Holy Things

Know about the book -

Holy Things is written by Nathan McGovern and published by Oxford University Press. It's available with International Standard Book Number or ISBN identification 0197759882 (ISBN 10) and 9780197759882 (ISBN 13).

A common religious practice in Buddhist Thailand is asking "holy things" for help in return for an offering. These holy things include local spirits, Hindu gods, and famous Buddha images, which Thai people worship all in the same way. Some people, and even Thai Buddhists themselves, have argued that this is "syncretism"--a mixture of religions. Holy Things shows that what appears to be syncretism is actually an illusion. The worship of "holy things" is not a mixture of different religions, but the category of "holy things" is a mixture of different ways of talking about religion.