Singapore Christian Church Apologizes for Comparing Taoist Beliefs to Protection Racket

June 16, 2010

Author: Alex Kennedy

Source: CJAD

Wire Service: AP

http://www.cjad.com/news/56/1154374

A Christian church in Singapore has apologized for a sermon by one of its pastors that mocked Taoist beliefs, the second such incident this year in the city-state where religious speech is closely controlled.

New Creation Church, which says it has a congregation of 20,000 worshippers, said it apologized for a sermon by Mark Ng in 2008 that was posted last week on YouTube and subsequently picked up by local media websites.

In the audio clip, Ng, who heads the church's Mandarin and Hokkien ministries, makes fun of some Chinese traditions and compares praying to a Taoist god to paying a criminal gang for protection.