American mission agents have made Korea their peculiar field. Converts,
who prattle of Christianity in a marked American accent, are among the
features of the capital in the twentieth century. Mission centres, which
have been created in a number of places, now show signs of prosperity.
They enlist no little practical sympathy and support from the native
population. The self-supporting character of much of the missionary
work in Korea bears out the spirit of toleration which distinguishes
the attitude of the people towards the propaganda. It is not to be
supposed that the work of the missionaries is agreeable to all shades of
native opinion. Riots and bloodshed disfigure the path of proselytism,
the credulity of the natives entailing heavy sacrifices of life. The
disturbances which have thus marked the spread of Christianity in Korea,
notably in the anti-Christian rising in Quelpart, a few months ago, are
due to the jealousy with which the heathen mass of the population regard
the protection from official rapacity, enjoyed by those who accept The
Light.
In the case of Quelpart, this feeling of animosity, and the immunity
from taxation which the French priests gave to their following, created
an intolerable position. Anarchy swept over the island, and some six
hundred believers were put summarily to death. Whatever may be the
compensating advantages of this martyrdom, the reckless and profligate
sacrifice of life, which missionary indiscretion in the Far East has
promoted, is an outrage upon modern civilisation. We have passed through
one terrible anti-Christian upheaval in China, and, if we wish to avoid
another such manifestation, it is necessary to superintend all forms
of missionary enterprise more closely. This, however, can be done only
by legislative supervision, imposing restraint in the direction which
recent events have indicated. It is imperative that certain measures
should be adopted in missionary work which will ensure the safety of
the individual zealot, and be agreeable to the general comfort of the
community. It is unfortunate, but inevitable, that such reforms must be
radical. The violence of missionary enterprise during recent years has
been altogether unbridled. The great activity of the different societies,
resulting from their unrestricted liberty, has recoiled most fatally upon
the more indefatigable, as well as upon the heads of many wholly innocent
of any unwarrantable religious persecution. The time has come, therefore,
when vigorous restrictions should chasten this vigorous, polemical
proselytism. The practice of scattering missionaries broadcast over the
interior of these Far Eastern countries should not continue; the assent
of the local Consul and a representative council of the Foreign Ministers
should be required in every case. Moreover, it would be wiser, if, under
no conceivable circumstances, single women were permitted to proselytise
beyond the carefully prescribed treaty limits of the different
settlements.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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