I recently came across this blog about a trip report from two Christian Americans, Justin and Amy Perry, who are bound to find out more about other religions. And Buddhism is ofcourse one of them. You can always visit their blog From Texas To Thailand.

At first, it was very intimidating to share the gospel with Buddhist. I kept waiting for a time when they would get angry or argumentitive with us, but that was never the case. The people were very open. I realized right away how hopeless the people feel in Buddhism. They do not have a relationship with God like we do, and they long for that. They also are amazed that someone loved them enough to give their life for them.

We’ve come to the end of Buddhism (the title was a bit deceiving :))

I always appreciate it when people go through the effort of trying to get to know other people and cultures, even if their belief systems are completely different. It just shows good hearts can be found everywhere. It was the term “hopeless” that made my inners suddenly protest since it is usually perceived as a rather negative word. But in the eyes of Christians, Buddhists perhaps may be deemed as hopeless as they do not have something or some third person to cling on to in rough days (unless for the fact that all bad things come to an end). I must admit Christianity (and many other major religions) do a much better job at this as they are offering people easier support. And that probably is of major importance in a world that continues to see more and more ugly and hurtful things. I also can believe that some students are longing for a little bit more clarity, a little bit more support, a little bit more structure and that they would love the idea that some God is always behind them. But to me personally, as I don’t believe in a God, I could never really long for that support other people can enjoy. I feel like it would be fooling myself.