I agree with Abe Lincoln
Is it just me that is getting more and more irate with the letters to the SCMP from a "gentleman" in Tai Po on the subject of religion.
The first letter (to the Editor)implied that as HK, since 1997, was no longer under British rule, Christianity was not being followed and the the Christian God was therefore not looking down and smiling on HK - hence SARS, Bird Flu, economic recession etc.
The second letter in Tuesday's talkback section stated that the reason the Wishing Tree in Tai Po collapsed is because the Deity responsible for the tree obviously does not exist and therefore the tree collapsed...this is regardless of the fact that the tree was over 80 years old, had been laden with oranges for most of that time and had been subjected to a number of typhoons. The "gentleman's" most irritating comment was "If this force or deity hasn't even the power to look after its own tree, then it certainly has no power to grant wishes".
The author's rather puritanical Christian outlook inspired such feelings of anger in me that I had a good mind to go out to Tai Po and beat the hell out of him with the remains of the Wishing Tree.
I was raised as a Christian, attended a fairly religious school and still write Christian on forms whenever asked for my religion. However, I have lived in many wonderful corners of the world and have experienced many different religions - the overriding sentiment in the majority of mainstream religions is to do good.
As Abraham Lincoln said "When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion.". I agree with Mr Lincoln.
Obviously the SCMP's correspondent in Tai Po feels good and feels that he is subscribing to his religion when he belittles and makes derogatory comments about other peoples' beliefs and customs. If this is the case, I may reconsider my Christianity.
Today I took part in our company Bai Sun ceremony to mark the new year and bring health, wealth and prosperity to all within our company. We stood and faced the harbour and had all the traditional accompaniments, I did my "thing" with the incense sticks and wished for all good things for everyone, I realise that as a Christian such rituals are "expressly forbidden in scripture", however, I enjoy such events and do not feel that partaking in such an event will bring death, damnation and ruin down upon my shoulders and the rest of the Hong Kong.
And a final thought, the American Physicist, Steve Wienberg, said "With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."
The first letter (to the Editor)implied that as HK, since 1997, was no longer under British rule, Christianity was not being followed and the the Christian God was therefore not looking down and smiling on HK - hence SARS, Bird Flu, economic recession etc.
The second letter in Tuesday's talkback section stated that the reason the Wishing Tree in Tai Po collapsed is because the Deity responsible for the tree obviously does not exist and therefore the tree collapsed...this is regardless of the fact that the tree was over 80 years old, had been laden with oranges for most of that time and had been subjected to a number of typhoons. The "gentleman's" most irritating comment was "If this force or deity hasn't even the power to look after its own tree, then it certainly has no power to grant wishes".
The author's rather puritanical Christian outlook inspired such feelings of anger in me that I had a good mind to go out to Tai Po and beat the hell out of him with the remains of the Wishing Tree.
I was raised as a Christian, attended a fairly religious school and still write Christian on forms whenever asked for my religion. However, I have lived in many wonderful corners of the world and have experienced many different religions - the overriding sentiment in the majority of mainstream religions is to do good.
As Abraham Lincoln said "When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion.". I agree with Mr Lincoln.
Obviously the SCMP's correspondent in Tai Po feels good and feels that he is subscribing to his religion when he belittles and makes derogatory comments about other peoples' beliefs and customs. If this is the case, I may reconsider my Christianity.
Today I took part in our company Bai Sun ceremony to mark the new year and bring health, wealth and prosperity to all within our company. We stood and faced the harbour and had all the traditional accompaniments, I did my "thing" with the incense sticks and wished for all good things for everyone, I realise that as a Christian such rituals are "expressly forbidden in scripture", however, I enjoy such events and do not feel that partaking in such an event will bring death, damnation and ruin down upon my shoulders and the rest of the Hong Kong.
And a final thought, the American Physicist, Steve Wienberg, said "With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."
posted by Madame Chiang at 9:54 pm
2 Comments:
No doubt, the chap is totally fair.
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Great post, the subject is extremely useful and informative for me. Keep doing the good work. Regards
Jennifer Contreras
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