Nexus Junction: Freedom to Think, Vital to Question

There were 2 excellent comments in Thursday's Straits Times that resonated with me. They were both on an article by Ngiam Tong Dow about fostering creative ideas in the Singapore culture.

Freedom to think
http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Story/STIStory_337151.html
'The model in the Bible is one of fear and submission. Look to Greek philosophers instead.'
In his otherwise excellent article on Tuesday, 'Fostering the freedom to think', Professor Ngiam Tong Dow offers the Bible as a model of free thinking, as opposed to the Chinese imperial examinations. I beg to disagree. The model of behaviour in the Bible is one of fear and uncritical submission to 'the will of God'. A prime example is the story of Abraham who followed 'the will of God' and tried to sacrifice his own son. This is not an example of 'fostering the freedom to think'. If Prof Ngiam is looking for a model of 'freedom to think', he could look to that provided by Greek philosophers instead. In the dialogues of Plato, participants search for answers through the critical examination of one another's claims. To say they 'plead and argue' with one another is not the best expression either, due to its legal connotations, which have nothing to do with freedom to think as practised by philosophers.
Dr Panagiotis Karras

The second comment is:

Vital to question
http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Story/STIStory_337136.html
I WAS delighted to read Professor Ngiam Tong Dow's article on Tuesday, 'Fostering the freedom to think'.
The Chinese equivalent of learning or scholarship means 'learn and question'. A school is usually seen as a place where one's questions are answered, when it should be a place where one learns to ask more questions. If a student leaves a school with fewer questions than when he enrolled, he should demand a refund. A teacher who cannot answer all his students' questions is a poor teacher, and one who can, has poor students.
The Chinese model of a great teacher is a famous teacher who produces top students. A lifelong teacher will have failed if he does not produce a single student more prominent than himself.
Shouldn't a good leader also foster creative thinking and encourage questioning? Isn't it a sign that a great leader should step down when he starts to believe that wisdom stops with him? I believe this: Do not crown yourself. Let others do it. Do not allow others to remove your crown. Do it yourself.
Ee Teck Ee

Both comments resonated with me. Dr Karras struck a truth vein about the inhibiting restrains of Christian thinking. The problem with Christian philosophy is that you first have to accept the dogma that every one is born a sinner, and that Jesus died for our sins. This is alien thinking for me. If every one born a sinner, it speaks more about the kind of deity that the Christians worships than about people in general. This is why I find Christianity to be intellectually deficient and unsatisfying, although the bible does make interesting fiction reading.

I like the phrases Ee Teck Ee wrote:

A teacher who cannot answer all his students' questions is a poor teacher, and one who can, has poor students.

The Chinese model of a great teacher is a famous teacher who produces top students. A lifelong teacher will have failed if he does not produce a single student more prominent than himself.