Thread by @sharanvkaur, Let's talk about Bethel Church, what it has to do with Singapore, [...]

Let's talk about Bethel Church, what it has to do with Singapore, and what it means to import "culture wars".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethel_Church_(Redding,_California)

Bethel Church is a megachurch in Redding, California. It has its own music label for worship music. It was launched in 2001, but grew rapidly 2009 - 2014...

(which incidentally reflect a similar timeline as City Harvest Church & Sun Ho's Crossover Project.)

Bethel Church first came to my attention in Dec 2019 when, I kid you not, they were praying to revive a dead 2 year old child. #WakeUpOlive was trending on twt for a week.

To me, it seemed kinda sick and grotesque but hey, people are allowed to practice their religion however they want, right?

(They also took the opportunity to start a gofundme... what financial concerns are there in raising the dead??? got 78k anyway) https://slate.com/human-interest/2019/12/olive-alayne-heiligenthal-resurrection-bethel-church.html

In California, a Christian Megachurch Is Trying to Bring a 2-Year-Old Girl Back to Life

Olive Alayne Heiligenthal died last Saturday.

https://slate.com/human-interest/2019/12/olive-alayne-heiligenthal-resurrection-bethel-church.html

More recently, the church has been up to spreading G̵o̵d̵'̵s̵ ̵l̵o̵v̵e̵ covid in their hometown... https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-11-01/god-masks-and-trump-what-a-coronavirus-outbreak-at-a-california-church-reveals-about-the-election

God, masks and Trump: What a coronavirus outbreak at a California church says about the election

The Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry caused a super-spreader event in Redding.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-11-01/god-masks-and-trump-what-a-coronavirus-outbreak-at-a-california-church-reveals-about-the-election

and elsewhere, as one of their worship leaders Sean Feucht insists on travelling to other states to hold ~superspreader~ prayer rallies, or "worship protests" when he's denied a permit.

He also ran for Congress as a Republican last year (abortion, anti-vax, sex ed, etc)

Another church leader, Kris Vallotton, who'd prophesied a Trump win, apologized soon after the election, then took down his apology when people called him a coward, before reposting his apology again in January.

he also did this once

The head of Bethel Church, Bill Johnson, co-wrote "Invading Babylon: The Seven Mountain Mandate" in 2013, which is when that movement really kinda took off (though it existed long before that).

https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2020/03/25/powerful-pentecostal-movement-aims-to-conquer-seven-mountains-of-american-life/

after a while, I noticed that I kept running into the same names over and over again. no one seems to identify as being part of the New Apostolic Reformation movement, it just seems to be something someone else calls you ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

many links here:
http://www.piratechristian.com/berean-examiner/the-six-hallmarks-of-a-nar-church

$after a while, I noticed that I kept running into the same names over and over again. no one seems to identify as being part of the New Apostolic Reformation movement, it just seems to be something someone else calls you ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯many links here: http://www.piratechristian.com/berean-examiner/the-six-hallmarks-of-a-nar-church$

Al Jaazera once called it "America's Own Taliban" https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2011/7/28/americas-own-taliban

America’s own Taliban

A fast growing right-wing politico-religious presence plans to implement an end-times, Christian theocracy in the US.

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2011/7/28/americas-own-taliban

what

does

this

have

to

do

with

singapore

Good question! Here's a list of speakers invited to Singapore for church conferences in the past five years. See any familiar names here?

what does this have to do with singapore Good question! Here's a list of speakers invited to Singapore for church conferences in the past five years. See any familiar names here?

I've always been curious about what happened in '18. When Rice reported on Lou Engle's Islamophobic remarks,did MHA follow up on the other speakers? Are foreign speakers only responsible for what they say here? Are churches responsible for who they feature?

Bethel Church is also closely linked with the Changed movement and its #oncegay hashtag.

A coincidence that Singapore's http://truelove.is was launched around the same time?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2019/09/06/ex-gay-christianity-movement-is-making-quiet-comeback-effects-lgbtq-youth-could-be-devastating/

Bethel Church is also closely linked with the Changed movement and its #oncegay hashtag. A coincidence that Singapore's http://truelove.is was launched around the same time? https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2019/09/06/ex-gay-christianity-movement-is-making-quiet-comeback-effects-lgbtq-youth-could-be-devastating/

The anti-abortion Unplanned movie, presented by The Heartbeat Project, screened at Joanna Theng's daddy's "values-based" Christian-content-only cinema?

Music by Bethel and featured Kris Vallotton

There are many criticisms of NAR/dominionism/seven mountains mandate, from Christians, theologians, religious studies profs, political researchers and even the local Ethos Institute for Public Christianity.

https://ethosinstitute.sg/paganising-christianity/
https://ethosinstitute.sg/seven-mountains-mandate/
https://ethosinstitute.sg/distortions-of-dominion-theology/

Now here's what I think.

There are 6-700 churches in Singapore, most of them small and happy to mind their business.

We have a handful of megachurches, who've accumulated an outsized reach, power and money. FCBC, CHC, NCC, COOS, CSCC... they've all seen some drama.

The National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS) only represents about 2-300 of churches.

Recently, a separate alliance was formed, the Alliance of Pentacostal-Charismatic Churches of Singapore (APCCS).

i thought their FAQ page was kinda funny.

This is one of the reasons why I was surprised by this quote. It was the first thing I've seen that confirmed I wasn't loco

Churches? Churches in Singapore have known ties? Known ties to FAR-RIGHT COUNTERPARTS and you're... urging? That's it??? https://twitter.com/sharanvkaur/status/1354505457642082304

https://twitter.com/sharanvkaur/status/1354505457642082304

So churches in Singapore can disagree on a lot of things, but they won't call each other out publicly because they remain united on the issue of... Teh Gays?

sure, that makes sense, Ingroup-Outgroup 101

But pretending that Singapore's racial minorities or queer folk asking to be treated with respect are responsible for "importing culture wars" is BS, especially when this kind of right-wing extremism has been slowly stewing.

I appreciate the difficult task of maintaining harmony among groups with differing values, but the right to exist (and thrive!) shouldn't be up for debate.

And "letting (conservative) society take the lead" is doing exactly that.

in conclusion,,,

thread from last year: https://twitter.com/sharanvkaur/status/1290173382936281089?s=20

https://twitter.com/sharanvkaur/status/1290173382936281089?s=20

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