she noticed Khmer pastors transplanted in the United States operated under traditional leadership styles, became patrons to their congregations, and thus some experienced moral shortcomings due to new temptations in their positions. She also found church members sometimes switched churches in pursuit of better patrons. However, Smith-Hefner related Christian conversion in the Khmer community with a loss of ethnicity and identity. She concluded her study by explaining, “One of the most important sociological features of Khmer conversion . . . may have less to do with belief, ritual, or morality
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Example of syncretism as failure to confront worldliness. Regardless of context, cultural deficiencies should be confronted.
