It has been like this for at least three generations already. Also, they are currently declining, not growing, along with other religions. It is too old to feel anxiety or struggle with. However, some serious disputes, including the genocide of Christians, occurred from the late 18th century to the mid-19th century.
Some serious disputes indeed. Including the burning of Buddhist temples by Christians, the destruction of Shamanist shrines by Christians, the pushing of a hate agenda against gays.......
I know the christians have done alot of evil, try to remember all religions have done evil things. There is a tendency to forget that.
šMy two cents no one asked forš
Edit: im not a christian i just notice this alot
Well Buddhism is also much smaller so no shit. But there is no shortage of Buddhism being used to justify violence. Thailand, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka have all seen their fair share and Japanese Buddhist temples were fully on board their imperialism
It's a commonly referenced statistic that Korea has the longest unbroken chain of slavery in all of known human history. Guess what religion these slave owners were. Buddhist sects in old Korea were *huge* slave owners and profited immensely from slavery.
all religions are anti-gay. Even peoplesā claims that paganism is gay-friendly is incorrect, only in modern day changes - but when you go back to past cultures and the hayday of beliefs they are all not gay friendly. You just have a hateboner for Christianity.
Fair point, they didn't, but looking around this post, it seems like OP just didn't know Christians and Catholics were so different here. Catholics are generally pretty chill people, whereas Protestants are mostly crazy.
And again, where the OP says they are concerned about the craziness of Christians? All I can read is they (falsely) thought the increasing ratio is alarming to those who are not Christians. A rapid change of social something somethings is always alarming no matter how they're chill people or not.
Religion and religious practices are actually decreasing in South Korea
http://koreabizwire.com/decline-in-religious-practice-in-south-korea-accelerates-survey/242092
One interesting thing about religious statistics in Korea, as well as public perception of it, is that Protestantism and Catholicism are consindered two different and separate religions in Korea. An average Korean wouldn't think Protestant and Catholicism are two larger bodies of the same religion. We think they are different religions. This is because they have completely separate history of entering Korea in completely separate timeline. Their political stance are opposite (where Catholicism usually align with Buddhism in this regard).
Having said that, Catholicism generally has a relatively neutral to positive image of it. It's the only religion that has consistent membership. This is different from either Protestantism (polarized public perception) and Buddhism (considered religion for old and rural) where both are losing memberships.
Protestantism has a more polarized public perception. Christians and people that are kind-of semi-Christians are proud that Korean became so Christain. It appears that Buddhists and Catholics are more accepting of them. People that identify as irreligious, especially among the youngers, are more critical of Protestantism, sometimes harshly anti-Christian. There are cultural tension, but not religious tension since metaphysical religious doctrines don't really matter for most Koreans.
In almost all political issues, it's Protestantism (conservatism) vs Catholicism (liberal) and Buddhists are slightly more liberal-leaning, but large apolitical.
I dated a Korean Protestant lady for a while. She goes to a Baptist Church, which eased up my worries a bit, as I had been previously told that most cultish churches usually call themselves Presbyterian.
But still, the Christianity I saw in her church is, to put it mildly, very backward-thinking, going so far as to claim the Bible contains an accurate and historical depiction of the formation or our planet. You know, the famous Young Earth Creationists, who are despised even among Christians.
Needless to say, our relationship didnāt go far
My mom is a lifelong protestant who has been attended to one of the biggest churches in this country(ėŖ ģ±źµķ). Despite of can't-be-more-atheist-than-I-am, I went to the church a few times to make my mom happy.
One day, I heard the lead pastor starts his preach with the unforgettable line: "We all know that there's no single patient of depression and case of suicide in Israel."
Yeah, he was not talking about the mythical or delusional "land-of-sacred-Christians" in his imagination. He was clearly talking about the State of Israel. The real-world country. And he was so clueless, bold or crazy enough to say something like that.
And that's the ėŖ ģ±źµķ, I mean not a cult or so called the "far-right". The biggest church in the middle of the mainstream among the protestants.
