Protestantism is a culture of individuality, willpower and loneliness.
Catholicism is a culture of dialogue.
Orthodox Christianity is a culture of joy.
As a result, Protestants try to understand and improve themselves to change the world for the better.
Catholics try to understand the Other and establish a conversation.
And the Orthodox love life and try to express this love. Hence the notorious resistance to change. Why change if everything is gooooood?
And of course Buddhism is about accepting that which is and will be, including change …
So why get worked up about it?
All of the Orthodox who try to stand in front of change wind up getting steam rollered by it when it finally builds up momentum.
Then they act surprised when it’s the most predictable thing ever.
On top of the wave of change, there will always be some Buddhists who are enjoying the serene calm and fun, looking out at all of the destruction that was inevitable, that they could do nothing to prevent, and that they know they can “build back better” from anyway.
So Buddhists do that instead.
Also, there’s no Buddhist Christmas.
Every day is Buddhamas.
You don’t need to buy gifts because every day is a gift.
And so if I were in the slightest bit tempted by Christianity, I might consider the Orthodox view, but I’m not.
It’s actually pretty good to be a Buddhist, especially a Japanese Buddhist.
But it’s not like we’re expecting it to be great, because that would be an attachment to an outcome that we can’t predict, let alone create.
Along that path lies oppositional defiance for its own sake. 🙂
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A conservative literary critic and college professor
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