Friday, March 15, 2013

Crosses

One thing a panel in the graphic novel Korea Unmasked points out is that in the nighttime in Seoul, one can see red crosses lit up in the sky everywhere. There are tons of churches in Seoul, and most have a cross way up high on the top of the building that shines at night.
One evening I went to the roof of the building I live in. I walked around and counted nine crosses in the distance.
A tiny number of examples (sadly my pictures aren't that nice)





Confucianism and Buddhism have great influence, and shamanist practices are still carried out. In addition to that, Christianity is the second most popular religion in South Korea. (read more here)
Some of my Korean friends are religious and believe in God. One goes to church weekly and the other crosses herself ("says grace"? I don't know what it's called) before having a meal. I see people in the subway with their beads (oops I don't know what those are called either; something about Mary maybe). I don't do any of that ever. Also, some K-Pop idols are notorious for being devout Christians. Churches are everywhere. Unlike in the U.S., red crosses are clearly visible in the dark sky.

No comments:

Post a Comment