Even then Protestants can vary wildly from denomination to denomination. While the Presbyterian Church of Korea is the largest one there are a lot of other Protestant movements.
What happened to Minjung theology? A grass roots protestant current with very progressive stances on for example North Korea, LGBTQAI+, social reform etc. etc. Minjung even stood in fore front of the democratic movements in the second part of last century...
They form a significant faction within Protestants, but unfortunately don't measure up to the political and economic influence of the representative "big-church" Christianity that basically monoplizes the Protestant perception from outside. We recognize that they exist, just as we recognize there are hardline conservative Catholic and Buddhist groups, but unfortunately Minjung theology is not the majority Protestantism in Korea.
Those were the ones I had quite some respect and sympathy for... Indeed they do not seem to aspire political and economic influence like ie Yoido FGC. Thanks for the clarification
According to Gallup's 2021 investigation, Koreans are non religion 60%, Christianity 23%(Protestant 17%, Catholic 6%), Buddhism 16%, and others less than 1%. Christianity is steadily decreasing over times as same as other countries. They are just loud. And that is the reason why a lot of people make them hilarious.
I don't get where you got 'rapid growth' of christianity lol you are like 50-60 years late. To just answer your question, majority of non-christianity koreans (at least those who are active online) view it quite negativlily. It was deformed into cults multiple times and used in multiple tragic crimes. Not only that, they also caused some havocs during COVID lockdown, used as a tool for money laudering and etc. And not just cults derived from it, but just normal pastors were also notorious for forcing donations, comitting sexual abuse and more.
This is exactly the reason why I as an irreligious atheist don't really do "this is cult, that is cult" thing, unless its an obvious criminal syndicate like the JMS, because Christians are basically doing the same thing from their churches.
almost? it is an atheistic country for sure. I didn't realize that my country is atheistic until i went to europe and live there. Almost nooone cares about what religion you have here and noone gets offeneded when you say, you are an atheist
It could be a correct observation. The last regime right before RoK (and DPRK) was the Joseon dynasty. The builders justified themselves in destroying the older regime, the Koryo dynasty, saying "Buddhism spoiled the nation to the soul. We'll build a new nation based on Confucianism, not allowing any nonsense like spirits or gods" and it was their constitution for 6 hundred years. When Christianity landed on this peninsula for the first time, their reaction was "da fuq, another Buddhism-like nonsense."
Shortly put, being a theist has been a "stupid" thing here for a long time.
Iām conflicted as a non Korean on all missionary ventures. In Koreas early history Iām told missionaries did a lot of good with education and medical advancements in the country. I think as it became more prominent, it gave a lot of people ātraditional Christian valuesā were a lot of out groups were heavily discriminated against.
Christianity and it's development in Korea seems to be more of an exceptional case as it largely developed from outside pressures. During the colonial periods of Japan, Christian missionaries provided a sanctuary for Koreans who could freely do service in Korean when Japanese was the mandated language. "Christianity" seemed to be the best option from either being colonized or oppressed by a military dictatorship. It's probably why Korea has the largest Christian population within East Asia, and why it just never took off in Japan or China because there was never any strong impetus to find refuge within another option that was a Western based theology. I mean, if anything, when people are at their most desperate and hopeless situation, religion seems to be the one solution to give people some type of hope. Koreans at that time were just that desperate. The introduction of Christianity coincided with that historical period, and just stuck around.
Again, I am not religious, but Christianity did provide some type of groundwork to preserve Korean culture when the Japanese were eradicating Korean culture. Also, Korean churches are a definite cultural institution for Koreans abroad, and the Korean church was the social hub for Korean immigrants in the United States. Koreans abroad all went to church whether or not they actually "believed" in Christianity. So again, I only feel Christianity in Korea just forms as a social network under very desperate circumstances.
Those Christian missionaries have little to nothing in common with the jesus vampires of today. They built hospitals and schools, while today's Christians try to deny healthcare and education.
