Mistaking religious identities

“Navel-gazing.” “Go with the flow.” “Blissed out.” “New age.”

The phrase “Zen-like” has become common-

place in advertising and popular journalism. The vow to

compassionate action, which is at the heart of Zen, and the

discipline and steadfastness involved in this spiritual path are

often overlooked.

Another misconception is that all Buddhists are alike. Many people

do not know that Buddhism has branches and denominations and as much

variety as Christianity. A Southern Baptist from Georgia, Coptic

Christian in Cairo, Roman Catholic from Spain and member of Crystal

Cathedral will all express their interpretations of Christianity

quite differently. A Buddhist monk at the Jade Temple in Shanghai, a

Theravadan practitioner in the caves of Thailand, a Tibetan monk, a

Pure Land Buddhist in Japan and a Zen practitioner in Orange County

will not see their Buddhist practice the same way. To give one

example, in Zen, we do not worship the Buddha or call on him to

intervene in our lives. We regard him as an awakened person, an

example and guide in our own attempts to be aware.

At the Zen Center, we choose not to wear clothes that stand out or

to call attention to ourselves because we don’t feel this is

especially helpful or meaningful. In similar fashion, the majority of

Roman Catholic sisters in the ‘60s replaced their religious habits

(and veils), derived from the lay clothing of medieval Europe, with

the ordinary clothes of our day and culture. This was a part of a

much more important shift in awareness: that the sacred is found

within daily life, rather than in some otherworld or foregone time.

Many of the sisters I know felt that these clothes implied that they

wanted special treatment, that they were perhaps superior to others,

and that it did little to promote Christian values (despite contrary

views that distinctive dress provides an important “witness”).

In Buddhism, the robe and kesa (cloth worn over one shoulder) are

the distinguishing garb worn around the world. Sometimes the shoulder

is bare (for example, in Tibet) and sometimes it is not (in Japan).

We prefer that Zen practitioners quietly live their practice without

calling attention to themselves by apparel or extraneous signs.

THE REV.

DEBORAH BARRETT

Zen Center of

Orange County

Costa Mesa

I’m not a Christian, I am a Christ-follower! The difference is in

the generalization that comes with the former. I am not what many

people think a “Christian” is. The societal definition has more to do

with religion, legalism, self-righteous attitudes and leaving your

brain checked at the front door. As a Christ-follower (the original

meaning of “Christian”), my main goal is to be like Jesus. He was a

humble, pious, intelligent, courageous servant of humanity. I fail,

but I keep trying. I want to commune with the divine, not try to

placate him with some accomplished list of religious regulations.

People misunderstand the difference. They often categorize

everyone who goes to church in the same light as Ned from “The

Simpsons” (I’ve never said “okily-dokily”) or other examples they

have gotten from the media. We have been petitioning Hollywood for

years to give us a break. It’s easier to just use another name than

to change Hollywood, though.

In the end, no argument or advertising campaign will change the

public perception. As an individual, my best response is to live a

life in front of them that challenges their misconceptions. That kind

of a life always starts conversations. In the meantime, I am just

following Jesus.

ASSOCIATE PASTOR

RIC OLSEN

Harbor Trinity Church

Costa Mesa

The home plate umpire at a doubleheader was criticized

unmercifully during the first game. Over and over again, the fans

cast aspersions on the quality of his eyesight, booing nearly all of

his calls. As the second game was about to begin, the umpire was not

to be found at his place behind the catcher, but he was soon

discovered sitting in the stands next to his detractors.

When they asked him if he was going to umpire the game, he

responded, “Yes, but obviously I will be able to see it better from

here.”

We all think we can judge just fine from a distance. But

perceptions from afar are not only superficial, they are most often

wrong.

Charles Lamb once said, “Don’t introduce me to that man. I want to

go on hating him, and I cannot hate a man whom I know.”

People and groups are judged from afar by members of other groups.

Those judgments are at times less than salutary and employ shortcut

characterizations that vilify and condemn. We are often too

intellectually lazy to deal with reality in its subtlety, variety,

permutations, and combinations. We prefer the comfort of a dismissive

adjective with which we lump people into a mass that conforms with

our preconceived notions. We tend to prefer our image of the truth to

reality itself.

The Jewish tradition asks why God created Adam alone. Why didn’t

he fashion all of humankind in a multitude as we know it? It answers

that God created a solitary being so that we realize the significance

and preciousness and uniqueness of each individual. Every individual

is a world with layers upon layers of breadth and depth, strength and

weakness, talents and aversions, all with varying degrees of mildness

or intensity, all with mind-boggling complexity and diversity. We do

others a disservice and shortchange ourselves when we ignore this and

label from afar. We have all been pleasantly gratified when we came

to know someone about whom we previously thought one thing, only to

find our initial judgment was wrong.

It is one thing to sit in the stands and impose our angle of

vision on the ball, and quite another to be in close proximity to the

action on the field. Indeed, it makes all the difference between what

is fair and what is foul.

RABBI MARK MILLER

Temple Bat Yahm

Newport Beach

Since I am an imam and dress accordingly, I often get second

looks, and at times people will approach me to ask questions about my

religion. I enjoy it when people inquire about my faith because it

becomes a great opportunity to speak on my faith, and often times

clear up any misconceptions. Since the public has become more aware

of Muslims and their religious leader, people often recognize that I

am a Muslim cleric. On the other hand, Muslim women tell me that they

are often mistaken as nuns, and are often asked what denomination.

Their response is met with a smile and clarity.

IMAM MOUSTAFA

AL-QAZWINI

Islamic Educational Center

of Orange County

Costa Mesa

In 32 years of wearing an “outfit” standard for Episcopal clergy,

people who would not have responded to me at all if I were not

dressed as a clergyperson have spit and snarled at me, shaken fists

and given me their one-finger salute; many more folks I don’t know

who, I’m sure, would not have done so if I were not clerically

outfitted, have smiled, nodded and wished me well.

We all make mistakes by “judging books by their covers” and

misconceptions of who priests (and, I am confident, who rabbis,

imams, Sikhs) are, are multitudinous! I try to deal with this by not

taking it personally, by realizing that these folks are not

responding to Peter Haynes, but to their prejudices and

predispositions toward religion, religious communities and their

leaders. Humor helps!

When I became Episcopal chaplain at UC Berkeley, I donned my

clerical outfit, carried a Bible in one hand, a book of common prayer

in the other, and made myself visible to university folks. I waited

for students and professors to sit beside me and engage in life’s

great questions about God and Jesus, birth and death, evil and joy. A

few visitors on the campus did stop to ask directions, others spit

and snarled or smiled and waved.

One day, a very Bezerkeleyesque fellow got “in my face,” tapped on

my round, white, clerical collar and asked, “Hey, man, are you

religious?”

Immediately, I changed my approach to ministry as Cal Chaplain.

Of course, “do not discriminate” is the best response to this

question, but “don’t judge books by their covers” also applies. And,

good humor helps.

THE VERY REV. CANON

PETER D. HAYNES

St. Michael & All Angels

Episcopal Parish Church

Corona del Mar