Comments by "K `" (@user-jt3dw6vv4x) on "Why did Christianity Fail in Asia while Succeeding in Europe?" video.

@dennisthemenace4288 Indonesia is a Muslim-majority nation but despite that, the Hindu-Buddhist heritage is still a big part of Indonesian culture. At the end of the day, Hindu-Buddhist heritage is an innate part of Indonesian culture regardless of what religion most people follow as it was one of the elements that form the foundations of Western Indonesian cultures. So it'll always be there.
328
@rizkyadiyanto7922 So by that I assume all the other indigenous elements are disappearing too like Kejawen. That's not something to be proud about. I suppose Bali is the only place where indigenous culture still exists then.
48
@rizkyadiyanto7922 Hinduism came from India but it spread to other parts of Asia and mixed with local culture. That's what happened in Bali and Java. It's Balinese Hinduism. The other groups are erasing their heritage.
43
@Player-re9mo Yeah I can agree with that but you do lose at least some aspects of your heritage when you convert. As you said, they remove the aspects which go against Christianity and since the most basic aspects of Eastern religions and philosophies go against Christian teachings, you're basically losing your heritage. I'm speaking more specifically in the case of Eastern cultures as opposed to other cultures. Since Eastern religion and philosophy are so syncretised with local culture, by converting to Christianity you're losing your culture. That is why there is backlash in Asian countries like Nepal towards Christian missionaries because Christian converts disrupt the local values creating a cultural clash that authorities find very hard to deal with.
38
Yeah but that's the thing, the rulers didn't convert because the rulers were supportive of Eastern religions and philosophies. Eastern spirituality is tied within the local Eastern cultures which would mean that converting to another religion would be like giving up your own culture/identity. It's also why many of the Muslims in S/SE Asia still retain cultural practices associated with their indigenous culture as well as Hindu-Buddhist heritage. For example, Indonesian Muslims are one example who retain their pre-Islamic heritage. The Bangladeshi Muslims are another, who still celebrate the Indic-influenced Solar New Year along with other Asian countries like India, Thailand and Cambodia.
37
@rizkyadiyanto7922 Yeah Malaysia, Brunei and Aceh have always been like that but the rest of western Indonesia was always different. That's sad. I've already noticed the international reputation of Indonesia has taken a nose dive, I suppose it's the result of these changes and I assume it'll exacerbate as this continues. There was always something unique about the practice of Islam in western Indonesia, now it'll be like the Arab world. I don't want it to change but it's up to the people if they want to change or not. If they believe it's right for them then it is, I have no right to tell them that they're wrong because it's their culture and they have the freedom to practice how they want.
26
@justchilling704 A tiny fraction? Absolutely not, thousands and thousands of Christian missionaries make it their mission to travel to Asia and convert everybody from Nepal to Cambodia. If they could, they'd be in North Korea too. The purpose for them is spread their teachings but most people in Asia do not care about that. That's why missionaries focus on impoverished people because it's easier to convince a poor person that there is a higher being that can save them.
26
Japan and Korea were never close to Indonesia and Malaysia. What makes you think they were?
11
@rizkyadiyanto7922 If another Christian or non-Muslim candidate were to emerge the same issue would arise I fear.
10
@justchilling704 A sizeable portion conduct missionary work and they have journals and atlases to document "unreached people" and ways to convert them to the Gospel. A lot of ordinary Christian people also try to convert people. Missionaries educate people and provide medical assistance or food, that is true but there are layers to this. A lot of missionaries travel to rural locations in Asian countries like Nepal or Cambodia in the hopes of converting impoverished people. They hand out bibles and pamphlets in addition to their humanitarian work. It's easier to save a soul that is hurting than one that is well off, this is why a lot of Western and Korean missionaries travel across developing Asia.
9
@Z_X_M87 How do you know yours is the truth?
8
@mondaysinsanity8193 That is absolutely NOT true. Nobody conquered other regions in order to spread these religions. They spread through contact and trade. The reason why Buddhism and Hinduism spread so widely in other parts of Asia is because it was already compatible with the indigenous cultures that it spread to. This is why Buddhism and Hinduism are syncretised with local beliefs in all of the countries they are practiced in. That is NOT the case with Abrahamic religions. In traditional Chinese culture, Buddhism is viewed as one of the "Three Teachings" alongside Confucianism and Taoism and the three beliefs are syncretised together, the Five Precepts in Buddhism are the exact same in Taoism. This mixture of beliefs was spread to Vietnam and South Korea. In Japan, Buddhism introduced elements in areas that Shintoism did not focus on like death, so Buddhism and Shintoism were syncretised together. Across the entirety of Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, Buddhism and Hinduism were syncretised together with local folk beliefs like Nat worship in Myanmar and Satsana Phi in Thailand, the same applies to India and Nepal and in Bhutan and Tibet, Buddhism was syncretised with Bon.
