I do believe that Christianity is true and that other religions are false. Do you feel that such a belief alone constitutes a “victory dance” over other religions or is there an additional attitude in the post that bothers you?

I would like to know. I can’t change my belief, but if I can work on an attitude adjustment that helps me communicate that belief more effectively to others, I am all for that.

I found the article interesting and worthy of highlighting for two reasons. One is that it is a positive story of people helping people. The other reason was the quote at the end of the article. The title for the post came from this quote.

I found the quote startling, as it did not come from the Christians who were helping, but from the Buddhist families who were being helped. They were the ones who felt that Buddha had not helped them in this situation, but that Jesus did. As a Christian who believes in the resurrection of Christ, I found the quote even more profound, because I believe Jesus really was helping them through the actions of his followers.

As far as pitting one religion against another, I don’t think we can (or should) say that Christians are better people than Buddhists or anything like that. However, I do think we can compare the truth claims of different religions and the teachings of different religions. Is there a love ethic in Christianity that spurred these Christians to reach out and help those of a different religion and culture? Is there a fatalism inherent in Buddhism that may have held back the same type of love and assistance? For those Christians who do not respond to situations like this with compassion, is there a disconnect between their faith and their lives? I think these are important questions to address.

So in summary, I don’t think Christians should be dismissive of people in other cultures. I believe that Christianity is true, and that Buddhism is not. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t learn from people in Buddhist cultures. And I certainly don’t think I am any better than someone who believes differently than me.

Hope that helps! Thanks for commenting.

Though I agree that the issue of charity in Buddha’s teachings (or, more precisely, the teachings of Buddhism loosely attributed to Buddha) versus in Jesus’ teachings (or, more precisely, the teachings of Christianity loosely attributed to Jesus) is an interesting one worth exploring, the way that this post is titled and worded certainly does make charity seem like a competition.

Worse, it seems to pit one religion against another. This kind of thinking (which I’m not accusing you of can lead only to competitive ignorance and dismissal of other peoples’ cultures.

Is this sort of thinking encouraged in Christianity? On the one hand I’ve heard many Christians refer to the unconditional love and acceptance of Jesus; on the other hand I’ve heard plenty of ‘flaming sword’ type stuff and more than enough gay-bashing.