By Terence Lee / Deputy Editor
Muslims as hateful bigots? The Pope as the antichrist? Dungeon & Dragon games as a tool of Satan? Read about a litany of horrifying accusations and more on Chick Publication’s tracts.
A LACK of knowledge should never be an excuse for breaking the law, even if you are sincere in your motives. Worse, it could even land you in jail.
That was what happened to Singaporean Christian couple Ong Kian Cheong and Dorothy Chan, who were sentenced to eight weeks in jail for distributing offensive tracts to Muslims.
(Graphic: A snippet out of the “Who is Allah” tract, which is banned in Singapore.)
They were sentenced under the Sedition Act, which is a statute that maintains harmony and peace within Singapore society by governing freedom of expression.
Sincerity was not an issue with them. This is the first time they have committed an offense, and it does not appear that they are deliberately trying to generate hostility or ill-will.
Furthermore, Judge Neighbour was quoted in the Straits Times as saying that their only intention was to spread the gospel, but being intelligent adults, they should have the common sense to discern what is acceptable and what is not.
The Judge does not believe they have not read the contents.
What do the tracts contain?
Upon taking a closer look at what the tracts communicate, it can be easy to see why the sentence was passed.
The website of the publisher, Chick Publications, is banned by the Media Development Authority (MDA) on the major Internet Service Providers in Singapore, putting it in the same category with websites like Penthouse and Playboy.
It is what the government calls a “symbolic” ban, a societal banner that highlights its people’s moral standing.
The information presented in the tracts is inflammatory, misleading, and distorted. From the outrageous to the downright bizarre, the doctrine of the Chick Fundamentalist Church can almost be described as cultish.
For example, in “Who is Allah?” — which was one of the tracts the couple distributed, it is alleged that Allah is actually an ancient moon god.
The details are told in stylised comic-book style illustrations, and starts off with a father talking to his son about Islam outside a mosque.
A Middle-Eastern Muslim worshipper, overhearing the word “moon god”, becomes outraged. He runs up to them, calls the father an “infidel”, and says: “The holy Qur’an says I could KILL (emphasis is original) you for saying that!” (Graphic)
In the ensuing conversation, the Muslim man boasts that Islam is the second largest religion in America, and even adds: “You people should FEAR US!”
He goes on to describe a Muslim plot to bring about the end of Christianity in America, and how he expects a Muslim flag to fly over the White House soon.
Right off the bat, the tract sets out to stereotype all Muslims as fundamentalists with a sinister agenda. Add on a traditional Middle-Eastern garb to the pushy Muslim man, and you have a classic case of orientalism, which is a Western political doctrine that stereotypes Middle-Easterners as aggressive and barbaric (For more on Orientalism, click here).
And as a final coup de grâce, the story ends off with the Muslim man becoming totally convinced by the Christian’s arguments, and he ends up giving up his Muslim faith in embrace of Jesus – all in the space of one conversation!
Perhaps there is cold comfort in knowing that Muslims are not the only target of Chick publications. Evolutionists, homosexuals, Dungeon & Dragon players, rock music fans, and Roman Catholics are all fair game.
Chick versus the world
In “The Gay Blade”, homosexuals are demonised as sex-crazed fiends. In another tract called “Moving on Up”, a boy who believes in evolution is depicted as being held under sway by the devil, who is seen walking around him and whispering in his ears. The boy, at the end of the story, ends up in hell.
(Graphic: Believe in evolution, and risk going to hell.)
It is arguable the Roman Catholics are more of a target of the Chick tracts than Muslims. The tracts, for instance, accuse the pope of being the antichrist – the feared Servant of Satan in Christian literature.
The tracts even go as far to say that the Roman Catholics actually fabricated the Islamic religion and the Koran in a bid to dominate the minds of many, and to turn these people against Israel.
In another mind-blowing accusation, the tract “Story teller” depicts how the Jesuits, a male order of the Roman Catholic Church, ordered a Muslim to shoot Pope John Paul II to guilt-induce the Muslim world and unite them to the Catholic faith!
Apparently, this tall tale originated from one Alberto Rivera, an anti-Catholic religious activist. None of his claims has been substantiated.
It is easy to see why the Singapore government has chosen to ban the sale of these tracts on local shores. The ideas and beliefs presented within are enough to make even strict Bible Literalists cringe.
Furthermore, the visual attractiveness of the tracts, the over-simplification of facts, and the frequent appearance of children in these comic strips mean only one thing: impressionable kids — or simple-minded adults — are one of the main targets of these tracts.
