J. Sawat Selway and Dr. James A. Toronto, Asian and Near Eastern Languages

Culture affects every religion. Mexican Catholics are different from Italian Catholics in their liturgy; Iranian Muslims are much stricter than Albanian Muslims in their attitude toward women; and Japanese Buddhists emphasize meditation more than Indian Buddhists. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not exempt from such terrestrial influences. As the Church spans across the world, and penetrates deep-rooted cultures, how immune to culture are the Church’s teachings and practices? Further, how defined are the Church’s teachings, concerning the different beliefs and practices that other religions teach? First, the beliefs of members change amongst different cultural groups within the Church. Second, if the Church has definite teachings regarding issues it has encountered from mixing with other highly religious cultures, it has not communicated its standing clearly on them.

First, the Church is susceptible to change in its beliefs and practices as a result of culture. As South-east Asian refugees have poured into the United States, the number of South-east Asian converts to the Church has also increased. This has highlighted the problem of culture affecting the Church. A ward of Caucasian members in Utah is considerably different from a ward of Laotians in California. Following are two accounts not uncommon amongst Southeast Asian members:

Posai Bungthavong* is experiencing a major decision in his life – where will he go to college? He receives a blessing from his home teachers. In the blessing, his home teacher tells Posai that this was his decision; that the Lord does not command in all things; and that the Lord will look after him wherever he goes. Posai was still dissatisfied, and talks to his parents, who are not members of the Church. His parents advise Posai to visit the wat (a Buddhist temple) with them on Saturday and seek further counsel. Posai feels a little uncomfortable with this at first. Is this against the Church’s teachings? However, in accordance with Asian tradition, Posai does not want to disrespect his elders. Posai takes some gold leaf to rub onto a statue of Buddha, as is considered respectful, and visits with a monk who performs fortune telling. The monk holds a bowl of chopsticks. Each chopstick has a number on it. After talking with Posai, the monk shakes the bowl. A chopstick quickly falls from the bowl, and the monk interprets the number on the chopstick to tell Posai which college to attend. The next day is fast Sunday. Posai, a priest, blesses the sacrament and bears his testimony as to the truthfulness of the Church.

Sirikit Garuda* has just heard the joyous news of her daughter, Viyada getting married. As is usual with mothers, she is worried. Will her daughter’s husband-to-be treat her well? Will the marriage last? Will they have a son? Sirikit talks with her Relief Society President who attempts to calm her fears unsuccessfully. Sirikit talks to her bishop who assures her that she has nothing to worry about, but Sirikit wants to know. Finally, she calls her daughter and attempts to ask inconspicuously for her future son-in-law’s birthday. Viyada knows exactly what her mother is up to. “Mother, we don’t need to get our future revealed,” she weakly protests; Viyada is also curious about what lies ahead. Sirikit takes the birth dates to an old Buddhist woman whom she knows, and relates what is said to her daughter. Viyada tells her fiancée. He is surprised that Viyada engages in such things, but forces a smile when she assures him that it is just a fun part of their culture and that she does not really believe in it. After half a year of marriage, Viyada gets into a heated argument with her husband. “The birth dates were right all along,” she says to him bitterly.

Accounts such as these are not uncommon amongst ex-Buddhist Mormons. However, how much of it can be understood simply as culture, and how much of it violates the eternal principles that are the foundation of our religion? The Church has to tread carefully as it crosses ever increasingly different cultural boundaries. The Church has no desire to strip its members of their culture. Rather, it wishes to embrace each unique and beautiful culture and add to it the eternal truths of the gospel. Ever present in our minds are the pictures of our beloved prophet, President Hinckley, with a lei of flowers around his neck, enjoying the beautiful traditional dances of the Polynesian islands. Buddhist temples are similarly beautiful and peaceful. Southeast Asian architecture is intricate and awe-inspiring. Wind charms blowing gently in the wind, harmonize with the deep chanting of monks, and uplift the soul. The wat is also a social gathering place. This is more prominent in America, where South-east Asians feel secure in a rare place where their culture is not being assimilated. It is hard for ex-Buddhist Mormons to give all that up.

Do they have to give it up? If so, is that made clear to them before they are baptized? If not, how can the Church ensure that they are not engaging in practices against the Church’s teachings. Is fortune telling against the Church’s teachings? The remainder of this essay will explore how ex-Buddhist, Southeast Asian members understand these questions. From the material I present, it will be clear that if the Church has definite teachings regarding issues it has encountered from mixing with other highly religious cultures, it has not communicated its standing clearly on them. Most of the subjects I interviewed agreed that there was no harm in visiting the wats. They spoke of the wats’ beauty and peacefulness. They spoke of the social repercussions of excluding oneself from the culture. However, they all agreed that the practice of prostrating oneself down before the statue of Buddha was against the Church’s teaching. The subjects also mentioned that some members, especially the older ones, still worship Buddha in this way. One of the girls I spoke to commented that she could see the wisdom in cutting oneself off completely from the wat. “That is the only way to change,” she remarked. “You have to completely change your environment.”

When Buddhists visit the wat, they tum bun. This refers to the offering of food to the monks to support them. Monks are not allowed to work or beg for food. They rely on the lay members to support them. Nobody thought that this was bad. One returned missionary thought that it meant that we were supporting them and keeping the religion alive. However, the Church did contribute a lot of money to the Hindu temple over in Spanish Fork. Why? With this logic, most of the subjects thought there was no harm in bringing gold leaf to rub on the Buddha statue.

The subject of fortune telling brought out some strong and differing opinions. A few Southeast Asian members believe that the priesthood, as given from God, is the only good source of power on this earth. Anything else is from the devil. Other members accused these few of being narrow-minded. One girl had had her palm read and found out that she was born before in the 17th century and died as a martyr in Europe. In another life she was an Eskimo. She believed in it all still. She said it was “an ancient knowledge as useful as acupuncture and other Asian remedies.” The majority believed that the church teaches about gifts of the spirit. One girl commented that in the Old Testament there were lots of prophets and prophetesses, which were not of the house of Levi. She believed that everybody had innate talents. Some knew how to heal people whether they were inside the church or not. Others could tell the future. “But,” the returned missionary rebutted, “their power is not from God.” “Why not?” the girl retorted. “The fortune teller woman may be genuinely trying to help people, and the devil doesn’t want to help anyone.” “He does want to deceive though,” the returned missionary continued. “I still believe the church is true,” she remarked. “But others don’t,” he insisted. “They are kept from the knowledge of the truth, blinded by these powers.” She saw his point but she never agreed definitely that it was all from Satan. “God blesses people in each nation. Do you think he would leave them for so many thousand of years? That’s presumptuous” she rejoined. “That’s the whites preaching that they are the supreme race. We are all looking for the same place. God has just given us different ways to get there.” She had difficulty with that. Why did God not give Asians the full truth too? She preferred to think Buddha was from God, and that his followers distorted his teachings. She could see many similarities between Buddhism and Mormonism. We just articulate the same principles differently. “Everything that makes you do good is good.”

It is clear that a significant culture within the church has differing beliefs with regard to certain practices. The logic they manipulate is directly from the scriptures and does not seem apostate. However, this study has left me with the following questions: does the Church have official teachings regarding these issues? What other practices do other cultural groups engage in within the church? Are the general authorities aware of these concerns? How can the Church bring them into conformity if they judge that they are contrary to the Church’s teachings?

*These names are not real