Articles on the front page and in editorials in both Catholic papers commented on the Shinchonji Church of Jesus. It goes back to the group known as the Olive Tree Movement by Park Tae Sun which lost many of his members after his death to be resurrected again in other apocalyptic Korean movements. Manhee Lee is the founder of this New Heaven and New Earth (Shinchonji) movement which continues to grow.
The bishops have shown concern since Catholics are joining the movement and causing problems in families. Protestants have taken a more active stand, and earlier, against the movement and have warned the Christians. The movement seems to have found an easier time with Catholics. A book was published as a resource to help understand the aggressive tactics of the New Heaven and New Earth members.
Korea has a love for the occult and since pluralism is seen everywhere, Korea is open to accepting all kinds of religious ideas. According to some who have studied the situation: pseudo-Christian religions in Korea are many. They do not accept the historical understanding of Christianity that was handed down to us in history: Bible and tradition. They are attracted more to the teachings of a messiah type charismatic leader.
In the religious census, every ten years the Christians are divided into two groups: Catholics and Protestants. Many do not care to be associated with Protestantism and many of the Protestants are not happy to be listed with many of those who consider themselves Christian, but Christian citizens have only two choices.
The historical Protestant churches would consider many of these movements pseudo-religions. Many of the Christians participate in self-training groups of all kinds, many of which are religious in nature but since it is in the private domain, little is said and many who participate have no idea of the religious nature of the group they have joined.
The intimacy of a small knit community is missing in many of the Christian churches and in Catholicism, this is a known problem. Consequently, we have those who just leave and join other Christian denominations that are friendlier and make them feel accepted. This is what the New Heaven and New Earth movement offer their new members but at a great price.
One editorial mentions that within the Catholic communities because of structures, Christians are not finding joy in their lives. They are not experiencing God or expressing love in their lives but rather looking for personal peace and 'spiritual worldliness'. "This consists in seeking not the Lord's glory but human glory and personal well-being" (Gospel of Joy # 93). A functional approach to Christianity, without the heart and joy that a disciple of Jesus should have, leaves these Christians open to the overtures that come from these fringe groups.
Hopefully, these pseudo-Christian religions will show how poorly we have done in building community and motivate us to remember what is important.
"Teacher, I heard the lecture today. I have prepared a simple meal so let's have a drink." These words begin the View from the Ark article in the Catholic Times. The writer is responsible for the Alcoholic Treatment Center at a Catholic Hospital.
The lecture was given to a Catholic audience. Both the person who mentioned the drink and the lecturer had an embarrassed smile on their faces. The topic of the lecture was alcoholic addiction. To send off the lecturer without some sharing would be a breach of etiquette. In Korea, after the first meeting, the second meeting is even more elaborate and lasts longer than the first.
When the writer was assigned to the hospital which was mainly for those addicted he was glad to see the concern the Church had in this area. His friend a Protestant said he would be busy since Catholics love to drink. He laughed but it is not a laughing matter. Catholics who have more than one bottle of Soju (Korean whiskey) are 39.3 % which is twice that of the Protestants and even higher than those with no religion.
We as Catholics can comfort ourselves in not seeing the problems of alcohol but this is a prejudiced understanding of the problem. Is it like diabetes and high blood pressure, anyone can have the problem? In Korea close to 5 million are in danger of becoming alcoholics. In the United States, the Psychiatric Association changed the medical diagnosis of alcoholism to alcoholic disorder: showing concern for the problem right from the beginning.
Always thinking of alcohol, the increase of consumption, without alcohol not able to sleep, making mistakes repeatedly, not doing one's work well, are all signs of a disorder.This is suggestive of a form of dementia.
Most of the alcoholics at one time had no problem with drinking but with the continual use, there is no way to escape the changes to the brain and spirit: not because of a lack of virtue or will power. With the increase in use, depression, sleep problems, stress and becoming overly sensitive all may appear. With the continual use we have the beginning of dementia for which there is no cure.
Those who made a study of the problem see our present approach as ignoring the issue since at the beginning there are no serious problems but he compares it to the tower of Babel for the danger of self-destruction is real.
He concludes the article with a quote from Pope Francis who said to make a beautiful world, first there is a need to make a mess. He understands this to mean when we start challenging the evils in society and the way things are done: in this case a little tobacco and a little liquor what is the problem(?) way of thinking is to make a mess.
