Christianity and Westernism?

[~darkelfgirl~]

In "westernism", I mean the "western culture" (as in the Western Hemisphere).

Maybe it is just me, but for some strange reason, some Christians have this mentality (it's been around for hundreds of years) that being a Christian means having to be westernized.

I mean, I happen to like the Eastern cultures (not the gods and religions), and that seems to be frowned upon by older Christians, and so is my love of anime/manga. It seems as if I'm now isolated in my youth group because I publicly said that I liked anime and Asian stuff...

Maybe it is just me? I don't mean to stir up any controversy if this seems controversal.

[LadyRushia]

I feel the same way sometimes. It's like some people's atittudes are, "If it's Asian, it's evil and you must stay away from it."

Does God not love every culture, including the Asian ones?

It's this sort of mentality that makes Asian Christians feel awkward. I read on a website for a DVD called "God's Fingerprints in Japan" that Japanese people feel like they have to stop being Japanese if they want to be Christian. Not that we have those "older Christians," as you put it, going over there and telling them that they're culture is evil evil evil, but I think you know what I mean.

I, personally, wouldn't want to associate with people who would look down on me because of my interests (mostly because God's using my interest in anime and my writing to do some pretty nifty things). If you feel like they're looking down on you, ask them why and maybe explain to them your point of view. It could be that they just don't know enough about the topic at hand, so they just go with "okay, it's bad. I'll stay away from it."

Still, they shouldn't treat you any differently. We all know what the Bible says about judging.

[Zarn Ishtare]

Christianity and Westernism are very close to one another, as Western Culture exists because of Christianity. The problem alot of Christians have with Asian culture is that is imbued with religious/superstitious ideologies. Most Japanese follow Shinto culturally, if not ethically or religiously, for example, and will thus take part in the old rituals great and small. Christianity requires a complete rejection of this, thus the low numbers of Christians in Japan.

[Debitt]

some Christians have this mentality (it's been around for hundreds of years) that being a Christian means having to be westernized.

I think I've noticed something similar as well -- many Christians (and a lot of people from Western cultures, honestly) seem to have the view that "okay, there are other cultures, so what?", which really gets to me often, being both an Asian Christian and an East Asian Studies major in school. I for one see nothing wrong with abandoning that ethnocentrism, as I think it allows for us as Christians to spread Christ's word more easily beyond our western comfort bubble. :3 I mean -- it's easier to relate to someone when you're more willing to come to an understanding of their culture, right?

Also -- I find absolutely NOTHING wrong with being interested in East Asian religions. Shinto and Buddhist mythology is fascinating, and I find Taoist writings to be incredibly interesting and poetic. Just because you learn about a religion and find it interesting does not mean that you're betraying your own religion, and I hope I'm not out of line in saying this, but I think that Christianity's knee-jerk reaction against Eastern religion is just as unfortunate as its reaction against east asian culture. Sure we should recognize that these religions are far from being the same as God's word, but that doesn't mean treat them as wrong or taboo.

[Kaligraphic]

Of course, we also get the flip side of this, those of us living in Western culture, because so much of Western culture becomes conflated with Christianity without really being related. God has been known in the Middle East far longer than in Europe, but we miss those things which God has established there simply because we assume that all of the knowledge of God has been preserved through European lines.

After all, what if there's something of the nature of God in some of these cultures that we miss, simply because it doesn't look Western enough for us to recognize it?

[Warrior4Christ]

Becoming a Christian doesn't mean "become like me". I means "follow Jesus".
So cultural diversity is good.

I think that idea is dangerous, because it causes cultures to disappear, and may discourage people from accepting Christ who may be resistant to a culture change.

(Btw, I'm from the eastern hemisphere...)

[mechana2015]

I have often observed this, and I think it's rather silly to think that every person must have the same culture as yourself.

Many christians seem to think that, unless you walk like me, talk like me, dress like me and confess like me, you arn't a christian. This is a foul viewpoint and flys straight in the face of biblical examples, drives people away from churches and poisons peoples minds towards christianity. Can you imagine what goes through the mind of a person that sees one christian tear down another for their clothing, hair or other cultural aspects?


"If everybody looked the same, we'd get tired of looking at each other." - Groove Armada

[ChristianKitsune]

I have often observed this, and I think it's rather silly to think that every person must have the same culture as yourself.

Many christians seem to think that, unless you walk like me, talk like me, dress like me and confess like me, you arn't a christian. This is a foul viewpoint and flys straight in the face of biblical examples, drives people away from churches and poisons peoples minds towards christianity. Can you imagine what goes through the mind of a person that sees one christian tear down another for their clothing, hair or other cultural aspects?


"If everybody looked the same, we'd get tired of looking at each other." - Groove Armada

QTF
I remember going to a youth camp, and there was this one really awesome guy who wad dressed REALLY differently. He had a Gigantic green mowhawk, he wore chains and this really bizarre color suite. I thought it was an awesome outfit.

But there were a lot of youth there that told him that he was setting a bad example and that eh shouldn't dress that way.

And there wer a lot of youth that really stood with the guy. He was a Christian, after all, But he dressed that way because he knew he coudl reach a certain group.

Being Judgemental based on appearance or where one is from is really sad. And I am amazed that Christians are all really guilty about doing this.

[Ashley]

Christianity requires a complete rejection of this [shinto]

I disagree, and I\'m afraid it\'s this very attitude that is leading to this myth that Christian = Western.

For example, a major component in Shintoism is honoring family and ancestors. So instead of telling Japanese skeptics \"if you become Christian you have to stop ancestor worship\" we should tell them, \"as a Christian you can only worship the True God, but He still wants you to honor your family. You can still respect them and wish to honor their name, and continue to hang their pictures in your home or remember their death day.\"

There are several more examples of Shinto beliefs/customs that I think could be redeemed, or transformed, so that the attitude becomes a proper one without totally divorcing their culture and making them into Western robots.

