A Quick Response To FCBC Pastor Lawrence Khong's Posts On "The Homosexual Agenda"
It is most confounding to see how some people bring up old tired arguments and assertions that have already been refuted or at least questioned by others. As such, I am utterly confounded by Faith Community Baptist Church's (FCBC) Pastor Lawrence Khong's recent posts on Facebook about the supposed "homosexual agenda". I have previously written several posts on this blog to refute or at least question the arguments made against repealing S377A of the Singapore Penal Code (for those of you interested to read these posts, you can use the search bar at the top and use "homosexual" or "S377A" to find them). I would thus not repeat my previous points but instead provide a few quick counter-points to Pastor Khong's posts.
Firstly, in Pastor Khong's posts, he made repeated references to what he termed as the "homosexual agenda" and how such an agenda would be detrimental to Singapore. Well, there may or may not actually be a "homosexual agenda" but if there is really one, its aims, as stated by Pastor Khong, appear rather ordinary. In fact, the aims of this supposed "homosexual agenda" appear to be aimed at achieving equality for homosexuals. So, in Pastor Khong's opinion, equality is detrimental to Singapore? Sigh, I suppose if Pastor Khong was born earlier in the United States, he would arguing against the "black agenda" or "civil rights agenda".
Of course, Pastor Khong would perhaps argue that the "homosexual agenda" aims at achieving more than equality, that it seeks to "convert" people to become homosexuals. If so, would I be right to say there is also a "Christian agenda", in that Christians around the world also seek equal rights to practice their faith, to not be discriminated against and to convert others to their religion? So why is one agenda good and another bad, in Pastor Khong's opinion?
Talking about "Christian agenda", a few years back, I used to view the online recordings of the sermons preached at FCBC (I did so because a lady friend of mine was from FCBC and she tried inviting me to attend her church) and I have thus heard Pastor Khong preaching before. And till now, a few of his sermons still unnerve me. In one such sermon, Pastor Khong declared that FCBC's leadership decided that the church's goal for that year would be to vastly increase its membership to the extent of having a cell group in every HDB block. Pastor Khong, in the same or a related sermon (I cannot remember exactly), also talked about how he was cunning enough to disguise a religious procession as a community sports event (apparently, he did so through the community/social service arm of FCBC); even more disturbing, he joked about how the Malay-Muslim guest of honour for the event unknowingly performed moves imbued with Christian meaning that were disguised as exercise moves. And in a different sermon, the church brought in a guest preacher to preach about "reclaiming the seven mountaintops of culture" i.e. Arts & entertainment, business, media, government, education, family and religion. I do not know about you all but I would be more concerned about Pastor Khong's agenda than a supposed "homosexual agenda".
Separately, in his posts, Pastor Khong also wrote about how people who do not agree with the "homosexual agenda" have suffered from "bullying" tactics by "homosexual activists". He lists a few examples of how such activists hurled verbal abuse, demonstrated, disrupted or boycotted institutions related to those who do not agree with the "homosexual agenda". Hmm, I wonder what Pastor Khong think of those Christians (I assume) who act in a similar way towards those who they see as not conforming to their Christian moral standards? What would he think of those Christians who showed up at funerals with "God hate fags" signs or those who demonstrate outside abortion clinics and threaten staff working at these clinics? What would he think of the petition asking people to boycott Starbucks which apparently recently came out in support of gay marriage in the United States?
Perhaps Pastor Khong would say that the Christians behind such actions are a minority and are not true Christians, that their actions do not speak for the whole of Christianity. Perhaps he would be correct. But would he accept that "homosexual activists" who have engaged in "bullying" tactics are also a minority and do not speak for every homosexual or those who support granting equality to homosexuals?
In the end, although I disagree with Pastor Khong say, I would not dispute his right to say what he wants. Hopefully, one day, Pastor Khong will realise the error of his views.
Firstly, in Pastor Khong's posts, he made repeated references to what he termed as the "homosexual agenda" and how such an agenda would be detrimental to Singapore. Well, there may or may not actually be a "homosexual agenda" but if there is really one, its aims, as stated by Pastor Khong, appear rather ordinary. In fact, the aims of this supposed "homosexual agenda" appear to be aimed at achieving equality for homosexuals. So, in Pastor Khong's opinion, equality is detrimental to Singapore? Sigh, I suppose if Pastor Khong was born earlier in the United States, he would arguing against the "black agenda" or "civil rights agenda".
Of course, Pastor Khong would perhaps argue that the "homosexual agenda" aims at achieving more than equality, that it seeks to "convert" people to become homosexuals. If so, would I be right to say there is also a "Christian agenda", in that Christians around the world also seek equal rights to practice their faith, to not be discriminated against and to convert others to their religion? So why is one agenda good and another bad, in Pastor Khong's opinion?
Talking about "Christian agenda", a few years back, I used to view the online recordings of the sermons preached at FCBC (I did so because a lady friend of mine was from FCBC and she tried inviting me to attend her church) and I have thus heard Pastor Khong preaching before. And till now, a few of his sermons still unnerve me. In one such sermon, Pastor Khong declared that FCBC's leadership decided that the church's goal for that year would be to vastly increase its membership to the extent of having a cell group in every HDB block. Pastor Khong, in the same or a related sermon (I cannot remember exactly), also talked about how he was cunning enough to disguise a religious procession as a community sports event (apparently, he did so through the community/social service arm of FCBC); even more disturbing, he joked about how the Malay-Muslim guest of honour for the event unknowingly performed moves imbued with Christian meaning that were disguised as exercise moves. And in a different sermon, the church brought in a guest preacher to preach about "reclaiming the seven mountaintops of culture" i.e. Arts & entertainment, business, media, government, education, family and religion. I do not know about you all but I would be more concerned about Pastor Khong's agenda than a supposed "homosexual agenda".
Separately, in his posts, Pastor Khong also wrote about how people who do not agree with the "homosexual agenda" have suffered from "bullying" tactics by "homosexual activists". He lists a few examples of how such activists hurled verbal abuse, demonstrated, disrupted or boycotted institutions related to those who do not agree with the "homosexual agenda". Hmm, I wonder what Pastor Khong think of those Christians (I assume) who act in a similar way towards those who they see as not conforming to their Christian moral standards? What would he think of those Christians who showed up at funerals with "God hate fags" signs or those who demonstrate outside abortion clinics and threaten staff working at these clinics? What would he think of the petition asking people to boycott Starbucks which apparently recently came out in support of gay marriage in the United States?
Perhaps Pastor Khong would say that the Christians behind such actions are a minority and are not true Christians, that their actions do not speak for the whole of Christianity. Perhaps he would be correct. But would he accept that "homosexual activists" who have engaged in "bullying" tactics are also a minority and do not speak for every homosexual or those who support granting equality to homosexuals?
In the end, although I disagree with Pastor Khong say, I would not dispute his right to say what he wants. Hopefully, one day, Pastor Khong will realise the error of his views.
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