So, since Andrea heads to work pretty early, I’ve gotten in the habit of having the Today Show on in the background while I drink coffee and check email, before heading to work. Right now, they are in the middle of their annual “Where in the World is Matt Lauer?” promotion. Today, he was in Bhutan, where, according to Lauer, it is an idyllic world, free from strife, war, and poverty. The people are happy and content, and while they have access to Western media, they view it with a discerning eye and refuse to be drawn in to the manipulation and materialism.
So how should we, as Christians, respond to this presentation? As Lauer gave his very brief overview of the national religion, he gushed about the beauty of tradition, even of the artwork, but as he spun a prayer wheel devoted to their god of compassion (Chagtong Chentong), there was no mention of the common tendency to pay the elderly to spin the wheels for others, or the blend of local animistic/shamanistic beliefs and Buddhism that is practiced, and the overflow of superstition that this belief system breeds.