Hostname: page-component-7b9c58cd5d-hxdxx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-03-15T13:01:27.336Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Buddhism and Christianity in Competition? Religious and Ethnic Identity in Karen Communities of Northern Thailand

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2003

Roland Platz
Affiliation:
The Department of Cultural Science at St Gallen University in St Gallen, Switzerland; rolandplatz@gmx.de
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The influence of Christianity in Karen communities of Northern Thailand is increasing. Thai Buddhism is still marginal but growing, reducing the power of traditional beliefs, particularly ancestor worship. Despite conflicts between Christians and non-Christians, differing attitudes among the various Christian denominations towards Karen tradition and intra-ethnic dissociation based on religion, a distinctive Karen ethnic identity persists irrespective of religion, though the association between religious and ethnic identity varies.

Type
Articles
Copyright
2003 The National University of Singapore