[Buddha-l] Perhaps the Buddhists in Korea have finally had it?

[jkirk]

Hope we get something from the AAR panel.

The latest Orissa atrocity about the murder of the Swami is
interesting in that Naxals publicly took credit for doing it.
Despite that, Hindu Bajrang Dals and the like exploited it to
attack Christians, churches, their homes, clergy, etc. 

Christian aggressiveness is also publicly manifesting here, in
the persona of McCain's VP candidate. 
-----------------------


 On Behalf Of Dan Lusthaus
Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2008 10:07 PM
To: Buddhist discussion forum
Subject: Re: [Buddha-l] Perhaps the Buddhists in Korea have
finally had it?

Joanna,

I may not be able to attend that particular session due to
something else happening at the same time. If there, I will
report back.

The Hindu-Christian outbursts presently going on in India have
both a longer and shorter history -- the shorter history being
the killing of a Hindu leader, which sparked the Hindu reaction.
The longer history is more complex and has become enmeshed with
all sorts of political agendas; religious riots have become
periodic parts of the landscape there (though each has its own
history and peculiarities).

As for Korea, Confucianism was dominant for many centuries
(Choson Dynasty, 1392-1910), and Buddhism survived but played
second fiddle. Confucian attitudes still dominate social
interactions in Korea, but Buddhism has made a strong resurgence
during the 20th c. Historically, while there were tensions and
repressions of various sorts, violent outbursts against other
religions were not the rule. With the ascendancy of Christianity
in the late 20th c. that has changed. Violence, vandalism against
Buddhist institutions and temples, etc., have become commonplace,
and the Buddhists have, until recently, largely been perplexed
and unsure how to react. Complaining about the prime minister and
his perceived slight of Buddhist leaders is a pretext, and not a
very effective response. In short, the Christians have been very
aggressive, expressing a kind of intolerance previously unusual
for Korea, and the Buddhists have not quite figured out how to
respond (fortunately, so far, they haven't responded in kind --
unfortunately, that may be down the road). Throwing off Confucian
mores is on the mind of most modernity-minded Koreans, Christian
and Buddhist, especially women who have many legitimate
grievances against the present social system (e.g., a single
woman cannot check into a hotel).

Dan

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