Religious Diversity...

This is really one of the most "intellectual" discussion we have had.

Suggested to Daniel that we can talk about Religion: what is religion? the importance of religion to people especially in Vietnam and Singapore.

It was interesting to hear Linh shared about her experiences as a religious minority in Vietnam. Since her grandfather's generation, they have been staunch Catholic. the rest of the class were more like " we are nonreligious.

I asked them on their opinions religion can be defined through performance, so if they are practiced and performed widely, do they become more of culture? eg. such as ancestor worship. Doesn't it originate from something religious but become accepted as culture later on? this got the class into deep discussions and some people rethink their claims on being "nonreligious".

we discussed on how some villages, as close as Ha tay just 20+ km away from Hanoi, are split into Catholic and non catholic villages due to mass conversion since the 18th century and how there have been history of warfares and bitter disagreements. I was surprised that most were willing to speak up, thought that they will avoid the topic. However, it seems like none of them knew much about it. but it lead them to discuss whether religion is sometimes more of a dividing force than a basis for unity..

we then talked about religion in Singapore, how Christianity used to be associated with a higher social class as the early Christians in Singapore were mostly schooled in English missionaries schools and could secured better jobs due to their language skills. it is less so in Vietnam now as Catholics and Christians are still really few as compared to the whole society.

and later, the class becomes so interested in the difference between Catholics/ Christianity/Orthodox, the conflict between Jews/Muslims and Christians that I have to try hard to remember my history lesson from Professor Lockhart so as to let them have a better understanding. I am glad that they are interested despite this being a rather heavy topic especially after their school work.
\shi lei >.<

This was an interesting discussion on religion. Discussing about the degree of religious influence in Vietnam and Singapore. It was found out that the students were not very religious, or Vietnamese people in general, but some of them, including one student Ha, said that she is rather open to religion, or if she were to marry a Christian, she would follow his religion and convert. Another student Linh, is the opposite, she has an extended family who are Catholics, but is still quite reluctant on religious openness.

After which, I mentioned to them a brief introduction about Christianity, my religion in Singapore, what we usually do as our normal practices, and how the Charismatic Church, my branch of Christianity, is a branch of protestantism, and Catholicism. It was the first time which many of them heard of these subjects and branches, which in my view, I think is due the lack of religious influence in the country, which is still in its early stages of accepting religious diversity and opening of doors to new developments in religion.

After which, I showed them 2 videos on Christianity, to give a feel of what is the main points about Christianity. The reception wasn't that great, but I feel in future, more things can be done in future to improve religious situation in Vietnam. Something which I found out is still quite restricted in Vietnam. These are the 2 videos I presented.




This presentation was backed up by a previous club outing to Shi Lei's room, where students were interested and presented with a viewing of a regular weekend Church service from City Harvest Church Singapore, which I belonged too, it was quite well received as it was the first time they saw our a contemporary Church worked, with contemporary songs being sang in a modern day environment. However, as it was in English , and something of a new topic to them, their interest during the sermon was not really well received , but we discussed on why I was so interested and a shared with them on how Christianity and the weekly sermons have impacted my life.

Overall, I felt it was a good opportunity to learn something about Christianity in Singapore. And in the whole as a whole and we had a very fruitful discussion on religion in Singapore and Vietnam, understanding more about the religious situation in both countries.

Cheers!
Daniel Foo