I believe the parents should decide the child's religion for the first 18 years of the child's life. After all, the child still needs his parents to decide upon things. After age 18, things can change, and parents should respect the child's choice.
My parents will probably not respect my choice, and it's understandable, at least, from my point of view.
They don't want me to upset the family balance.
I live in Singapore currently and I am of Chinese descent. China may be currently officially atheist (no thanks to a Communist government I will never support with conscience), but for thousands of years, it had been a religious blend of Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism, or the sanjiao/'three religions'.
And it is said that Chairman Mao supports Buddhist, Confucianist and Daoist temples (especially in the craggy mountains of my ancestral Fujian province, not the most religious one but still, some parts still don't change even after industralization), even when the country wages war in Korea, having the Cultural Revolution, or that the whole country had its first-ever country-wide famine in recent history, on 1957.
As for Singapore itself, it is a secular state of 5 million people, surrounded by predominantly Islam countries, and three quarters of our population has Chinese ancestry while one in seven Singaporeans are Muslims, including a few thousand ethnic Chinese Singaporeans who converted to Islam.
Personally, looking at past Chinese history, I find that traditional Chinese culture is very resistant to Christianity and Islam, because they are too different from mainstream Chinese culture. If you are Chinese and you convert to a religion outside the three religions, traditionally, you'll have to withstand strained family relationships.
Indeed, I personally know an uncle who has to move to Australia from Singapore, because they do not get along with his siblings (my Dad and my various other uncles and aunties) well. He only came back to Singapore twice in the 16 years he moved to Australia, and we only met once.
Around 90% of the Chinese Singaporeans I know are brought up in households where they are reared in the 'three religions', including me. (Out of my elementary school of foty, only three or four were Christians.) In the end, around 40% of them stay in their religion, and 20% of them become atheists, because 'religion is burdensome'. But 30% of those in the 'three religions' I know eventually convert to Christianity, because the Christian churches in Singapore, of varying denominations, do their best to convert and proselyze other Singaporeans, of various religions. And I think what I see is really representative of the whole population.
Latest census figures (if I can recall from my head) show that in Singapore, indeed, a substantial majority of Chinese Singaporeans are of the 'three religions', while 30% of Singaporeans as a whole are Christians, whereas around 15% have no religion.
But I think from a wider point of view...
I read Chinese history in junior high, both traditional and contemporary Chinese history. I really want to tell other people about what I learnt in and out of textbooks.
In the textbooks, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek lost the whole of Mainland China (all the provinces of China except one, Taiwan province) and had to station in Taiwan. He tried to recover the Mainland China, but failed. It's said that Generalissimo Chiang lost because he is corrupt, he is ineffective (failing to deal with hyperinflation and lack of economic growth) and he has no heart for the nation (he wants to remove the Communists first before the Japanese, my Dad said).
But I look at Chiang's wife and religion, I know things are different. And looking at the development of Taiwan, as one of the two political entities to repay all American debts (the other is South Korea), I asked myself, is the value of Taiwan as the beacon of democracy of Greater China? More importantly, the question I really wanted to ask some people is, do the few Taiwanese who are Christians, or converted to Christians, see that living to their best through their art, their music, their sporting exploits or even their business instincts, do so because they want to spread their common belief before the Lord, to make a difference for China and eventually, the world?
But for my family, it's exactly Generalissimo Chiang who destroyed my family property. Dad used to wince about how the Kuomintang (Chiang's political party) ruined my clan's old tea plantation (since abandoned) and how the Communist are great, and how Buddhism is acceptable in Chinese culture.
They even sent me to a Buddhist monestary to be a monk a few years ago, claiming that a Buddhist monk helped to save me from autism, and she promised to send me to a Buddhist temple if I learnt how to speak when I don't speak, even at age 4. I am grateful to his help, and the spirits, but I think it's God's will that I can eventually talk at the age of 5, tell my story to all.
No matter what, as soon as I am financially independent, I will immediately sign up for membership in my local church, and really attend the Alpha course or whatsoever programs that will help me explore the Christian faith. I really want to live independently - and really delve deeper in faith.
But thing is, given the high costs of living and imperfect governance in where I live... Can I live alone from Dad and Mom? Can I give them some security, since the Singapore government will never pay a single cent for their retirements? Can I pay the tithes and other contributions to the Church? And can I do anything to make my church work better for its community, a multi-cultural and multi-religious one?
More importantly than other factors, are there any other better options? Should I just accept that I am just a mold of my parent, no matter how it goes? Or, should I pray harder to God that He grants me the serenity to just do something, to better give me the 'inner peace' to contribute meaningfully to my family, my society and even the world?
