There were so many things that Rony Tan could have said when the Straits Times asked him for a response to the police reports made against him, but what did he do? He stuck to his guns, made no apology for what he said, and instead reminded gay and lesbian Singaporeans that they were criminals in the eyes of the law. Here’s the part of the ST report [behind paywall] that relates to his response:

When contacted by The Straits Times, Pastor Tan, 64, defended his remarks.

He said: ‘I’ve said nothing wrong, you know. Like I said, my stand is with the average person and the Government.’

He said he had always taught his congregation that the homosexual community should not be discriminated against.

‘But, of course, you know there is a law against homosexual acts, so that’s always been my stand.

‘I’ve always taught my people that…if they (homosexuals) are talented, we should not deprive them. And if we have friends, we should still continue the friendship.’

He added: ‘The act is wrong, (but) as a person, there are a lot of good points that we should appreciate.’

Remember Rony’s preposterous claims that gay people were paedophiles and boy-molesters that would run around doing bad stuff to kids if they weren’t stopped? That if the church didn’t warn people about homosexuality, “half the world would turn gay”? That if this problem weren’t nipped in the bud, then people would soon ask to get married to donkeys and monkeys and dogs, and apply for HDB flats with them? Yes. Rony Tan stands by ALL of those claims. “I’ve said nothing wrong, you know.”

I especially love the way he hid behind the law and subtly played the patriotic card:
‘Like I said, my stand is with the average person and the Government…., you know there is a law against homosexual acts, so that’s always been my stand.’

Heartwarming. Makes me wonder what his stand on abortion is? Makes me wonder why he didn’t expend the same amount of energy and time railing against all those sinful baby-killers and the state for abetting them? This reeks to me of hypocriticism of the highest level.

The next line takes the cake. Here’s where Rony’s ‘agape’ love really shines through:
‘I’ve always taught my people that…if they (homosexuals) are talented, we should not deprive them. And if we have friends, we should still continue the friendship.’

I guess we all missed the video for this one! So gay people shouldn’t be deprived only if they’re talented? What should we do with gay people who aren’t talented? Smother them with a pillow perhaps?

I say, this man is devoid of the love, grace and compassion that he preaches about.

More importantly, he can hide all he want behind the court that runs on the law of the land. But he’s totally lost it in another more important court — and that’s the court of public opinion.

Since there appears to be no public relations consultant among the 12,000 members of Lighthouse Evangelism to help Rony Tan formulate his responses to the press, here are a few things I would have advised Rony to say if he had hired me as his crisis communications consultant^[1]:

“First, I must apologise if I had offended anybody. That wasn’t my intention at all. I apologise unreservedly to anyone who has been offended by my remarks made in the Cheryl Bachelor ex-lesbian video.”

“I also acknowledge that I am not the most knowledgeable expert in issues related to homosexuality. I take back my remarks associating gay people with paedophiles and zoophiles, and once again, apologies are in order. I want to assure people that you will not hear me making such comments again.”

“We would like to open the doors of our church to members of the gay community and anyone who took offense to the contents of the video this Sunday [insert time here]. I would like to apologise to them personally for my remarks. Lighthouse Evangelism is a church with open doors, and we welcome EVERYBODY to visit us as they are. No exceptions.”

I know how sorry can sometimes be the hardest word to say. But hey, he wouldn’t have had to compromise one yot or tittle of his faith to say any of the above. And he would have scored so many more points.