Boaz, you wrote that "Thailand, spiritually dead for years and years, closed minds, deaf ears, blind eyes to the gospel. We prayed.. and prayed.. and then prayed more and now 1000s are coming to Christ."

Unbelievable. My understanding is that prior to becoming the location for American R&R during the Vietnam war, Thailand was a peaceful Buddhist country. I've heard audio tapes of correspondents in the country pre-war which support that. An American friend of mine was CIA head of station in Thailand during the war. He was very taken by the peaceful, calm nature of the Thais, which he attributed to them being practising Buddhists. This led him to a spiritual search. He spent time with Krishnamurti, Suzuki and Sayagi U Ba Khin, and was authorised by U Ba Kin to teach Vipassana (which is the practice taught by the Buddha, not Buddhism).

I met a very saintly Thai monk, Achaan Cha and his American disciple, Achaan Sumedho, when they visited England, and subsequently visited Achaan Cha in his monastery in NE Thailand in 1979, and spent time with him as a novice in 1980. I found the locals very devout, as regards following pancasila (the moral code taught by the Buddha and in other eastern religions) and in giving dana, alms, to the monks. I can't recognise your description at all.

Achana Cha was the epitomy of non-attachment. He pointed out to me, however, that the lay people who came to the monastery, devout as they were, failed to grasp the essential teachings of the Buddha. One day when 300 lay people were chanting in a hall at the monastery, he said that while he taught impermenance, non-attachment, the people didn't understand, they were chantng "Let me not be separated from my loved ones," etc, not understanding that such separation is inevitable. The problem arises in many religions that most people do not in fact follow the true teachings of the founder, hence the problems which arise within and between religions.

Well said, Faustino.

Thailand (the name is Thai for "Free Land") is the only south-east Asian country that has never been under occupation by a Western power. It has had a long, sometimes troubled journey towards democracy but has never had to throw off the corrosive legacy of Western gunboat imperialism that damaged every one of its neighbours.

Boaz clearly inhabits a different universe from the rest of us.

Coach: Do U really think U are entitled to force yr religious views on others? Such strategies have never worked (cf. USSR, Roman Empire, both tried this against Christians; English tried against RCs, etc etc).

GW: never judge a book by its cover. Brown cd have 3 eyes & 6 tentacles but so what? What someone looks like is surely immaterial in relation to what they say.

Leigh: U have a point. Clearly from his piece G. Brown wd agree with U. I guess the message is: we shd tolerate everything except intolerance. Those not prepared to tolerate the West's religious & other freedoms can hardly complain if in turn they are not tolerated by the West.

Actually the piece under discussion prob. belongs in "Law & Liberties" rather than "Religion & Spirituality". It's not about religion but about democratic freedoms & those who fear and reject it.

I once read a novel where an accidental timetraveller finds himself in 6th Century CE Rome - a hotchpotch of Christian religious factions. A member of one of these complains about persecution. Questioned, it turns out he defines "persecution" as allowing freedom of worship to factions other than his own. Some Muslims (Brown's targets) and Christians seem to define it the same way. Likewise the Hindu fanatics who incinerated a harmless Christian missionary & his kids a few years ago - the same ilk who murdered Mahatma Gandhi.

Dear Faustino
Yes, I can see where ur coming from, and the last thing I want to do as a person is threaten or disrupt your obvious desire to live a good life as you see it, in terms of becoming dis-attached to the sources of pain and suffering, through Buddhism. You comments about Thailand are also acknowledged.
Yet at the same time, I speak as one who knows Christ, in heart and in mind, and so it becomes imperative to announce Jesus, the Saviour,Son of God, -to all, irrespective of philosophy of life.

In your case, I am aware of a degree of fragility in your background as you have intimated here from time to time, which includes some exposure to Christian knowlege.

I ask that you understand my comments in the context of what you know about the gospel. Yes, I hope you return to Christ, or perhaps just discover Him for the first time.

Thailand is very 'religious' indeed, but considering the Buddha himself was not teaching a 'religion' this is surprising. It reminds me of those at Athens who were very religious and had an idol to 'An Unknown God' Paul announced "What you worship as unknown, I proclaim to you". Thai people are looking for fulfillment, forgiveness, and seeking to 'make merit' to avoid being reborn as a frog etc...

