Social and Personal Values of Christian Minority People in a Buddhist State

Guomin Gracie Yuan

Authors

Guomin Gracie Yuan Krirk University

Keywords:

Buddhism, Christianity, religious practice, Thailand, music

Abstract

Christianity is a minority belief in Buddhist Thailand but its influence should not be underestimated. This study aims to present a real picture of the Christian devotees’ true in-heart thinking, which reflected and influenced their life experiences, social roles and personal behaviour. Moreover, the study explores church management structure from the angle of rationalism, going beyond individual devotee’s direct, surface emotional feeling. Sincerely listening to the voice of respondents, the relationship between Christianity and Buddhism is more clearly presented with its deep hierarchy, wide diversity and co-existence adapted to the times. A well-designed field study is implemented in Bangkok with a total of 30 interviews in which the respondents include local Thai people, Indonesians, Filipinos, Chinese and Americans. In addition to the interviews, researchers visited various churches and exchanged knowledge and experience, as well as observing the activities there and attempting comprehensively to understand the true belief and its endurance.

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