A few days ago I went to the currency exchange window of the local bank in Chiang Mai. In front of me is a young American who has completed the currency exchange and exchanged the US dollar for Thai currency. He neatly wore a crisp white shirt, dark trousers and a green silk tie, sparkling under the rosy glow of his clean Nordic face. Similarly, in the exchange, the cashier accidentally overpaid him. The customer who made the mistake returned the money.
When the cashier thanked him gratefully, I came. The young man replied: "I came back because I was a Christian. He took a breath and disappeared into a bright, wet afternoon.
I suspect that the young assistant's missionary enthusiasm masks any of his sense of responsibility. The Thai bank teller may be a Christian, probably a Buddhist, because there are 90% Buddhists in Thailand. But the point is still that the comments of young Americans are insulting. His implication is that Christians are steadfast in their honesty and morality. Are those who practice Judaism, Sikhism, Jainism, Anim and Confucianism? Isn't Buddhism? Isn't Taoism? Isn't Hindu? Is the atheist not?
Many Christians believe that if you do not accept Christ as your personal Savior, you have no prayer to enter heaven. Their God is God, that's it. If you are not a Christian and want to benefit from eternal salvation, you must redeem through a magical Christian epiphany or a transformation in the Bible.
Imagine that a group of quite happy people lived on an undiscovered island not long ago. They don't have written language, but most people remember everything they said. Children are taught not to kill each other, to lie or steal, and not to greet other people's property. They are taught to obey and respect their elders and work for the benefit of the community. These boys are taught to respect mothers, sisters and wives as different but equal components of their life structure. People are taught to respect all biotic and abiotic spirits. After thousands of years, they chose a god. They call them god water. The people are healthy and happy and have met their needs. They are surrounded by their God and bathed in their God; they drink God every day; their crops flourish and their children grow up in the womb.
One day, a foreign ship landed on the coast. Dear is a group of Christians. Their first goal was to bring the people of the island into the arms of Christ and the Word of God. For the soldiers of the cross, it is very important that the moral framework of the people who believe in water is no different from the moral framework supported by Christians. It's a bit like the teacher said to his students: "I don't care if you have all the right answers.
A few months ago, I went to a mountain tribe in northern Thailand to visit my Aka friend. Akhas is one of the many mountain tribes living in northern Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and China. Their traditional religion is animism, a primitive system of faith in which both life and inanimate objects are filled with natural souls. There is no doubt that rice and its location are important on the list of important things in their lives.
I can't deny that Christian missionaries often provide help on the endless platforms of the mountain tribe community, but usually cost some money to reduce culture and spirit. The least important of these is bribery. "If you believe in my God, I will give you money and medicine, and hope. Who cares about you?" The worst bear remembers. Under the name and bloody banner of the Christian Church, murder and genocide, slavery and torture are too numerous to calculate and horrify.
Sadly, most of the damage advertised by religious fanatics was initially used by a few people to use religion as a palliative to lure many into war to maintain personal power and wealth.
When the founders of the US Democratic Party believe that it is necessary to separate the church from the state, they are well aware that the beneficial qualities of human behavior are inherent, no matter what our gods are. Morality is not the residual interest of any religion. It happens to be the only feature we have that allows us to coexist with each other. As a species, this is something to consider and something to cultivate. Today, we are more cautious than ever. The coat of democracy is being woven, and the cloak of religion is falling to something quite dark and threatening.
We don't know what Jesus said than we know the Buddha said five hundred years ago. We only know what other people say they say, or more may explain what they say. This word is of course a set of explanations that we inherited. I think if you can take all the religions in the world and put them in a large kettle to make them reach a rare viscosity, the result will be a common kindness and heavy rationality.
Young people in the bank refund money not because he is a Christian, not even a Buddhist, but only because it is the right thing to do.
Galengarwood
Orignal From: God's water, good ethics
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