The title of the article uses the Chinese character for liquor and the character for the Lord, both have the same pronunciation. Not infrequently the liquor '주' (Ju) prevents us from being close to '주' 'Ju' our God.
A public service video shows a person who at the workplace was a gentle, affable superior to all the subordinates but in the home was rude, ill-tempered to the spouse and children. We have an example of a two-faced individual.
A psychology professor in the Kyeongyang magazine gives us an understanding of this phenomenon which is not rare. The public service video has pricked the consciences of many and helped them to see themselves objectively and to reflect on the problem.
However, the professor asks his readers is this only a question of good will? Is it all the fault of the individual? He reminds the readers that we only have a limited amount of energy. Often the work and place of study consume all our energy and when we arrive home we are depleted, burnt out. In the home, even a small stress becomes overbearing with the weakened condition in which one is in.
After a day at work or in study the energy has been depleted and although one knows the place in the family as parent or child is calling for love and concern this is too much for the person.
He shows how studies have shown that what we eat and rest are some of the best restorative tonics available. These often are sufficient to restore the balance we need to be ourselves. To point out to a person that they are missing some human qualities will not often accomplish much. The body needs to return to its proper balance, to be recharged. The person needs rest. Prayer is also necessary to build up one's endurance.
Both our bodies and spirit are not independent entities. They are closely united. When the body changes the spirit changes and when the spirit changes the body is changed. When the body is tired the spirit will be affected and determine many of our actions.
Accordingly, to live with a peaceful spirit, our bodies need to find rest and to go one step further we need to find rest in the world in which we live. Our bodies, minds, heart and the society in which we live all have a strong influence on what we do. We are familiar with this reality but in the here and now of everyday living, easily forgotten.
With a new government in Korea, we have the shutting down temporally of two nuclear power stations. This is good news for the anti-nuclear movement but opposed bitterly by some of the citizens and politicians.
The two closed are earthquake proof and considered safe, an interviewer for the With Bible magazine begins. His questions to a priest who is the head of the environment committee of a diocese are preceded with the note that the two power plants have been good for the economic development of the area. Are the nuclear power plants safe? Do they make our lives more comfortable?
The priest mentions how the Catholic movement against nuclear power began. He visited Germany where they decided to stop all nuclear power facilities by 2022. His first visit was in 2011 and a second visit a few years later, he witnessed the green party and its efforts to gather the support of politicians, business, and citizens for the abolition of nuclear power plants. This gave him hope for the future anti-nuclear movement in Korea.
He was impressed with the ethical standards of the German people. Greenpeace Energy is a German electric utility which produces environmentally friendly energy. Even though the price of electricity is higher many of the Germans are willing to accept this for a cleaner environment.
Korea at present has 25 nuclear power plants and 11 are being built or are planned. The density is the highest in the world and the writer surmises that if we had an accident it would be worse than the Russian Chernobyl and Japan's Fukushima.
Abandoning the nuclear power plants is not so simple because of the money that has been invested. Billions of dollars have been used and those who have benefited in different ways are many: a case where politics and economy are interrelated.
Many say it's safe and clean. Those who support the building of nuclear power plants say that even if a missile hit the site there would not be a problem. No one really knows, he responds. Besides the nuclear reactor, the subordinate facilities are easily destroyed with simple munitions. These are where the nuclear waste is stored and where even a small accident will release radiation.
We know little about the storage of nuclear waste but know the toxicity lasts for thousands of years. In Korea over 700 tons of plutonium are produced every year. How can we call this a safe energy source? This doesn't only threaten our own lives but those of future generations.
The Catholic Church with other groups is working to change the thinking of our citizens and politicians. A big obstacle in the eyes of many is the price and production of sufficient electricity for the nation. He says if the production of all our nuclear power plants stopped we still would have no problem with our electricity needs. The government lowered the price of electricity last year which means that we have a sufficiency. The supply is bigger than the demand.
The interviewer concludes with the priest asking the readers to sanctify the world. We try to sanctify all of creation. These nuclear plants are harmful not only to us but to creation and will continue to threaten creation. He hopes the readers will join in working to have a nuclear-free Korea.
"To live as we should" a translation of a phrase often heard in religious circles.The movement has spread to many religions in Korea. Recently 171 members of 7 religious groups: Catholics, Buddhists, Won Buddhists, Confucians, Cheondo believers, Protestants, and traditional Folk Religion believers gathered for discussion on how to develop our common human nature.