Such fundamentalist Christian propaganda should not be tolerated because they are destructive to society and the human intellect. I find it regrettable that Mr Ong and his wife were taken in wholesale by the messages in these booklets, despite Judge Neighbour having once characterised them as intelligent adults.
A lesson in sensitivity and common sense
While it would seem that this saga has come to the close, the recent media spotlight has made some Christians uncomfortable. Some believers might feel that the media is placing them under siege.
First, the Aware saga, and now this incident. And as an interesting subplot, MyPaper recently reported that some polytechnic students are unhappy that Christians have been going around proselytising in schools.
But the good thing is that there are no accusations of a Chick-style conspiracy against the church so far. Fortunately, churches like Westboro Baptist Church are non-existent in Singapore. Even if there are such churches, they must have remained quite well hidden.
And besides, few serious-minded Christians in Singapore would take these tracts seriously, that is, if they care to scrutinise them in the first place.
While it is somewhat commendable that these Christians are pro-active in living out their beliefs and engaging the public square, all three groups – the Aware ex-exco, the couple, and the student evangelists — display a fundamental flaw with their approach: the lack of utter common sense.
It is amusing how some Christians are still going pair-by-pair to hard sell their religion when there are already enough tissue-sellers, peddlers, and insurance agents on the streets. Street evangelism no longer works, and they should get over it.
In fact, such insensitive approaches of intruding into another’s private space do not only destroy the multi-religious harmony in Singapore, they destroy the reputation of their own religion. Instead of winning converts, their actions have the opposite effect — they frighten people away from Christianity.
HELP keep the voice of TOC alive!
If you like this article, please consider a small donation to help theonlinecitizen.com stay alive. Please note that we can only accept donations from Singaporeans. Thank you for your assistance.Do you have a flair for writing? Volunteer with us. Email us your full name and contact details to theonlinecitizen@gmail.com
#50 drivingsideways
“The moderate, rational ones, usually refuse to outrightly criticise what many deem to be wrong, be it City Harvest’s Pastor Kong’s salary or COOS taking over AWARE as they still deem them to be “one of us”, and this exclusionist mentality means they often turn a blind eye to the more extreme actions of the Christian community.”
I’d like to correct your statement. Pastor Kong from CHC does not draw a single cent from the church. He has made the decision to take himself out of the church payroll and now relies on his business dealings for income.
#50 drivingsideways
I think you are right about Christians lacking self-criticism. It is better for them to be their own toughest critic. Otherwise, other people will do it for them.
Yes, these 2 Christians are misguided, just like those JI detainees. Only difference is that they are charged under Seditious Act and not detained under the ISA. Count themselves lucky, else it would be years behind bars for them. Just hope that someone from their religion can guide them back onto the right path.
The Bible has a quote to the effect ” a man will have to do what he believes he has to do”…..
I salute the said couple for their courage and conviction
I salute the court for dishing out the sentence
I salute the said muslims who felt that they have been offended
I salute Singapore for the balance it portrays even though I feel that the sentence is harsh, the court has to do it lke a “looking right” show, and the muslims seem to be testing the Singapore system ( do you believe that any will be converted by the tracts?)
This is Singapore.
I believe God is Loving Kind that decitated the Laws of Universe and even Quantum Mechanics can’t explain it!
Eisntein said he believe in God but LKY said Singapore is Man-Made!
Who is Right or Wrong! You Guess!
48) drivingsideways on June 15th, 2009 9.26 am
Thanks for mentioning the example. I didn’t know about this one. =)
—————————
49) hansolo on June 15th, 2009 9.31 am
“I’m baffled at how you think atheism and Satanism are similar, as if it’s just a simple case of changing the labels.”
To atheists, there is no such thing as Satanism, just as there is no such thing as God. It really is just a ‘label’ to them. It’s not a matter of them being similar at all.
Religion A follower is absolutely convinced his is the Truth.
Religion B follower is absolutely convinced his is the Truth.
Now, a question to the intellectuals : whose is not the Truth or both are the Truths?
I think no one can answer this question convincingly.
I win. hahahahaha humans.
I think the dangers posed by such tracts is the veneer of ‘truth’ that they contain that can easily mislead people into thinking that they are factual, especially the ‘revelation’ that Allah is actually a moon god etc etc..
The only way to counter such misinformation is to provide channels for more accurate and credible information.
