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PCEC observes world’s different religions

Our Home to receive a new roof

PCEC observes world’s different religions

The regular Sunday meeting of the Pattaya City Expats Club got underway with a minute of silence at the Amari’s Henry J. Beans Restaurant on Sunday, May 3. Master of Ceremonies Les Edmonds welcomed everyone to the meeting. Richard Smith then announced that a long term Pattaya resident and member, Bill Burbridge had passed away that morning during his sleep. A minute of silence was held in his memory.

PCEC old timer Roger Fox, speaker of the week, enthuses about the various religions of the world.
After the usual announcements, emcee Les informed the audience that the scheduled speaker, Paolo with La Dolce Vita Restaurant, was unable to attend and had sent his sincere apologies. Fortunately, Roger Fox had graciously offered to fill in. Roger is no stranger to the club as he often is the Sunday emcee, currently serves on the board, and often organizes international trips for members. Roger had agreed to share his knowledge about, and impressions of, today’s major religions.
Roger began by saying that most in the audience come from the Americas or Europe, thus having some knowledge about the Judeo/Christian religious beliefs. However, these are not the only religions in the world. He said that around 86% of the world’s population professes some sort of religious belief.

Chairman Michel advises PCEC members of the dinner of the month, an opportunity to share one of the many fine restaurants in Pattaya with your fellow members.
Roger told everyone that he is not an expert on the subject, but because of his interest, he has read many articles about religion and religious beliefs. He said that if one looks up the definition of religion, there will be many. However, he considers the various definitions to encompass the following similarities: a) include a set of beliefs; b) place faith and trust in a set of principles; c) practice some sort of religious ritual such as prayer or fasting; d) have known (recognizable) leaders such as Jesus Christ or Mohammed; e) have a starting event and/or major events in their history; and f) have a format for meetings or gatherings.
He then said that he similarly concluded that the purpose of most religions is to: a) answer life’s difficult questions such as where do we come from; b) provide guidelines for living such as the golden rule on how one should treat others; c) provide hope of an afterlife; and d) provide a promise of justice at the end, i.e., must answer for what you have done in life.

John Fishback looks after the open forum - your chance to find the answers to the many questions about living in LOS ‘Land of Smiles’.
Roger observed that the majority of religious people are monotheist as they believe in only one god, followed by those that believe in reincarnation. He displayed a map and commented on the geographical distribution of the world’s major beliefs - Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and even atheists (located mostly in China). Roger pointed out that Thailand on the map and noted that it is 95% Buddhist.
In discussing the major religions, Roger described for the audience their characteristics, noting that many have beliefs in common as well as having differences. He pointed out that three of the major religions share the same history - Judaism, Christianity, and Muslim. Further, he noted that they share many of the same prophets. He then displayed outlines showing the major tenets of these major religions. Obviously, the subject was of great interest and a bit controversial based on the number of questions and comments.
After the presentation, emcee Les brought everyone up on current events. He then called on John Fishback, in the absence of Hawaii Bob Sutterfield, to conduct the always informative and often humorous Open Forum where information is shared on living in Pattaya and Thailand.

Our Home to receive a new roof

Ingrid Cunliffe
Last month I received a call from Tiew who runs “Our Home” in Ban Chang. For readers who don’t know the story, Tiew takes in girls who otherwise would be on the streets and teaches them the time old art of quilting. These quilts are made to order and shipped all over the world with a fair few bought by locals as well.
At present she houses 8 young girls who make a great team.
The problem that Tiew was calling me about was that the main work room and one of the girl’s rooms were having major leaks from the recent rains, and this was affecting the production of the quilts as the girls could not work due to the water.
On inspection it was found the roof had deteriorated very much over the years and would need a full replacement. Of course funding needed to be found, and that’s where Woody and the Jesters team came to the rescue!
We also contacted the Rayong Ladies Group and together we have donated 20,000 baht towards the cost of the new roofing.
With this money the roof can be repaired and the great work these young girls do can continue.
There will also be a Monster Garage Sale again this year at Phuluang, on Saturday June 6th. Please let Tiew, 0816444432, or Ingrid 0870631807, know if you have any goods you would like to donate for the sale and we hope to see you there for a bargain or two.

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