The Kong Hee case is an ongoing scandal in Singapore Christianity, even though I deny City Harvest as being a true church. I have previously written on the incident here and here. While Kong Hee is a false teacher and City Harvest a false church, those who gloat over Kong Hee's fall show themselves to not have the mind of Christ in this matter (c.f. Mt. 23:37)
There are people who say that we should stand with City Harvest, citing 1 Corinthians 12:26 in this regard. Their motives are laudable, and indeed I do believe in standing in solidarity with fellow believers, but NOT when they are in the wrong. Right and wrong in a biblical worldview are objective judgments. Even apart from considering the heresy Kong Hee and City Harvest teach, round-tripping money and financial irregularities are crimes. To be sure, I do not subscribe to the nonsense of the prosecution (more on that later), but I do not see under any circumstances how one can deny that what Kong Hee and cronies did was not a crime.
Aside from Kong Hee's heretical nonsense, I have said and will say again that one should not multiply crimes. Round-tripping is a crime, but private organizations deciding to spend their own money on foolish stuff is not a crime. It is not a crime for a private club to spend its funds on an all-expense paid vacation to Las Vegas for all its members, if the decision was made according to the club's own rules. Likewise, a church as a private organization has the right to spend its money to support the career of Sun Ho, no matter how immoral it is. If a City Harvest member doesn't like how his church spend its money, and he is the minority opinion, then stop tithing to them and get out of the church! Volunteer private organizations ARE voluntary. Nobody is forcing you to stay in there if you disagree with them. If you don't like how they allocate funds, then don't give. Don't give money and then whine when you don't have a say in how your money is used.
This is why I find the prosecution ridiculous, sounding like it is coming after Kong Hee out of vengeance instead of justice. Evidently, putting Kong Hee behind bars for 8 years is not enough; what is needed is to destroy him. They might as well just ask the judge for the death penalty, then they can have their full vengeance! Yes, what Kong Hee did in his Crossover Project is wicked, but it is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! There are a lot of things in this world that are wicked, so should I make it my business to prosecute them? I think casinos are immoral, so when will the DPP (Deputy Public Prosecutor) go after the two Singapore casinos that are plying an immoral trade? I think changing the presidential election criteria with a probable intention of excluding someone from the race is immoral, but I wouldn't hold my breath for the DPP to prosecute those making those stupid recommendations.
Many people for whatever reason don't think of what kind of precedence is set and what are the implications of legal judgments. They are happy when the law goes after those they deem immoral or wrong, without regard for what might happen next. For those who think the government can punish Kong Hee for his immoral behavior, tell me: do you think the government has the right to punish legal but immoral actions of a private entity? Assuming the City Harvest leadership did not do the round-tripping but funnel funds into the Crossover project openly, with the members agreeing, and therefore the whole thing is perfectly legal, would you recommend prosecution of City Harvest then? If you think that the government should still be involved since a minority of former members complained, then you are arguing that the government has a right to meddle in the private affairs of a private institution. Since the government is secular and thus incapable of judging morality in and of itself, then you are opening the door to future persecution of the church. Let me ask you then, you who think it is fine for a government to meddle in the affairs of a private organization: If the government decides one day that anyone promoting a biblical view of the family is promoting "hate" against the LGBTQIAXXX "community" (a reality in many parts of the fallen West), can the government prosecute the church leadership if a few former members complained about experiencing "discrimination"? After all, in the eyes of such a wicked government, black is white and white is black. Promoting the biblical family is seen as a "hate crime" and thus immoral. Since you have already agreed in principle that the government can punish immorality in private organizations, upon what ground do you have to argue that a wicked government cannot punish any church, or even any school, for "discrimination" against the LGBTQIAXXX community?
This is why I am against the prosecution, because it is not the government's job to punish matters of morality except those according to evident natural law. By all means, Kong Hee and the other City Harvest board should be punished, but only for their accounting errors. As reprehensible as China Wine is, it is not a crime for City Harvest to fund its production.
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