What religious leaders must do
Religious organisations and their leadership should not only play the role of moral guide for their adherents. They must also ensure that society is not fractured. Peace is a crucial dictum commonplace in world religions. There are enough historical examples from all over the world where religious leaders have instigated radical behaviour which has left irreparable damage to society.
Mathew Mathews, Today Online
The recent call by a Muslim religious teacher for Muslims to wear white as a symbol of their allegiance to “purity” and traditional family values drew support from a number of other religious authorities. Pastor Lawrence Khong of Faith Community Baptist Church, among others, expressed his solidarity with the wear-white campaign and its espoused principles, urging Christians to likewise don white for Sunday services. The Majlis Ugama Islam Singapore (MUIS) meanwhile, called for restraint from all sides, pointing out that the wear-white campaign could potentially polarise society amidst the tension generated by holding the Pink Dot gay rights rally at the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Statements by the Roman Catholic archbishop, the National Council of Christian Churches and other Muslim groups unequivocally stated their moral position against homosexuality, and in some cases, included advice to their members on how to deal with the Pink Dot event.
TRUST IN RELIGIOUS LEADERS
Findings from the Institute of Policy Studies Survey (IPS) on Race, Religion and Language suggest that moral beliefs can be influenced by religious discourse. In the survey, which polled a representative population of over 3,000 Singapore residents, 60 per cent of Muslims and Christians said that their religious ideas had considerable influence on their views on other areas of life. It is not surprising that religious adherents expect their leaders to provide guidelines on how they should conduct themselves. Religious leaders who remain silent about moral positions would betray the confidence that believers have in them. However, in this age of digital and social media, statements by religious authorities have a much more pervasive reach even if they do not identify the world as their parish. This has inevitably led to those who do not agree with them feeling that the religion-inspired pronouncements are imposed on the beliefs, and possibly lifestyles, of a broad swathe of society.
The 2012 World Values Survey shows how Singaporeans feel about religious groups. About 72 per cent of the nearly 2,000 Singaporeans polled said that they had quite a lot of confidence in religious organisations. Among those who were religiously affiliated, this figure was much higher. There were more who reported confidence in religious organisations compared to those who were confident in either the media or civil society organisations. With such trust in religious organisations and by extension, their leadership, it would be safe to assume that statements by religious authorities weigh strongly on the minds of the faithful. This is especially so for Muslims and Christians. The IPS survey found that about half of Muslims and Christians agreed or strongly agreed to the statement: “I accept what my religious teachers tell me about how I should live”.
