Experiencing the Faith of Another Culture

The next several posts will be about my trip to Okinawa in 2007. My unit was there for approximately 100 days. We accomplished our mission and had some great experiences in the process. Here I want to share some of them.

This is me in front of a Shinto shrine on Okinawa. To me Shintoism would is a very empty and frustrating religion. Trying to appease all the various deities of earth, air, fire, and water, and everything in, on, and around them would be frightening, exhausting, and impossible. (If you wonder why my shirt looks funny...it had been raining...we were a bit damp.)

Our tour guide (born in a cave around the time of the U.S. invasion of Okinawa if I understood correctly- and a very fascinating lady!) is showing us prayers written on little painted boards (which are purchased for approximately 500 yen at the temple - cheaper prayer materials may also be bought) and hung before the shrine all year long. On January 15th every year, the prayers are collected and burned so that they may ascend to the gods.

Among the lessons I have learned from these experiences (and some others), is a very valuable one. When interacting with other cultures and particularly other religions, it is important to remember that these people believe what they believe as sincerely as you believe what you believe. They often have gone through as critical a process in formulating their faith as you have yours, some times even more. With this in mind, one must always respect other cultures and the individual religious beliefs of its people...even if you or I believe them to be wrong. To immediately begin degrading or attacking deeply held beliefs is disrespectful to the person and to the environment from which they come.

It is much more profitable to enter into meaningful dialogue based on mutual respect, that each might understand the other better, and on such a foundation begin to address the crucial issues that really matter. Once this occurs, even disagreement can be a dynamic environment for progress as each individual is confronted with new paradigms. Ultimately, truth itself will be given opportunity to demonstrate its validity in such a context.

I am a Christian. I believe the words of Jesus when He said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by me." However, just because I have accepted this to be true, does not give me the right to abuse others with my faith. Rather, I am compelled to practice the compassion of Christ Who never scorned or belittled sinners. In fact His greatest moments of compassion and deepest acts of mercy were directed to those who often did not believe in Him.

One of the greatest discourses of all time was late at night to a man who desperately wanted truth. But it challenged his entire understanding of faith, religion, culture, and very identity. Jesus said to Nicodemus, "You must be born again." and "God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son...." (John Chapter 3)

So when you interact with the people in your life, respect them, respect their journey, and compassionately share what you trust to be true. Also plan to listen in return to better understand them and their journey and to develop a friendship foundation for faith.