Buddhism and Christianity in America
Centuries after the proliferation of different religions in different parts of the world, they continue to shape much of the events in Western cultures today. Among those religions are Buddhism from China and Christianity from Rome. There are similarities among them in terms of moral teachings that have continued to shape the social, political, and cultural perspectives of American society. These include; creating law and justice, democracy, and philosophy. This paper, therefore, seeks to discuss the effects of these two religions on American culture.
The religions influenced law and justice among American culture. Chinese Buddhism, emphasizes the rejection of violence. It believes that any evil act done by a person is a result of Karma and they can only overcome this by gaining knowledge and understanding the dharma (Gregory, 2001). Similarly, Rome’s Christianity pays close attention to order. They believe that God is the supreme ruler and judge and, therefore, follows closely what commandments state (Ekeke, 2013). The same form of governance has been part of American culture. Different law institutions including courts and police have served an important function in the execution of the law.
Democracy is also another effect of these religions on American culture. Chinese Buddhism emphasizes the aspect of treating everyone equally which influences democracy (Gregory, 2001). In the same way, Christianity based on Constantine’s Edit of Millan also encourages vindication of individual freedom. (Ekeke, 2013). Consequently, Americans have adopted democracy in their governance by allowing people to express themselves and equally contribute to different national matters.
Additionally, these religions have influenced American philosophy. The Buddhist Chinese Sanlun masters paid close attention to logic and language. They argued that once change passes it cannot be reversed. On the other hand, Greek philosophers including Plato argued that change is not temporal. His view was a significant concept to Christianity considering that Christians believe in eternal life (Ekeke, 2013). These concepts have become an important aspect of American culture in the perception of different events in life.
Conclusively, Chinese Buddhism, and Rome’s Christianity have held an important role in American society. It has had a major influence on the general governance of the state in terms of maintaining law and order. It has also played a vital role in democracy and philosophy which continues to influence the thinking of different Americans.
References
Ekeke, E. (2013). The Greco-Roman and Jewish Contributions to the Growth of Earliest Christianity. American Journal of Social Issues and Humanities. Volume 3. pp 24-33.
Gregory, P. N. (2001). Describing the elephant: Buddhism in America. Religion and American Culture, 11(2), 233-263.