Abstract
Most nation-states have policies for the management of religion. For those with diverse religious communities, the question of how to ensure the peaceful coexistence of the various religions becomes an important challenge for effective governance. This is more so under contemporary conditions of globalization, as the movement of diverse groups of people across nation-state boundaries could facilitate the creation of diasporas, thereby creating challenges in assimilating these new groups into existing social, cultural, and political orders. A significant concern for scholars and politicians alike is the problem of the management of religious diversity and the maintenance of social order. As Linda Hogan states, “It is the plural nature of the presence of religion, and the fact that all citizens—and especially religious believers—have to contend with that pluralism, that makes the debate about the role of religious voices in the public square so critical, and so contested”. Many debates surrounding proselytization and its implications for pluralism deal with the question of the public role of religion in society and the possibility that contestation over scarce resources—land, money, and potential converts—could lead to social conflict. Contestations among civil society groups over public issues are essential to maintaining a vibrant civil society in a liberal polity. However, unlike competition among non-religious groups that “recognize the legitimate existence of each other,” religious conflict often “does not proceed on this assumption, but actually seeks to overcome, eliminate, or convert the other to extinction.”
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
See Berger (2005).
- 2.
See, for example, Casanova (1994).
- 3.
Ethnographic data for this chapter is collected from fieldwork among the Yiguan Dao that has been ongoing since 2008 and involves formal and semi-formal interviews with members, participant observation in worship sessions, and attendance at study courses, talks, and seminars held at the Yiguan Dao premises in Singapore.
- 4.
Lu, The Transformation of the Yiguan Dao in Taiwan.
- 5.
Ibid., 154.
- 6.
According to one Yiguan Dao catechism, apart from the term laomu, the Dao is also referred to as mingming shangdi (明明上帝), wanling zhenzai (万灵真宰), weiyi zhenshen (唯一真神), zaowu zhu (造物主), lao tianye (老天爷), and shangdi (上帝).
- 7.
Elementary Class (Singapore: Chong Hua Tong Tou Teck Hwee, n.d.).
- 8.
This is a pseudonym.
- 9.
Song, “Zongjiao chuanbo, shangye hudong yu wenhua rentong,” 423.
- 10.
Soo, A Study of the Yiguan Dao (Unity Sect) and its Development in Peninsular Malaysia.
- 11.
A rather similar proselytization strategy is adopted by the Tzu Chi Foundation, as described in Julia Huang’s chapter, in its emphasis on good works and its appeal to ethnic Chinese, both in Taiwan and overseas. See also Juliana Finucane’s chapter on the Soka Gakkai’s focus on volunteerism and secular activities in its outreach efforts.
- 12.
For a succinct summary of the secularization thesis debate, see Hanson (1997).
- 13.
Singapore Registrar of the Association.
- 14.
Song, “Zongjiao chuanbo, shangye hudong yu wenhua rentong,” 2002.
- 15.
For a discussion of the complicated relationships that evangelical Christians have with their Chinese identity in Singapore, see the chapter by Daniel Goh.
- 16.
Straits Times, October 21, 1995, “60 Years On, He is Still Eager to Help the Needy.”
- 17.
Ibid.
- 18.
Straits Times, August 9, 1999, “The Public Service Medal.”
- 19.
I thank Juliana Finucane for suggesting this.
- 20.
Lu, The Transformation of the Yiguan Dao in Taiwan, 137.
- 21.
Song, “Zongjiao chuanbo, shangye hudong yu wenhua rentong.”
References
Bataille, G. (1985). In A. Stoekl (Ed.), Visions of excess: Selected writings, 1927–1939. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.
Berger, P. (2005). Religion and global civil society. In M. Juergensmeyer (Ed.), Religion in global civil society. New York: Oxford University Press.
Buoma, G. D. (2008). The challenge of religious revitalization and religious diversity to social cohesion in secular societies. In B. S. Turner (Ed.), Religious diversity and civil society: A comparative analysis. Oxford: Bardwell Press.
Casanova, J. (1994). Public religions in the modern world. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Chua, B. H. (1997). Adjusting religious practices to different house-forms. In Political legitimacy and housing: Stakeholding in Singapore. London: Routledge.
Clart, P. (1997). The phoenix and the mother: Interaction of spirit writing cults and popular sects in Taiwan. Journal of Chinese Religions, 25, 1–32.
Clart, P. (2000). Opening the wilderness for the way of heaven: A Chinese new religion in the greater vancouver area. Journal of Chinese Religions, 28, 127–143.
de Certeau, M. (1988). The practice of everyday life. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Duara, P. (2003). Sovereignty and authenticity: Manchuko and the East Asian modern. Lanham: Rowan & Littlefield.
Formosa, B. (2010). De Jiao: A religious movement in contemporary China and overseas: Purple Qi from the East. Singapore: NUS Press.