If anyone really wants to know how ‘true’ the tracts’ assertions about the origins of Islam is, and yet feel that knowing where to start can be quite daunting, I recommend Karen Armstrong’s ‘Muhammad: A Biography’. You can find the books at all major bookstores under ‘religion’.
Likewise, anyone who is interested to find out more about how the ancient Isarelites started from being polyetheists to gradually becoming monoetheists, you can read A History Of God also by the same author. Perhaps it is only when we learn more about how Yahweh eventually became the only God worshipped by the Hebrews are we less hasty in labelling everything else as having pagan origins.
Hi Kelvin Tan #35,
South Park portrays itself as a satire and not a credible source of information.
On the other hand, Chick Tract attempts to misinform while pretending to appear as a credible source of information.
At least when South Park portrays a religion inaccurately, South Park also makes it clear that we should not trust its portrayal.
59) smallvice585
And through satire and irreverence, South Park is more powerful as a teacher. And with great power comes great responsibility.
Ironically by projecting themselves not to be taken seriously, they can say what they want, but by saying what they want, all the more they should be taken seriously.
Zef (#58),
3) I am not sure if that can be considered accurate history. After all, Jews are supposed to be separate people from the Egyptians…
Once a friend remmended me for a job in an IT multinational. First question the mktg director asked my friend was, “Is [Ny Name] a Christian?”
Nevertheless, its better to Believe or Trust a Religion (major ones) than to Trust certain humans.
Also important is to ask or Demand Prove before You TRUST.
eg. Mini Bon Bon
and some many investment boo boo extravaganzas.
By the way, does any one from TOC international know how many singaporeans voters (in totality) actually supported which party in the last many elections?
I pose this challenge to all your writers as well as all politicians in this little island and beyond.
Y / N ?
#63,
You mean the exact number or something like +/- 5% accuracy based on ALL VOTERS?
Well, if so, no one know, in my honest opinion. ‘No one’ because the results were based merely on those who get to cast their votes. Many walkovers resulted in voters never using their vote .
This is a concern. But singaporeans seems to accept. I wonder is it true they don’t care about the REALITY – how many actually support them and how many actually support WP.
This is my first time on this blog lol.
i find it extremely disturbing to see, not christianity as a whole overzealous or whatnot. but that quite a number churches in Singapore are being very much influenced by the fundamentalist brand of christianity seen in most of the American south.
Christianity is an international religion, and most churches around the world have all along adapted their styles of worship and message to the needs and realities of their communities.
Its my belief that Jesus’ main message was one of love. not one of judgement and condemnation. Jesus did not even try to change things through the system, he had little or nothing to do with the Roman authority in Palestine during his ministry.
This is very unlike the fundamentalists who lobby for “family values” in the American political scene.
Arix,
“I am not sure if that can be considered accurate history. ”
I’m assuming you haven’t read the recommended books.
I think a gd and sensitive way to conduct evangelism will be:
1. Christian concert – invite friends and such. PPl will be notified of the intent and it is up to individual to decide whether they want to attend.
2. Your birthday party – share how your God help u or whatsoever. It is sharing of your life. Nothing offensive on this.
3. Share with your non-christian friends.
4. Christmas party – Do inform in advance of the content.
Basically, i believe most Singaporeans are not extremists. So if u hv informed them early on the intent, I think that is fine. If they hv inclination to be a christian, they will go. If not, they will just decline nicely. And sharing your life to your life is nothing offensive. What is offensive here is that Christian should not ambush someone on sharing their faiths to strangers or criticise other’s or belittle other;s faith that their faith is not the truth, fabricated by the devil or they are bigot to believe in it.
Often time, i find that Christians are pushy and aggressive in sharing their faith to others.
57) Subjectivity – Trust or Believe on June 15th, 2009 11.20 am
“A follower is absolutely convinced his is the Truth.
Religion B follower is absolutely convinced his is the Truth.”
That should be the attitude and it is called exclusivity and it is called faith.
The liberals will not agree and may say the atheists may be right too. Well, that is the business of the liberals and atheist, strange bedfellows, right? Anyway, this is not politics when you bend a little to win hearts even you know that fellow is wrong.
I agree that the couple should be sentenced according to the ‘harshness’ of the law of the land. In the same vein, the couple should take it in their strides. That is risk of evangelising. No risk no gain,; the higher the risk the higher the return.
My advice to them is to press on but not demonising others even you know they are. Share your love for them, your concern for their salvation which is free for them to take. You don’t need to drive down their throats.Their throat s are already choked. It will not work. Love works.
