidents. I am not here to give a political analysis or probe into their personal lives. I will also not be speculating on the character of those involved. For a factual view, I attached links from Channel News Asia in the first paragraph.

Here are my theological reflections:

These incidents are not unique or as rare as we think
This is definitely not the first time such scandals had arose from positions of power. In 2012, Speaker of the House Michael Palmer was also caught in an affair and resigned his post. American President Bill Clinton used his position of influence to have an sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky. Even in Biblical times, King David (paragon of faith) had an affair with a married woman.

One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.” - 2 Samuel 11: 2-5

As Canadian businessman Stewart Butterfield noted "It [Power] makes you more than who you already were.". In other words, being in positions of power increases the resources and opportunities to sin. Power amplifies our flaws.

A common theme in the Soul Calibur fighting game series is the corrupting influence of power.

We should use such incidents to reflect and repent of our own sins

Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."
- Luke 13:2-3

While it is tempting to join the bandwagon and condemned moral failures, we must be on guard for our own potential failures. If we are being honest with ourselves, we all are 2-3 small mistakes from our moral atrocities made public.

Prior to controversy, Tan Chuan Jin claimed that he had to be even more vigilant as a Christian in public office because his "own vanity, ego, social pressures and expectations" are now in the open. This is echoed in the Casting Crown song, Slow Fade, warning on how easy it is to slip into sin if we are not careful.

For the Christian, these incidents are reminder to remember how much we need Jesus.

With Due Respect: Are children born atheist?

 

Children attending a Japanese church, 2023

In the 2006 book God Delusion, famous atheist biologist Richard Dawkins asserted that "There is no such thing as a Christian child: only a child of Christian parents".

He also tweeted that "Babies have no religion".

In such statements, Dawkins assumes that infants are born with no inclination to religion, and religious ideas are taught to them, rather than learnt naturally. However, he fails to account for a few things.

Babies are naturally religious
In most studies, infants are seem to accept teleological answers over purposeless ones. For instance, children are more likely accept that "Rivers exist so that we can go fishing on them, and birds are here to look pretty". They see the natural world as purposeful and designed by a higher being. 

Even if their parents are atheists, they tend to understand that their parents (and therefore humans) are imperfect and therefore prescribe supernatural abilities to a creator of the natural world. 

Based on such research, British philosopher Charles Foster (in his 2010 book Wired for God) concluded that atheism was not a default or natural belief for humans, but it was something that had to be taught.

Singaporean children, or children with Singaporean parents? 

Genetic fallacy
Another classic fallacy that Dawkins is committing is the genetic fallacy. He attempts to disapprove the validity of a belief by stating where it came from (i.e. the parents). This line of argument is false as the origin of the argument has little to do whether a claim is true.

Just because the abusive Imperial Japanese used aircraft carriers to sink allied ships does not mean that this strategy is bad or false.

Conclusion
Whether a baby's default state is religious or irreligious does not prove or disprove the existence of God. Truth is beyond genetics and culture.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)