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.