67) Jc
///should not ambush someone ///
that is a interesting way to put it, quite accurate too, I may say : )
39 Terence:
//By the way, I myself am a Christian. And while I belittle doing street evangelism in SIngapore, … ///
Thank you. If more do it your sensible way, they will get more respect for respecting that 85% of Singaporeans have belief systems that differs from them.
36) LionCityNer
///// one way for those parents of other faiths who want to protect their young is, to prepare them with some preventive-tactics or counter-tactics. Of course, all these tactics, just like the evangelic tactics, should be carried out within legal means.////
The education a parent should give to his/her child is to replace an empty mind with an open one.
Life is the sum of all your choices.
38) Jim
Positive thoughts bring positive outcomes. Regardless of religious affliliation.
All these comments, justifications…argue until the cow comes home.
To me simple, you follow your religion, your god, i follow mine. FULL STOP. We do not disturb or preach to one another. FULL STOP.
some “need” that ego trip “mine better than yours”…
some just can’t stop. like pests.
if there was confrontation between the couple and the offended, and that it can be proven the couple had PERSONALLY offended and even aggressively pushed their beliefs on these people, then it may warrant a serious reprimand.
but instead, they handed tracts(COMICS) – no personal and aggressive confrontation. the “offensive material” was basically a third party world view( not necessary the couple’s view or that one must totally believe or agrees with everything that was written in the book just because it was given to you, right? ) which, in a cosmopolitan society like ours, should not even deserve a second glance let alone kick up a bloody fuss over someone’s opinion in a comic strips and i mean…bloodied the couple’s lives.
was that fair and necessary and how does punishing the couple makes for a tolerant society?
the couple should have been warned, period. if the couple deliberately repeated the act on the SAME people, after being warned, then a stronger deterrant maybe required.
73) mice is nice
they never grow up : )
72) Law
Actually the cow could have came home, and whie the argument rambles on, the cows left again : )
May I recommend those interested to read:
Battle For God by Karen Armstrong ?
You’ll get a better picture about the three Great Semitic Religions, and a better understanding of the problems we face now.
Tsk, Tsk…..I tink this article was to address those who are insenstive, not a sweeping attack on all protestants
@51 Terence: Regarding Pastor Kong’s salary, I actually meant the fact that he didn’t draw a single cent, which was the controversial point. As the pastor of a church, for him to reject a salary from City Harvest is extremely strange. Being the son of a pastor myself, I saw my father step down from his formerly better paying job to start from the very bottom rung of the church in his late 40s. The monetary sacrifice involved, I believe, was a good indicator of his faith and devotion to the church.
However, I think Pastor Kong has opened a can of worms by refusing to draw a single cent. It then begs a few questions, namely 1) will there be a conflict of interests if he draws a salary from a different source, and 2) there might be a lack of transparency in his finances, as a salary drawn from the church would be open to the members and fellow church leaders, but an outside income wouldn’t. Ordinarily, this would not be an issue, but keep in mind that he is a church leader after all, and for him to make a huge income would not be appropriate.
And ultimately, it is self-criticism that will moderate and steady the religion. Allow the fringes to take over and you will have a theocracy on the levels of Iran, who’s religious leaders have recently clamped down hard on any levels of protest. Above all, I feel that religion should be treated no differently than any other belief. Why should they be exempt from criticism if it is constructive and rational? I don’t accuse people of blasphemy if they denounce my economic or political beliefs, and just in the same way, I don’t feel offended if someone were to criticise my religious beliefs (which, as I’m atheist, means that my opinions are fair game to attack while other religious beliefs are not).
Hiding behind the veil of superiority will not help anyone. Constantly yelling out accusations of blasphemy or apostasy or heresy at others does nothing more than shelter religions from constructive and rational debate. And as I’ve already mentioned, the more moderate groups in most religions are loth to do it themselves, seeing that they consider even the radicalised fringes as “one of us”. It’s not healthy in the long run.
Hi LOL #82,
I totally concur!
Another case of an insensitive prick.
http://muhammad-ridzwan.blogspot.com/2009/06/spread-his-words.html
Quote:
On the 4th May this year, I attended a 2-day “Power Design for Presentation” workshop organised by the Centre for Behavioural Science at Orchard Road. The trainer was a Mr. Kelvin Lee from local company Fig Tree Multimedia Pte Ltd.
