Pastor Rony Tan Ignites Firestorm of Criticism
In news from Singapore, Christian pastor Rony Tan has been warned that his offensive posture toward Buddists and Taoists strike at the fabric of that country’s multicultural society. Tan’s online videos commentaries came under the scrutiny of Singapore’s Internal Security Department. Lighthouse Evangelism and Tan apologized and removed the videos when the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a statement calling the videos “highly inappropriate and unacceptable.” The statement went on to suggest Tan’s efforts would “give rise to tension and conflict between the Buddhist/Taoist and Christian communities there.”
Even thought Tan’s videos have been removed, there is still concern the effects of them will be far reaching. In Malaysis religious tensions have been the cause of churches and mosques being vandalized and even burned because of the same types of intolerance. Just last week three youths in Singapore were arrested for adding racist remarks on the Facebook profiles. They stand to be found guilty of promoting feelings of anger and hostility among the races, and face heavy fines or even imprisonment accordingly. Deadly riots in the 50’s and 60’s in Singapore rise to the forefront when such tensions become acute, and for good reason. Singapore, geneally thought to be a stable places for multinational companies and business, does have one Achilles heel where ethnicity and religion are concerned.
Play the Rony Tan end game online challenge?
Lighthouse Evangelism was founded by Tan and 8 other evangelical Christians some 32 years ago. Pentacostal Christianity not being the most tolerant or humble sect on Earth, this news does not exactly fall under the “surprising” category from this writer’s point of view. Without being overly critical here, suffice it to say the services I have attended over the years at friend’s churches were not exactly carried out using the “live and let live” religious dogma. Expecting an evangelical preacher to keep his mouth shut is like asking a donkey not to bray. Reverend Tan might be well advised to consider Richard the Lionheart is not standing behind him sword in hand in this ministry.
If Buddhist were not so demure, one might expect YouTube videos to surface making fun of Tan for being so uneducated? Of course religious study is often a form of sacrilege for fire and brimstone patriarchs. What dangers seethe beneath the surface of humanity, in the name of a loving God. That’s all I have to say about that. What a PR Goof for Christianity Lighthouse perpetrated?
About the Author
Phil Butler is editor-in-chief of Everything PR and senior partner at Pamil Visions PR. He’s a widely cited authority on beta startups, search engines and public relations issues, and he has covered tech news since 2004. Phil wrote in the past for ReadWriteWeb, Mashable, Profy, SitePoint, Search Engine Journal, AltSearchEngines. Follow Phil on Twitter or send him an email at phil [at] pamil-visions [dot] com.
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John, You are correct, take me to your leader. LOL
Always,
Phil (I think therefore I am) 
Comment by Noah's Ark on 10 February 2010:
Something for a laugh ..You must be a Christian if…
1. You believe that an ancient Book of Myths filled with
contradictions, absurdities, atrocities, myths, fables, and plenty of nonhistorical “history” is somehow magically the inerrant, infallible
“Word of God”.
2. You believe that a Magical Being magically brought the universe
into existence by speaking a powerful magical spell from Nowhere
approximately 6000 years ago.
3. You believe, concerning the origins of mankind, that a Magical
Being magically made us by fashioning a doll from a mound of scooped
up dirt, which he then somehow magically brought to life via His Spook
who is also somehow magically Him.
4. You believe that Three Magical Beings are somehow magically One
Magical Being, and that the Three Magical Beings who are One Magical
Being are somehow magically Each Other.
5. You believe that mankind “fell from grace” and deserves to be BBQed
eternally because two primitive people who lived in an awesome garden
located somewhere in the Middle East listened to a lying talking snake
and ate some forbidden magic fruit from a magic tree.
6. You believe that this Magical Being who magically created the
universe and us is “all-knowing” even though He lost track of Adam in
the awesome garden and that he is “all-powerful” even though He has
trouble with iron chariots.
7. You believe that you possess some sort of magical inner spook that
is the real you. You believe that this inner spook can be magically
transformed by a Sky Spook and even lived in by an Invisible Sky Man
via that same Sky Spook.
8. You believe that because the first two magically created people
disobeyed the Magical Being due to the influence of a lying talking
snake and some magic inner spook-killing fruit, that all men are born
with their inner spooks killed and in need of a magical transformation
courtesy of a Sky Spook.
9. You believe that an Invisible Man who lives in the Sky is going to
kick a talking snake’s ass by sacrificing Himself to Himself and then
Magically Undeadening Himself. You believe that if we believe that the
Invisible Man is Magically Undead, that a Sky Spook who is also
somehow magically the Invisible Man will Magically Undeaden our inner
spooks and magically live inside of us and at the same time will
“seal” our inner spooks as His so that it is kept safe from the
diabolical attacks of the Talking Snake and his evil spooks.
10. You believe that this enormous universe which consists of
approximately 125 billion galaxies was created specifically for
mankind, and that human history reflects a cosmic battle between an
Invisible Man who lives in the Sky and an evil spook who enjoys
manifesting as a talking snake. You believe that humans are divided
into two groups – those who serve the Invisible Sky Man and those who
serve the Talking Snake.