8
@ozzymandias7346 I never said it was a European religion but Christianity is not an Eastern religion. The people beyond West Asia traditionally practiced Eastern religions. It being of Asian origin means nothing here because it has nothing to do with Eastern religions which is what I am talking about.
6
@mondaysinsanity8193 Well I guess the answer is that most Asian cultures have a stronger belief in their cultural heritage than other cultures. I suppose that's true because when we look at colonised Asian territories like Myanmar, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Cambodia, they firmly protected their heritage during the times of missionary work. The Allies' occupation of Japan after WW2 didn't alter Japanese culture, even India despite being conquered by West and Central Asian Muslim rulers is still Hindu-majority today. That part of the world is really the only place in the world where the dominant religions are non-Abrahamic. So yeah, now that I think of it, I think this is the answer.
6
@mondaysinsanity8193 It took over a century for Buddhism to be fully assimilated into Chinese society and one of the key reasons for why it became popular in China was because of Taoism. Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism spread through cultural diffusion. That is why Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism are only practiced within the Indosphere and Sinosphere. There is no other place on earth where Eastern religions were adopted by non-Asian (Indosphere/Sinosphere) people.
6
@mondaysinsanity8193 The reality is that all of these beliefs are Eastern religions and the very concept of Eastern philosophy is the result of all of these religious and philosophical traditions mixing together as a result of their compatibility. None of these religions would be so widely practiced if they were not compatible with the local culture to begin with, Eastern religions are seen as "ways of life". There is no strict dogma to follow, you aren't going to hell if you worship Vishnu in the morning, bow down in front of the Buddha in the afternoon and light some incense in front of a portrait of a Tai folk god or Shinto kami in the evening. This is just the way the East is.
5
@mondaysinsanity8193 I'm literally Asian, I'm speaking from an Eastern perspective. I think I know my own heritage, thank you very much. It was already compatible. It's time for you to do some reading on Asian history and religions.
5
Hinduism didn't spread to Iran because India's contact was with other parts of South Asia and Southeast Asia. It was people from eastern and southern India, who are further away from Iran, that took Indian cultural concepts to Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.
3
@mondaysinsanity8193 Reincarnation is a concept that exists in so many religious traditions, it's not just native to Eurasia. We're talking about Asia and you're talking about Europe, where is the correlation? You can't understand Asian history by looking at everything and comparing it to European history. That's not how it works.
3
@tivo3720 Christmas is actually really popular in some parts of Asia where Christianity is a minority. I know Christmas is considered the second biggest festival in Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka (only second to the South and Southeast Asian Solar New Year).
2
@patakichi Agreed. That's why Eastern religions have been syncretised.
2
@Trita-wg4nw The group that faces the most hate in India are the Muslims, not the Christians
2
That's because they have higher fertility rates
1
@giuseppecalegari3852 There are many poor people in Asia and it's the poor people in parts of South and Southeast Asia that ended up converting to Christianity. Christian missionaries target the poor in Asian nations cause it's easier to convert vulnerable people as opposed to people who are successful and don't need an organised religion to give them hope.
1
Yeah that's why a lot of Western people now turn towards Eastern philosophy and practice meditation, yoga, minfulness and things like that. In many Western schools, they now make kids do mindfulness before they start the school day as it calms the mind.
1
hiooxkrmagkis9323 Do you think all Muslims are the same? Indonesians and Southeast Asian Muslims are different to other Muslim groups. Stop homogenising.
1
@Kuihkoswi Malay Muslims in Malaysia completely adopted Islamic culture. Indonesian Muslims still retain their Hindu-Buddhist heritage despite being Muslims. Hindu-Buddhist was dominant which why it influenced a lot of aspects of the culture. Malay Muslims are different, they are also undergoing Arabisation.
1
@yodaeee That's so embarrassing. Why do Muslims want to be Arab so much?
1
@yodaeee That's so embarrassing. Why do Muslims try to be Arab?
1
@yodaeee That's so embarrassing and not something to be proud about
1
@majid7925 As I should
1
@mondaysinsanity8193 It was compatible. Why is it that Buddhism is only practiced in the Indosphere and Sinosphere? If you say it's about conquering and conversion, why is Buddhism not practiced in West Asia, or Africa or Europe? Why is it that Buddhism is still only practiced in the Indosphere and Sinosphere or what the Imperial Japanese in WW2 called "Greater East Asia" or "Sangoku"?
1
Yeah that's why missionaries focus on converting impoverished people because it's easier to convince a poor person of a higher power than can save them from their misery.
1
@korrzia How is that a lie? Didn't y'all learn about the Umayyad Caliphate?
1