As I have traveled through the Muslim nation of Malaysia and now the Buddhist-Hindu nation of Cambodia, it has come to my attention that as a white American, it is assumed that I am a Christian. This has been a concept that has been a little hard for me to wrap my head around… American equals Christian. White person equals Christian. That is not our reality in the United States. That title is something that would not normally be assumed of a white American in the states, unless you are wearing a t-shirt with “JESUS” written across the chest. Our Malaysian friends told us that not only is it assumed that we are Christians but that their country sees everything that happens in America and comes out of the states as “Christian.” Scary thought… for me at least. When we asked them why, they said because America is a Christian nation. The words rang in my head, “America is a Christian nation.” They are right, we are. The United States was founded on Christianity and therefore is forever seen as a Christian nation. Malaysia is an Islam nation because that has been the country’s main religion; Cambodia is mainly seen as a Buddhist nation for the same. We, North Americans, are a Christian nation.
It’s interesting to me that countries are so defined by their religion. Shows me how important religion is… and yet, I feel like my country is trying to get rid of theirs. We Americans are funny, we are quick to push off titles so that we are free to “be who we are” yet we are constantly looking for ways to discover ourselves. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the United States. I miss it; I miss home. I feel like God is calling me back there to do ministry after the Race, which is pretty sweet. I have grown to love my country even more since I have been on the Race. In Haiti, a man told me about how much he loves America because America has given them more help than any other country before and after the earthquake. He said that America is a very giving country. Wow, thanks, that really makes me feel proud. In Cambodia, my contact Umong, told us that the Cambodian people love the USA because we helped them gain their freedom from the Khmer Rouge reign in the 70’s. As I walked through the genocide museum of the Khmer Rouge’s reign, horrific time in this country and all because Pol pot was crazy and communism ruled, we were informed that Pol pot used some of the equipment and tactics from the USA because of our involvement in the Asian countries in this area at that time, but that was not the US’s intent. Two realizations came from this moment: 1. There is A LOT that I don’t understand when it comes to our government and actions they take, though I certainly have a tendency to make an opinion or judgment on it though I very well may have no idea what I’m talking about. I think a lot of my generation does this. 2. I love America! From my understanding, if it weren’t for America, over half of the world would be speaking Russian or Chinese. We may be seen as the big bully in some areas of the world, but in a lot of others we bring freedom. We may control things for a bit in those countries and have requirements for the relationship, but I see that as our government trying to keep war off our land and make sure we are taken care of financially so we can continue to be who we are and bring freedom. I say “taken care of financially” realizing that we are still in debt as a nation, but that’s a whole other conversation.
So two characteristics that are seen as American in other countries is that we are giving and we bring freedom. That’s Christianity to me. I get everything I need from my relationship with Jesus, and I didn’t know true freedom until I started believing in Him. Pretty cool to see what we are as a collective people even when we don’t collectively realize what we are. So if those are characteristics that just about any human would see as good, and those are characteristics that define Christianity for me, why wouldn’t more Americans want to claim that they are Christian?
Digging in to this more and wanting to understand more of the people I am serving on this journey and myself, I started to ask questions… Tell me about Buddhism; did you ever feel spiritually fulfilled; are you practicing your religion, do you know why you are Buddhist; do you know why you are Muslim; can you talk about other religions freely, is this important to you?
Here’s what I heard:
Muslim in Malaysia- We must be Muslim; nothing else is allowed unless you grow up in a family that is another religion. If you are a Muslim and you become a Christian, you could be imprisoned, deported, or even killed. That doesn’t happen that much; what tends to happen more is that you are ostracized by your Muslim family, and not given as many opportunities by the government. Muslims are favored over every other people group in the country. They are given better jobs and better houses; the government uses this to try and force non-Muslims to become Muslim. Our Muslim government does not like Christians; other religions like Buddhism and Hinduism are more accepted than Christianity. If you are a Christian, you cannot openly talk about your faith unless someone asks you, and even then, you are not allowed to invite Muslims to Christian events. Christian students are not allowed to have Christian meetings on campus. If you fall in love with someone that is Muslim and you are a Christian or any other religion, you must become a Muslim to marry. Most Muslims are Muslim because that is what their family is, that is the country they grew up in, beyond that, most people do not know why they are Muslim; it’s just who they are, it doesn’t mean anything. Some Muslims are very active in their religion, but most are not. There are a lot of rules in Islam.
Buddhist in Cambodia- Most people are Buddhist because that’s what their father was, so that’s what they are, beyond that, they do not know why they are Buddhist and they do not understand Buddhism. Most Buddhist do not practice their religion, they may go to temple once or twice a year for a Buddhist holiday. I practiced Chinese-Buddhism because that’s what my father did, and in that we worshiped our ancestors, which is common for Chinese religion. From a Buddhist that has converted to Christianity: No, I did not ever feel spiritually fulfilled while practicing Buddhism, it was about doing rituals and following after what my father believed, I did not experience spiritual fulfillment until after I started following Jesus and I was freed from the spirit that was on me from worshipping my ancestors, it was a spirit (or what some would call a demon) that was passed down generationally. You can talk freely about other religions here. People are open to talk about different religions and most people are very accepting of whatever religion you choose to follow. They are open to listen to what you want to share and they are happy to see foreigners here.
Christian in America- well, for most of you readers, you have your own perspective and story in this category. From my present worldview, I can see how there are a lot of Christians who say they are though they may not know why they are, and that same story connects for a lot of Muslims and Buddhist in the world. The family and country you grow up in greatly dictates that title for people, so that statistic in the US that once confused me about the number of Christians in the US being something like 80% though I wasn’t seeing 80% of Americans attending church makes a whole lot more sense to me now. And with that, my first feeling is the feeling that I have been judgmental of my fellow Christian American. The Bible tells us to know why we claim to be who we are and why we follow Jesus, and I think the main reason is because to know why is well, for me, it’s having a relationship with Jesus which is so much more fulfilling than having a religion and extremely more passionate than not knowing what I stand for. Knowing why helps me live in the abundant life Christ died for. With that said, I am not called to judge but to bless, I do not have the ability to see a person’s heart, but I can encourage with love and call people up to live a fuller life, one full of identity, calling, and purpose; a life fulfilled that is open to talking about any religion because you know where you stand and who you stand with and why you stand. America is a strong nation; we are a strong people. I believe that strength comes from our Christian roots. I am proud to be an American, and my hope is as a collective people, we give God more credit for helping us be who we are.
Amen.
