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Asian Religions in America: A Documentary History

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"Asian Religions in America: A Documentary History" is an important contribution to the subfield of Asian Religions in America by two leading scholars. As the title suggests, the book is a superbly edited collection of primary sources that range from early missionary accounts in Burma through the civil war right up to author Amy Tan and the Beastie Boys. Moreover, the introductions and explanations by Tweed and Prothero clearly interpret the importance of these documents for the reader. These introductions both contextualize the selected writings and explain their significance. The final chapter, Mapping Legal Boundaries: Religion and State, also provides a glimpse at the future of Asian Religions in America. A must read for any scholar, or practicioner with a historical bend.

At the time this book was published in 1999, Thomas A. Tweed was Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; he is also the author/editor of Crossing and Dwelling: A Theory of Religion, Retelling U.S. Religious History, The American Encounter with Buddhism, 1844-1912: Victorian Culture and the Limits of Dissent, etc. Stephen Prothero was Professor of Religion at Boston University; he is also the author of God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World, Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know--And Doesn't, American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon, The White Buddhist: The Asian Odyssey of Henry Steel Olcott (Religion in North America), etc.

This book contains a vast collection of documents relevant to Asian religions in America, arranged chronologically.

Here are some quotations from the book:

"If you have the privilege of believing Christianity, you also have the privilege of believing Buddhism. You are not bound to be Christians but bound to search for truth. Christianity may be the perfect way, but no Christian has any right to call Buddhism heretical, unless he thouroughly understands Buddhism and finds faults in it..." (Pg. 80-81)
"When the Indian poet Rabindrath Tagore arrived in Los Angeles for a lecture tour in 1929, immigration officials insulted him... Rather than suffer these indignities, Tagore canceled his tour and left the country abruptly. But not before getting in a parting shot. 'Jesus could not get into America,' Tagore remarked, 'because ... he would be an Asiatic.'" (Pg. 159)
"Thich Nhat Hanh has been an international figure since his public criticism of the Viewnam War brought him widespread attention during the 1960s... The Vietnam War changed his life irrevocably. He returned from his studies and teaching at Columbia and Princeton to lead a peace movement in his native land. Barred from Vietnam since 1966, Nhat Hanh now lives in France at Plum Village..." (Pg. 268)