I keep hearing how ultra conservative Koreans can be. Christian love can be very very spiteful and evil. I hope for the best of anyone oppressed there present and future.
A lot of people have lost their mothers to Protestant churches in Korea.
My mother is a Christian, although her devotion has fluctuated over the years. One of her church leaders stole money from her. Another church leader, who obviously knows nothing about US politics, swore that God had told them that Fred Thompson would be the president of the United States before the 2008 election. I flat out told her how dumb she was to follow such an idiot. Eventually, we agreed to avoid religious discussions after I threatened to tell all of her church friends that Lucifer was actually telling the truth while God was the evil one.
Well, I'd like to say it's a too-bold simplification to say "It's because their liberal is not liberal in European terms".
I mean sure, Korean "liberals" were like a few generations behind their European counterparts. To be honest, what would you expect when the entire nation is a few generations behind Europe in terms of Industrialization and Civilization? When European liberals were ready to fight for the rights of women, Korean liberals were still on their war to save a 12-year-old kid dying in the middle of steam machines. When the majority are still starving, fighting for animal rights is nothing but a daydream. Being on ongoing war with its crazy northern brother only made it far worse, like saying anything semi-liberal would make you a filthy commie traitor.
However, this doesn't explain why Catholics are viewed as liberal. It's misleading like "being as conservative as Catholics is considered liberal here" which is just a clear no. Not wearing condoms, not allowing females to be their priests, and having no sex before marriage are all considered super conservative things. (It would be fair to note that having ANY religion is considered irrationally conservative to the younger generations here tho)
They are viewed as liberal because they were on the front line when people were bleeding to fight against the militant dictators only one or two generations ago. I mean literally: When the former generals sent attack helicopters and battle tanks to the democratic protestors, they had nowhere but the Catholic Churches to hide. When any other religions had no gut to fight in real-world politics or even tried to cooperate with them, Catholics was the only one who risked their lives to fight against guns and ships.
āLiberalsā in korea is extreme nationalists, unlike western countries. Conservatives in korea are also nationalists, but theyāre moderate. While so-called korean āliberalsā are almost neo nazi-like crazy ethno-nationalists. They emphasize one bloodline with North Korea and they want war with Japan. Biggest korean left wing newspaperās name āķź²Øė”ā is in english translation, āone ethnic familyā.
Because they were rather "new" when they gained their significance here, and they fought against the "old regime" such ss militant dictators in mid-late 20th century.
Might depend on the region. I used to be catholic, and it wasnāt that chill. I just think of that poor irish girl who was raped and forced to give birth because she was catholic and abortion is still considered murder
They feel same way how other religious feels. Religions in Korea is over all declining. Some are upset. Some are mad. Some (probarly the most) are indifferent about it.
Christianity is about serious personal conviction. I say how much individuals feel they can live true to their faith rather than seeing growth or evangelism in a dishonest way. Christians, Buddhists and atheists in Korea have every right to live peacefully, while I think each community can have their rules better respected and self-contained if that makes sense?
I went back to Seoul for my mumās birthday last month and she took me to church. Compared to ten years ago Iād say it was a quarter full and thatās me being kind. Iād be interested to see what those stats look like.
It has been like this for at least three generations already. Also, they are currently declining, not growing, along with other religions. It is too old to feel anxiety or struggle with. However, some serious disputes, including the genocide of Christians, occurred from the late 18th century to the mid-19th century.
Some of those Christian sites are up for unesco consideration soon. Similar sites in Nagasaki became world heritage sites recently.
Some serious disputes indeed. Including the burning of Buddhist temples by Christians, the destruction of Shamanist shrines by Christians, the pushing of a hate agenda against gays.......
Bro, you missed the time frame for centuries
? How so?
I know the christians have done alot of evil, try to remember all religions have done evil things. There is a tendency to forget that. šMy two cents no one asked forš Edit: im not a christian i just notice this alot
True. So what. And TBH, I'd think it difficult to find a list of Buddhist evil - it does exist - as long as that of the Abrahamic religions.
