Be AWARE, Be Very AWARE

Last Sunday, the senior pastor of the Church of Our Saviour, Derek Hong, gave a sermon in which he urged his congregation to join AWARE and support the new committee in the upcoming extraordinary general meeting, i.e. to stack the meeting. Amongst the several other interesting things Pastor Hong said was this - 'This is not a crusade against the people but there is a line that God has drawn for us, and we don't want our nation crossing that line.' Now exactly how dishonestly and underhandedly taking over an organization like AWARE is going to prevent Singapore's 4 million citizens from being pushed across a line drawn by God, is not at all clear to me. But although I am just a simple monk I am able to read between the lines, and I think this is what Pastor Hong means – we are justified in using deceitful and sneaky tactics to take over an organization that we previously had no connection with, then to stack a meeting to keep hold of that organization, because that organization is advocating things that are against God's laws. If this is what he means, all of us should start becoming very cautious, very AWARE and very frightened.
Here at the Buddha Dhamma Mandala Society, we do not believe in God and we bow to and place flowers before a statue of the Buddha. Both this belief and these practice directly contravene the First and the Second of the Ten Commandments. Does this mean that Pastor Hong now has us in his sights? Does this mean that just before our new next annual general meeting that we are going to see an unusual rise in membership? Does this mean that a group of complete strangers who have never come before are going to be voted in, and that the whole focus and character of our society is going to change?
Jokes aside. Pastor Hong has in the past made no secret of his determination to turn Singapore into a Christian nation. If he and his supporters intend doing this using the tactics they have used to take over AWARE, I think there is going to be trouble.