Many Asians are drowning in shame and addictions with no way out. Is this any different from a traditional Westerner? Very much so. Shame and honor are embedded in the Asian way of thinking, behaving, and interacting. If you do not understand the cultural history of honor and shame and its underpinnings, then you will have a hard time understanding the mindset of Asians, let alone the stranglehold of shame that keeps many from breaking the code of silence.
As Asia is the cradle of many religions, the New Testament writings should be interpreted by accepting its pluriform religious and ideological aspects. The existence of multiple Christian denominations also demands balanced interpretation. This book demonstrates inclusive biblical claims within multireligious and multidenominational contexts.
According to Brad Vaughn, some traditional East Asian cultural values are closer to those of the first-century biblical world than common Western cultural values. In this work Vaughn demonstrates how paying attention to East Asian culture provides a helpful lens for interpreting Paul's most complex letter, and we see how honor and shame shape so much of Paul's message and mission.
The metrical translation of the Psalms into the Punjabi language, set to indigenous music in the late nineteenth century in India, plays a vital role in the personal and communal worship of the global Punjabi Christian community. This book is a pioneer work that comprehensively encompasses the cultural, socio-historical, missional, and sociolinguistic aspects of the Punjabi Psalter. It investigates the unique and fascinating story of the contextualizing of Psalms in an exclusive South Asian Punjabi context and engages in an in-depth study on the life and work of Rev. Dr. Imam-ud-Din Shahbaz. This work determines to bring a deeper appreciation for the Punjabi Psalter by encouraging the Punjabi Christians to not only pass the Psalms on to the next generations but also to grow in loving and valuing their mother-tongue, the Punjabi language. The thrust of this book is to esteem the shared heritage of the global Punjabi Christian community--the Psalms in Punjabi, commonly known as the Punjabi Zabur.
Whenever anything goes wrong our first instinct is often to find someone to blame. Blame infuses our society in myriad ways, seeding rancor and revenge, dividing lovers, coworkers, communities, and nations. Yet blame, appropriately placed and managed, safeguards moral order and legal culpability. In this book, Stephen Fineman explores this duality inherent in blame, taking us on a fascinating journey across blame’s sometimes bitter—sometimes just—landscape. Fineman focuses on blame’s roots and enduring manifestations, from the witch hunts of the past to today’s more buttoned-up scapegoating and stigmatization; from an individual’s righteous anger to entire cultures shaped by its power. Addressing our era of increasing unease about governance in public and private enterprises, he delves behind the scenes of organizations infected with blame, profiling the people who keep its plates spinning. With a critical eye, he examines the vexing issue of public accountability and the political circus that so often characterizes our politicians and corporations lost in their “blame games.” Ultimately, Fineman raises the challenging question of how we might mitigate blame’s corrosive effects, asking crucial and timely questions about the limits of remorse and forgiveness, the role of state apologies for historical wrongdoings, whether restorative justice can work, and many other topics. An absorbing look at something we all know intimately, this book deepens our understanding of blame and how it shapes our lives.
Nikki A. Toyama-Szeto, Tracey Gee and Jeannette Yep bring together stories of Asian American women and how God has been at work in their lives. Family expectations and cultural stereotypes assume that these women can only act in certain roles. But with the help of Scripture and mentors, these women have experienced God's blessing and transforming power.
In Overcoming America / America Overcoming, Stephen Rowe shows how the moral disease and political paralysis that plague America are symptomatic of the fact that America herself has been overtaken by the modern values which she exported to the rest of the world. He points to a way out of this current and potentially fatal malaise: join other societies which are also struggling to move beyond the modern and consciously reappropriate those elements of tradition which have to do with cultivation of the mature human being. To avoid fundamentalism, Rowe discusses how this reappropriation must be undertaken in dialogue with those who also have come to recognize the unsustainable quality of the modern life, and who have been able to live beyond the nihilistic wish to tear it down. This book supports the call for an emerging global ethic and spirituality, providing resources of articulation and interpretation that allow for an ongoing dialogue between traditional and modern values--both worthy and problematic in their own ways--through which reliable policy and healthy living become possible.
Many Asians are drowning in shame and addictions with no way out. Is this any different from a traditional Westerner? I would say very much so. Shame is embedded in the Asian way of thinking, behaving, and interacting. If you do not understand the cultural history of shame and its underpinnings, then you will have a hard time understanding the mindset of typical Asians, let alone the stranglehold of shame in their midst. This book is written especially for Asian Christians as God's unconditional love is hard for many Asians to understand because of the shame that binds them. This book is to help you get to the heart of Asian Shame and some of the associated behaviors and addictions that result from a culture that inhibits healthy emotional expression. If you want healthy Christianity among Asians, you need to understand how to recognize and break this cultural cycle of shame that has shackled millions of Asians to fall prey to the vices of gambling, infidelity, sex, out-of-control spending, over-eating, and other addictive behaviors.
The Unknown Cultural Revolution challenges the established narrative of China’s Cultural Revolution, which assumes that this period of great social upheaval led to economic disaster, the persecution of intellectuals, and senseless violence. Dongping Han offers a powerful account of the dramatic improvements in the living conditions, infrastructure, and agricultural practices of China’s rural population that emerged in this period. Drawing on extensive local interviews and records in rural Jimo County, in Shandong Province, Han shows that the Cultural Revolution helped overthrow local hierarchies, establish participatory democracy and economic planning in the communes, and expand education and public services, especially for the elderly. Han lucidly illustrates how these changes fostered dramatic economic development in rural China. The Unknown Revolution documents a neglected side of China’s Cultural Revolution, demonstrating the potential of mass education and empowerment for radical political and economic transformation. It is a bold and provocative work, which demands the attention not only of students of contemporary Chinese history but of all who are concerned with poverty and inequality in the world today.
