[KS] Re: Religious Intolerance

[G. Cameron Hurst]

	I would like to be on that "select list" as well.

	 I have been somewhat surprised at the controversy raised by Frank
Tedesco's postings. I guess I am not offended by his actions. It may be
"presumptuous" of him to decide what to put in our bowls, but we are free
to eat or not, as we choose.

	In this current debate, I find it interesting that everyone is
focusing on the appropriateness of posting a "newspaper" article on
religious intolerance rather than the subject itself. (I know that we have
been around this block once before, and perhaps there was more heat than
light--but then maybe we need address it again.)

	In this instance, I don't believe anyone has suggested that all
Korean Christians are intolerant of Buddhism and desire to extirpate it
from Korean soil. Nor do I believe that the Korean-American Christian
community is being accused of being extremist. (I am not sure exactly what
Frank Tedesco meant by  the term "disappointing," but I think I know.) I
find  that virtually all Korean students who take my Korean civilization
course at Penn are Christian, or are from families professing to be
Christian. I do know that most are woefully under-informed of the Buddhist
and even Confucian philosophical traditions of their parents' homeland.
Indeed, several were taught by their parents to be openly hostile to
Buddhism. (We have well over a hundred Korean Christian churches and only
one Buddhist temple in the Philadelphia area.) I cannot say that I have had
a similar experience with Christian students of either Chinese or Japanese
origin in my classes over some thirty years of teaching.

	So, can we not use Frank's selection of an inflammatory article
from the Korean Herald to open again a discussion of the nature of the
Korean religious tradition? Can we look at the development of Christianity
and suggest reasons why some people in Korea might be intensely hostile to
Buddhism, so much so that they might be seized with the need to destroy
Buddhist temples and relics? Can we compare the experience of transplanted
Christianity in Korea and, say, China, to see whether there are significant
differences that express themselves either in dogma or practice? (Do we
find instances of destruction of Buddhist temples in Taiwan, for example?)
Do Korean Christians tend to be more fundamentalist than other Christians?
Why or why not? Is it confined to certain sects? Can this not lead us to
discuss ancestor veneration and other cultural practices that have been
criticized or condemned by some members of some Korean Christian
communities? In short, can't we discuss reputed "religious intolerance" in
Korea?

	This is hardly my field, and I do not have the expertise to comment
competently on it. But I am interested in many such items Frank Tedesco has
chosen to place on the forum and hopeful that people may choose some of
them as springboards for interesting discussions. If it is decided that
such postings are forbidden, please, Frank, put me on your list.

Cappy Hurst
University of pennsylvania






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