BBC Radio 4’s Crossing Continents has a report on Korean missionary work in Asia (March 31, 2030 GMT). As per the article on such, some of the more interesting quotes run as such:
. . . many church members in South Korea go a step further, signing up for visits to Korean missions abroad - so-called “camcorder missions”. One such group was kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2007 by the Taleban. Two members of the group were killed. Many of the Korean Protestants I have spoken to, consider them to be “martyrs” whose “blood” is good for the cause of Jesus in Afghanistan.
or
The missionaries claim that conversion is not only the key to a life according to God’s will, but also to prosperity. They cite South Korea as an example, where a rapid Christianisation has accompanied rapid industrialisation. Moses Hahn, for example, has only one explanation for the huge disparity in wealth between North and South Korea. “There is only one reason. They have no God, but we have God — true God,” he says.
The accompanying article is here.
36 Comments
wow. i didn’t think park chung-hee would be elevated to god status so quickly. . . usually it takes a while to even be declared a saint!
“They cite South Korea as an example, where a rapid Christianisation has accompanied rapid industrialisation. ”
Well, that’s a bit of a leap in logic. Christianity was introduced in Korea in the late 18 century, just 150 years or so after it was introduced in the US and Canada, and the majority of Koreans aren’t Christian.
PS. “Moses Hahn, for example, has only one explanation for the huge disparity in wealth between North and South Korea. “There is only one reason. They have no God, but we have God — true God,” he says.”
Well, that’s illogical…but if one insists on using the religious argument, then I’d say the disparity has more to do with North Koreans thinking Kim Jong il shits gold nuggets than with the number of Christians in South Korea. After all, 80% of South Koreans aren’t Christians and 25% don’t even follow a religion. If anything, one should say that the reason South Korea is doing so well is that a large percentage of the population doesn’t follow any particular religion.
How does one explain the rapid industrialisation and concentration of wealth in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, Moses?
…or China, Saudi Arabia and India?
I learned via London Korean Links (in the blogroll) that you can listen to and download the 30 min radio report by clicking on the link below.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod.....continents
Don’t be put off by the tail end of a news report at the beginning of it.
Hey, thanks for the link James. :o)
Someguy . . . um, you think Christianity was introduced to America and Canada during the early 1700s??? As far as I recall, the Mayflower arrived in 1620 and Jamestown was founded in 1607 . . .
and let’s not forget the Spanish settlement at St. Augustine in 1565.
to: moses hahn
from: mcnut
although not as crazy and bad for the world as brain-washed extreme islamic looney muslims
brain-washed extreme christian looneys are idiots as well
PS
PS. “Moses Hahn, for example, has only one explanation for the huge disparity in wealth between North and South Korea. “There is only one reason. They have no God, but we have God — true God,” he says.”
no dude the reason is North Korea had kim il sung and has kim jong il
South korea has the United States
Imagine what these societies could accomplish if they were not bogged down with the needless weight of religion.
“Someguy . . . um, you think Christianity was introduced to America and Canada during the early 1700s??? As far as I recall, the Mayflower arrived in 1620 and Jamestown was founded in 1607 . . .”
Dude, 150 years before the late 18th century is the early 1600’s. Remember, we are in the 21st century.
BTW, the first permanent European settlement in the US was not in Jamestown.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.....and,_Maine
#9,
I forgot about that one. Wasn’t it resettled after it was burned to the ground, though?
#7, You’re welcome.
’some of the more interesting quotes run as such:…’
one of the reasons i think so lowly of the expat is his constant need to portray koreans in the worst possible light. i suppose the humanitarian work they do isn’t interesting to you, is it, expat elgin?
sickening.
‘because of the us…’ mcnut
yeah, korea successful because of korea, not because of you. k? now why don’t you get back to taking all my women, hero?
let the adults discuss.
#15: Pawi, McNut is just pushing your buttons because it’s obviously so easy.
There are a million-odd foreigners in South Korea and maybe two dozen of them are regular commenters on this blog.
Try to expand your sample size before you make grand pronouncements about the nature and character of The Expat.
Otherwise you’re just trapped in a feedback loop that bears little relation to reality.
Seriously.
#15: Pawi, McNut is just pushing your buttons because it’s obviouslly so easy…’
that’s your interpretation. i think he needs to write what he writes. i’m just calling him on it. and in any event, i’m thinking about excommunicating him. with special features, i might add. that way, he’ll just simply disappear just like that tyz guy or whatever his name was.
pawi refute what i said or STFU
its true SK is a sucessful industrialized 1st world democracy based on the fact that the United States set up shop here after the Korean War and introduced the fundamentals of capitalism, poured money into the economy and infrastructure, provided billions of dollars to the national security (how? because SK didnt have to)
Koreans ran with it and now they are where they are
#17: “i’m thinking about excommunicating him. with special features”
I think Robert would be surprised to learn that you are now head priest of this little church.
Personally, I chalk up the Miracle on the Han to Bacchus.
korea stopped recieving foreign aid in the early 70s if i recall correctly. still further, it’s either the only country or one of the few countries that has actually paid back any loans it might have recieved. your implication that korea’s success is due to external facotrs is rejected. the koreans are resposible for their success.
as for your comments re the us military, well, when i see folks like you tell us that the japanese are who they are because they didn’t need to worry about a military, then, i’d be more willing to entertain your fantasy. and let’s be honest, the us doesn’t do anything that doesn’t benefit the us. the troops in korea are there because they serve america’s interest. don’t blame the koreans that their interests intersect with those of america’s.
