Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Cross – religious symbol or fashion statement?

We all know that Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist country. More than 90% of Thais are Buddhists. About 3-4% of the population are Muslims. Less than 1% of them are Christians.

Yet in my recent trip to Thailand, I saw many young Bangkokians wear crosses, including one who prayed at the famous Erawan Shrine.

Is cross a religious symbol or a fashion statement? Do Thais understand the religious significance of it? Do missionaries purposely mislead Thais into believing that Christianity is trendy???

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2 comments:

Robin CHAN said...

Thanks for visiting.

The Erawan is a Hindu God. You may like to check my earlier post.

Do search for the Erawan at my blog, if you are keen.

January 15, 2008 at 10:46 PM
khengsiong said...

robin,
The deity in Erawan Shrine is Maha Brahma. Erawan is his seat, i.e. elephant.

But Brahmanism and Buddhism are not monotheistic. They can co-exist peacefully. A Christian, by definition, must NEVER pray to Maha Brahma, or pay respect to the Buddha, for that matter.

January 15, 2008 at 11:30 PM

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