giving christians a bad name

This was another part of a very interesting and thought-provoking conversation I had with two friends, an e.

They were telling me that Christians in Singapore should do something about the Charismatic churches, because they are giving Christians a bad name through their provocative public attempts at evangelism and insulting other religions. And if nothing was done soon, the government would probably crack down on them with the religious harmony act.

Firstly, what is a charismatic? Charismatics associated with the use of spiritual gifts (such as speaking in tongues), akin to Christians of the New Testament. Some say it is a denomination, but I think it is more accurate to describe it as a movement as churches of other denominations might also be charismatic to various degrees. And the most prominent Charismatic churches are non-denominational (or independant).

Secondly, what should other Christians do about them? Although I may not agree entirely with the extravagance of their styles of worship, or teachings such as the prosperity gospel, I am not aware that any of their doctrine is wrong. Other churches that deviate from the Bible are labeled as cults and churches would actively warn their members against them, the differences with charismatics are more like the ceremonial or cultural differences you'd find between denominations. Furthermore, there is no higher authority to censure non-denominational churches for such actions.

But, my friends argue, the charismatic churches have come to dominate the public face of Christianity. (I infer that they are referring to unwelcome street evangelism, extravagant property investment and pastors restrained for speaking against other religions.) Hence they feel that this is damaging to Christians in general. This is not about theology, it is about society. So shouldn't the rest of the Christians do something before the government is forced to take some sort of action?

So let's look at the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act. From what I can gather, the key clause of concern here is 8(1)(a):

8. —(1) The Minister may make a restraining order against any priest, monk, pastor, imam, elder, office-bearer or any other person who is in a position of authority in any religious group or institution or any member thereof for the purposes specified in subsection (2) where the Minister is satisfied that that person has committed or is attempting to commit any of the following acts:

(a) causing feelings of enmity, hatred, ill-will or hostility between different religious groups;

Most of the other clauses are more concerned with political or subversive activities "under the guise of, propagating or practising any religious belief". So the actual act of evangelism is perfectly legal, as long as you do not provoke "feelings of enmity, hatred, ill-will or hostility".

I can't claim any expertise in these matters, and I have just been trying to deepen my own understanding in these matters with a little help from Google. Any comments or corrections on the statements here are welcomed.