‘I think Robert would be surprised to learn that you are now head priest of this little church.’ king baeksu
i have no power to ban anyone here but i do have the power to ignore. if i decide a guy is simply tring to rile me personally, then, i excommunicate him and simply pass over his posts. in other words, the person simply disappears. i’m pretty consistant when it comes to that. once i decide to ignore someone, i really do pass over their posts.
Perhaps Pawi believes that we are all figments of his schizophrenic fantasies and that if he just ignores us, we will disappear. Like that movie, “The Beautiful Mind.”
Perhaps some people need to get over their fucking fixations about certain posters.
I think South Korean missionaries are a good idea as long as they go to dangerous and unstable countries like Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran. It’s Darwinian evolution of our species in effect.
4 and 5:
The economic growth and success of Godless countries like Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan China, Saudi Arabia and India are obviously just red herrings placed in the world to test our faith in the One, True God: if only Christians and Christian nations were successful and prosperous, then it would be too obvious that the Christian God is the One True Creator and Benefactor, and we wouldn’t need faith anymore.
It’s like Christians getting cancer or dinosaur bones and scientific evidence of an extremely old earth: those apparent contradictions to what Christians believe are just smokescreens God placed on earth in order to test our faith, and make sure only the True of Heart and Willing To Jettison Critical Thought come to Him! The pharmacist in “Secret Sunshine” taught me that!
If you don’t think God has power, why did He make Lee Myungbak the president of Korea?
20: “excommunicate” . . . is that kind of like when friend’s seven-year-old son warned me, “let me play with that toy, or I won’t be your friend anymore.”
Do the quotes make Koreans look bad or is that only your opinion of them?
Moses Hahn, for example, has only one explanation for the huge disparity in wealth between North and South Korea. “There is only one reason. They have no God, but we have God — true God,” he says.
Spoken like a true Calvinist.
pawi you dip! can you make the coorelation its quite f’ing simple
korea stops recieving aid in the 70’s i give you that(check)
korea doesnt have to spend billions on its military (check)
those billions are poured into building the country examples are the CHAEBOLs (check)
i am not saying koreans didnt acheive
i am just saying they had a relatively easy path to success based on political and military circumstances.
do you honestly think that koreans would be where they are today had the United Nations not guaranteed their security?
you are now excommunicated for the time being!!
Korea wouldn’t have fire if they hadn’t been invaded by the Mongolians. Billions, if not trillions, of dollars have been poured into Korea by other nations (namely Japan and the US) to secure this country (US) and build the infrastructure (US and Japan). Sure those countries had their reasons for doing so…it certainly wasn’t out of the goodness of their hearts. But for anyone to think Korea is where it is today because Koreans did it all themselves well….that’s not living in denial, it’s insanity! I used to think racist poowi was just another uber-nationalistic and racist idiot but now I’m thinking there is some real brain damage involved.
# 10,
We may fear for our soul with a Christian religious nut… but we do not generally fear for our lives.
That’s an important point to consider.
# 18,
South Korea wasn’t the only benifactuary. After WWII, the U.S. poured billions into rebuilding Japan (and Europe) also. Let us not forget the Yoshida Doctrine, Japan’s policy of letting the U.S. bear most of the burden of fighting the Cold War in East Asia as Japan focused on economic growth.
Benifactuary? Gosh that was horrible. I meant beneficiary.
“korea stopped recieving foreign aid in the early 70s if i recall correctly.”
Maybe, you seem just as near-sighted as those who claim that the US is solely responsible for the current state of the South Korean economy.
The majority of the investments in South Korea from 1953 to 1964 came from foreign economic aid. Foreign economic aid freed the government from having to spend its meager foreign reserve on the import of food and cement. From 1963 or so, South Korea also began receiving low interest loans, which permitted it to go ahead with Park Chung Hee’s development plans and, eventually, eliminate its dependence on foreign aid in 1974. As much as Park Chung Hee’s plans were successful, fact is that if it wasn’t for international aid and low-interest loans, the South Korean economy would not have grown so rapidly as it would have been crippled by foreign debt.
Korea wouldn’t have fire if they hadn’t been invaded by the Mongolians.
Western civ wouldn’t have fire if it wasn’t for Prometheus also, I might add.
Billions, if not trillions, of dollars have been poured into Korea by other nations….
Billions? Yes. Trillions? No.
Korea’s economic rise is largely due to the reforms and policies instituted by Park Chung Hee (an avowed atheist) and some good ole fashioned Confucian work ethic. Foreign aid was merely the spark that created the economic growth explosion which was largely due to the efforts of the Korean government and people. Foreign aid is also a double-edged sword, depending on who you give it to. In the right hands, it can led to national development. In the wrong hands, like self-interested corrupt dictators like Ferdinand Marcos, it can keep that corrupt leader longer in power, and ultimately hurt the country’s growth. So sayeth the Congressional Budget Office (1997)
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/43x.....Entire.pdf
U.S. market access was key for Korea’s export-led take-off. It would be better if Korea reciprocated that by opening its markets, rather than sending missionaries to the world’s hellholes.
Hey Marmot! Do you really think posts like #28 are appropriate? He’s essentially equating Koreans with Neanderthals. Will this be allowed to stand?
“Billions, if not trillions, of dollars have been poured into Korea by other nations….”
I read somewhere that it added up to something like 4 or 5 billion (in 1960’s currency)…a few hundred billion short of the trillions you suggest.