Rony Tan

Rony Tan is the founder and "ministry mentor" of Lighthouse Evangelism, an independent charismatic church in Singapore.

Tan has been known for the faith healing services regularly held at his church as well as controversial remarks he made about Buddhism, Taoism and homosexuality.

Personal life

Rony Tan claims to have experienced a miraculous healing in 1975. The following year, he enrolled at the Singapore Bible College and served at Jubilee Presbyterian Church as a pastor trainee. Two years later, he pioneered an outreach at Chip Bee Gardens, which would eventually become Lighthouse Evangelism.[1]

Tan married his wife Kwee Hong in 1976 and together they have two children and four grandchildren. Their son, Pacer Tan, is currently senior pastor at Lighthouse Evangelism.

Controversies

Comments on Buddhism and Taoism

In February 2010, online videos posted on the church's website of sermons Tan suggesting that Buddhism and Taoism were Satanic caused an uproar in Singapore, prompting a visit by the government's Internal Security Department.[2][3] Tan swiftly pulled the videos off the website, and met with Buddhist and Taoist leaders to offer a personal apology.[4]

Returning to the pulpit that weekend, Tan said the church was "in the process of eliminating all possible offensive recorded material" and urged church members "not to circulate our past sermons which may provoke religious sensitivity".[5]

Comments on homosexuality

Two weeks after Tan made the headlines for his comments on Buddhism and Taoism, another video on the church's website went viral. The video was taken of Tan and a former employee of the church who claimed to have experienced miraculous healing from lesbianism. "Proper sex means life. Lesbianism and homosexuality simply mean death, barrenness," said Tan in the video.[6]

”Don’t believe all those loud-mouthed gay people who tell you they are born this way”, Tan added. “If we don’t warn people against this, then there will be more and more homosexuals... many of these people will be harrassing and seducing young boys, and they in turn will become homosexuals... half the world will be homosexual”.[7]

He also linked homosexuality with bestiality: "If you allow [homosexuality], next time people will want to get married to monkeys. And they will want rights. They’ll want to apply for HDB [a colloquial term to mean a government subsidised flat]. With a donkey or a monkey or a dog and so on. It’s very pathetic.”[8]

A total of 85 police reports were lodged against Tan, including by local filmmakers Royston Tan and Sun Koh. Tan did not rescind his comments, nor was he censured by the authorities for his remarks.[9]

References
  1. "Founder". Lighthouse Evangelism. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  2. Reuters Staff (2010-02-10). "Singapore raps evangelical pastor for ridiculing Buddhists, Taoists". Reuters Blogs. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  3. "Buddhist, Taoist leaders accept pastor's apology". The Straits Times.
  4. Reuters Staff (2010-02-10). "Singapore raps evangelical pastor for ridiculing Buddhists, Taoists". Reuters Blogs. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  5. "Pastor: I've let many people down". www.asiaone.com. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  6. "Pastor draws flak for remarks about gays". www.asiaone.com. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  7. "Singapore pastor castigated for offensive remarks about Buddhism should apologise to gays and lesbians too". www.fridae.asia. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  8. "Singapore pastor castigated for offensive remarks about Buddhism should apologise to gays and lesbians too". www.fridae.asia. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  9. "Police reports lodged against Singapore pastor over offensive gay and lesbian remarks". www.fridae.asia. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.