Thai Church

Thai Church

Although the vast, vast majority of Thais are Therawada Buddhists, there are a few Thai Christians. Here we sit in the offices of a Thai Christian church in Bangkok.

Unlike many Christians, Thai Buddhists seem to feel that Buddhism can coexist with other religions. As a Christian, I can come to a Thai temple, and I can offer food or gifts to monks. I've found that they will happily bless me and encourage me on my spiritual path, whatever that might be (using words to that exact effect in at least one case).

Life can be rough on Thai Christians, however, because the whole culture revolves around Buddhism, and when a Thai Christian, unexpectedly, shows unwillingness to celebrate Buddhist events, or participate in school-related activities that happen to occur on Sunday morning, or refuse to show the kind of god-like reverence often shown towards images of the king, they are not always treated with understanding and respect.

This is not to say that there's anything wrong with either Buddhists or Christians. It's just how things play out.

My own opinion is that Christians should be more like Buddhists, becoming more accepting of alternate spiritual paths, and not insisting so adamantly that other cultures are automatically damned because they do not accept Jesus Christ as their savior. Remember that many non-westerners associate Christians with war, conquest, overzealous missionaries, businesspeople who care little for their culture, and so on. Lots of westerners end up in Thailand looking for various forms of sex to engorge themselves with cheap hand-made and other goods and souvenirs. Basically, Christians are often hypocrites and poor examples of a Christ-like life.

That's not to say that Therawada Buddhists can't learn anything from Christians. We just have to understand that if we want them to accept us, we have to follow our own rules. If you believe they'll all end up in hell for not following our religion, maybe it's you who need to learn a thing or two, not the Thais.