In Korea, a new type of Christian persecution is being enforced. In the name of quarantine measures, Christian churches are under severe attack from both government and government supporters. The Korean government seems to identify Christian churches as some epic center of Covid-19 pandemic. Churches are instructed not to hold any religious gatherings. Many Christians see this government order as an unfair discrimination as Catholics or Buddhist get-togethers are not discouraged as much as Christians’. Like the infamous Typoid Mary, an Irish-born cook believed to have infected 53 people with typhoid fever in 1907, often Christians in Korea are being ridiculed for spreading Corona virus.
Does Corona Virus care whether the person is Christian or not? It may look silly to discriminate religion based on vulnerability against virus. Stop making scapegoat here and there. In this hard time, we must remember that together we stand, otherwise, we fall.
In a way, there is a serious reason for the continuing Protestant church’s worship service. Protestant churches are, mostly, self-independent in terms of financial issues. It means the church will have much less cash in-coming if no worship service is held. The Catholic priests are employees of Vatican, in a way. Thus, they feel less threatened even if cash runs short for a while because they are salaried employees. In the mean time, the wealthy Catholic church of headquarter will find a way to make money eventually. Maybe this difference is one of the reasons that protestant churches insist weekly worship service despite huge pressure.
