The religious varieties of ethnic presence: a comparison between a Taiwanese immigrant Buddhist temple and an evangelical Christian church

Sociology of Religion, Summer, 2002 by Carolyn Chen

It was the second day of the new millennium, Sunday, January 2, 2000. To inaugurate the beginning of the twenty-first century, Dharma Light Temple, (1) a Chinese Buddhist temple, hosted a "World Peace Day," inviting groups from different religious faiths in the community to share in a ceremony of prayer and blessing. Following the opening welcome delivered by the abbess in Mandarin and translated into English, the American national anthem was played, and the American flag was ceremoniously presented by six Taiwanese men in dark suits and white gloves, and, with proper protocol, raised up the flagpole. With their hands upon their hearts and their amber robes flapping in the wind, three rows of Buddhist monks rose to sing the American national anthem. The crowd, mostly Taiwanese devotees, followed along, humming with the melody, not quite certain of the lyrics. Peppered among the crowd were whites, Latinos, blacks, and other Asians, who had been invited from the local community to come to celebrate and pray for world peace. Facing the crowd on a raised platform were the distinguished guests, religious leaders who represented the diverse religious and racial mosaic of the local community: a white B'ahai minister, a Chinese Roman Catholic priest, an Indian Hindu priest, a Japanese Buddhist Church of America bishop, an African American Methodist Episcopal minister, and a Chinese Mormon minister, as well as a Latino schoolboard representative and a white judge. It appeared as if they had covered all possible ethnicities and religions -- except for one. Curiously missing were any representatives from one of the largest religious groups in the Taiwanese community, the evangelical Christians.

Less than five miles away from the Dharma Light temple, Grace Taiwanese Church, another Taiwanese immigrant religious group, was in the midst of its first Sunday service of the twenty-first century. The pastor, a tall man dressed in a blue power suit, spoke forcefully from the pulpit about Grace's vision for the new millennium. Press towards the goal," he urged the congregation, quoting a famous passage from the apostle Paul. "By the year 2010 we aspire for Grace Taiwanese Church to have planted fifty churches around the world." He proceeded to outline how church members would participate in this growth through the "1-2-1" plan -- each church member was to bring at least two new people into the church in the year 2000. Banners boldly displaying "press towards the goal" in English and Chinese streamed above the entrances to the sanctuary. The congregation, ranging from teenagers to senior citizens, carefully listened. Some took sermon notes. Others nodded their heads in agreement. Later in the closing prayer the pastor prayed that the church might bring Christ to the local community and that through them others might experience Jesus' salvation, especially given the presence of the Dharma Light temple in such close vicinity. He reminded them of the Great Commission in Acts 1:8 (2) where Jesus commanded his disciples to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth. As twenty-first century disciples they were likewise called to participate in the mission to spread the Gospel around the world. The congregation, however, was homogeneously Taiwanese.

These scenarios shed light on some of the ways that new immigrant religious institutions publicly engage in American society. Dharma Light Temple and Grace Taiwanese Church are both religious institutions serving a predominantly Taiwanese immigrant population in Southern California and both belong to world religions which claim to transcend racial and ethnic boundaries. On the face of it, one might expect that of the two, Grace Taiwanese Church would have greater interactions with those outside of their own immigrant religious community. After all, as Protestant Christians, they are not only "inner-worldly," but also more easily assimilated into the wider American society than Buddhists. Instead, the "other-worldly" Buddhists, whom one would expect to be publicly disengaged and religiously not easily assimilated, extend themselves out to mainstream American society. (3)

This seeming paradox touches upon a question that is critical to scholars of religion, ethnicity, and migration alike: How do minority groups interact with the larger society? In this case we consider institutions that are guided by distinct religious ideals, Dharma Light Temple and Grace Taiwanese Church, which undoubtedly have different types of interactions with American society. Religions provide unique "maps" of the way the world ought to be and inspire believers to make these ideals a reality. As ethnic immigrants, their interactions with American society are influenced not only by their own limited linguistic and social skills, but also by socially imposed constraints, particularly symbolic constructions of difference and foreignness. As immigrant Taiwanese, both religious communities are deemed racially "other." However, while the Christians are religiously similar to mainstream America, Buddhists are considered foreigners by virtue of both race and religion. By comparing two Taiwanese immigrant religious institutions -- an evangelical Christian church and a Buddhist temple -- this article demonstrates not only how particular religious ideals guide public engagement, but also how discourses of religious and racial difference shape an immigrant religious institution's interactions with the wider society.