Tuesday, March 2, 2021

Danger of Single Vision

 

"May God keeps us from single vision ...."- William Blake.

When Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh broached the possibility of religious bias in top civil servants either now or in the future, he is in my opinion alluding to the above quote from Blake.

When Home Affairs Minister Shanmugam responded by cautioning that Mr. Singh's statement could be misread as saying that top civil servants could be biased....and leaving that impression.. would be seriously wrong...", he is exhibiting clearly a single vision of always being 'attacked' by opposition parties and the need to defend at all costs.

Mr. Singh had cautioned that any dominant religious belief among senior civil servants "if not now, maybe some time in the future?" may put at risk laws and policies being "tilted towards particular religious beliefs". He also raised concerns over discrimination against LGBTQ community

Clearly I do not see this as an attack but truly a caution very well placed. One can imagine if in a situation all our judges belong to the same religious belief would it not be possible that their judgement  is subtly influenced by the same set of values; values which may not be held so strongly in another faith or community. 

Closer to home 'one vision' is a threat to harmony in families. Counselors often try to make their clients see their misbeliefs or one track mind. 

Surely our leaders can do better for the future harmony of our country.





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