Different Under God

Book excerpt: “Different under God is the first substantial, comprehensive and scientific analysis of Christianity in Singapore, covering religious, social and political attitudes. This survey by Terence Chong and Hui Yew-Foong will be enthusiastically welcomed by todays sociologists and historians in the future. An important and timely contribution to the sociology of religion and to the study of Singapore.” —Bryan S. Turner, Presidential Professor of Sociology, the Graduate Centre, the City, University of New York, USA “This is a landmark study of Christianity in Singapore that is sorely needed today, not only to confirm many scholarly guesses, but also to dispel public stereotypes of Christians as homogeneously sheep-like or militant. Scholars and Singaporeans beware, Terence and Yew-Foong have started a fire that will enliven public discourse on religion and society for years to come.” —Daniel P.S. Goh, Assistant Professor of Sociology, National University of Singapore “Analysing individual and discussion-group responses from churchgoers in both mainline denominations and independent churches, this study grapples with a number of highly-relevant, even sensitive issues in contemporary Christianity: issues of moral values and attitudes (including those on sexuality and sexual orientation), money and giving, organizational belonging, governance, and others. While some of the findings and conclusions may reinforce broad perceptions of Christianity and churches in Singapore, others were quite eye-opening. Also useful for researchers, the study contains important data on respondents socio-economic backgrounds. All in all it is a most welcome scholarly contribution, and I expect that it will be a well-cited resource for future scholarship.” —Robbie B.H. Goh, Professor of English Literature, National University of Singapore