another musing on why we can't we all just get along...
i've been holding this back a while cos i haven't had the time. for confidentiality reasons, i'm not mentioning names because to me it is a rather sensitive issue. but basically, a friend of mine has a catholic friend who is dating a muslim. and her parents are giving her absolute hell for it.
sidetrack a little bit.
i know we often slag ang mohs and criticise them for their moral looseness, but after my last module on comparative politics, i really developed a real sense of admiration for ang moh culture through my sagely professor, dr peter denman.
you see, the good 73-year old doc, who's seen a heckuva lot in his time, told us about his family and how one of his daughters married a muslim.
now, what i feel is really wonderful about his story is how he interacts with his son-in-law. doc denman's an episcopal, an american anglican to put it simply, and hearing the story of how his daughter was married in not one, but TWO ceremonies, one christian and the other islamic. on top of that, the doc reads the quran and discusses religious teachings with his son-in-law who also reads the bible.
i don't know for sure if his daughter converted, but judging from the way things went, it sounds as if she didn't.
coming back to my first para, doc denman's story just seems impossible in a singaporean setting. firstly, while this probably wouldn't happen with all families, how often have we heard our parents warned us not to date someone from a totally different race or religion? i know we're not caucasian and the caucasians aren't us, but wouldn't it be so much better if people trusted their kids to make the right choice? love is universal and transcends all things, does it not?
secondly, if his daughter really didn't convert, it would be the first time i've heard of such a case. why do some people and families insist on conversion? would you still love your partner even though he/she doesn't want to leave their faith for yours? would you hold it against him or her? would that still be love in the first place? i'm still a firm believer that religion shouldn't be imposed on anyone, even your spouse.
i'm not saying that the west has got things right entirely. hell, no. if that were so, we wouldn't have afghanistan or iraq or osama bin laden. but looking at doc denman and my friend's friend as well my own experiences, i still think we all have a long, long way to go and grow.
sidetrack a little bit.
i know we often slag ang mohs and criticise them for their moral looseness, but after my last module on comparative politics, i really developed a real sense of admiration for ang moh culture through my sagely professor, dr peter denman.
you see, the good 73-year old doc, who's seen a heckuva lot in his time, told us about his family and how one of his daughters married a muslim.
now, what i feel is really wonderful about his story is how he interacts with his son-in-law. doc denman's an episcopal, an american anglican to put it simply, and hearing the story of how his daughter was married in not one, but TWO ceremonies, one christian and the other islamic. on top of that, the doc reads the quran and discusses religious teachings with his son-in-law who also reads the bible.
i don't know for sure if his daughter converted, but judging from the way things went, it sounds as if she didn't.
coming back to my first para, doc denman's story just seems impossible in a singaporean setting. firstly, while this probably wouldn't happen with all families, how often have we heard our parents warned us not to date someone from a totally different race or religion? i know we're not caucasian and the caucasians aren't us, but wouldn't it be so much better if people trusted their kids to make the right choice? love is universal and transcends all things, does it not?
secondly, if his daughter really didn't convert, it would be the first time i've heard of such a case. why do some people and families insist on conversion? would you still love your partner even though he/she doesn't want to leave their faith for yours? would you hold it against him or her? would that still be love in the first place? i'm still a firm believer that religion shouldn't be imposed on anyone, even your spouse.
i'm not saying that the west has got things right entirely. hell, no. if that were so, we wouldn't have afghanistan or iraq or osama bin laden. but looking at doc denman and my friend's friend as well my own experiences, i still think we all have a long, long way to go and grow.
greg last trudged in on 10/11/2007 10:35:00 am
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