samcster94
Banned
I am always shocked at Korea being more receptive to Christianity than most of Asia. What makes Korea different??? South Korea's demographics have nearly one in three being Christian.
All of what you said, plus it seems a lotion religious groups were active against the military government . Seems the Christian groups got s lot of prestige in the toppling of the dictatorship.IIRC, it's a combination of humanitarian work and nationalism. Christian missionaries set up many schools and hospitals throughout the peninsula (Yonsei of the SKY universities, for example, was founded by an American missionary) and Christianity itself became a symbol of resistance to the Japanese, who were trying to assimilate the Koreans by banning the Korean language and enforce Shinto on the populace, among other things.
Not that Christianity was a new thing in the peninsula by that point; it had a foothold in now-North Korea due to the frontier nature of the mountainous north (not as traditional and stratified as the south, where it was more actively persecuted) and adopted Hangul for the Bible early on, so Korean Christianity by the 1900s had a distinctly Korean flavour to it that made it attractive as a statement against Japanese (cultural) imperialism.
Then it had the fortune of being at the head of the Miracle of the Han River, where Korea went from getting economic aid from Kenya to G20 level prosperity, and the association of Christianity with social movement and economic blessings.
That it wasn't colonized by a Christian imperial power probably helped since it meant no organized resistance against Christianity (becoming a symbol of independence rather than of subservience). Also the curtailing and discrediting of the old faiths by the Japanese (Korean Buddhism, or at least some sects, saw influences from Japanese Buddhism, like priests having families) made Christianity spread faster in the wake of Buddhist weakness (some of the earlier ROK presidents were also very anti-Buddhist and did some shady stuff to cut down on Buddhism in Korea).
So yeah, it's a combination of a lot of factors that wouldn't have been foreseen at the turn of the 20th century.
How is this alternate history?
Ok, i guess. They should specify though.It's a question understanding the drivers of our timeline so you can know what needs to be changed for the event not to happen.
Ok, i guess. They should specify though.
I read the thread and wondered where the alternate history in it was. Honestly its just a history question.On the contrary, threads talking more about alternate history usually get tagged with abbreviations like WI, PC, AHC, or DBWI, while threads like this don’t need those. Plus, is it really such an imposition to just read the OP to figure out what a thread is about?
I read the thread and wondered where the alternate history in it was. Honestly its just a history question.
Ok, i guess. They should specify though.
Or possibly to duplicate it somewhere else. For example, if Christianity is populair in Korea, can we do the same for Japan? You need to understand why christianity is populair in Korea first.It's a question understanding the drivers of our timeline so you can know what needs to be changed for the event not to happen.
I would question those notions in multiple regards. Regarding Korea, as I've mentioned, Christianity only became prominent in Korean society in the 20th century and for a myriad of reasons mostly related to the Japanese colonial period and the subsequent years of economic and political turmoil and growth.Korean “shamanism” is more receptive of the concept of “one God”.
In a more polytheist/animist culture like Japan, “there is only one God” can be a quite strange idea.
Let us not forget that Christiannity originally spread through the Roman Empire, where Polytheism was the norm. It also expanded outside of Roman borders afterwards, in places where they also practiced polytheist religions and had several gods.Korean “shamanism” is more receptive of the concept of “one God”.
In a more polytheist/animist culture like Japan, “there is only one God” can be a quite strange idea.
Especially as you could easily make other Gods into saints as equivalents.Let us not forget that Christiannity originally spread through the Roman Empire, where Polytheism was the norm. It also expanded outside of Roman borders afterwards, in places where they also practiced polytheist religions and had several gods.
So I'm not really sure a religion being more in-line with the concept of monotheism would be the only explanation.
Especially as you could easily make other Gods into saints as equivalents.
Korean “shamanism” is more receptive of the concept of “one God”.
In a more polytheist/animist culture like Japan, “there is only one God” can be a quite strange idea.