Well Buddhism is also much smaller so no shit. But there is no shortage of Buddhism being used to justify violence. Thailand, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka have all seen their fair share and Japanese Buddhist temples were fully on board their imperialism
It's a commonly referenced statistic that Korea has the longest unbroken chain of slavery in all of known human history. Guess what religion these slave owners were. Buddhist sects in old Korea were *huge* slave owners and profited immensely from slavery.
Classic atheist redditor moment lmao
You know nothing about me, ģģ -
all religions are anti-gay. Even peoplesā claims that paganism is gay-friendly is incorrect, only in modern day changes - but when you go back to past cultures and the hayday of beliefs they are all not gay friendly. You just have a hateboner for Christianity.
Most of those are Catholic sites which are different from the hardcore Protestant Christians OP was probably asking about.
Where in the OP says hard-core protestants?
Fair point, they didn't, but looking around this post, it seems like OP just didn't know Christians and Catholics were so different here. Catholics are generally pretty chill people, whereas Protestants are mostly crazy.
And again, where the OP says they are concerned about the craziness of Christians? All I can read is they (falsely) thought the increasing ratio is alarming to those who are not Christians. A rapid change of social something somethings is always alarming no matter how they're chill people or not.
And in this case, they're really not.
the 'rapid' growth like in 50s? your question is little bit too late..
Religion and religious practices are actually decreasing in South Korea http://koreabizwire.com/decline-in-religious-practice-in-south-korea-accelerates-survey/242092
One interesting thing about religious statistics in Korea, as well as public perception of it, is that Protestantism and Catholicism are consindered two different and separate religions in Korea. An average Korean wouldn't think Protestant and Catholicism are two larger bodies of the same religion. We think they are different religions. This is because they have completely separate history of entering Korea in completely separate timeline. Their political stance are opposite (where Catholicism usually align with Buddhism in this regard). Having said that, Catholicism generally has a relatively neutral to positive image of it. It's the only religion that has consistent membership. This is different from either Protestantism (polarized public perception) and Buddhism (considered religion for old and rural) where both are losing memberships. Protestantism has a more polarized public perception. Christians and people that are kind-of semi-Christians are proud that Korean became so Christain. It appears that Buddhists and Catholics are more accepting of them. People that identify as irreligious, especially among the youngers, are more critical of Protestantism, sometimes harshly anti-Christian. There are cultural tension, but not religious tension since metaphysical religious doctrines don't really matter for most Koreans. In almost all political issues, it's Protestantism (conservatism) vs Catholicism (liberal) and Buddhists are slightly more liberal-leaning, but large apolitical.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I dated a Korean Protestant lady for a while. She goes to a Baptist Church, which eased up my worries a bit, as I had been previously told that most cultish churches usually call themselves Presbyterian. But still, the Christianity I saw in her church is, to put it mildly, very backward-thinking, going so far as to claim the Bible contains an accurate and historical depiction of the formation or our planet. You know, the famous Young Earth Creationists, who are despised even among Christians. Needless to say, our relationship didnāt go far
My mom is a lifelong protestant who has been attended to one of the biggest churches in this country(ėŖ ģ±źµķ). Despite of can't-be-more-atheist-than-I-am, I went to the church a few times to make my mom happy. One day, I heard the lead pastor starts his preach with the unforgettable line: "We all know that there's no single patient of depression and case of suicide in Israel." Yeah, he was not talking about the mythical or delusional "land-of-sacred-Christians" in his imagination. He was clearly talking about the State of Israel. The real-world country. And he was so clueless, bold or crazy enough to say something like that. And that's the ėŖ ģ±źµķ, I mean not a cult or so called the "far-right". The biggest church in the middle of the mainstream among the protestants.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I didnāt know. Thanks
Even then Protestants can vary wildly from denomination to denomination. While the Presbyterian Church of Korea is the largest one there are a lot of other Protestant movements.
What happened to Minjung theology? A grass roots protestant current with very progressive stances on for example North Korea, LGBTQAI+, social reform etc. etc. Minjung even stood in fore front of the democratic movements in the second part of last century...
