When you find the Prime Minister, a Senior Minister and the minister from the Ministry of Culture, Community & Youth (MCCY) suddenly appearing in the Catholic Church on one single weekend and then one of them “miraculously” appearing at Vatican, guess it is normal for alarm bells to go off instead of the Church’s bells.
On Saturday, 11th December, PM Lee attended the Mass Celebration at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, for the closing of the 200th Anniversary of the Catholic Church in Singapore.
He also took the opportunity to chat with Archbishop Marek Zalewski, the Apostolic Nuncio to Singapore to convey his greetings to Pope Francis.
The Minister for MCCY, Edwin Tong was also present.
Next day, SM Teo Chee Hean, a former SJI boy, and several grassroots leaders attended Mass at the Church of Divine Mercy in Pasir Ris.
Joseph Nathan
Above is posted in the TRE.
Time to go to church to pray and ask for forgiveness?
Jesus will chase away the evil doers just like the tax collectors. Salvation is in oneself. Do no evil and you will have nothing to fear.
Going to the Church is a good thing.
ReplyDeleteBut when politicians pay visits to the Church, or Temple, or Synagogue, or Mosque, there has to be a political motive, the least of which is Photo Ops.
Whatever one who wants to seek, The Universal Law of Cause and Effect or Karma shall apply to anyone on this Universe. No matter how high a status or how rich a person, Karma also applies to them. Chinese says 天网恢恢，疏而不漏，人在做，天在看，善恶终有报，诸恶莫作众善奉行。
ReplyDeleteIt is positive for anyone who sins to seek forgiveness. However,
ReplyDeleteit is more important to repent and sin no more.
The Biggest Problem is with the People who think that with the Backing of their almighty, they can do whatever. This seems to be the case throughout history. Even in the Clergy and Vatican itself.
Sigh.
Fearing God is the sign of wisdom.
ReplyDeleteWisdom
ReplyDeleteis when one is enlighten
to do no sin.
I believe only one religion can offer immediate salvation, whatever evil you have committed. You just say you believe and all sins can be 'forgiven'. Ya, the word is 'forgiven' You go straight to heaven. Cheaper, faster and better, right?
ReplyDeleteThat is why one particular race of some countries continue to commit evil with wars, genocide, mass killings and calling it collateral damage. They believe they are exceptional and have the license to ascend to heaven by default
Have you been swayed by the too good to be true offer?
You see, with the insurance cover of safe heavenly bliss, sinning is no longer a bad thing. You get away with lying, cheating, stealing and killing and yet have an easy passage to heaven.
ReplyDeleteThe most ironic argument is that those who do not believe, but have done no evil but more good, will still go to hell. Can God be that biased and undiscerning? Think about it and think deeply, as advised by one fellow commentator.
As an atheist, there is no way I can make a comment without being misinterpreted as being "offensive", so I'll try anyway.
ReplyDeleteMost religions are "made up" by savvy humans who wish to control groups of others thru undemocratic authorianism based on fear-inducing dogma.
The first thing to do is to indulge in rabid "competition" to remove the other "choices".
There's a bullshit idea called "religious harmony" based on "freedom of religion". How do we know it is bullshit?
Simple. Every member of a particular faith thinks themselves as "superior" to those of another faith. To each of them they chose the "best faith" making them "right" and the other party "wrong".
Religious harmony is nothing more than fake politeness ...which is required. Fake politeness are a set of widely accepted LIES which function as the "glue", that keeps societies together in peace. Without fake politeness, people will be KILLING each other.
Most people who go to worship, DON'T REALLY BELIEVE anyway. They do it to make themselves feel good, and to SOCIALLY SIGNAL to everyone else their sturdy morality.
You know what? Despite the "negativity" from some "offensive skeptics" like myself, this kind of SOCIAL SIGNALLING generally works. **As a social species, we are sensitive to social signals (social cues). This is especially true in Asia where FACE is culturally important.**
➤ Political leaders who display a devotion to a faith (even if they're hypocrites) tend to increase their "trustworthiness" in the eyes of their voters.
As a hardcore non-voter/ ballot destroyer, and one who thinks modern democracy is fakery on a national scale, I FULLY SUPPORT 👍🏻👍🏻 politicians overtly displaying their RELIGIOSITY thus social and VIRTUE signalling to the world their moral uprightness, uncompromising humanity, respect for human rights and dignity, kindness, compassion and unwavering love for country and its people. 🏆🏆
You all can vote for them so that the ⇛ country gets the govt it deserves ⇚.💃🏻 🕺🏿 🇸🇬
I'll just give up my "democratic right" and enjoy the ENTERTAINMENT. 🎭 🍿 📺 😂
matilar is a changed man
Deleteyou should delete this post. You are playing god.
ReplyDeleteDon't just pray pray. George Bush claims to have talked directly to God who asked him to invade Iraq. Trump claims he is God himself coming to make USA great again. He claims COVID19 is just like the common flu and will not harm the USA with him around.
ReplyDeleteBoth are historical examples of highly religious leaders. But do you believe Trump ever stepped into a church? I know he did stood proudly in front of a church taking a great propaganda photograph, holding the Bible upside down.
So much for the holy men of the USA.
Some religions got a final judgement day,when God decides whether believers go heaven or hell. Quite confused by these as believers still don't know where their destinations are after their life expired. Scratching head
ReplyDeleteReligion was the Anglo Saxon White's trump card in tricking the Native American Indians into losing their land. It worked well in Australia and Canada as well.
ReplyDeleteThey tried that trick against the Chinese and South Asia Indians but failed because these are ancient civilisation with more grey materials in their brains and centuries of religious heritage to keep them sane. Of course, they could not try playing the religion card on the Muslims, which they know is sure to fail as well.
Now they are trying 'love potion number nine' on the Muslims with so much love professed for the Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang, hoping to sway the Muslim world. Malaysians and Indonesians were tested for any about turn after the Xinjiang love affair, but obviously it did not work.
@ 240
ReplyDeleteIt's a "work in progress", I assure you 😉
@ 215
ReplyDelete>> You think the Chinese leaders care a damn about being religious? <<
They might not appear to be...BUT... the principles of "mass control thru SHARED narrative and "shared values" from that narrative apply to politics.
Religion was proto-politics. It was used for political ends long before the emergence of political thought as we know it today.
Human nature is such that belief is NOT a choice. And if there's a strong narrative---a good old, long-lasting bullshit story which people not only relate to but incorporate into their IDENTITY, generation after generation---then it becomes CULTURE from which POLITICS emerge.
When Friedrich Nietzsche proclaimed God is dead, he meant that a time in history had come where religion and the godhead was replaced by POLIICS and the Übermench (Super human, over man).
Religion taught other-worldly (god's) values. The Übermench was a human who would rule/ govern by "human" values.
It is Politics that gave birth to culture, not the other way around.
ReplyDeleteThink. Don't simply regurgitate like a robot.
@ 956
ReplyDeleteRe: Culture and politics
The process is actually REFLEXIVE. See the work of Karl Popper and his brightest student George Soros
>> Don't simply regurgitate like a robot. <<
Robots don't eat. So they cannot regurgitate. Please, have some scientific rigour.
Anyway, thanks for playing!