Although I’m officially a Buddhist, my intellectual framework
is based on Christian Theology. This was a subject that opened my eyes and
challenged many of our long-held assumptions about faith. It was a subject that
I excelled at and the two teachers I had, had high hopes for me. My last
teacher, David Pook, in particular, had high hopes that I’d get an “A” at
A-level and go onto read theology at university. Unfortunately, I got put off by
the idea of having to learn ancient Greek (can’t even speak to Greeks), Hebrew
and Sanskrit, which were all part of the theology courses in British
universities. David did take it personally that I didn’t go onto read theology.
It’s been nearly two and a half decades since I’ve looked at
a Bible with an analytical mind. However, I still find the way man relates to
the higher powers, fascinating. I think that its probably no coincidence that I
ended up back in Singapore, which has a shockingly high number of “religious”
people and the societies that would provide most of my benefactors would be
India and Saudi Arabia.
I would also add that my personal religious beliefs have
been shaped by encountering people of many faiths and life is such that I’ve
found beauty and horror in all religions. I am a Buddhist who loves the teaching
of the Abrahamic God. My guiding principles on faith come from a Malay taxi
driver who told me that “Salaam,” the shaking of hands and building of friendship
is the first real religion and a Malay bus driver who told me that “Too much emphasis
is placed on the word of the book and not enough on the spirit.” Whenever I post
anything on religion, it’s always based around these two principles.
Covid-19 has been a particularly interesting time for anyone
who observes man’s relationship with God and one of the fault lines in theology
has become very clear – namely that its “human” centric. Our beliefs have
always been shaped around the principle that God has given us the human race “mastery
of all other beast” and we behave as if God only deals with us when it comes to
planet earth.
Think of all the things that we pray for. It’s all about us
and us alone. We ask God for wealth, good exam results and so on. Praying for the
rest of our planet doesn’t even cross our minds. Human nature is such that we’re
now fighting over our right to worship in places where we want to worship rather
than what we’re worshiping. In the US, the debate is about “Church” being an “essential”
service. In places like Indonesia people hold up placards saying “Don’t Fear the
Virus, Fear Allah.” People still insist on their right to gather to worship God
despite the fact that such gatherings have already struck down enough people
with the virus.
From a theological perspective, I’m starting to think that
the virus was sent by God to set us straight. The human race is now being
forced to look at the world beyond itself and God, for want of a better word, is
now getting us to think of the rest of the planet.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the virus started in Wuhan,
China, the world’s worst polluter. While China has achieved something amazing from
an economic perspective (Third world shit hole to second largest economy in a generation),
it has done so at huge environmental costs. While the average Chinese has more
money than his or her parents could have dreamed of, they live in a world where
breathing is dangerous.
I also don’t think it’s a coincidence that the world leader in
number of cases and deaths is the USA, which under the Trump administration,
has become the world’s most arrogant nation that tries to use its clout to get
its way. Trump Administration had plenty of warning and time to act and
continues to live in a state of denial. To add to this point, its no coincidence
that Brazil under Bolsonaro, which has allowed vast destruction of the Amazon,
is now in second place in terms of number of people infected and killed.
I think of the virus as God’s way of reminding us that there
is something greater than our own materialistic pursuits and that we have to
look out for the rest of the planet. The human race is being forced to
understand that the divine gift of “mastery” over the other beast, also means looking
after the eco-system as well as taking from it.
As the human race is forced to halt “usual” activities,
nature has had the chance to heal. In Singapore otters have been seen wondering
our streets. The air, which was unbreathable in places like Delhi, Shanghai,
Mumbai and Beijing is suddenly clear.
I actually had the privilege helping a client get the point
across in a public forum that the human race cannot continue as before and that
economic development has to work hand in hand with looking after the environment.
The client in question is organizing a business accelerator program with a
focus on businesses that help preserve the environment. The article can be
found at:
For the better part of a millennium, the human race assumed
that God gave it an exclusive to do as it pleased. I hope that people look at
Covid-19 as God’s way of reminding us that we got to look after the state of
the world. Rather than asking for God’s protection, perhaps its time to see
this as God’s way of getting us to be more reflective and less selfish as a
species.
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