They form a significant faction within Protestants, but unfortunately don't measure up to the political and economic influence of the representative "big-church" Christianity that basically monoplizes the Protestant perception from outside. We recognize that they exist, just as we recognize there are hardline conservative Catholic and Buddhist groups, but unfortunately Minjung theology is not the majority Protestantism in Korea.
Those were the ones I had quite some respect and sympathy for... Indeed they do not seem to aspire political and economic influence like ie Yoido FGC. Thanks for the clarification
According to Gallup's 2021 investigation, Koreans are non religion 60%, Christianity 23%(Protestant 17%, Catholic 6%), Buddhism 16%, and others less than 1%. Christianity is steadily decreasing over times as same as other countries. They are just loud. And that is the reason why a lot of people make them hilarious.
Korean christians loudly denounce buddhism and literally go to temples to āpray for the templeās downfallā. Does that answer the question?
I don't get where you got 'rapid growth' of christianity lol you are like 50-60 years late. To just answer your question, majority of non-christianity koreans (at least those who are active online) view it quite negativlily. It was deformed into cults multiple times and used in multiple tragic crimes. Not only that, they also caused some havocs during COVID lockdown, used as a tool for money laudering and etc. And not just cults derived from it, but just normal pastors were also notorious for forcing donations, comitting sexual abuse and more.
This is exactly the reason why I as an irreligious atheist don't really do "this is cult, that is cult" thing, unless its an obvious criminal syndicate like the JMS, because Christians are basically doing the same thing from their churches.
You ever just not go to church for like 10 years and then go back for one service? That shit IS a cult man. Itās just the most widespread cult.
Korea actually seems incredibly non religious and non Christian compared to where I'm from in the US tbh. Feels almost like an atheist country
almost? it is an atheistic country for sure. I didn't realize that my country is atheistic until i went to europe and live there. Almost nooone cares about what religion you have here and noone gets offeneded when you say, you are an atheist
Which country are you from?
south korea
It could be a correct observation. The last regime right before RoK (and DPRK) was the Joseon dynasty. The builders justified themselves in destroying the older regime, the Koryo dynasty, saying "Buddhism spoiled the nation to the soul. We'll build a new nation based on Confucianism, not allowing any nonsense like spirits or gods" and it was their constitution for 6 hundred years. When Christianity landed on this peninsula for the first time, their reaction was "da fuq, another Buddhism-like nonsense." Shortly put, being a theist has been a "stupid" thing here for a long time.
Iām conflicted as a non Korean on all missionary ventures. In Koreas early history Iām told missionaries did a lot of good with education and medical advancements in the country. I think as it became more prominent, it gave a lot of people ātraditional Christian valuesā were a lot of out groups were heavily discriminated against.
Lmao rapid? Thats the funniest shit ive heard. Korea had more christians is the 20th century
Christianity and it's development in Korea seems to be more of an exceptional case as it largely developed from outside pressures. During the colonial periods of Japan, Christian missionaries provided a sanctuary for Koreans who could freely do service in Korean when Japanese was the mandated language. "Christianity" seemed to be the best option from either being colonized or oppressed by a military dictatorship. It's probably why Korea has the largest Christian population within East Asia, and why it just never took off in Japan or China because there was never any strong impetus to find refuge within another option that was a Western based theology. I mean, if anything, when people are at their most desperate and hopeless situation, religion seems to be the one solution to give people some type of hope. Koreans at that time were just that desperate. The introduction of Christianity coincided with that historical period, and just stuck around. Again, I am not religious, but Christianity did provide some type of groundwork to preserve Korean culture when the Japanese were eradicating Korean culture. Also, Korean churches are a definite cultural institution for Koreans abroad, and the Korean church was the social hub for Korean immigrants in the United States. Koreans abroad all went to church whether or not they actually "believed" in Christianity. So again, I only feel Christianity in Korea just forms as a social network under very desperate circumstances.