During the workshop, we learnt some advanced PowerPoint techniques and presentation fundamentals. [b]And on the last day, we also learnt that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Saviour.[/b]
And through satire and irreverence, South Park is more powerful as a teacher. And with great power comes great responsibility.
Ironically by projecting themselves not to be taken seriously, they can say what they want, but by saying what they want, all the more they should be taken seriously.
====
Nice point and I certainly agree that South Park reaches to people way more than through normal propaganda and yet we cannot blame it since it protrays itself as a satire.
This is summed up by Eric Cartman in the episode “I am a little bit country”, its like “having your cake, and eating it too” =)
If only there are commonsense and respect for others ! !
Sobri,
Where can I get the book? Is there an online version of it?
The sensitivity in religion remains a very thin line in this multiracial and multi-religious country. Do not compare religion and be restrained in one’s faith and beliefs, you will be safe.
Evangelism/christianity has never been about being a “popularity” contest. Truth be told, we’re SUPPOSED to be hated. Does that mean that we go out of our way to offend others? Of course not. Jesus said, “If you love me, the world will hate you.” We should be expecting it, swallow our pride and go on loving whoever comes across our path (liking & loving are 2 different things). Everything I’ve read tonight involves ego.
Evangelism isn’t about passing out pieces of paper with Bible verses on them; for one thing, it’s costing this earth thousands of trees and landfills to go overboard which means we aren’t being faithful with the least. For another thing, nothing is on those tracts that tells people anything. You can’t just throw Bible verses at a person and expect them to say, “Oh, now I understand…” If they didn’t understand before, without explanation and teaching, they still won’t.
The subjects mentioned in the article above are important but aren’t the end all of the subject. Muslims, The Pope as the AntiChrist (?), Dungeons and Dragons. They are different subjects, though all are religiously based. The Christian’s job is simple- we make it so complicated but it’s simply not. Keep in contact with God and keep building ur relationship with your savior. IF you are called into the “evangelism” aspect of the faith (which many aren’t- but insist on trying to accomplish anyway), you are supposed to stay close enough to God so that when someone comes along, actually needing guidance, you are mature enough and seasoned enough to lead them in the direction they need to go, which might or might not lead to salvation (at that time).
This doesn’t mean we are to hate everyone else. If someone claims to be athiest but fulfills the mandates laid out in scripture- loving their neighbor as themselves, for example- we’re not to overlook that person and turn against them just because they don’t drop the name of Christ ever 15 seconds.
Let us love in DEED; not in paper. Stop destroying forests so you look holy handing out tracts. Very few read them, they just throw them away. It makes us look ineffective and stupid standing on some corner in the middle of the day when you are SUPPOSED to be working and all you’re doing is yelling at the top of your lungs and handing out a worthless piece of paper.
I used to read these tracts a few years back in Bras Basah Complex’s Tecman. Are they still selling it?
/// 4) Gilbert Goh on June 14th, 2009 3.40 pm
Many Christians who evangelised must be wary now.
I used to spread the good news last time by giving out such tracts.
Now it felt like a dangerous mission to undertake.
I find that our society is getting very closed up with the Aware issue and now the jail term for this couple.
We are regressing and not moving forward as many countires have. ///
Gilbert – that is from your partition, partial and parochial point of view. Not all people profess a religion. And even among the religious, not all are Christians. And even among the Christians, there are so many sects and denominations that there is not a single point of view. And Christians even discriminate against the Catholics.
No, we are definitely not regressing. We are progressing. Just look at all the theocratic countries in the world – they are all failed states, or are in the process of failing. Do you want to progress and move forward like Jonestown?
http://www.religioustolerance.org/dc_jones.htm
I think religion is not compulsory in life, rather it’s optional. Who says that people will die without religion? If you do, you have failed your science terribly. People will die without food, water and air, not religion. If you think you will die without religion, I think you are crazy. It’s better to believe in something you can see and touch rather than something you can’t see and touch.
Nowadays there’s so many articles related to religion, particularly christianity. I do not see christianity as a good religion. It has always been a negative thing to me. Some christians do come to my school and preach their religion to me but I turn a blind eye and deaf ear to them.
I’m a Chinese, religion is buddhism. I feel more attached to buddhism because it’s closely related to my culture and, most importantly, language. I find that both English and Chinese express meanings in different levels, so perhaps some christians may misread certain parts of their bible, therefore committed crimes/offices unknowingly.
Whatever the outcome may be, I strongly think that religion should not rule over your head. Instead of spending so much effort and time spreading christianity, I rather you spend more effort and quality time with your family.
