Isn't korea currently having a whole anti pride parade using the christian faith as their excuse for hating gay people. I'm Christian and I attend an episcopal church where our pastor is married and has a husband. I always found it weird how Korea opperates, very westernized yet not enough.
strangely enough though people here modernly use their faith as an excuse for homophobia, it wasn’t always that way. a long time ago, like pre 1000 CE women had full rights and people practiced same sex partnerships openly. however, during the three kingdoms period they were introduced to Confucianism via China. for whatever reason the Joseon dynasty chose to adopt a super specific version (Neo-confucianism) as it’s official state ideology in an aggressively strict fashion, even compared to china. confucianism is both deeply sexist AND homophobic, and since it became so deeply engrained in culture, it hasnt disappeared.
all to say that even if people weren’t using christianity as a smoe shield, those same isms would still exist. and i don’t think westernization is the solution, since homophobia is also an issue there. plus, any westernization currently happening already is due to US military occupation, which is not a positive thing.
for the actual anti-pride parade youre mentioning tho, yes. during the Seoul Queer Culture festival there was a massive Christian counter-protest like literally right next to the pride parade. unfortunately this happens almost every year. one year i believe they were throwing glass bottles at pride parade attendees. and it’s incredibly insidious since it’s not JUST religion, but also a distinct political coordination effort to put pressure on lawmakers to block the anti-discrimination act. they’re only able to achieve this because culturally these values (anti-queer and anti-women) already exist.
sorry that was an essay
this is so fascinating to read and i’m intrigued by how the author is choosing to approach it. religious cults are a HUGE issue here in Korea, so i’m always curious when it’s explored in fictional media. it creates a compelling narrative that acceptance is not the main flaw of certain organized religions