What they are striving after, we proclaim, -in Christ all the fulfillment and reconciliation to their Creator is made known.
As it is for we in the West also, and those in this forum.

The story of the 300 chanting is interesting. People don't want to be detached from loved ones. Jesus said "Unless a man hates mother, father, etc,even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." meaning of course, placing Him ahead of all things. But at the same time, he berated those who used 'religion' as an excuse for not caring for loved ones. When we are united with Him, our loved ones will be more loved.

Mike.. I could not agree more.

Buddhism is only a philosophy , that believes in reincarnation (wishful thinking) won't tread on or kill a blowfly or ant in case it's a relative. It is not spiritual as Buddhist's want us to believe.
Just look at all Buddhist nations like Vietnam,laos,Thailand,etc, poverty,disease,misery and no hope with kids sold as prostitutes.

Christianity has not done that, we are blessed by Christ although a backslidden nation,revival is soon to come, as in Wales in 1904 and Asuza St .
Russia and Kiev especially are crying out for more of God they were forced into atheism and communism ,told there was no God and they fell,why? No religion. China the same but have underground churches of millions,people experiencing God'slove

Christianity is NOT religion it is a lifestyle . Christ hated religion and the religious priests ,who were as white washed tombs,and vipers who robbed widows ,He rebuked them also for openly praying out loud so all could see how great they thought they were and were law enforcers like Islam.

He said they were sons of hell.
Religion tries to put on a happy face,wants attention ,full of pride and arrogance . Religion can be anything and everywhere,you don't need statues ,as many idols are in men's hearts.

The New Testament Bible,in Ephesians ch6 v12 says, we are not fighting flesh and blood, but against principalites,powers ,rulers of the darkness of this age ,and spiritual hosts (demons)of wickedness in heavenly places. And to pray at all times .
Boaz is right ,we need to pray 2 Chronicles Ch 7 v 14 non stop .Pray without ceasing .
To the atheists and non believer's you will believe there is a Hell 5 seconds after you arrive there, Jesus,spoke more about Hell than Heaven check it .
Most of all, "God Is Love", and He Loves all mankind.
I know ,He saved me and you don't know where I came from ,so don't mock I was 42 years a non believer .Islam and Muslims are visited by Jesus in mosques and dreams telling them He loves them , He IS The Way.

Bushbred

Islam wasn’t accepted it dominated through jihad. Actually it is Christianity that was accepted, its first three centuries were marked by persecution by a dominant antagonistic surrounding culture.

Islam conquered previously Christian Asia Minor, North Africa and the Holy Lands. Obviously great centres of learning included.

"The Arabians contributed in a very large degree to making Aristotle known in Christian Europe; however, in doing this, they were but transmitting what they themselves had received from Christian sources; and, moreover, the Aristotle who finally gained recognition in Christian Europe was not the Arabian Aristotle, but the Greek Aristotle, who came to Western Europe by way of Constantinople."

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01674c.htm

Yet why did Islam stagnate and Europe rise?

"While the other world religions emphasized mystery and intuition, Christianity alone embraced reason and logic as the primary guides to religious truth. Christian faith in reason was influenced by Greek philosophy. But the more important fact is that Greek philosophy had little impact on Greek religions. Those remained typical mystery cults, in which ambiguity and logical contradictions were taken as hallmarks of sacred origins. Similar assumptions concerning the fundamental inexplicability of the gods and the intellectual superiority of introspection dominated all of the other major world religions." Prof. Rodney Stark

Averroes, Avicenna and Jewish philosopher Maimonides are used as examples of a golden age in Islam. The Rabbi Maimonides died in exile suffering religious persecution throughout his life. Averroes was banished and his works consigned to the flames. It was Latin and Jewish preservation of his works that affected Europe.

“The overthrow of Mutazilite (doctrine that Quran was created rather than eternal) Islam, coincided with the loss of the scientific edge of the islamic world and the rise to prominence of a more dogmatic approach to islam, of which Al-Ghazali was a staunch defender. Sunni and shi'a Islam became the mainstream schools of islam. As a consequence, the tables turned and most scholars and scientists like Ibn Rushd and Avicenna with Mutazilite views were the victims of persecution themselves in the centuries to follow.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Muslims#Persecution_of_and_by_Mutazilites