I'm involved in a mostly-autonomous, government-supported (with the t-shirt to prove it!) programme, Explorations into Faith. EiF organizes dialogues on various topics to provide young people with a forum to share their views. Past topics include faith and sustenance, faith and political involvement, faith and the concept of evil..
I enjoy getting involved because it's one way of getting past the dogma: ok, so here's what your scriptures say, now how does that translate (or not) to how we live? It's also one way of getting past the propaganda--Singapore is big on touting its racial and religious harmony, but tolerance and understanding are not the same thing. To wit: in parochial schools, Muslim students are automatically exempt from chapel but children from other religious backgrounds will need an official letter from their parents. This is a response to the missionary fervour of the eighties when the Christians specifically targetted the Muslims--it's an understandable, but ultimately illogical and inadequate response. EiF is small, and the criticism that we are preaching to the converted (har har) is valid, but the progress we make in creating relationships and channels for understanding is real. Which doesn't explain how I got involved--two reasons. One to get some facilitation chops, and the second, a disciplined environment to explore how I meandered to atheism. CL On Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 2:29 PM, J. Alfred Prufrock <[email protected]> wrote: > "volunteer inter-faith facilitator" > > Please translate. > > > -- > J. Alfred Prufrock >
