(This open letter was published on 29th September 2019, on HSS Facebook page)
Thanking mothership.sg for its article on Closeted Ex-Muslims
The Humanist Society Singapore (HSS) would like to thank mothership.sg. for bringing up the plight of the invisible class of religious refugees in Singapore, in its 22nd September 2019 online article <Despite rising numbers of atheistic Singaporeans, this ex-Muslim remains closeted >.
We empathise with Rahim‘s situation, and know the closeted problem to be more pervasive, involving different religions and their apostates or disenchanted.
People fall out of religions, this being the flip side of people getting or changing religions, for reasons only they know in their heart of hearts. This is why freedom of religion must be the center piece of any country’s human rights landscape. But little do people realise, that enshrined as the essence of freedom of religion, is the core which is freedom from religion, the lubricant that oils the very machinery.
Ask ourselves : if there is no freedom from religion, how can people flee from their old religion in order to adopt another, or to simply leave a religion to consider options ? A similar concept – marriage – does not dictate that a divorced person to immediately remarry, and remaining single perfectly acceptable.
Now that this premise is clarified, it is important to question at what age freedom of religion be applied on an individual, and hence that same age for the corresponding freedom from religion statute to be accorded concurrently ? This is a tough question, because religion is a topic that governments usually leave to the family unit – too young an age would mean the government meddling in family matters, and too old would mean younger children have no rights to religious freedom. That governments ‘defer to the family’, the limit of secular states stops at the front door of the family unit.
Religion literally binds families, partly because youngsters have no financial independence, so it is not surprising that Rahim renounced past 21 years old – a legal requirement, and almost certainly a personal finance one. The harsh reality is : religions can be tribal. Family stance becomes especially strident, when the extended family and social circles get involved and exert pressure. God is love, but no-god quickly instigates a threat by the family to withhold shelter and sustenance.
HSS organises talks and events, for our community of non-religious people. We welcome people to join our activities, to learn and to find a social hangout that one can call one‘s own. We meet non-religious people from all walks of life, also people who are formerly religious. Our activities sometimes end with a photo session which participants are reminded they need not be in pictures, to avoid being recognised or identified. HSS knows the sensitivity.
Supporting religion leavers is another level of care and challenge, in that both new leavers need special attention without undue coaxing, and the closeted support community needs the assurance a new leaver will not revert back to religion, and potentially rat off the rest. Trust and confidentiality are of the utmost importance.
HSS does not currently run a counselling service, but can help refer the needy to some.
We feel it important that this issue be discussed in an open setting, while the leavers remain shielded. The mental, psychological and even physical harm leavers receive, would likely be from their closest loved ones, so the pain would be particularly traumatic.
Again, thanks be to mothership.sg, for surfacing this long standing and often submerged issue.
Tan Tatt Si
President, The Humanist Society (Singapore)
29th Day of September, 2019
