Oxford and Religion

It seems that Oxford inspires spiritual reflection. Tony Blair famously developed his deep religious grounding (when not moonlighting as the lead singer of a rock band) in the midst of a Law degree at St Johns. C.S Lewis, the famous Christian apologetic, was struck by the incontrovertibly true nature of Christ while sitting on a bus traveling through Oxford down the Cowley Road. A recent issue of Oxford today featured two other individuals - the popular writer on religion Karen Armstrong and the Rabbi Lionel Blue - whose times at Oxford were similarly suffused by spiritual and personal crisis.

In the case of Karen Armstrong, she arrived at Oxford as a nun from a strict Roman Catholic order (pre-Vatican II). The intellectual freedom that is the foundation of an Oxford education soon began to jar with the expectations of submission and blind obedience that characterized her role in the nunnery, precipitating an existential crisis that led to her leaving the cloisters. Lionel Blue arrived in Oxford as an atheist (since the age of five when he had prayed for the deaths of Adolf Hitler and Oswald Moseley - the prayers were not answered) but soon faced a personal crisis prompted by his repressed homosexuality. He literally stumbled on religion while sheltering from the rain at St Giles and the Quakers he met provided the grounding and impetus that he needed to complete his degree.

What it telling to me about these two individuals, is their refusal to cling to dogmatic faith. Armstrong calls belief a "ludicrous red herring". To her, the essence of religious experience is "not accepting dubious propositions" but rather compassion. Armstrong emphasizes that it is "compassion that brings you to a state of transcendence by dethroning you from the centre of your world and putting another in your place". For Rabbi Blue, who characterizes himself as a 'religious free ranger' as opposed to a 'battery believer', genuine spirituality is achieved when it changes you for the better. For him, faith is genuine and not self indulgent if it makes you kinder, more generous and provides greater self-knowledge.

I didn't quite achieve the religious epiphany that C.S Lewis did during my time at Oxford, but I was prompted to give religion serious thought and consideration. During my time there I spoke with many thoughtful individuals - Catholic, Anglican, Church of Scotland and much else beside, indeed the antithesis of the hard-headed, dogmatic right wing evangelical that is the target of so many recent polemics against religion ranging from Dawkins to Hitchens.

While I have been giving religion serious consideration, it has often come in the form of intellectual theorizing about faith - whether God can really exist, and other such ontological questions. One lesson I might have learned from Oxford, and indeed from Armstrong and Blue, is that this intellectualism can only bring you so far - and that the true basis of religion is not considered theorizing (though that must surely play a part) but compassion, generosity and kindness.

Blaise Pascal once wrote that - the heart hath its reasons that reason cannot know. That, to my mind, is a powerful summation of faith.

ST Engineering Scholarship

I was delighted by the quite unexpected and wonderful news that RSIS has decided to award me the ST Engineering Scholarship to pursue my degree in International Relations. I had been hoping for a chance at the scholarship, but my lack of references (they didn't arrive from the UK in time and NTU does not have an online reference system) meant that I was initially not considered for it. So it came as quite a big surprise to hear that I had been given the Scholarship in the end.

The award of the Scholarship does ease my financial worries quite significantly as it means I will receive a stipend double the S$700 I would have received working as a part-time research assistant while congruently pursuing my studies. It also means I will have more time to devote to my degree, and other assorted interests, which is very welcome indeed given how tightly packed the one year degree course is as it stands.

A friend did comment, mildly tongue in cheek, that this marks the second time I have managed to 'con' someone into sponsoring my studies, after the Jardine Foundation awarded me a scholarship for my undergraduate degree at Oxford. When asked for the secret of my success, I have to put in down to a large part luck, and a large part just being completely myself - which I take to be outspoken, random and intellectually curious.

So I guess with any luck, and with a lot of hard work in my Master's, I might just be able to con yet someone else to sponsor me for a Phd, if that is the route I decide to pursue. 

Dear Madame Ambassador

Given that it is the Fourth of July and American Independence Day, I thought it appropriate that I could remind Americans that many other countries do not necessarily share the level of freedom and civil liberties that their country enjoys. Thus, I have crafted a mock letter addressed to the US Ambassador to Singapore, HE Patricia Herbold as follows:

Dear Madame Ambassador,

I write to you on the occasion on the 232nd anniversary of the founding of the United States of America. To begin with, I wish to offer my heartiest congratulations to your country on this occasion, which is indeed one that is worthy of celebration. In many ways, it has never been a better time to be American (sub-prime mortgage crisis and the high price of oil aside). The US is the predominant power in the world, it continues to be a key engine of innovation that fuels the world economy, and it is likely that America will retain this preeminence for some time to come.

Yet, my letter is not just meant to be one of congratulation, but also serves as a plea; it focuses not just on American military and economic prowess, but the inspiration that America provides in extolling the values of liberty and freedom, and the belief that they are a birthright for everyone. This clarion call was never more clearly stated than in your founding declaration of independence and in America's victory in the fight against British tyranny that we celebrate today.

Even as you celebrate the anniversary of your own momentous struggle against repression, I urge you to take heed of the many individuals who do not enjoy the same freedoms that are promised to you as a birthright. More specifically, Madame Ambassador, I urge you not to ignore the situation in the very country to which your government has appointed you as her representative.

I would, if I had the opportunity, speak out openly in public, extolling the virtues of liberty and freedom and the American example, but as you probably know, Madame Ambassador, I am unable to do so. My government chooses to disregard the right to assembly for purely peaceful means, and has passed legislation such that any gathering of more than five individuals, of whatever kind, can be considered illegal. Theoretically, Madame Ambassador, I could even be arrested for hosting a birthday party for myself.

Then there is the issue of freedom of the press. My government has always maintained a tight control of the press, believing in quelling dissenting opinions by deeming that the publication of any viewpoint or comment critical of the status quo as a possible interference in domestic politics. The importance of being free to voice your opinions (as enshrined in your first amendment) has been central to America's definition of itself. Indeed, the example of the Federalists and Thomas Paine whose pamphlets and writings were instrumental in rallying the colonists against the British shows the influence and importance of the free dissemination of viewpoints to America's founding history.

Then there is the basic element of freedom of speech, which is a right that is dearly held by many Americans. Voltaire, the famous French enlightenment writer and philosopher, is attributed to having said "I disagree with what you have said, but I will defend, to the death, your right to say it", and that has very much been the American ethos. This freedom is tenuously held at best in Singapore, where there is always an existential risk of tripping over some invisible out of bounds marker discernible only to the government, with predictably dire consequences.

So Madame Ambassador, I hope that even as your celebrate the founding of a land of 'the brave and the free', you will do everything in your power to propagate the values that makes America so respected around the world, and voicing your support where freedoms and liberties are an aspiration, not a reality.

Sincerely,

A Singaporean Friend.