Fox, J. (2010). Secularization. In J. Hinnells (Ed.), The Routledge companion to the study of religion. London/New York: Routledge.
Hanson, S. (1997). The secularization thesis: Talking at cross purposes. Journal of Contemporary Religion, 12(2), 159–180.
Hogan, L. (2009). Introduction. In N. Biggar & L. Hogan (Eds.), Religious voices in public places. New York: Oxford University Press.
Jordan, D. K. (1982). The recent history of the celestial way: A Chinese pietistic association. Modern China, 8(4), 435–462.
Jordan, D. K., & Overmyer, D. L. (1986). The flying phoenix: Aspects of Chinese sectarianism in Taiwan. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Kong, L. (1993). Negotiating conceptions of ‘Sacred Space’: A case study of religious buildings in Singapore. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 18, 342–358.
Kong, L. (2002). In search of permanent homes: Singapore’s house churches and the politics of space. Urban Studies, 39(9), 1573–1586.
Lu, Y. (2008). The transformation of the Yiguan Dao in Taiwan: Adapting to a changing religious economy. Boulder: Lexington Books.
Madsen, R., & Strong, T. B. (Eds.). (2003). The many and the one: Religious and secular perspectives on ethical pluralism in the modern world. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Marty, M. E. (2000). Politics, religion and the common good. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Overmyer, D. L. (1976). Folk Buddhist religion: Dissenting sects in late traditional China. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Overmyer, D. L. (1981). Alternatives: Popular religious sects in Chinese society. Modern China, 7(2), 153–190.
Palmer, D. A. (2008). Heretical doctrines, reactionary secret societies, evil cults: Labeling heterodoxy in twentieth-century China. In M. M.-h. Yang (Ed.), Chinese religiosities: Afflictions of modernity and state formation. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Seiwert, H. M. (1981). Religious response to modernization in Taiwan: The case of I-Kuan Tao. Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 21, 43–70.
Sinha, V. (1999). Constituting and re-constituting the religious domain in the modern nation state of Singapore. In K. Kian-woon, K. C. Guan, L. Kong, & B. Yeoh (Eds.), Our place in time: Exploring heritage and memory in Singapore. Singapore: The Singapore Heritage Society.
Sinha, V. (2005). Theorising ‘Talk’ about ‘Religious Pluralism’ and ‘Religious Harmony’ in Singapore. Journal of Contemporary Religion, 20(1), 25–40.
Smith, J. Z. (1987). To take place: Toward a theory of ritual. Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press.
Song, G. (1983). Tiandao Goucheng. Taipei: Yuanyou Chubanshe.
Song, G. (1996). Tiandao Chuandeng Yiguan Dao yu xiandai shehui. Taipei: Chengtong Chubanshe.
Song, G. (2002). Zongjiao chuanbo, shangye hudong yu wenhua rentong: yiguan dao zai xinjiapo and chuanbo yu fazhan. In Song Guangyu zongjiao wenhua lunwen ji. Yilan: Foguang renwen shehuoxue yuan.
Soo, K. W. (1997). A study of the Yiguan Dao (Unity Sect) and its development in peninsular Malaysia. Ph.D. thesis, The University of British Columbia.
Stark, R. (1985). Europe’s receptivity to religious movements. In R. Stark (Ed.), Religious movements: Genesis, exodus and numbers. New York: Paragon.
Stump, R. W. (2008). The geography of religion: Faith, place and space. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
Tan, C.-B. (1985). The development and distribution of Dejiao associations in Malaysia and Singapore (ISEAS occasional paper no. 79). Singapore: ISEAS.
Tan, E. K. B. (2008). Keeping god in place: The management of religion in Singapore. In L. A. Eng (Ed.), Religious diversity in Singapore. Singapore: ISEAS.
Thio, L-a. (2008). Religion in the public sphere of Singapore: Wall or division or public square? In B. S. Turner (Ed.), Religious diversity and civil society: A comparative analysis. Oxford: Bardwell Press.
Tong, C. K., & Kong, L. (2000). Religion and modernity: Ritual transformations and the reconstruction of space and time. Social and Cultural Geography, 1(1), 29–44.
Acknowledgments
I thank Michael Feener and Juliana Finucane for their insightful comments and suggestions on the various drafts of this chapter. Some parts of this chapter are included in my article, “The Eternal Mother and the State: Circumventing Religious Management in Singapore,” Asian Studies Review, 36, 19–37.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lim, F.K.G. (2014). “We Are Not a Religion”: Secularization and Religious Territoriality of the Yiguan Dao (Unity Way) in Singapore. In: Finucane, J., Feener, R. (eds) Proselytizing and the Limits of Religious Pluralism in Contemporary Asia. ARI - Springer Asia Series, vol 4. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4451-18-5_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4451-18-5_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-4451-17-8
Online ISBN: 978-981-4451-18-5
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawPhilosophy and Religion (R0)