Lee Kisik, the coach of the US Olympic archery team, apparently really loves Jesus:
Kisik Lee is a South Korean who served as his country’s national archery coach in the 1980s and 1990s, helping his team win eight gold medals. The U.S. Olympic Committee hired him after no Americans medaled in 2004.
No Americans medaled this year, either, but that’s not why Lee’s methods are being questioned. Instead, he’s being accused of discriminating against non-Christian American archers.
Susan Caldwell and her teenage daughter, Raquel, are Buddhists. Raquel is an archer who trained at the national training center, and Susan tells the New York Times she has complaints about Lee’s methods.
“To me,” she said, “it felt like those who were Christian were favored, and those who were not were almost not acknowledged.”
The full New York Times article is here.
All I want to know is this — is we’ve got Jesus behind us, why the hell didn’t we medal? Maybe next year, we can bring in Do’ol to coach instead.
(HT to reader)
46 Comments
It’s funny how God only seems to care about the ones who win.
white man brought Jesus to Korea.
white man gets concerned that they took it too readily.
now, white man is busy to teach Korea that what he brought was a lie, and Jesus is extremely not politically correct.
after toking some weed, “keep it in your house”, white man says. Try weed, not Jesus, white man says.
Jesus isn’t actually popular in Korea. More popular with US gyopos.
white man is an ass hole.
it’s too late. There’s a little bit of baduk in many of us US gyopos. We’ll push it to the legal limit.
estimating from my peers, I estimate 80% of US gyopos go to church, and also have smoked weed, and inhaled very deeply.
I thank God that I can honestly say that I was around weed users, but never smoked it, ever. Thus, I won’t be a Bill Clinton, when pressured to spill it out.
#2,
Actually, Korea is one of the first countries where the spread of Christianity was homegrown.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Korea
Tripod, just once I would like to see the losing side say “The other team prayed harder than we did.”
Who said it?
“If god be for us, then who can be against us?”
Anyway, I think it’s funny that none of these atheletes blame god/jesus when they lose.
I think there actually was an Onion article about that.
To be an effective archer, Lee said, athletes must learn to clear their heads and focus. “If you are Christian,” he said, “then people can have that kind of empty mind.”
Carlin couldn’t write a better punchline.
Wow, a NYT article featuring an unsubstantiated accusation to foster bias against Christians.
Now that’s something novel.
wjk
Your use of the term “white man” is just as annoying and moronic as a former (and, I suspect, not fondly remembered or missed) commenter’s use of “the expat” in almost every single one of his “contributions” to the site. Doesn’t make your comments appear any more intelligent. (For example: “white man is an ass hole.” Pretty deep.)
As for the aforementioned comments on the origins and popularity of Christianity in Korea, they also suggest that you may not know what you are talking about when it comes to religion in Korea. I will allow that you may be an expert on pot smoking and church attendance among gyopos (Two things, I am certain, everybody else here associates with one another, not to mention archery.)
Athletes need touchdowns, goals, bull’s eyes and home runs NOW — not in the afterlife!
Obviously Lee is a good coach, if the U.S. team scouted him from Australia, who scouted him from South Korea. But I can definitely see how his Christianity-heavy style can become uncomfortable to people who does not share the faith.
I don’t like the r & l based jokes because it’s one of the oldest Asian jokes around and it’s been done too many times. I only enjoy it when it’s really clever, like that one line in Lethal Weapon 4.
“Flied lice?”
“It is fried rice, you plick!”
boo to your unoriginality.
@wjk
I drank a pot tea once by accident. I was giggly for 6 hours. Does that count?
#5,
That’s what I would say…Of course, I’d being saying it sarcastically.
#7,
LOL.
I’d be saying it…sorry.
My MIL’s church group came to her wake at the beginning and end and it was very generously minded and appreciated by dint of their presence.
It’s not all bad,just a certain thing.
The Nick Cage paraphrenalia(sp?) at the burial site,now that was a different thing!
white man bring jeebus to Korea
Korea man love the jeebus too much
heap big trouble
that is all
A Buddhist named “Caldwell” ,……I’d discriminate against her too.
I love these douche-bag westerners who become Buddhists.
Regarding #16,
Okay, I’m curious. I’m a westerner and a Buddhist, why the insults?
Really, I’m curious.
Marcus
Uh, bumfromkorea, I wasn’t making an “r vs. l” joke. I said pray and I meant pray, not play.
You know, the winners always mention how they prayed and God wanted them to win. I want to losers to say they didn’t pRay hard enough.
Yeah, and I love these douche-bag easterners who become Christians.
Get your own religion, slackers!
It is only us white folks who can follow the incorrectly transcribed and translated words of a possibly mythical, minor Middle Eastern Jew with delusions of being the creator of everything.
So there.
So was he glad when Hwang Woo Suk was found out?
#19,
The Bible can’t even get the identity of Jesus straight.
“And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary….” (Matthew 1:16)
“And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being … the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli…”(Luke 3:23)
…To some the Bible is the divine word…to most it’s a collection of arbitrarily selected texts.
#9…wjk went through a phase where he actually made some good insightful posts on here but lately he’s regressed to nothing more than a troll with his “white man is an asshole” type comments. You’re correct in that he seems to want to take up the “Ignorant Hater” mantle left vacant by the troll I won’t mention. Wjk has lost all credibility here.