I am very passionate about missions work in Japan, and I believe if it is going to be successful it is going to have to become native. Maybe that means instead of singing traditional hymns, we let native Christians write their own songs and sing them in Japanese. Maybe it means having church on a different day than Sunday morning, which culturally is not considered the \"day of rest\" it is here in the States and would be difficult to attend. Maybe it means preaching in Japanese, rather than with a translator. A good missionary will replace themselves, and raise up native leaders to take over the church from there.

So no, Christianity does NOT have to be Western, and it is up to the leaders of the church in Japan, Korea, China, etc., to prayerfully decide how to make the local church appealing to local culture without compromising the truth of the gospel. They need to decide what is cultural (i.e. style of worship buildings, hymns) and what is essential (the preaching of the Word, the sacraments, etc.).

[uc pseudonym]

To add another element to the discussion, equating Christianity with Westernism also leaves out the Eastern Orthodox. They may be the smallest of the three branches of Christianity, but they still constitute hundreds of millions of people. Their tradition stems from a different basis than western thought and is a considerably more eastern variety of Christianity.

[~darkelfgirl~]

Yeh, it does turn many people away and/or against Christianity. I just feel that it is harder to reach the unsaved if we're so rigid about culture. I mean, nowadays its all about "This is evil, that is evil. That's secular." I just feel like this is just turning into a Salem effect. We're just pointing fingers at people while sitting on our holy thrones (this is all I see when I watch the news--some people's viewpoints are actually formed from exposure to the media). What happened to reaching out to help people and spreading the Gospel?

I recently wrote a prayer request for the "Ministries Ink" Christian manga organization (Dai-go and his friends are forming this). I haven't received the usual "We're praying for you" phone call yet from my church's prayer group.

People I've seen of different cultures who have become Christians seem to be struggling to get into the western lingo.

I think judgmental Christians need a wake up call.

[LadyRushia]

Fingers have been pointed at people for a long, long time, and it does need to stop; however, it's not going to so long as people feel the need to deem different interests, styles of clothing, etc. as "evil."

[Doubleshadow]

One of my favorite missionaries, Sundar Singh lived as sadhu, a Hindu priest, what he was training to be when he became a Christian because he saw that Indians would not accept Christianity unless it was relevant to them, because being a Christian meant becoming English. And, my favorite, you can see in the Bible that debate about whether or not being a Christian meant being Jewish, too. Think of Timothy getting flak for being half Greek.

Culture is a human thing. To say that following Jesus means adopting a certain cultures ideas of what's significant is distracting and dangerous. That's why Christians are such trouble makers: non-conformists who won't be bullied by society. I've been thinking a lot about how people mistake a general Judeo-Christian morality for being a Christian because of how that influences my role as a Christian in politics and if I have determined right and wrong by God's standard or my cultures. One of the most difficult parts of that has been rejecting some of the teachings of my parents.
I'm a very American Christian, I'll admit, but I'm working on it.

[Sammy Boy]

Sorry, no time to make a long post, but...

1. God is the God of the whole universe, be it western culture, eastern culture, or other.

Thus God transcends cultures and can speak to humans of all cultures.

2. All cultures, because they are expressions of humanity, have their good points and bad points, right and wrong. Thus all cultures may be in line with God's purposes in some areas, and out of line with God's purposes in other reasons.

Hence I do not think any culture is necessarily superior to another.

3. I think aspects of eastern cultures which are against God's purposes ought to be rejected.

But I believe not all aspects of eastern cultures are against God's purposes. Thus we ought not to reject the entirety of eastern cultures.

[Nia-chan]

I don't like the idea they had back then when some missionaries went to African or Native American tribes and gave them Western or "Christian" names

[Ashley]

I forgot to post this with my earlier point, but:

Something I try to do to help combat this is that whenever I contemplate a theological point or issue, I try to ask myself: How would someone who is not from America take this? or even How do African Christians interpret this?

It really helps me to try to break down the difference between what I think about the Bible and what it might be saying behind my American filter.

[mitsuki lover]

Of course, we also get the flip side of this, those of us living in Western culture, because so much of Western culture becomes conflated with Christianity without really being related. God has been known in the Middle East far longer than in Europe, but we miss those things which God has established there simply because we assume that all of the knowledge of God has been preserved through European lines.

After all, what if there's something of the nature of God in some of these cultures that we miss, simply because it doesn't look Western enough for us to recognize it?

'Scuse me but you got some 'splainin' to do there Lucy!:lol:
The sentence 'God has been known in the Middle East far longer than in
Europe,etc.'should actually and more accurately read 'God,as revealed
in the Bible,has been known in the Middle East far longer than in Europe,etc.'
Our ancient Northwestern European ancestors were quite aware of the fact that some sort of Gods existed they were just ignorant of the existance of
the God of the Hebrews.

As far as it goes,remember when the first Gentiles began to convert to Christ the Apostles faced the problem of wheter they ought to become Jews first or remain within their cultural setting.This is the basic problem that has always and will always face missionaries taking the Gospel to lands where the people have never heard it before.

And also Ashley is correct to say that there is nothing wrong with a lot of
Shinto/Buddhist beliefs,nor there is nothing wrong with many beliefs that non-Christians hold.The challenge really is to make it possible for the new Christian to see that he or she does not have to become Westernized to become a complete Christian.
I like pork and ham and other parts of pig meat so I am glad my Celtic,Norse and Germanic ancestors didn't have to become Jews to accept Christ and the Gospel.