Alternative Culture: Yours Scotland

John Knox, leader of the Scottish Reformation

When I think of Scotland, I think of tough individuals amplified by the movies of Brave, Outlaw King and Braveheart. Even more so, I admire Scotland for John Knox, the theologian who led the reformation of Scotland.

Yet, recently the Scottish government put out this ad below.




Although seemingly an inclusive message, the Scottish government has made its stand clear: if you disagree with the way they define gender, sexuality, discrimination and religion, you are not welcome to Scotland.

Ironically, their message of tolerance only tolerates people who agree with their message. If Christians stand up for the exclusivity of the Gospel message, they could be charged for a hate crime. What a drastic change from the Reformation!

My deep concern is that this will bring Christianity to the forefront of scruinity. Will the Scottish Christians stay true to the Gospel, and what Christ has done for us? Or will they follow the ways of the world?

Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”  -- Acts 5: 29 - 32

For further reference

Christian Concern

With Due Respect: Don't all religions lead to God?

In pluralistic, sensitive and secular Singapore, it is often regarded taboo to talk about religions, much less the exclusitvity of a certain religion. To even say in public that "Jesus is the Way, the truth and the life" (according to John 14:6) can be frown upon and considered to be disruptive in society.

After all, given the huge number of religions in the world, isn't it bigoted to say that Christianity is the only way to God?

Think about it first:

The statement that all religions lead to God presupposes a few assumptions, and I will handle some of them.

1) It is arrogant to say that any one religion has exclusivity to God
 The statement firstly assumes that anybody who claims to have monopoly on the truth is standoffish and unnecessarily divisive.

However, this statement is unconcerned about the nature of truth (i.e. whether something is true or not) and is more concerned about sensitivity (whether people will be offended or not). It has no bearing on truth claims.

Furthermore, the statement by its own rules is also arrogant. This statement is also exclusive in stating that no one religion can be exclusive.

2) All religions talk about the same God
The statement also assumes the God that all religions talk about is the same. However, there are many irreconcilable differences between the differing religions.

For instance, in Hinduism there are many gods. In Christianity, Judaism and Islam, there is only one God. To cite another example, Christianity claims that Jesus is God, while Judaism and Islam rejects that notion.

Hence, to be completely logical and coherent, only one of the following is possible:
A) All religions are wrong OR
B) Only one religion is right

The idea that all of them lead to the same God, or rather the same conclusion is logically inconsistent.

Conclusion
Instead of engagning in senstivity mud-slinging and accuse each other of arrogance, I encourage all readers to come and explore this site and others like it. Come and see if Jesus is truly God or not!


For further reading

Bethinking