I actually miss Baduk. At least he’s not a racist. His comments equally offend everyone without specifically targeting one type of skin color in his off the wall rants. Now THAT is talent.
Is that supposed to be some sort of ironic commentary on how Christianity stems from Asian roots, and should probably be considered an ‘Eastern’ religion, thus making the Europeans the douche-bags and slackers? Because if so, well-played.
…is we’ve got Jesus behind us, why the hell didn’t we medal?
It’s because Jesus is a bigger fan of NFL football than Olympic archery.
http://www.iht.com/articles/20.....ts/GOD.php
http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000003823.cfm
i am not an ass hole, because I am Korean genetically, thus it is impossible for me to be an asshole.
i have no intention of replacing pawikirogi.
Simply, I will not allow the likes of Sonagi painting Koreans as the Next Generation Nazis.
Then, and only then, I will counter if I feel like it, the hypocrisy and fallacy behind such a charge.
If you want the Next Generation Nazis, they are hosting the Olympic Games this year in Beijing. They like to be called the Volksrepublic of China.
From now on, unless provoked on the scale of “let’s write our congressman about how racist Korea is”,
I promise never to criticize the white man, who is permitted to have consensual sex with the Korean woman.
actually, none of that is my concern.
Have fun.
Jesus did live on the continent of Asia but at the opposite end, 10,000+ kilometers away from Korea. Near Eastern and Far Eastern civilizations are as distinct from each other as they are from European civilizations.
#27 - Mm hmm… Was merely pointing out that Christianity is no more native to Europe than it is to the Far East.
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
“wjk
Your use of the term “white man” is just as annoying and moronic…”
You STILL don’t realize that wjk is someone joking around?
Why did they hire the coach anyway? It’s not coaching but the fact that Korea has a really impressive farm system for archery that is unmatched by most other countries. That’s what’s finding and training the talent. It’s like Korea hiring the US coach from this years Olympic basketball team and expecting that that will allow them to out perform the US next time around.
I know nothing about the sport of archery in Korea, but I am not surprised that they field such competent teams. I watched a few traditional Korean archery competitions at the range in Namsan Park, and was more than impressed with the Korean compound bow, which outranges the Japanese longbow (as it did during the Imjin Wars). Considering the long hours than many Korean golf fans put in at the driving range (the first ball used to go downrange across from my bedroom window at 05:30), it is not hard to imagine that Korean archers are similarly committed to their sport. Right on ‘em! They have honored both their country and one of its martial sports traditions. They deserve the respect of any of us who have ever dabbled in a martial art. (No small number of Marmot’s Hole readers, I suspect.)
As for WJK: The historical Buddha, Sakyamuni, was a White guy too. Indeed, he was a genuine Aryan. But your point on Westerner’s who abandon their own religious traditions to take up an Eastern tradition they often dimly understand, is well taken. Fortunately, there are real Western buddhists, and one of them is the Abbot of a Korean temple.
Devout Christians and Jews do not seek out Buddhism. I was an apostate long before I started on the path and fellow Western friends who have explored Buddhism was already confirmed agnostics. Since Buddhism does not deny the existence of God, Western Buddhists need not abandon all Judeo-Christian traditions. I continue to celebrate Christmas as a family holiday and attend services with them and quote Scripture as a source of wisdom.
was = were
There are Korean Christians?
Does Christ know?
#30 hardyanditny
I, as one of the more serious posters here, can vouch that wjk is always dead serious. He’s even convinced me to stop being white anymore.
#23 Maekchu
I miss baduk too. It was hilarious how serious people took his feigned gyopo caricature, and then he would up the ante by responding to every complaining comment with something even more outrageous to see at what point people would get it and yet there was always someone who never did.
Marcus,
Why are you curious? I’m not curious at all about peoples’ stupid comments. The internet is full of them. Of course, he won’t give you any good reason.
Hi Joe,
Great to see you here on the Hole mate, I don’t normally come this way much myself.
You are right about the Internet being full of stupid comments and I certainly don’t usually respond at all. But calling western Buddhists the name he did, I was genuinely curious as to what was behind that one.
No, no response. And whatever response there might have been, I’d have just come back with a simple ‘thank you’. There was no intention of starting a debate. That would have been pointless.
All the best mate and see you tomorrow at Sangha,
Namu Amitabul
Marcus
“#27 - Mm hmm… Was merely pointing out that Christianity is no more native to Europe than it is to the Far East.”
Oh, but don’t you know that the lost tribe of Israelites went to Japan?
http://www5.ocn.ne.jp/~magi9/isracame.htm
Sonagi (Nr. 34): “was = were”
What?! That’s not true! What is this, Buddhist logic or something?
Jeffery Hodges
* * *
hhahahha… korean christian, white buddhist… truth is exotic i guess…
“The historical Buddha, Sakyamuni, was a White guy too. Indeed, he was a genuine Aryan.”
you’re confusing the different possible meanings of the term “aryan.”
Oh yeah right… And next, you’ll be telling me that the first Christians in Korea were probably Mongols, and not white people (just like Jesus!) Sheesh… I’m not that gullible.
Umetaro. Aryan as in the peoples who conquered Northern India.
#43,
Actually, the first known Christian in Korea was Konishi Yukinaga, one of the commanders of the Japanese invasions in the 1590s.
#45
Really? I thought that the Mongols would have been first, back when they owned Korea. After all, quite a few Mongols back in the day were Christians, including Genghis Khan’s mentor.