Author Topic: Korean Christians and Protestants continue vandalism acts on Buddhism  (Read 15822 times)

Tenzin Malgyur

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Re: Korean Christians and Protestants continue vandalism acts on Buddhism
« Reply #15 on: January 13, 2013, 12:29:12 AM »
This is so unbelievable and such sad news. People who claim they have a religion and destroying the place of worship of other belief. How can the Christians preach about love for everyone and then go about damaging the holy places of someone of other religion? Are the Buddhists not worthy of their love? I am so glad my religion does not encourage me to destroy and damage churches and places of worship of other religion. May the Korean Buddhists be able to continue practicing and not be harmed by all these threats.

Jessie Fong

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Re: Korean Christians and Protestants continue vandalism acts on Buddhism
« Reply #16 on: January 13, 2013, 12:58:55 AM »
It is appalling that religious institutions can accept such acts.  It just goes to show how very little we know of and respect other people's religious beliefs.

Isn't it bad enough to trespass, then you go on a vandalism stampede, urinate and then set fire .... isn't this pure vandalism?  It's unacceptable to engage in such acts, what more these were carried out in religious places.  To add salt to the wound, it was a Pastor who was responsible.

Where is the act of acceptance and respect for others?

RedLantern

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Re: Korean Christians and Protestants continue vandalism acts on Buddhism
« Reply #17 on: January 13, 2013, 12:36:02 PM »
Vandalism and arson of Buddhist temples and treasures and important cultural properties relating to Buddhism by the Korean Christians and Protestant communities continue although new legislative laws have changed to protect cultural properties and national treasures.
An arson tried to burn down Gakhwangjeon Hall but fortunately,only made a small damage due to quick actions of the monks and the fire prevention restoration made in 2008.
The Korean Buddhist Community is in shock and fighting for a stricter law enforcement for the perpetrators of
vandalism.
In November 2011,four Buddhist temples reported vandalism and invasion by Korean Christian Community,as
they spray painted red lacquer on the hands and faces of the Buddha statues.It had been going on for several decades now, and these actions are the root causes of religious disharmony between the Korean religious communities.
There was another scandal where there were three pastors came to the Logye Temple and ordered the monastics to "believe in Jesus,as (Koreans)we are all children of God.
These various vandalism sparks fears of the Buddhist discrimination in Korea.Korea is in much need for the harmony of religions,and these vandalism of the Korean Christian and Protestant community need to stop.

DSFriend

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Re: Korean Christians and Protestants continue vandalism acts on Buddhism
« Reply #18 on: January 13, 2013, 12:56:38 PM »
If the pastor is of unsound mind...then so much more important to lock him up! Isn't this what the law should do to protect its citizens? Would the same leniency be applied if the damage wasn't a temple? How about if it was a prominent family's home that he peed on and tried to burn? We live in a society where being biased is a quality which runs in the veins of everyone.

Some will say temples deserves to be burned because it is against  the Mosaic Law of 10 Commandments of IDOLATRY and they are merely following God's commands. Well, in that case, how about also following exactly the verse in Colossians 3:5 "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is IDOLATRY."

If any Christians were to follow the teachings in the bible and just focus on Collossians 3:5 alone, they will be too busy working on themselves and putting to death all negativities, leaving no time to do any destruction to anyone.

Christianity is no threat to Buddhism. No religion is a threat to the other. It is the man made gods who is a threat to themselves and others.
« Last Edit: January 13, 2013, 12:58:33 PM by DSFriend »

Big Uncle

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Re: Korean Christians and Protestants continue vandalism acts on Buddhism
« Reply #19 on: January 16, 2013, 05:22:01 AM »
If the pastor is of unsound mind...then so much more important to lock him up! Isn't this what the law should do to protect its citizens? Would the same leniency be applied if the damage wasn't a temple? How about if it was a prominent family's home that he peed on and tried to burn? We live in a society where being biased is a quality which runs in the veins of everyone.

Some will say temples deserves to be burned because it is against  the Mosaic Law of 10 Commandments of IDOLATRY and they are merely following God's commands. Well, in that case, how about also following exactly the verse in Colossians 3:5 "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is IDOLATRY."

If any Christians were to follow the teachings in the bible and just focus on Collossians 3:5 alone, they will be too busy working on themselves and putting to death all negativities, leaving no time to do any destruction to anyone.

Christianity is no threat to Buddhism. No religion is a threat to the other. It is the man made gods who is a threat to themselves and others.

You must have had a Christian background to know these things. You are right but most Christians only take the 10 Commandments as the definitive word of God. Here's the exact commandment:-

Fourth Commandment - “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth."

Hence, they think they are carrying out God's will when they take things into their own hands like vandalizing Buddhist temples. To Christians, Buddhism is heretical and a bunch of idol-worshippers. Imagine that Pastor saw a statue of Yamantaka? He would have doused the statue in petrol, burnt it and did an exorcism on the ashes as well. It is very sad that such an esteemed member of the Church would do such a thing and their theological studies and seminary trainings did nothing to imbue the compassion of Christ in any of them.

