Heavens, Asia's going
Christian By Michael Vatikiotis
SINGAPORE - The official guide to churches
and Christian organizations in Singapore runs to
more than 390 pages. With names like God@work,
Great Shepherd Assembly and City Impact, there are
44 registered churches from the US-based
Assemblies of God alone in Singapore. A Christian
from Myanmar, a Korean Christian, even a Thai
Christian can find services in their own language
- though for the most part Chinese is the language
of the Christian faith here.
Singapore is
one of the fastest-growing Christian communities
in Asia, along with Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland
China. In fact,
Asia
is projected to become one of the largest
Christian populations in the world, on pace to
eclipse Europe in the next 30 years. The US State
Department estimates there could already be as
many as 100 million Christians in China, even
though the official tally of believers is below 50
million.
The US-led "war on terror" has
focused worldwide concern on the rise of Islamic
fundamentalism as a precursor to violent
militancy. Moderate or secular behavior among
Asia's Muslims is considered the long-term
antidote to religious fervor. But in the wider
context encompassing Hinduism, Buddhism and
Christianity, the trend in Asia is anything but
moderate or secular. Across the region,
charismatic sects are springing up and drawing
young people to religious faith. And new Asian
converts to Christianity are arguably outpacing
the spread of Islam.
The new believers are
often Asia's upwardly mobile, although the
dirt-poor and desperate still flock to
Christianity's promise of eternal salvation. Far
from embracing materialist and consumer values and
completely abandoning religion, middle-class
Chinese residents of Singapore, Taipei and Hong
Kong all regularly flock to Pentecostal or
charismatic churches.
The houses of
worship offer relief from the stress of modern
existence to the accompaniment of pop music - and
some throw in fresh coffee and broadband Internet
for good measure. They are active in social
welfare, and sometimes in politics - the
Pentecostal Church of Taiwan has advocated
independence from China for the island, which
Beijing still claims is a renegade province. In
Hong Kong, the church backs the movement for
democracy.
The trend toward religiosity in
Asian societies is plain, if not predictable. As
Asia's economies have grown, many at a breakneck
pace, so too have social inequalities and
uncertainties. In urban areas, the resulting
hardships are felt even more because migration
deprives people of family or community support and
breeds alienation. The church, the temple or the
mosque is often the only place people facing
hardship can turn to.
Every Sunday as many
12,000 people, in shifts of several thousand, cram
into the Rock auditorium at the Suntech Convention
Center in the heart of Singapore's business
district. They are members of the New Creation
Church founded in 1983, and its pastors tell their
followers what they want to hear. The church's
website boasts "many miraculous healings of
cancers, tumors, kidney conditions and much more".
The site also mentions "God's supernatural
provision in the area of finances".
Not
far away in Jurong district, the Reverend Kong
Hee, accompanied by his pop-singer wife Ho Yeow
Sun, packs in a similar number at the City Harvest
Church. With a backing band belting out soft pop
music in the background, the US-trained evangelist
croons: "We enter the presence of God in worship,
receive his spoken word that strengthens,
encourages, nurtures and transforms us ..." The
youthful congregation, dressed mainly in T-shirts
and jeans, is ecstatic.
Charismatic
pastors like Kong Hee are bringing Jesus into the
marketplace of ideas and finding a pent-up demand
for faith. The trend is creating a surge in
Christian missionary activities, and with it
spirited competition with activist Islam.
Singaporean church organizations were very active
in providing relief for victims of the December
2004 tsunami in strictly Islamic Aceh, prompting
some Indonesian concerns about quid pro quo
proselytization.
Like many Christian
evangelists, Indonesian Islamic preachers such as
A A Gymnastiar hog prime-time television spots
during the Ramadan holy month, crooning their own
brand of charismatic Islam. Their zany style is
harmless enough, although without a doubt the
growing appeal of strict Islamic adherence is
breeding intolerance among some sections of
Indonesian society.
There was a measurable
increase in the number of hours given over to
religious broadcasting during Ramadan last year.
Nearly all restaurants serving alcohol were forced
to close in line with the tradition of fasting.
Supermarkets had withdrawn hard liquor from their
shelves and foreign food brands are reacting by
highlighting their halal compliance on
packaging.
Some years ago, American
scholar Samuel Huntington predicted a clash of
civilizations along religious lines. Even with the
growth of religiosity, in Asia that clash is yet
to come to pass. Anger over the publication of
cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed in a
Danish newspaper has been deeply felt in Asia's
Muslim communities - but the anger was directed at
irreverent Europeans, not local Christians.
In much of Asia, strong traditions of
pluralism and accommodation have allowed Islam and
Christianity to blossom side by side. Governments
in Malaysia and Indonesia are promoting
inter-faith dialogue to help shore up these
traditions. Even nominally atheist China has
recently loosened up on its hordes of Christian
devotees. As Christianity takes deeper root in
Asia, it is just as likely to spread without fear
and resentment: a vibrant collage rather than
clash of civilizations.
Michael
Vatikiotis is former editor of the Far Eastern
Economic Review. He is currently a visiting
research fellow at Singapore's Institute of
Southeast Asian Studies.
(Copyright
2006 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved.
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