Vaccination and Korean Christians facing an "apocalypse" (2) in a series
Refusing to get vaccinated and causing pandemic outbreaks really hits Christian credibility hard. The violent attacks on Gay.
The link to the first installment is at the end of this news post.
I can’t get the word out without subscribers who are sharing the news posts.
The Korean Christians have made the Gay community their target and violently attack them.
This is an article on how Gays have become the new major target of Korean Christians
https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1005380.html
This following link is to an article that tells how the 2018 Pride event in Incheon, a major Korean city was attacked, I mean subject to violence the parade blocked by Christians.
This following link is to a 2018 article which includes reports on the violence against the LGBT at this event titled, “Queer festival severely delayed by violent anti-gay protests in Korean port city.”
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20180909000245
Quoting the article.
The first queer festival held in the South Korean port city of Incheon was severely delayed throughout Saturday, as some 1,000 Christians staged an anti-gay protests on the scene, which led to physical attacks and verbal abuse against LGBT individuals. [Boldface added.]
The LGBT were trapped like animals for five hours.
Witnesses said those who were stuck could not eat nor go to the bathroom for at least five hours throughout the day. Some participants in the event reported being physically assaulted by the protesters. [Boldface added.]
Tires of parade vehicles were punctured.
A total of three trucks, which carried items to be used during the event, such as musical instruments and costumes, also could not enter the plaza as the protesters blocked their way. The members of the anti-gay rally also deliberately punctured the tires of the vehicles, according to the event organizers. [Boldface added.]
There had been complaints that the Incheon police were complicit in the anti-Gay Christian attacks.
Next year, in 2019, the parade went much better. The key thing was that ambassadors from seven nations were at the Queer Culture Festival event. This is the article.
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2019/09/715_274898.html
The Irish embassy distributed badges and leaflets with the slogan "Gra (Love) is the Law" and were joined by the Australian Embassy, the New Zealand Embassy and the German Embassy. The British Embassy was also once more in attendance promoting the motto "Love is Great" and its staff fetchingly decked out in pink T-shirts and rainbow ties.
The Nordic countries of Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland also combined to create a booth that explained the development of human rights in their countries.
However, in 2022 the anti-Gay Korean Christians are on the defensive facing widespread public hostility. What happened?
Covid and fringe Christians causing Covid outbreaks happened.
Do you think my use of “Apocalypse” is too extreme? I got it from this article published at the Univ. of Chicago Divinity School.
https://divinity.uchicago.edu/sightings/articles/christian-apocalypse-pandemic-stricken-south-korea
This is the full title of the article, “Christian Apocalypse in Pandemic-Stricken South Korea: Christianity in South Korea will never be the same post-pandemic.”
A quote from the article:
Yet, it would not be a stretch to say that those who gather for worship are also deeply concerned about the social stigma that has been leveled against Christianity and its offshoots as a hotbed of viral outbreak. If COVID-19 wreaked havoc on all fronts of South Korean society over the last two years, Christian churches have arguably suffered the harshest blow and it may take years for them to regain public trust and confidence. From the very beginning of the pandemic, Christianity was a negative cause célèbre throughout South Korean society. [Boldface added.]
The article then recounts how fringe Christian groups were the cause of three pandemic outbreaks in South Korea and how these groups refused to follow Covid safety. Large segments of the public developed hostility towards Christians. Quoting the article.
All these cases of mass cluster infections at churches and para-church sites in 2020-2021 gave rise to what may be called “Christianophobia” in the plague-ridden South Korean society. Some small shops and restaurants put out signs that read: “Temporarily off-limits to Christians,” while harsh words against Korean Christians abound on online discussion boards. Knowing that they might not be welcomed, some Christians now reportedly tone down their religious identity in public. [Boldface added.]
Of course it is still possible that these anti-Gay Christians can still attempt to go after Gays, but their attempts will be in the face of significant public hostility towards them. Further, when you are unpopular and you attack a group, you likely cause some to be sympathetic to the group you are attacking.
Here is another article, “South Korea’s defiant churches face backlash for hampering COVID-19 response.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-southkorea-church-idUSKBN25Z1MU
The article describes how a conservative political party is being hurt by its association with Christianity and the Covid outbreaks.
TV series have taken up themes critical of Christianity and its extremism. The subtitle of this article is, “Church leaders fear bashing Christianity is becoming trendy.” This is the link.
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20211201000848
The title of the article is, “From ‘Hellbound’ to ‘Squid Game,’ churches fret over religious zealot characters.”
This is a theme in lots of Korean dramas. I am currently watching the Korean series, “L.U.C.A.: The Beginning,” where there is a vicious crazed Korean nun and a Christian cult which is funding experiments to genetically modify humans with all sorts of genes from animals.
I am not sure that Korean Gays have had any particular role in shifting public opinion about anti-Gay Christians or Christians in general, but that doesn’t mean we can’t here in the United States adopt a program to use American Evangelical anti-vaxxer craziness to discredit their homophobia. Though it seems that Evangelical anti-vaxxer craziness is discrediting themselves somewhat already, we can make the public more aware of their anti-vaxxer craziness and connect it to their anti-Gay craziness.
We will be proposing some actions in future posts.
First installment on vaccinations and Christians at this link. A third installment is forthcoming.