Some religious fanatics are simply crazy about their Beliefs and want others to agree and believe in their story/fable tellings.
Everyone should keep their religions to their hearts, it is as simple as that.
I am most holy and You don’t have to believe me, You know ?
PAP mongrel and PI Lionel De Souza should not comment on this issue of self censorship of people commenting on religion. Its true some of the comments are racist or insulting to other religion but most of us are mature enough to know what is right and what is wrong. If he cannot bear to see those comments he should balek kampong to his favourite young PAP forum.
la nausea #26,
I am not sure how does creationism relate to my post but since you brought it up, I should point out that there are creationist talks held in churches in Singapore; “Evolution is just a theory”, that sort of garbage.
I don’t think that should be very surprising at all, given what else is going on.
As for your point on irrationality, I agree completely. It might have something to do with what Daniel Dennett calls “belief in belief”. There are many people, he postulates, who think that it’s good thing to have a belief in the existence of a God, whichever one(s) it might be. Even if, implicitly, one thinks it is a false God.
We might even say they (the religious) have an understanding.
if there was confrontation between the couple and the offended, and that it can be proven the couple had PERSONALLY offended and even aggressively pushed their beliefs on these people, then it may warrant a serious reprimand.
but instead, they handed tracts(COMICS) – no personal and aggressive confrontational hard sell. the “offensive material” was basically a third party world view( not necessary the couple’s view or that one must totally believe or agrees with everything that was written in the book just because it was given to you, right? ) which, in a cosmopolitan society like ours, should not even deserve a second glance let alone kick up a bloody fuss over someone’s opinion in a comic strips and i mean…bloodied the couple’s lives.
was that fair and necessary and how does punishing the couple makes for a tolerant society?
the couple should have been warned, period. if the couple deliberately repeated the act on the SAME people, after being warned, then a stronger deterrant maybe required.
if there was confrontation between the couple and the offended, and that it can be proven the couple had PERSONALLY offended and even aggressively pushed their beliefs on these people, then it may warrant a serious reprimand.
but instead, they handed tracts(COMICS) – no personal and aggressive hard sell. the “offensive material” was basically a third party world view( not necessary the couple’s view or that one must totally believe or agrees with everything that was written in the book just because it was given to you, right? ) which, in a cosmopolitan society like ours, should not even deserve a second glance let alone kick up a bloody fuss over someone’s opinion in a comic strips and i mean…bloodied the couple’s lives.
was that fair and necessary and how does punishing the couple makes for a tolerant society?
the couple should have been warned, period. if the couple deliberately repeated the act on the SAME people, after being warned, then a stronger deterrant maybe required.
hi Fairplay,
do note that religious comic strip can cause a riot in other countries. to trivialise it may affect how neighbouring countries view S’pore as a whole.
“a domestic issue with an international dimension.” ;)
as this thread has shown…
http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/06/free-aung-san-suu-kyi/
TrubBlood Singaporean #55
“Eisntein said he believe in God”
Maybe Eisntein did, but not Einstein :)
Some Christians would love to think so, but that’s just some marketting gimmick they bought into.
Subjectivity – Trust or Believe # 57
It’s not hard to work out that only one (and that includes extinct religions and their defunct gods) can be right, and all can be wrong.
la nausee #45,
“…You don’t see groups like the “We don’t believe in El Dorado” community or the “Pink unicorns are a figment of our imagination” clique, do you?”
Actually there are pretty interesting groups out there. The ACA (http://www.atheist-community.org/) is a new one I stumbled upon. Their TV and radio shows are pretty entertaining – to me at least. We might just get something like that in Singapore if our Secularity is compromised.
In any case, Christian logic, which is something I think you might be interested in, is on display here:
http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/05/the-emperor%e2%80%99s-new-clothes/comment-page-4/#comment-81914
Maybe you guys are interested in this recent case of Christian Fundamentalist Terrorism. Here’s a different angle of the same story. This incident took place last month.
For all the opinions I have read here on whether the distribution of Chick Tracts should be banned, nobody seemed to be aware that these tracts are, in all probability, targeted at kids. Shouldn’t that dimension be addressed?
in that case, should we punish everyone and anyone for carrying and owning the offensive bible?
our neigbors are not going to be “impress”with us trying to impress them with unnecessary punishment when the “offensive act” could have been easily resolved between the parties through mature dialog.
in fact, there is no need to “trivialize” this issue at the national level.
they are not going to sell you sand just because you took side with one religion over the other you know.