Ever since Senior Pastor Rony Tan of Lighthouse Evangelism church got into trouble over his insensitive videos on Buddhism, he had stayed out of public eyes, until Chinese New Year eve. On 13 February 2010, Pastor Rony Tan appeared in his church and said sorry to his congregation with a prepared speech, and a video recording of his speech was played again on 14 February 2010 to the members.
“This is the first public statement that I’m making regarding my breach of religious harmony.
After I had offered my sincere apology on Feb 8, 2010, our church took immediate action to review our literature.
Right now, we are in the process of eliminating all possible offensive recorded material from our huge catalogue.
We also urge all members of Lighthouse, and others, not to circulate our past sermons which may provoke religious sensitivity.
Now this is my instruction to all my members. From now on, we must realise that upholding religious harmony is promoting peace, unity and true freedom.
Respecting different religious beliefs means to respect the personhood, or the individual.
Now that doesn’t mean that we don’t have the freedom to share our Lord’s goodness and blessing with others.
We just have to be more sensitive in our approach.
Let there be no criticism of any religion.
One more thing of paramount importance: No matter how deeply you appreciate me, never justify for me. A wrong is a wrong and must be rectified, not justified.
Although I am your spiritual leader, I too, have feet of clay, like you.
The important thing is to be willing to learn from past mistakes and you can help me to set such an example by not justifying for me to those you talk to.
Many people want to know how I feel.
I feel unbearably terrible for my grave error for which I regret deeply.
I’ve let many people down.
When it first happened, I mentally planned three steps:
One. Sincerely repent and confess.
Two. Bravely face all the consequences from the authorities.
And three. After paying my dues, depart from the very nation that I love.
After much struggle I decided to be true to my heart, because Singapore is my home, no matter what.
I have a purpose in my heart, that this adversity is not going to define Lighthouse.
Instead it will be refined, and grow a bit more like Christ, the prince of peace.
By God’s grace, I must redeem myself by promoting religious harmony, while still doing the good works of Christ effectively.
This I vow to do.
Now finally I would like to thank all my faithful Lighters and staff, believers from other churches, and my loving family for their passionate prayers in my darkest hour.
Our Lord Jesus Christ has indeed strengthened me through this ordeal, through your intercession.
Thank you so much, and God bless you.”
Related posts:
- Video by Pastor Rony Tan Making Fun of Buddhism and Taoism Got Him into Trouble with ISD
- Full Video: Pastor Mark Ng of New Creation Church Talks Down Other Religion and is Sorry
- Pastor Rony Tan Say Sorry to Venerable Kwang Sheng Head of Buddhist Federation at Phor Kar See Temple
- Senior Pastor Rony Tan Video on YouTube – The Singapore Song
- Tracy Tan of Mediacorp is Pastor Rony Tan’s Daughter
Albert Einstein (14 March 1879–18 April 1955) was a theoretical physicist who is widely regarded as one of the most influential scientists of all time. He is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the brightest minds we ever had. It is interesting that Albert Einstein actually think quite highly of Buddhism, unlike many others such as Pastor Rony Tan who made a video mocking Buddhism during his preaching.
Albert Einstein:
“Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: It transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and spritual; and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity.”
“If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism.”
“A human being is part of the whole, called by us ‘Universe’; a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compasion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely but striving for such achievement is, in itself, a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.”