Culture Shock in India

Read Time / 2 Minutes

Theme / Values-Based Investing

I was thirsty, and all I could think of was a refreshingly cold bottle of water.  Unfortunately, it was easier to get a warm soft drink than a cold water.  To make matters worse, the soft drink was thick and sweet – not a good thirst quencher.  I was in college and traveling with an evangelistic tennis team from the States, and we were in India playing regional teams and sharing our testimonies under the hot sun.  To make matters worse, we were playing on clay, which played slow and led to long rallies. 

At that time in India, it was unsafe to drink the water, even bottled water.  We were relegated to drinking locally made soft drinks, since India was not importing American-made products.  There were many other cultural challenges we faced while in India, including curry on everything we ate, using the toilet without toilet paper, and seeing severe economic disparity among the castes.  I experienced culture shock.

Culture plays a major role in our lives, no matter where we live in the world.  And cultures are not static since societies are constantly influenced by internal and external forces. For example, American culture changed with the legalization of abortion in 1973 and same-sex marriage in 2015.  Companies in America then faced decisions.  Should a company donate to gay rights parades at the request of some employees?  Should a company make abortion products to increase revenue?

Romans 12:2 encourages us to “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”  Our responsibility as Christians is to live our lives in ways that honor God.  In doing this, each of us must make decisions on what kind of companies we invest in through our retirement and brokerage accounts.  Do we invest in companies that are conforming to culture in ways that we feel are morally inappropriate, or do we look the other way and chalk it up to the world we live in.  It is for each of us to decide.  May the Lord bless our decisions!

Doug Hanson, MBA

Wealth Advisor

208.697.3699

doug@christianwm.com