Christianity seems to be popular as a modern thing in a lot of Asia (in Chinese diaspora communities, for example, as well as in South Korea, apparently). And of course there are the older, large communities in places such as the Philippines, which are more likely to be Catholics. But Christianity is not the big and ancient deal here that it is in Europe. So I guess for those practicing other religions or philosophies, it's not so widely understood either.
In fact, there are a gazillion types of Christianity! All are Christians, and believe in Jesus, but might believe or practice slightly differently. The different groups are often referred to as 'denominations', and within those there might be other variations and offshoot groups! Some might be modern variations, some quite ancient ones. Examples of these groups and sub-groups are Eastern Orthodox, Protestants, Catholics, Methodists, United Reformists, Anglicans, Baptists, Presbyterians etc. There are many more. The Catholics are the largest denomination globally.
My British family (self included) would not call themselves at all religious (and of course the Asian and other global family includes all sorts of other philosophies and faiths too!) but we are theoretically Protestants, which in the UK is sometimes also called Church of England (though there are few layers in between, I think!). Protestantism was formed about 500 years ago and now makes up about 40% of Christians worldwide. In rural England, I was also sent to a Catholic Convent taught by nuns for primary school education (because it offered the best local schooling!) And I remember that the Catholic children there would do certain things like 'take communion' (which to a child entailed eating an interesting-looking biscuit and drinking from a goblet offered by a priest!) which the other, non-Catholic children would not. But we all muddled in and said the same prayers (a lot of them - start of day, end of day; before meals, after meals!) and it was generally quite accepting for everyone.
Unlike many parts of Asia, religion is seen as a fairly personal thing in the modern UK. You don't need to state it on any official documents, and it is considered rude socially (and I think illegal professionally) to ask anyone which religion they practice. You can choose to practice strictly or vocally, or not at all. (Though in general people don't enjoy being preached to about religions in social or professional situations either!) There is no official religion in the UK, and in modern times I think it might be considered 'multi-faith', though Christianity (in various forms) has been the main one for some centuries.
Photo: The famous cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, in Paris, France, looking pretty at night. (This one is Catholic, and was built about 700 years ago :) )
Photo credit: Wikipedia
Also on this Blog:
No comments:
Post a Comment