Religious multiplicity - How can we be Buddhist and Christian at the same time? With Dr. Duane Bidwell

Hosted by filmmaker Yujiro Seki, Carving the Divine TV is a series of Q&A sessions with Buddhist scholars and practitioners. These Q&A sessions explore the basic concepts of Buddhism, the history of Buddhism and of course Buddhist sculptures/sculptors (bustuzo/busshi) so that when viewers finally watch the documentary Carving the Divine - Buddhist sculptors of Japan, they will get the maximum value of the documentary.

Years ago, when I first came to the US as an exchange student from Japan, I knew very little about the country.  I read a book about living in America that stated, “In the US, you have to believe in one thing.  You have to be affiliated with one religion.   If you believe in multiple things or nothing at all, people will not respect you.”  I have no idea if that statement was entirely true or not, but I did feel that the majority of Americans I met at that time saw religion very differently from the way Japanese people saw religion.  It was difficult for me to understand that statement because believing in multiple things or nothing at all is a common practice in Japan.  Well, I do not think there is a right or wrong way to think, but there is a question of whether a Western religion like Christianity and an Eastern religion like Buddhism can co-exist with each other in a single individual.  Yes, today we are talking about religious multiplicity.  In other words, we want to ask the daunting and controversial question, “Can we be a Christian and Buddhist at the same time?”  Yes! We will be joined by an expert on this subject, Dr. Duane Bidwell,  professor of Practical Theology, Spiritual Care, and Counseling at Claremont School of Theology at Willamette University.  Well he also happens to be a Christian pastor and Theravada Buddhist practitioner at the same time!

We will be asking important questions such as

What is the concept of religious multiplicity?  In the United States, if you do not believe in one religion, is there something wrong with you?
 
What is your Buddhist affiliation?  Please tell us your story. 
 
What is your Christian affiliation?  Please tell us your story. 
 
How can your Buddhist identity and Christian identity work together? Can you show us some examples? 
 
Can we be a Buddhist and Christian at the same time? ​

Duane teaches practical theology, spiritual care, and counseling at Claremont School of Theology at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, USA. He is an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and practitioner of vipassana (insight meditation) in the Theravada Buddhist tradition. His work has been featured on NPR, CNN, Interfaith Radio, and other media. Since 2014, students have given Duane three teaching and mentoring awards, and he has published several books, including When One Religion Isn't Enough: The Lives of Spiritually Fluid People (Beacon, 2018), which is a Christian Century bestseller and a Library Journal "Best Book 2018." Duane serves on the boards of the Taos Institute and the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies. He is also an advisor to the International Buddhist Chaplains Foundation.