King Mwanga II ascended the throne of Buganda at the age of 16 on 18th October 1884. The 19th century Bantu kingdom, located in present day Uganda, was the focus of Christian missionaries during the Scramble for Africa. Traditionally, the Bugandan king's power was absolute, and that included pleasing his sexual appetite through the unyielding pages … Continue reading Christian Dignity and Its Political Consequences
Faith
The Christian Invention of Romantic Love
Perhaps one of my favourite Netflix series, Indian Matchmaking traces matchmaker Sima Taparia as she guides clients through the Indian arranged marriage process. Before we assume this a practice largely swept away by our contemporary world's notion of marriage for love, it is worth sharing surveys as recent as 2018 in India showed 93% of … Continue reading The Christian Invention of Romantic Love
How Christianity Subverted Ancient Family Values
What is the traditional family? If one thinks its defining features as a nuclear family with heterosexual parents, it may come as a surprise that this is a fairly recent concept that is by no means historic across most cultures, both Western and non-Western. While the ethnographic and historical literature on familial structure is vast, … Continue reading How Christianity Subverted Ancient Family Values
The Case of Slavery: How Christians Can (and Should) Go Beyond Scriptures
The 4th century saint Gregory of Nyssa wrote: You are condemning to slavery human beings whose nature is free and characterised by free will. You are making laws that rival the law of God, overturning the law appropriate for humankind. Human beings were created specifically to have dominion over the earth; it was determined by … Continue reading The Case of Slavery: How Christians Can (and Should) Go Beyond Scriptures
Freedom of Speech and Freedom to Listen
The concept of freedom of speech carries a lot of cultural baggage. It is perceived variously as a fundamental right of liberal democracies to an unwelcome Western import. Singaporean theologian Roland Chia argues that freedom of speech is crucial for an open society and a "discursive form of democracy", but also that: ...if truth is … Continue reading Freedom of Speech and Freedom to Listen
The Origins of Secularism in Pre-Enlightenment Christianity
Is secularism of irreligious provenance? This common perspective is echoed in Singaporean Christian magazine Salt & Light: The separation of religion from politics, resulting in the notion of “private religion”, is the outcome of the secularism associated with the 18th century European Enlightenment. Here, secularism is linked with the irreligious rationality of the Enlightenment, a period … Continue reading The Origins of Secularism in Pre-Enlightenment Christianity
The Stranger Beyond the Gate 