Both Catholic papers contained articles on the meeting and the discussion. The keynote speaker stressed that we need to go beyond the theoretical words to help each other live a more human life and we can learn from each other about our common humanity.
In the discussion, it was determined that each of the participants needs to develop their own human potential. Each one has their special calling and the need to live this as perfectly as possible. One participant mentioned that if society does not see us as authentic we will have little influence.
All see the need to understand and work together in harmony with each other. Efforts are made to make the movement more systematic than in the past. Korea, said one of the participants, needs this movement to become a mellower country.
Are there any other countries in the world that would be able to gather representatives of so many different religious beliefs and spend two days together in discussion on how to live more harmoniously together?
Korea has a history of working together harmoniously with other religions. We do have squabbles and at times conflict but the larger segments of religious life desires to live in harmony with others who have a different understanding of God and our place on the earth.
The secularists and atheists were not included in this movement, along with the religious fundamentalists for obvious reasons. This is sad for the differences between religious believers, secularists, atheists and fundamentalists are often the bitterest and the most difficult to overcome. Even talking about our common humanity is not easily done.
If we had an understanding of freedom and respect for another's conscience and openness to encounter between the different segments of society we would have a gentler society. Catholicism respects the freedom of conscience of all to believe or not to believe. It is an inalienable right of the human person. The Church does not impose but proposes, a freedom we all should enjoy.
The numbers of Koreans who can't read are very small. Korean is a scientific script easy to master. Foreigners who want to learn Korean find it easy. In a column in the Catholic Peace Weekly a literary critic give us some interesting facts to ponder.
The low rate of of illiteracy has helped the country to develop economically. The desire for education and literacy all helped. This was also a factor in spreading Christianity.
In 2014, OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development ) conducted a survey of 22 countries in the OECD on comprehension of what is read. They wanted to determine the quality of the work force in the different countries. Those from ages 16-24 were tied with Japan in 3rd place in understanding. However, with those from 55 to 65, out of the 22 countries surveyed, Korea was number 20th.
The difference between the younger and the older members of the labor force in England was only one point, in the United States an 8 points difference. In Korea we had a 48 point difference between the two groups. Korea had the largest disparity between the two groups.
The columnist does not believe age is a sufficient reason for the disparity. Many see the reason in the failure to read as one ages. With age one avoids reading any amount of difficult script and this is the reason for the difference according to the writer. In another survey made the average person reads at least one book a year. This comes to 6.6 out of 10 reading at least one book a year. Compared to the past we have more who are doing less reading but those who read increased the number of books read.
The older group is reading less, the younger more. So the disparity between the two groups is getting larger. With the older generation increasing, the health of the elders will be jeopardized by this lack of mental stimulation.
In the past efforts were made to have the young read, however, the columnist wants the nation to begin working to get the older generation to read. This is an urgent necessity for the writer.
Reading expands a person's vision and his ability to communicate increases. Life expectancy increases and quality of life and satisfaction increases. The pursuit of happiness and the well being of society is fostered.
In the old days, a millstone was a necessary appliance.They used it to grind the food for the kitchen table. It was an old fashion mixer. An article in The Salt Shaker of the Bible & Life magazine introduces us to alternative uses of the millstone.
Milestones come in pairs. The bed stone is stationary and usually convex and the grinding is done by the top stone which is slightly concave and has a handle which moves it against the bed stone to grind.
After about 30 or 40 years of use the wear and tear on the millstone make it impossible to do its job of crushing the ingredients to make powder and at times it just falls apart. How does one retire the millstone?
What does one do with a millstone that no longer can function properly? They are not the kind of product you throw in the trash or the junk heap. It can no longer grind but it can serve as a weight for other food stuff in the making of kimchi. It becomes a pressure stone, but after another 30 years the corners wear down and for certain foods, it loses its value.
Often they are seen in homes on the patio or in the yards as an ornament, a reminder to the homeowners of the past.
Buddhist monks when the millstone becomes useless in the preparation of food place them on the grounds where the water gathers in a rain storm and they become stepping stones to keep the shoes clean.
We are able to find alternative uses of many of the products that with age are no longer functional. The article ends with the conclusion that persons who know how to use things correctly will also have the personalities that will allow them to respect their fellow humans.
In the Gospels the word is used only three times and used in a very exaggerated way to show the evil of scandalizing the young: it is better to have a millstone tied around their necks and thrown into the sea than have them harm the young.
