Lawrence Khong

Senior Pastor of the Faith Community Baptist Church, Reverend Lawrence Khong got into another controversy – this time with the Humanist Society of Singapore. The Society took issue with Rev Khong’s latest Facebook video in which he shared about the series of sermons he is going to make in April in his church.
In the video, the pastor said that in April he will be preaching on the topic of developing a Biblical worldview and that this was important because the church is being bombarded by worldview which is a deception from the devil. He brought up the topic of evolution as an example of this worldview which is deceptive. He further contended that there is hardly any evidence for the Theory of Evolution and that the Theory is based on faith.

Excited about our new sermon series starting this weekend? You should be. Our Senior Pastor tells you why.fcbc.org.sg/achristianworldview // #developingachristianworldview #newsermonseries #fcbcsg
Posted by Faith Community Baptist Church (FCBC), Singapore on Tuesday, 29 March 2016

The Humanist Society of Singapore responded to the pastor’s video with an open letter filled with sarcasm and we reproduce it in full here.

Dear Mr Khong,
We at the Humanist Society (Singapore) are writing to express our interest in and amusement withyour April series of sermons.  Following your support for the Catholic Church in condemning Madonna’s concert as “immoral values promoted by the secular world”, we in the “secular world” find ourselves again at your ire.  We are pleased that we have joined the illustrious ranks of American pop singer Madonna in attracting your ire.
We recognise that as Singapore is a firmly secular society, and promotes freedom of religious expression and multi-cultural harmony, you and your church are completely free to express your views. In this spirit of free expression and interfaith exchange, our Society would be very pleased if you would include our speakers at your talks : “The Deception of Darwinism” & “No God, No Good or Bad”.
As you may be aware, the Humanist Society (Singapore) is a society which promotes, among other things, living a rational life and embracing scientific enquiry. Among our members are several science researchers, science educators and other persons with a passion for science and nature. We believe our members would have much to contribute to a discussion about Darwinism and evolution.
“The Deception of Darwinism” – we have at least four representatives, a biologist, a, anthropologist (likely from NUS Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum), a medical doctor and a general scientist who would be greatly interested in deliberating with your speakers. We have celebrated Darwin Day for the past six years to highlight the importance and wonder of the science and nature, and we are well familiar with the internationally accepted work of Darwin in explaining science. Imagine, modern medicine and antibiotics developed based on Darwin’s theory of evolution and has saved countless lives – that is a real feat for Charles Darwin’s work!
“No God, No Good or Bad” – our founding President Paul Tobin is well qualified to speak on this, as the author of the celebrated book “The Rejection of Pascal’s Wager: A Skeptic’s Guide to Christianity“. Paul is well versed with the Bible; his thoughtful analysis of the Bible’s many contradictions will surely add a different flavour to your sessions.
We were also contemplating to attend “The Stars reveal the Truth”, but prefer to be earthbound, as all good humanists know that there is only one life on this Earth and we should make the very best of it.
As a token of our appreciation, and to facilitate Interfaith dialogue, our Society will reserve five places for the Faith Community Baptist Church congregation in our upcoming World Humanist Day (a paying event) conference in June.
At World Humanist Day, we celebrate the values of humanism: of upholding the dignity and value of each human being, of respecting the choices of the individual. We celebrate that we have but one brief life on this planet Earth, which we live to the fullest and the best, backed with reason and science, and compassion for ourselves and our fellow beings. We are sure these are values which resonate strongly with you and your congregation, and we do hope to see you there.
Executive Committee
Humanist Society (Singapore)