On the other hand, I think the Korean Buddhists are not doing enough to educate the masses about Buddhism, the tenets and what these statues represent. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are certainly not Gods in the Christian sense but are spiritually evolved beings that Buddhists take refuge in inspiration of their spiritual qualities. That would be one way the Korean Buddhists can do to educate people so religious harmony is restored in Korea. However, knowing how aggressive the Christians are, I think it would be better to resolve this in the court of law still.

DSFriend

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Re: Korean Christians and Protestants continue vandalism acts on Buddhism
« Reply #20 on: January 20, 2013, 12:41:36 PM »


On the other hand, I think the Korean Buddhists are not doing enough to educate the masses about Buddhism, the tenets and what these statues represent. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are certainly not Gods in the Christian sense but are spiritually evolved beings that Buddhists take refuge in inspiration of their spiritual qualities. That would be one way the Korean Buddhists can do to educate people so religious harmony is restored in Korea. However, knowing how aggressive the Christians are, I think it would be better to resolve this in the court of law still.


Yes I do agree. I did a little research on religious statistics in Korea and here's the numbers :
Source  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_South_Korea
Of the South Korean population, 24% are Buddhist, 26% are Christians (12% are Protestants and 14% are Catholics), and the rest adheres to various minority religions including Jeung San Do, Daesun Jinrihoe, Cheondoism, Taoism and Confucianism. A smaller minority of Koreans also profess Islam.


This source is quite interesting, showing the situation with Buddhism in the world (though the data could be a bit outdated) http://www.berzinarchives.com/web/en/archives/approaching_buddhism/world_today/current_sit_buddhism_world.html

Buddhism in South Korea is still strong, although facing a growing challenge from Evangelic Christian movements. There are many monastic communities of monks and nuns with much popular support. The meditational tradition is particularly flourishing, especially of Son, the Korean form of Zen. In North Korea, on the other hand, except for a token monastery open for propaganda purposes, Buddhism is severely repressed.

With the highest percentage being Christianity, I wonder if the government is skewed towards supporting the church as mega big bucks are deposited into the establishment and the influence of the church is obviously of great weight.

Perhaps it boils down to economic and political reasons for the lack of support Buddhist temples has from the government. I am not knocking down the korean government in anyway..but merely making my own observation. This reason is not that far different for monasteries to be on the good side of TGIE/CTA for continuous support and funding at the expense of what is right and what is wrong?!

Have a careful read of this article, a church who has 1 million members from all walks of life.

Source : http://www.economist.com/node/21532340
For God and country
An influential pastor comes under scrutiny for his business dealings
Oct 15th 2011

KOREA has long been a hotbed of religiosity. Before a certain Kim Il Sung began having other ideas, Pyongyang (now the capital of North Korea) used to be known as “The Jerusalem of the East”. And in today's Seoul, practitioners of traditional shamanism, Buddhism, Christianity and even cults such as the Unification Church (better known in the West as the Moonies), all have plenty of followers.

Many of them also have lots of money (not least because religious institutions are tax-exempt). The Protestant church, in particular, seems to have produced a tribe of flashy, mansion-dwelling pastors. This is partly a result of the character of Korean Protestantism: a common theme, for instance, at the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul is that a poor Christian is not a good Christian. However, it is also a result of the incentives created by the sheer size of some churches. Yoido itself ranks as the largest Christian congregation in the world, with over 1m members. Another, Somang Church, has hundreds of thousands of faithful, including South Korea's president, Lee Myung-bak.

With all these people throwing their spare won into the collection plate, mega-churches have become big businesses. Yoido Full Gospel Church's founder Cho Yong-gi, who has run the congregation since 1958, has family interests ranging from private universities to newspapers. Members of his church were once asked to pray for higher sales for one of his titles.

A pastor at a Seoul-based church of a mere 60,000 members notes that the likes of Yoido have become “so big, and with assets so huge, that human greed comes into play”. And in late September, following complaints by 29 church elders, prosecutors began investigating Mr Cho over the alleged embezzlement of 23 billion won ($20m) from Yoido's funds. A documentary aired by MBC, a television station, claims that this money was used to buy property in America. The show also charged that Mr Cho's wife sold a building constructed with collection money for her own gain. Its buyer was Hansei University—an institution where she also happens to be president. Mr and Mrs Cho deny the allegations.

Yoido Church's founder is rarely out of the news in South Korea. In March he sparked a storm of criticism by claiming the earthquake and tsunami in Japan was “God's warning” to a country that follows “idol worship, atheism, and materialism”.

He is also too political for some. When President Lee's government drew up plans to legislate for Islamic sukuk bonds in South Korea, Mr Cho argued that this would aid “terrorists”, and that the president was forgetting the vital role the Protestant lobby had in electing him. Following concerted efforts by Mr Cho and other South Korean church leaders, the government blinked first, and the plan was dropped.

There are plenty of rank-and-file Christians in South Korea who do not indulge in the cathedralism of the mega-pastors. Many of the underground networks helping North Koreans on the run in China are organised by South Korean Christians. Refugees who reach South Korea are often cared for by church groups, and South Korean church aid-agencies are usually among the first to respond to natural disasters around the world, including the Japanese tsunami in March.

But in a country that thrives on group activities and collective bonding, as well as religion, Seoul is a natural home for mega-churches. The likes of Mr Cho, for all their flaws, provide something that millions of Koreans find irresistible.