Remember how excited you were about communion wine; be a Buddhist, now you can have it all the time!

A group of monks in Japan are now attempting to give Buddhism a "face lift" by integrating hip hop and booze into their message to the youth. Taking a more liberal approach to religion in order to get younger people involved is nothing new, but alcohol? It seems that is one thing that most religions advocate abstinence from. Hip hop on the other hand might actually help. Outside of south central LA, Japan might have the largest concentration of individuals who are still fanatical about old school hip hop, break dancing and such. The monks argue that they are trying to bring the Buddhist mantras to the people in a way that they can understand. Understandable, but at what cost? I'm not familiar with Buddhism, but if they are compromising their values just to get people to the temple, the problem with bringing people into the faith still lies. Just because people are present in body does not mean that they are buying into the faith. I think the plan was clever, and it seems to be working; I just think there is infinite opportunity for a significant backfire.

by Sarah Richardson