Pastor Rony Tan called up by ISD

Lighthouse Evangelism Senior Pastor Rony Tan had paid a visit to Phor Kar See Kong Meng San Temple (in Sin Ming) to tender his apology to the Secretary-General of the Singapore Buddhist Federation Venerable Kwang Sheng in person over the remarks he made about Buddhism.

Pastor Tan first made the remarks to his congregation about two weeks ago which was video-recorded and uploaded to Youtube where it was widely circulated in cyberspace.

In the three video clips, Pastor Rony Tan was seen interviewing a former Buddhist monk and nun about their experiences with Buddhism and appeared to make some disparaging comments on the tenets of its teachings such as nirvana, meditation and reincarnation.

In the hour long conversation, Pastor Rony Tan made a solemn promise to Venerable Kwang Sheng that the incident will not repeat itself again.

Venerable Kwang Sheng had accepted Pastor Rony Tan’s apology: “He offered his sincere apologies which we have accepted. After all, we do not wish to see the matter being blown up,” he said.

He also urged the authorities to ensure no repeat of similar incidents as such: “It is good that the authorities have looked at this matter, but this is a matter of national concern. We want to appeal to the public and the authorities to make sure there is no second time. Singapore is a multi-religious, multiracial society. There is no point arguing over who is right and who is wrong,” he added.

Singapore Buddhist Lodge chairman Lee Bock Guan urged restraint on the part of Buddhists so that tension does not escalate: “Buddhism teaches us to forgive; everybody makes mistakes.”

Message from Senior Pastor Rony Tan on his website.
"I have received a number of emails from people who have been saddened and hurt by the testimonies of an ex-monk and an ex-nun. I realized that my presentation and comments were wrong and offensive. So I sincerely apologize for my insensitivity towards the Buddhists and Taoists, and solemnly promise that it will never happen again.

When we have received those emails, we immediately removed the video clips from our website. I urge those who have posted those clips on the YouTube to remove them as well.

After reading the frank views from those emails, I was also prompted to tell my members not only to continue to love souls, but also to respect other beliefs and not to ridicule them in any way, shape or fashion.

Let's put our goal to build a harmonious Singapore a top priority."

The video itself & related videos can be found at this Youtube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryTe7HAWaL4&feature=related or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnJS81rxHQM

No offense but I feel that this Pastor is too strong in insulting with his words. Its not right to making fun of other religion as everyone has the rights to practice their own faith. There's no compulsion in religion & Buddhism is definitely not demonic.