[Buddha-l] Buddhism & American Christianity

[curt]

Buddhism and Christianity both live on many different levels. One of 
those levels is that of "religious vocation". This is the realm of 
people whose lives are primarily devoted to or revolve around religion 
itself. While the total number of Christians in American probably 
outnumbers the total number of Buddhist by 10,000:1 or something like 
that - at the level of individuals who are sincerely seeking a religious 
vocation, Buddhism competes head to head with Christianity, and might 
even have an edge (of course I lack statistics to back this up - but, 
hey, I don't mind!). Intelligent, well educated, serious minded young 
people who want to devote their lives to a religious vocation (the 
backbone of the clergy in any religion) are increasingly unlikely to be 
drawn to Christianity in America, or in Europe for that matter. They are 
far more likely to be drawn to Buddhism. While hard statistics are, 
well, hard to come by in terms of a direct head to head comparison, the 
"recruitment" statistics for the Catholic clergy are pretty 
illuminating. The number of intelligent, well educated, serious minded 
young people interested in becoming Catholic priests is rapidly 
approaching zero in America and Europe. And its not just the numbers 
that matter here - but the quality of the "material". Its never been a 
challenge to find people who are willing to exchange honest work for the 
guaranteed daily three square meals and free room and board (not to 
mention the health insurance and retirement benefits) that are part of 
the Priestly package - but getting people you really want and who are 
genuinely up to the job has always been the real issue.

If your student wants to see how Buddhism is affecting Christianity I 
would suggest she interview seminarians and ask them how they have been 
influenced by Buddhism, and ask Seminary teachers how they think their 
students have been affected by Buddhism. If she can possibly track down 
some Carmelite nuns they would probably love to tell her about how they 
have been influenced by Buddhism.

- Curt

Timothy C. Cahill wrote:

>
> Dear Friends & Colleagues,
>
>    One of my students (displaced by Hurricane Katrina) is trying to 
> write a senior thesis on the influence of Buddhism on modern American 
> Christianity. I had pointed her in the direction of sources on 
> Buddhist-Christian dialogue, but she (rightly) seeks more. If anyone 
> can supply me with sources I would greatly appreciate it.  Her exact 
> words are pasted below.
>
> best,
> Tim Cahill
>
>
> --------------------
> I'm having difficulty finding anything that really addresses my topic 
> (how
> Buddhism has affected modern American Christianity).  I have tons of
> resources for interreligious dialogue between Christians and Buddhists:
> finding similarities and differences, but nothing that actually addresses
> how/if Christianity has changed due to these new currents.  I want to
> address the Vatican II Council, but I have no interest in arguing that 
> the
> conclusions and statements of that council where chiefly due to Christian
> encounters with Buddhism.
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