Dear Brothers in Christ:
I just read in an article from my today's newspaper (The Wall Street Journal) which sustained that Christians are regularly persecuted in Mainland China. The article was entitled, "The China Obama Didn't See: Shuttered Churches Belie a 'Harmonious Society.'" The article gave a conservative estimate of 100 million Christians in China, in addition to the 10 million in registered churches where they must push an indoctrinated communist party line.
My family prays for Christians in China to gain more freedom of worship. We greatly appreciate our freedom to gather and worship however we please here in South Korea, Land of the Morning Calm. We realize we only have that freedom because American soldiers came here to fight and die for that cause.
I saw the first part of a film two days ago with my children, A Passage to India. In that film, there were several points where the film reminded me of the situation here in South Korea, where I teach morality and English as a second language in my home. The natives were especially excitable, unable to control their emotions, particularly when en masse. This was in marked contrast to the ease and maturity with which the British controlled their emotions.
In the film, the Indians made self-disparaging remarks about their native disarray, implying the need for an external manager for their nation. I have heard much of the same from South Korean friends and students of mine. My students express a strong desire to just leave South Korea and move to the U.S. for good. Forty some thousand do emigrate there each year, those with the means and courage.
South Korean friends of mine have confessed to me that many South Koreans dislike the presence of Americans (mostly American soldiers stationed here) because it makes them painfully aware of their own inadequacy as a people, unable to defend themselves, dependent on a greater power. One said it was like a constant irritant in their shoes. And they say it hits at the deepest level, the moral, causing them to feel morally inferior to this people who has twice saved them when they were up against forces they could not overcome: 1) Japan in World War II, and then again, 2) Communist China and North Korea.
They tell me they fully realize that were it not for the U.S., they would be speaking Japanese now, and the presence of their "big brother" is a constant reminder of the fact that they are not yet mature as a nation and thus capable of handling their own defense needs. It made sense, and was especially convincing under the evident strength of their conviction. You had to be there to get the full gist and salience of their point, but it was clear that they had put much thought and passion into it.
In the film, as in the way my friends tell me about South Koreans, they seem to operate under the assumption that the average level of moral awareness of a nation determines its ability to rise in economic and political power. The implication of this assumption, though, suggests that they are somehow stuck at a considerably lower level of moral awareness than that of their colonizers, which causes them to chafe at the bit and lose hope of rising to a higher level of moral awareness.
I just read in an article from my today's newspaper (The Wall Street Journal) which sustained that Christians are regularly persecuted in Mainland China. The article was entitled, "The China Obama Didn't See: Shuttered Churches Belie a 'Harmonious Society.'" The article gave a conservative estimate of 100 million Christians in China, in addition to the 10 million in registered churches where they must push an indoctrinated communist party line.
My family prays for Christians in China to gain more freedom of worship. We greatly appreciate our freedom to gather and worship however we please here in South Korea, Land of the Morning Calm. We realize we only have that freedom because American soldiers came here to fight and die for that cause.
I saw the first part of a film two days ago with my children, A Passage to India. In that film, there were several points where the film reminded me of the situation here in South Korea, where I teach morality and English as a second language in my home. The natives were especially excitable, unable to control their emotions, particularly when en masse. This was in marked contrast to the ease and maturity with which the British controlled their emotions.
In the film, the Indians made self-disparaging remarks about their native disarray, implying the need for an external manager for their nation. I have heard much of the same from South Korean friends and students of mine. My students express a strong desire to just leave South Korea and move to the U.S. for good. Forty some thousand do emigrate there each year, those with the means and courage.
South Korean friends of mine have confessed to me that many South Koreans dislike the presence of Americans (mostly American soldiers stationed here) because it makes them painfully aware of their own inadequacy as a people, unable to defend themselves, dependent on a greater power. One said it was like a constant irritant in their shoes. And they say it hits at the deepest level, the moral, causing them to feel morally inferior to this people who has twice saved them when they were up against forces they could not overcome: 1) Japan in World War II, and then again, 2) Communist China and North Korea.
They tell me they fully realize that were it not for the U.S., they would be speaking Japanese now, and the presence of their "big brother" is a constant reminder of the fact that they are not yet mature as a nation and thus capable of handling their own defense needs. It made sense, and was especially convincing under the evident strength of their conviction. You had to be there to get the full gist and salience of their point, but it was clear that they had put much thought and passion into it.
In the film, as in the way my friends tell me about South Koreans, they seem to operate under the assumption that the average level of moral awareness of a nation determines its ability to rise in economic and political power. The implication of this assumption, though, suggests that they are somehow stuck at a considerably lower level of moral awareness than that of their colonizers, which causes them to chafe at the bit and lose hope of rising to a higher level of moral awareness.
They can see no way out, feeling like moral ants before a magical race whom they simultaneously emulate and yet resent, if only because their presence among them makes them view themselves as somehow inadequate at the most basic level. My friends have told me that this best explains why so many South Koreans go about with a chip on their shoulders, carrying resentment at the continued presence of Americans here to teach them English, and to defend them from communist forces.
Hence, they feel shame, at not having "taken the gates of heaven" (risen to a greater moral awareness) on their own, from a source within their own cultural history. My interpretation is that for them blood lines are more important than any sense of solidarity or union through spiritual or cognitive similarities or points of agreement. And many South Koreans tacitly acknowledge as much, believing it of critical importance to continue the blood line of the Y Chromosome, with the continuity of the X's being relatively insignificant. This causes them to place other moral concerns (such as the life of a child in the womb) at a considerably lower level of importance. They abort more girls here. Too, girls receive much less funding for private tuition at hagwons (evening schools) and in-home tutoring.
Hence, they feel shame, at not having "taken the gates of heaven" (risen to a greater moral awareness) on their own, from a source within their own cultural history. My interpretation is that for them blood lines are more important than any sense of solidarity or union through spiritual or cognitive similarities or points of agreement. And many South Koreans tacitly acknowledge as much, believing it of critical importance to continue the blood line of the Y Chromosome, with the continuity of the X's being relatively insignificant. This causes them to place other moral concerns (such as the life of a child in the womb) at a considerably lower level of importance. They abort more girls here. Too, girls receive much less funding for private tuition at hagwons (evening schools) and in-home tutoring.
What they fail to admit or realize is that we, people from the U.S. and England, too, base our entire moral awareness upon a gift from another culture, the Jews. We gained everything through Christ, and we are fully aware of this. I am a blonde-haired, blue-eyed descendent of Vikings, and yet I, along with other Americans never think to trumpet the moral superiority of Thor and his mighty "hammer of justice." That would be a farce. No, we gladly and fully acknowledge our eternal debt to God's Chosen People, which gave us the moral awareness without which we would never have risen to great political and economic power relative to other cultures.
In the film, one Indian asked his friend why Indians so much admired the British who were there to govern the colony, while they disliked the presence of the British among them.
Well, I may add more later. We are set to watch the final portions of "A Passage to India" this evening and tomorrow evening. It is required viewing for my four older children, and they are mesmerized by the landscapes of India.
Love, Nathaniel
In the film, one Indian asked his friend why Indians so much admired the British who were there to govern the colony, while they disliked the presence of the British among them.
Well, I may add more later. We are set to watch the final portions of "A Passage to India" this evening and tomorrow evening. It is required viewing for my four older children, and they are mesmerized by the landscapes of India.
Love, Nathaniel
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