11. You believe that since we “fell from grace” because of some magic
fruit and a lying talking snake that we need redemption, and that to
accomplish this the Magical Being sacrified Himself to Himself to save
us from Himself. But, you also believe that the Magical Being’s
sacrifice somehow magically doesn’t count unless we believe it and
accept it.
12. You believe that a Magical Being somehow magically became a man,
and that this Manly Magical Being murdered Himself and then Magically
Undeadened Himself three days later via the Sky Spook version of
Himself so He wouldn’t have to toss us into an eternal flaming torture
chamber because of the unfortunate incident involving the lying
talking snake and the magic fruit.
13. You believe that a Sky Spook who is somehow magically the Magical
Being raped a woman named Mary who somehow magically remained a virgin
after being raped, and that this glorious union produced a child who
was somehow magically the Magical Being embodied.
14. You believe that after the Manly Magical Being magically Magically
Undeadened Himself, He somehow magically blasted off and flew up into
the clouds to live in the Sky Kingdom with His Father who is also
somehow magically Him.
15. You believe that at literally any moment you could find yourself
magically floating up into the clouds to join an Invisible Magically
Undead Sky Man in a long-awaited event known as “The Rapture”. You are
so convinced of the imminent nature of this absurd event that you have
placed a bumper sticker on your car that reads, “WARNING: In the event
of Rapture, this vehicle will be unmanned.” Assuming that you are not
driving a convertible with the top down most of the time, the issue of
how you would float through the roof of your car has never concerned
you. You have just left it up to the magic of the Magic Sky Man.
16. You believe that the sky can somehow magically be rolled up like a
scroll, and you believe that a Sky Dragon can somehow magically toss a
third of the stars down upon the earth, and that the earth will
somehow magically survive this assault.
17. You believe that the universe is magically being held together by
an Invisible Man who lives in the Sky.
18. You believe that the Magic Sky Man is preparing to ride His Sky
Horse down from the Sky Kingdom very soon. You find yourself filled
with joyous anticipation at the thought of the senseless torture and
slaughter of billions of non-Christian people who will then be tossed into a flaming torture chamber forever to be BBQed without mercy andwithout any hope of reprieve because when these horrific events occur it signals the end of the line for the Talking Snake and his evil minions (including those pesky rational, thinking people) and the beginning of a wonderful magical eternal life for you up in the Sky with your Three Invisible Friends who are somehow magically One Invisible Friend.
Comment by Phil Butler on 10 February 2010:
So what’s your problem Noofa1? You don’t think if Hollywood can dream it up, an all knowing being can? A good roundup of all the things negative about Christianity I must say though. What’s interesting most though is the likelihood that all these messengers, gathered in one room together, would likely acknowledge one another openly. It is the “you’s and me’s” of the communication that fail.
The converse of your argument is that magically, several billion years ago, a huge explosion in a void happened, casting “crumbs” of space matter in a never ending spiral to (somewhere or nowhere) just happened to create conditions where millions of species could evolve, maybe on hundreds of planets (or Dr. Seuss whatchamakawlits for that matter). I think the opposing points of view are about equally fantastic if I think about it. There is no meaning at all but sheer mathematical chaos (or order depending on how you look at it)?
I bet the truth is somewhere in the middle of these divergently opposed theories. Whatcha wanna bet? How about the “Wizard” is all powerful and just wants a lot of faith from underlings so they can go to the next level? How about his or her words are concrete, but human beings like you and I change them to suit our needs? Maybe we should be tolerant and search for clues without murdering one another while we are at it?
I do not think mighty Zeus has to fly down here on a thunderbolt to signal the end of us, we are doing one hell of a good job without either he or the snakemeister. We had better pray like hell that he or she does fly down though, lest we all figure out the end of a burning inferno the hard way – up close and personal in real life. Even more sad in my view are the people and creatures who will never have their shot at the joy which often arises out of our pitiful, mathematical, logical, and often ridiculous existence.
Just my thoughts,
Always,
Phil
Comment by Mihaela Lica on 10 February 2010:
Never mind him Phil, this is just a guy who copied his blog post into the comments, someone who is “Refuting Christianity” on daily basis. To me, the problem with such people is that they don’t really understand what they are refuting. They have a bone to pick with the system, they have a bone to pick with the Church, they have a bone to pick with the Bible but the stupidity comes when they do the same with God.
Comment by peter cheng on 15 February 2010:
Also why this Ex-monk not read the Buddhist Tri-Pitaka, there have many things about 84,000 Chapters.
Chanting is not real of Buddhist teaching, chanting is from Hindu but that Ex-monk said, Buddhist is chanting sutras only that mainly. When I told my friend about Ex-monk, my friend is very angry about Ex-monk.
I want know, why he want to become monk? please answer in any comment message, Ex-monk destroy Buddha teaching and tell lied.
Peter cheng
Comment by Ang Peck Hoon on 24 February 2010:
I believe all religions are directories leading us to the Divine.
But please do not station young people at MRT stations ,giving out pamphlets and announcing yours is the One and Only Way. It might lead to religious riots, especially with the teenagers.
May Singapore be peaceful always.
May all beings be well and happy.