My parents will probably not respect my choice, and it's understandable, at least, from my point of view.
They don't want me to upset the family balance.
I live in Singapore currently and I am of Chinese descent. China may be currently officially atheist (no thanks to a Communist government I will never support with conscience), but for thousands of years, it had been a religious blend of Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism, or the sanjiao/'three religions'.
And it is said that Chairman Mao supports Buddhist, Confucianist and Daoist temples (especially in the craggy mountains of my ancestral Fujian province, not the most religious one but still, some parts still don't change even after industralization), even when the country wages war in Korea, having the Cultural Revolution, or that the whole country had its first-ever country-wide famine in recent history, on 1957.
As for Singapore itself, it is a secular state of 5 million people, surrounded by predominantly Islam countries, and three quarters of our population has Chinese ancestry while one in seven Singaporeans are Muslims, including a few thousand ethnic Chinese Singaporeans who converted to Islam.
Personally, looking at past Chinese history, I find that traditional Chinese culture is very resistant to Christianity and Islam, because they are too different from mainstream Chinese culture. If you are Chinese and you convert to a religion outside the three religions, traditionally, you'll have to withstand strained family relationships.
Indeed, I personally know an uncle who has to move to Australia from Singapore, because they do not get along with his siblings (my Dad and my various other uncles and aunties) well. He only came back to Singapore twice in the 16 years he moved to Australia, and we only met once.
Around 90% of the Chinese Singaporeans I know are brought up in households where they are reared in the 'three religions', including me. (Out of my elementary school of foty, only three or four were Christians.) In the end, around 40% of them stay in their religion, and 20% of them become atheists, because 'religion is burdensome'. But 30% of those in the 'three religions' I know eventually convert to Christianity, because the Christian churches in Singapore, of varying denominations, do their best to convert and proselyze other Singaporeans, of various religions. And I think what I see is really representative of the whole population.
Latest census figures (if I can recall from my head) show that in Singapore, indeed, a substantial majority of Chinese Singaporeans are of the 'three religions', while 30% of Singaporeans as a whole are Christians, whereas around 15% have no religion.
But I think from a wider point of view...
I read Chinese history in junior high, both traditional and contemporary Chinese history. I really want to tell other people about what I learnt in and out of textbooks.
In the textbooks, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek lost the whole of Mainland China (all the provinces of China except one, Taiwan province) and had to station in Taiwan. He tried to recover the Mainland China, but failed. It's said that Generalissimo Chiang lost because he is corrupt, he is ineffective (failing to deal with hyperinflation and lack of economic growth) and he has no heart for the nation (he wants to remove the Communists first before the Japanese, my Dad said).
But I look at Chiang's wife and religion, I know things are different. And looking at the development of Taiwan, as one of the two political entities to repay all American debts (the other is South Korea), I asked myself, is the value of Taiwan as the beacon of democracy of Greater China? More importantly, the question I really wanted to ask some people is, do the few Taiwanese who are Christians, or converted to Christians, see that living to their best through their art, their music, their sporting exploits or even their business instincts, do so because they want to spread their common belief before the Lord, to make a difference for China and eventually, the world?
But for my family, it's exactly Generalissimo Chiang who destroyed my family property. Dad used to wince about how the Kuomintang (Chiang's political party) ruined my clan's old tea plantation (since abandoned) and how the Communist are great, and how Buddhism is acceptable in Chinese culture.
They even sent me to a Buddhist monestary to be a monk a few years ago, claiming that a Buddhist monk helped to save me from autism, and she promised to send me to a Buddhist temple if I learnt how to speak when I don't speak, even at age 4. I am grateful to his help, and the spirits, but I think it's God's will that I can eventually talk at the age of 5, tell my story to all.
No matter what, as soon as I am financially independent, I will immediately sign up for membership in my local church, and really attend the Alpha course or whatsoever programs that will help me explore the Christian faith. I really want to live independently - and really delve deeper in faith.
But thing is, given the high costs of living and imperfect governance in where I live... Can I live alone from Dad and Mom? Can I give them some security, since the Singapore government will never pay a single cent for their retirements? Can I pay the tithes and other contributions to the Church? And can I do anything to make my church work better for its community, a multi-cultural and multi-religious one?
More importantly than other factors, are there any other better options? Should I just accept that I am just a mold of my parent, no matter how it goes? Or, should I pray harder to God that He grants me the serenity to just do something, to better give me the 'inner peace' to contribute meaningfully to my family, my society and even the world?
