The Thorn Street Chronicles

"I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints." Jude 1:3b

A Theological Analysis of Singapore

by Greg Robertson

Singapore visit of September 3-5, 1999

"And they plotted, and Allah planned too. And Allah is the Best of the planners. And when Allah said: ‘O Isa (Jesus)! I will take you and raise you to Myself and clear you of those who disbelieve, and I will make those who follow you superior to those who disbelieve, till the day of resurrection. Then you will return to Me and I will judge between you in the matters in which you used to dispute." Quran, Surah 3:54-55

The forgoing verse from the Quran has been abundantly fulfilled as the advanced western countries which have developed within the grace oriented and Christ centered Christian world view have repeatedly shown themselves superior to the cultures and countries which have grown out of various other world views.

My Singapore visit was quite interesting. When I first arrived I was very impressed with the clean streets and the seemingly honest people. Very modern looking skyscrapers beautifully lit up the night. After living in Indonesia for two months, I have been going over in my mind the facts about the blessedness and prosperity of nations and the influence of Christianity, or, to be more specific, the influence of the restoration of Christianity which took place through the Reformation of the 16th century. I wondered how Sing', as it is called, could have been so prosperous if it did not have a Christian foundation and I looked to find out if such a foundation existed. I found it when I learned of the British colonialists who occupied, governed and enculturated Singapore for more than a hundred years. Even now the spoken language is English, or Singlish -- "You know-lah?!" "Okay-lah!"

So, after all -- the Christian influence cannot be denied because Sing' was dominated by a people who became great and powerful themselves because of their Christian and, more specifically, grace oriented world view which became predominant after the works and ecclesiastically dominated Roman Catholic church lost power due to the Protestant Reformation and the subsequent return to a Scripture based authority structure and authentic Christian view of the universe

Visiting a history museum in Singapore was disappointing. The colonial period was portrayed as a time of cruel domination and oppression, with the British masters overlooking the Asian work force. Everything was interpreted according to an economic and political world view, which is at best ignorant and at worst completely dishonest, devious and deceptive. The huge St. Andrews Cathedral which was built during the colonial period was not even mentioned. Neither was the Armenian (Armenian, not to be confused with Arminian) congregation which was also established during the colonial period. In fact, nothing at all was said about God or religion. The whole approach to the Singapore wealth, prosperity and technology ended up as a propaganda piece on the greatness of self-reliance within a secular-humanist and materialistic world view.

The 3D movie on the history of Singapore ended with a collage of footage including exuberant drinkers in a bar, soldiers slapping each other on the back and shaking hands with people on the street and students filled with exultant joy for no apparent reason -- all this because of humanistic self reliance. What was shown was a superficial view of social harmony and a clear case of historical revisionism to explain it. Something that the USA has become so adept at.

Strict laws with unforgiving enforcement are an obvious deterrent to litter bugs, drug dealers, who are quickly executed, and carriers of unregistered arms, who also receive the death penalty. On the other hand the shame and lawlessness of post-Christian America has been imported to Singapore through the Hollywood media force and secular humanist agenda.

The incident with the American vandal who was punished for his Singapore crimes according to Singapore law is a well known show to the world that the country can stand on its own and does not need self righteous Americans to dictate how much corruption will be allowed in Singapore. When President Clinton asked for clemency for the crimes of the American vandal, Singapore officials basically told him to mind his own business. Not a bad idea considering the fact that America is the murder capital of the world. Michael Fey got caned according to the dictates of strict Singapore law! It is only deluded Americans who believe that punishment does not deter crime.

But Singapore, although greatly benefiting from its foundation in a Christian world view, is ignoring the very foundation it has been built upon, and is now itself becoming a post Christian nation. The famous Orchard Road is now a showcase of materialism and within a block of each other there are two shops that deal exclusively with various condoms and sexual aids. A beautiful postcard picture of Sing at night advertises it as a city where "the party never ends." There are still locks on houses and alarms on cars, but thieves must be very careful not to get caught and such crimes are not common. Walkways, bathrooms and subways, which are highly efficient and completely modern, are without a trace of graffiti. The fast and efficient underground rail system is a marvel to use, even though it is terribly crowded at peak hours. Closed circuit cameras record the movements of all who move to what seem to be the fastest escalators in the world and head off to their destination.

With all its cleanness and lack of crime, Sing is still different than would be a "city of God," if such could survive in this present world. If there could be a city of God, it would not need the rule of strictly enforced law to keep its citizens in check to abstain from crime against neighbors. Calvin's Geneva was anything but a city of God. A "city of law" perhaps, but not a "city of God." Grace would rule the hearts of the people and theft would be out of the question in a "city of God" because it would no longer be found in the hearts of the residents. The pressing need for food which sometimes causes theft out of desperation, or the covetous desire for the property of others would be absent as well as any desire for the illicit sexual relations, murder or the worship of false gods. A person could safely leave their unlocked bicycle outside an arcade and return two hours later to find it in the same place it was left.

I am still testing my theory that the blessedness and prosperity of nations is due to the biblical grace orientation of Christianity for the most part. When I got to Singapore, I thought I had found a city where the theory did not work out. Then we went to the history museum of Singapore and there I found the answer to my question. Singapore was a colony of Britain for more than 100 years. That means that the theory worked itself out. Britain of course was part of the Protestant Reformation with the strong emphasis on grace, an orderly universe, and absolute standards of right and wrong -- not to mention the "Protestant work ethic." The movie we saw at the museum was dishonest, however, and made absolutely no mention of Christianity. Instead, it portrayed the colonial period as a time of evil foreign domination for purely economic reasons -- in an historical-revisionistic style that has become popular the world over.. Even the enforcement of the secular humanist and evolutionary world view is made possible by the technological blessings which developed with the Christian world view at its base.

I would never make an argument that all Britain once held a Christian world view, or that there was no "domination for purely economic reasons" from some of the English, but to ignore the influence that is still present with the huge St. Andrew's Cathedral or the other churches built during the colonial period is at best terribly ignorant or even dishonest. Even those among the English who were godless materialists benefited from a culture that had a Christian world view at its foundation and from which developed the culture of sophistication with the capability to either dominate or bless with the resultant strength of character, wealth, and truly scientific view of how the universe works. Because of this culture, even the evil of Britain was more civilized than most of the better persons in the non-Christian host culture where servants and slaves were much more dehumanized as a general rule.

With all that said, Singapore is attributing its success as a modern and very wealthy independent nation, to the self reliance of its people, without mention of any higher being, supernatural or cultural influence. Now Singapore, although allowing religious freedom, is experiencing the results of a materialistic world view. Recent news reports reveal that the elderly in Singapore are committing suicide at an alarming rate because their offspring are too busy to properly care for them. I am waiting for the reports to begin blaming Christianity for this trend.

I invite comments and suggestions about this article as I am still in a mode of research, investigation and growth in knowledge. September 1999.

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