Christianity and the discourse of morality : a tracing of Christianity’s “Morality” discourse, 1980-2013

Abstract

Why the preoccupation with public morality amongst the dominant forms of Christianity in contemporary times? Christianity’s engagement with the concept of morality has often been taken at face value, with the assumption being that morality is the Church’s business, so that few question the grounds for Christianity’s push into public morality. Of those who do question them, often it is readily accepted that the recent preoccupation with public morality is, by and large, a result of cultural import. However, is there a way to study the phenomenon without discounting the agency of the actors, Christian and state? Perhaps there is, by undertaking a historical study of the current discourses. Using public records of the Morality discourses from 2003, this paper explicates and contextualises the language and development of these debates over time, set against a context of a Christianity grappling with the new, modern Singapore. It is argued that within these debates, Christianity has managed to redefine the meaning of “morality”, so that others may be excluded from the discourse.