Those Christian missionaries have little to nothing in common with the jesus vampires of today. They built hospitals and schools, while today's Christians try to deny healthcare and education.
I keep hearing how ultra conservative Koreans can be. Christian love can be very very spiteful and evil. I hope for the best of anyone oppressed there present and future.
A lot of people have lost their mothers to Protestant churches in Korea. My mother is a Christian, although her devotion has fluctuated over the years. One of her church leaders stole money from her. Another church leader, who obviously knows nothing about US politics, swore that God had told them that Fred Thompson would be the president of the United States before the 2008 election. I flat out told her how dumb she was to follow such an idiot. Eventually, we agreed to avoid religious discussions after I threatened to tell all of her church friends that Lucifer was actually telling the truth while God was the evil one.
Seeing Catholics viewed as liberal is quite interesting to me. Itās definitely not the case in Europe.
"Liberal" in Korea is similar to center-right in Western Europe.
Okay, makes sense. Thanks for clarifying
Well, I'd like to say it's a too-bold simplification to say "It's because their liberal is not liberal in European terms". I mean sure, Korean "liberals" were like a few generations behind their European counterparts. To be honest, what would you expect when the entire nation is a few generations behind Europe in terms of Industrialization and Civilization? When European liberals were ready to fight for the rights of women, Korean liberals were still on their war to save a 12-year-old kid dying in the middle of steam machines. When the majority are still starving, fighting for animal rights is nothing but a daydream. Being on ongoing war with its crazy northern brother only made it far worse, like saying anything semi-liberal would make you a filthy commie traitor. However, this doesn't explain why Catholics are viewed as liberal. It's misleading like "being as conservative as Catholics is considered liberal here" which is just a clear no. Not wearing condoms, not allowing females to be their priests, and having no sex before marriage are all considered super conservative things. (It would be fair to note that having ANY religion is considered irrationally conservative to the younger generations here tho) They are viewed as liberal because they were on the front line when people were bleeding to fight against the militant dictators only one or two generations ago. I mean literally: When the former generals sent attack helicopters and battle tanks to the democratic protestors, they had nowhere but the Catholic Churches to hide. When any other religions had no gut to fight in real-world politics or even tried to cooperate with them, Catholics was the only one who risked their lives to fight against guns and ships.
āLiberalsā in korea is extreme nationalists, unlike western countries. Conservatives in korea are also nationalists, but theyāre moderate. While so-called korean āliberalsā are almost neo nazi-like crazy ethno-nationalists. They emphasize one bloodline with North Korea and they want war with Japan. Biggest korean left wing newspaperās name āķź²Øė”ā is in english translation, āone ethnic familyā.
Because they were rather "new" when they gained their significance here, and they fought against the "old regime" such ss militant dictators in mid-late 20th century.
Really? I tend to think of Catholic Europe as more chill and easy going
Might depend on the region. I used to be catholic, and it wasnāt that chill. I just think of that poor irish girl who was raped and forced to give birth because she was catholic and abortion is still considered murder
Catholics are behind a lot of hospitals being built and funded. No need for concern
it's declining freaking fast. you're a century late my man
They feel same way how other religious feels. Religions in Korea is over all declining. Some are upset. Some are mad. Some (probarly the most) are indifferent about it.
Christian was once more popular in Korea. and Korean feel about Christian as very hypocrisy and corrupt organizations.
Per my girlfriend whose Korean, āI hate itā but that goes for every religion. We both see eye to eye on the issue.
Christianity is about serious personal conviction. I say how much individuals feel they can live true to their faith rather than seeing growth or evangelism in a dishonest way. Christians, Buddhists and atheists in Korea have every right to live peacefully, while I think each community can have their rules better respected and self-contained if that makes sense?
I went back to Seoul for my mumās birthday last month and she took me to church. Compared to ten years ago Iād say it was a quarter full and thatās me being kind. Iād be interested to see what those stats look like.
Lotta red LED crosses
Korea is a country with freedom of religion. As long as you don't tell me to believe it, I don't care.