OVER the past fortnight, religion in Singapore was given significant coverage in The Straits Times. Bringing up various religious matters periodically and discussing them frankly and openly, albeit sensitively, augurs well for the multi-faith climate in Singapore.

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There are some OB though, isn't it?

Cross it at your own peril and you are instantly left on your own to your own devices, isn't it?

MIWs employ some smart guys to watch 24/7 what goes on in WWW and separating the wheat from the chaff.

Who pays? You and me lor.

Leave discussion of religion in the private.

sigh.........................no comment

This discussion should have religious topic at all.

Fear, ignorance, apathy, exclusiveness etc, comes to mind reading the above comments. I agree with the Forum contributor that its good to talk about religion with respect, understanding and tolerance. "Tolerance" does not necessarily mean "avoidance" (fear?) or "no comment" (apathy?). To have "positive tolerance" one needs to possess the relevant knowledge.. I think that's what the writer is trying to say. That's why the call for leaders (who have both the knowlege and maturity) and schools to help strenthen our social fabric, the critical ingredient for peace in any country.

Bigots wont want sensitive issues to be discussed. For Hindus it is caste system. For Buddhists it is whether Buddha actually believed in God and reincarnation. For Christians it is about an incarnate God. For Muslims it is about Osama-ism and for atheists it is about the colossal failure of secularism.
Buddhists go to interfaith talks thinking that their religion is known for non violence but forgetting that the worst terrorist the world ever had was Genghiz Khan who had as a Shaman just coverted not to Mahayana or Hinayana Buddhism but to tantric Buddhism. He was of course goaded by Russian Orthodox leaders to attack the heartlands of Islam and yes he was eminently successful in destroying the Islamic civilization which never recovered since then.And of course the Japanese soldiers who invaded our lands were Shinto-Buddhists or Buddhist-Shintoists. They were brutal in China they were brutal in S.E.Asia.
And of course they show their hostility when Soka is invited for interfaith talks. And Soka is so eminently suited for the 21st century.

Well Ismail,

For Muslims there's also the way Muslim majority countries treat their women. And why except half secularized states like Turkey and Malaysia all other Muslim majority states are close to failed states.

Knowledge of other faiths, you say. Well, who knows what these faiths are actually all about because there are so many different viewpoints.
Christianity, for example, has many different divisions within divisions. Central, core beliefs, perhaps?
Even those are difficult to define, eg. one thing that struck me was that you would think that the Christian biblical position on homosexuality was clear enough but even that is not beyond dispute.

Muslim nations are not Islamic.That is why Islamic activists have been harping about for decades. Anwar is an Islamic activist i.e why he understand theodemocracy. Hope that this man wont compromise theodemocracy and Islam because of politics.
I have told that time and again and neither are Western nations Christian except in name. The symbol of the liberated Western women which has been feverishly accepted by the Japanese career women is the vibrator.