Abstract
The contest over gay rights (e.g., same-sex marriage) dramatizes the clash between increasingly nonwhite (“majority-world”), religious conservatives and mostly white, progressives. It renews longstanding debate about the compatibility of religious conservatism and liberal, pluralistic democracy. A study of one influential group, Korean Christians, shows that the younger, western-educated generation generally combines religious conservatism and political liberalism; they are much more likely to espouse liberal-democratic principles and to participate in the larger, plural society than the older, immigrant generation. However, the polarizing politics of gay rights partly reverses the generational pattern: the historically insular, first generation participate more in mainstream politics, while some western-educated, second-generation Korean Christians become intolerant and isolated from elite-educated circles. Ideological minorities self-segregate themselves in the face of hostile, energized majorities, whether progressives in Korean Christian circles or conservatives in secular, educated ones. Public deliberation on same-sex marriage depends on whether it becomes viewed like the clear-cut issue of interracial marriage or the more ambiguous one of abortion.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
In this paper, religiously conservative refers to unwavering attachment to core, longstanding beliefs, such as the divinity of Jesus, the authority of the Prophet Mohammad, or the Book of Mormons. Conservative Christians, Jews and Moslems also tend to uphold traditional, heterosexual views of marriage and family.
Egan and Sherrill (2009) report that 58 % of African Americans and 59 % of Latino/Hispanic voters supported Prop 8, compared with 49 % of whites and 48 % of Asians. 70 % of weekly church attenders supported Prop 8, compared to 30 % of “hardly ever” attenders. The July 2010 Field Poll, which oversampled Asian voters, reports that 70% of Korean Americans disapproved of same-sex marriage, followed by Vietnamese Americans (64% disapproval) and Chinese Americans (54% disapprove.) http://field.com/fieldpollonline/subscribers/Rls2349.pdf
In South Korea, during the period of rapid industrialization in the 1970s and 1980s, the number of Protestants increased from 1 million to more than 8 million, faster than in any other country. Protestants and Catholics account for 8.6 million and 5.1 million members, respectively, together making up 31% of South Korea’s population. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Korea
Korean Diaspora 2011 website, http://www.diaspora2011us.com/#/diaspora-2011-conference/korean-diaspora
Leading KA churches, esp. in So-Cal, are offshoots of “mother” churches in Seoul, including Sarang, Yongnak, and Onnuri. Most KA churches share interpersonal and institutional ties with those in the homeland.
Organizations include Sarang Community Church (largest KA megachurch with 11,000 members), Korean Churches for Community Development (leading KA faith-based, service organization), JAMA-DCLA conference in Anaheim, CA (2006), and Korean Christian Diaspora conference in Seoul, Korea (2011)
Claiming certain philosophical teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius, the Yi dynasty developed a well-defined hierarchy of social groups: the king is superior to the subjects, the older to the younger, the upper literati class (yangban) to the lower class, and man (husband) to woman (wife). Korea scholar David I. Steinberg (1989) notes, “Age is equated with superiority, and age and higher authority are evidence of greater moral virtue, with the highest such virtue residing with the ruler” (93).
Conger and McGraw (2008) extensively interviewed over 50 religiously conservative activists in the USA. The authors conclude that “political mobilization and integration into institutions of deliberation and electoral contestation actually works to make [religious conservatives] better citizens, at least with respect to one important virtue, political autonomy…. Religious conservative activists can make for good citizens, fellow participants in the project of constructing a common political order that is durable, decent, and democratic” (253).
In response to the pro-Gaza flotilla, Howard Jacobson of CNN wrote: “Human beings are seldom more dangerous than when they are sentimentally overcome by the goodness of their own intentions” (quoted in Catapano 2011).
Brooks (2000: 47) writes: “Today [racist, anti-Semitic or homophobic] beliefs automatically banish a person from educated circles.”
“Soulforce Visits Gordon College,” http://www.gordon.edu/article.cfm?iArticleID=308&iReferrerPageID=5&iPrevCatID=30&bLive=1 (accessed January 29, 2009).
Author unnamed, “Rick Perry Backs New York Gay Marriage, Citing States’ Rights.” 2011. International Business Times, July 25.
Further Reading
Bishop, B. 2008. The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing us Apart. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
Brooks, D. 2000. Bobos in Paradise. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Catapano, P. 2011. “Dead in the Water?” New York Times, July 1. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/01/dead-in-the-water/
Conger, K. H., & McGraw, B. T. 2008. Religious Conservatives and the Requirements of Citizenship: Political Autonomy. Perspectives on Politics, 6(2), 253–266.
de Tocqueville, A. 1969. In J. P. Mayer (Ed.), Democracy in America. New York: Anchor Books.
Egan, P. J., & Sherrill K. 2009. “California’s Proposition 8: What Happened, and What Does the Future Hold?” January. http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/issues/egan_sherrill_prop8_1_6_09.pdf
Gibbs, N. 2008. “Why Have Abortion Rates Fallen?” Time, January 21.
Healy, P. D. 2005. “Senator Clinton Speaks of ‘Common Ground’ on Abortion,” New York Times, January 24.
Jeffreys, D. 2007. “South Korea turns against ‘arrogant’ Christian hostages,” The Independent, August 4. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/south-korea-turns-against-arrogant-christian-hostages-460220.html
Jenkins, P. 2002. “The Next Christianity.” The Atlantic Monthly, October. http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/2002/10/jenkins.htm
Kim, R. Y. 2006. God’s New Whiz Kids?: Korean American Evangelicals on Campus. New York: New York University Press.
Kraynak, R. P. 2001. Christian Faith and Modern Democracy. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.
Lampman, J. 2007. “How Korea embraced Christianity.” The Christian Science Monitor, March 7. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0307/p14s01-lire.html
Mutz, D. 2006. Hearing the Other Side: Deliberative versus Participatory Democracy. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Park, C.-S. 2003. Protestantism and Politics in Korea. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Paulson, M. 2007. “Christian school to host gay activists.” Boston Globe, April 16.
Putnam, R. D., & Campbell, D. E. 2010. American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Steinberg, D. I. 1989. The Republic of Korea: Economic Transformation and Social Change. Boulder: Westview Press.
Stouffer, S. 1955. Communism, Conformity and Civil Liberties. New York: Doubleday.
Wolfe, A. 2003. The Transformation of American Religion: How We Actually Live Our Faith. New York: Free Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yi, J., Phillips, J. & Sung, SD. Same-Sex Marriage, Korean Christians, and the Challenge of Democratic Engagement. Soc 51, 415–422 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-014-9802-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-014-9802-1