Thinking About Lots of Things

As some of you know, I have just returned from spending the last two and a half weeks in Thailand. This was my first trip there and was full of learning experiences for me. I went to Thailand for two meetings, and while there a third meeting was added.

The first meeting I attended was a joint meeting of the Asia-Pacific Forum, of Church World Service, and the Christian Council of Asia. This was the first time the two groups had ever met together, and the first time for the AP Forum to be in the AP Region. Both groups learned from each other, and I learned much about both. While at this meeting I was asked if I would like to attend the National Workshop on Theology in Thailand, which was being sponsored by Payap University, McGilvary College of Divinity, and the Christian Council of Asia. I quickly said yes to the invitation.

For two days, mostly students from McGilvary, met together to discuss issues related to the "kingdom of God," "wellness," "reconciliation," in the Thailand context. We discussed issues like sex trade and "kingdom of God," and the need for reconciliation even within the church, and between ministries of the church.

It was at this meeting that I was surprised to learn something about prostitution, which I did not know before. While there had been prostitution in Thailand for centuries, it was more quiet and subdued. It was not yet a big industry. However, the big industry came into being with the advent of U.S. military bases in Thailand during the Viet Nam Conflict, and the need of a place for tired, stressed out military people to come to be "relieved of their stress and tension." Thailand became the place for all the "needs" of the military personnel to be met. There is a direct relationship, said one of the speakers, between the U.S. military presence and prostitution becoming a big industry. Wondering if the speaker was making things up, I did an internet search. What he said had basis in fact. I wonder if there were voices of the religious conservatives speaking up? Did anyone speak up, or out about this? Did any of the churches speak out, whether "liberal," "conservative," Protestant, Roman Catholic, or Eastern Orthodox? Um..... I really don't know.

The third meeting I attended was the 30th General Assembly of the Church of Christ in Thailand. There were two exposure times for those of us who had come from outside of Thailand and the Church of Christ in Thailand. One afternoon we visited the McKean Rehabilitation Center. The Center started out as a place to which people with leprosy were sent. Over the years, with better treatment of the disease, and an understanding that people responded to treatment much better if they were kept in community, the Center has moved into areas of rehabilitation issues beyond leprosy.

The next day's exposure was to the ministry of CCT with and among people with HIV/AIDS. One of the things which stood out to me was what was said by a panel of three women who spoke to us. Each one of them had become HIV positive from their husbands infidelity. What came as a shock to me was that two of the three women said they were not angry with their husbands and saw no reason to burden their husbands with any sense of guilt. I thought that to be "interesting," and particularly in light of the fact that all three women were Buddhist. I thought to myself how unlike what I would expect from Christian women in North America.

Christians have a great tendency to lay guilt trips on people. In a situation like the women in Thailand experienced, I suspect that many, maybe most, Christian women would have been incensed and infuriated by their husband's behavior, and even if he showed remorse, would still have difficulty forgiving him. I suspect the reverse would also be true, if it was the woman who became HIV positive. Yet, here were three non-Christian women, two of whom were not angry, and saw no good coming from anger, and the third who was at first angry, all three forgiving their husbands for both having had sexual relations with someone else, and for giving them the virus.

Sometimes Christians think that forgiveness is predicated on repentance; that before forgiveness comes the human being has to act. What about that passage, "While we were yet sinners, Jesus Christ died for us."? It gives one pause to think, be silent, reflect. Were the Buddhist women more reflective of forgiveness than many Christians? Um....

Out of this experience I came to appreciate something said by Ambedkar. For those who do not know who Ambedkar was, he was the primary person behind the Indian Constitution of 1948, which outlawed the caste system. Why the caste system still has its effects sixty years later is another story. Anyway, Ambedkar was raised a Hindu. He became convinced that the caste system was wrong, and decided to convert from Hinduism. Ambedkar talks about having studied the Christian faith, and then became a Buddhist. He said that while the Christians taught the right things, they did not live it.