[KS] Re: Religious Intolerance

Thu Aug 6 14:10:51 EDT 1998

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<font size=3D3>It's a pity nobody picked up the thread I wanted to start,
it's not that I condemn Frank's posting, whatever subject he choose, I
was only complaining about the huge amount of it, since I was interested,
I wanted to read them all, so maybe I was just complaining, about the
huge amount of time it took me to read them all, I agree with Cappy that
it surprises me too and indeed this article could be a nice contribution
why Christianity in Korea took such a strange turn, over here in Holland
one sees too that quite a few Korean go to the church and
"convert" in order to socialize, so I think again that this
would be a nice start of a discussion and I will reconcile with the
majority, but not after a discussion.<br>
<br>
Again I really like your posting Frank, but it was a bit too much<br>
<br>
Sincerely<br>
<br>
Henny<br>
<br>
> I would like to be on that "select list" as well.<br>
><br>
> I have been somewhat surprised at the controversy raised by
Frank<br>
>Tedesco's postings. I guess I am not offended by his actions. It may
be<br>
>"presumptuous" of him to decide what to put in our bowls,
but we are free<br>
>to eat or not, as we choose.<br>
><br>
> In this current debate, I find it interesting that everyone is<br>
>focusing on the appropriateness of posting a "newspaper"
article on<br>
>religious intolerance rather than the subject itself. (I know that we
have<br>
>been around this block once before, and perhaps there was more heat
than<br>
>light--but then maybe we need address it again.)<br>
><br>
> In this instance, I don't believe anyone has suggested that=20
all<br>
>Korean Christians are intolerant of Buddhism and desire to extirpate
it<br>
>from Korean soil. Nor do I believe that the Korean-American
Christian<br>
>community is being accused of being extremist. (I am not sure exactly
what<br>
>Frank Tedesco meant by=A0 the term "disappointing," but I
think I know.) I<br>
>find=A0 that virtually all Korean students who take my Korean
civilization<br>
>course at Penn are Christian, or are from families professing to
be<br>
>Christian. I do know that most are woefully under-informed of the
Buddhist<br>
>and even Confucian philosophical traditions of their parents'
homeland.<br>
>Indeed, several were taught by their parents to be openly hostile
to<br>
>Buddhism. (We have well over a hundred Korean Christian churches and
only<br>
>one Buddhist temple in the Philadelphia area.) I cannot say that I
have had<br>
>a similar experience with Christian students of either Chinese or
Japanese<br>
>origin in my classes over some thirty years of teaching.<br>
><br>
> So, can we not use Frank's selection of an inflammatory=20
article<br>
>from the Korean Herald to open again a discussion of the nature of
the<br>
>Korean religious tradition? Can we look at the development of
Christianity<br>
>and suggest reasons why some people in Korea might be intensely
hostile to<br>
>Buddhism, so much so that they might be seized with the need to
destroy<br>
>Buddhist temples and relics? Can we compare the experience of
transplanted<br>
>Christianity in Korea and, say, China, to see whether there are
significant<br>
>differences that express themselves either in dogma or practice? (Do
we<br>
>find instances of destruction of Buddhist temples in Taiwan, for
example?)<br>
>Do Korean Christians tend to be more fundamentalist than other
Christians?<br>
>Why or why not? Is it confined to certain sects? Can this not lead us
to<br>
>discuss ancestor veneration and other cultural practices that have
been<br>
>criticized or condemned by some members of some Korean=20
Christian<br>
>communities? In short, can't we discuss reputed "religious
intolerance" in<br>
>Korea?<br>
><br>
> This is hardly my field, and I do not have the expertise to
comment<br>
>competently on it. But I am interested in many such items Frank
Tedesco has<br>
>chosen to place on the forum and hopeful that people may choose some
of<br>
>them as springboards for interesting discussions. If it is decided
that<br>
>such postings are forbidden, please, Frank, put me on your=20
list.<br>
><br>
>Cappy Hurst<br>
>University of pennsylvania<br>
> </font>
<BR>
<div>-------</div>
<br>
<div>Henny  (Lee Hae Kang)</div>
<br>
<div>Feel free to visit </div>
<div><a href=3D"http://www.henny-savenije.demon.nl/index2.htm" EUDORA=3DAUTO=
URL>http://www.henny-savenije.demon.nl/index2.htm</a>
</div>
and you can feel the thrill about the adventures of Hamel in Korea=
 (1653-1666)
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