3. Visions of Hope: Realizing the America of Our Hearts

Yes, the pains must be named, for it is through this naming that Asian Americans can begin to truly articulate their joy and dreams of the common good. Asian Americans, even with pains and struggles, have made significant advances and have dreamed dreams in America. Emboldened by some hard-won victories, Asian Americans have gained the courage to make their dreams come true. They know that every inch of victory has to be celebrated, but they also know that the America of their hearts is still an unfinished dream. Asian Americans have not given up on the America of their hearts.

Aftermath of ’92 LA Eruption and Korean American Church’s ResponseIn

Visions of Hope: Realizing the America of Our Heartsby

Young Lee Hertig

In the age of “sound bites,” we suffer not so much from the absence of diverseperspectives but from the dearth of sustained syntheses and interpretations. In theabsence of alternative frameworks, a dominant frame emerges to “make sense” of

various voices, while muffling other voices and interpretations.--Nancy Abelmann and John Lie,

(Blue Dreams: Korean Americans and the Los Angles Riots)

This chapter originates from my own theological, social, cultural, and

psychological struggles in dealing with the violence of the Los Angles riots in 1992-98.

Now that I live in Dayton Ohio, I have a healthy distance to reflect on the burning of the

City of Angel in 1992, its aftermath, and the pulse of the Korean American church.

During my several visits since my departure from Los Angles, life in Los Angles seems

to have gone back to business as usual and all the quiver submerged.

Burning of the City of Angel

The much-publicized beating of Rodney King by policemen touched the raw

nerves of African-Americans and triggered a remembrance of their whole history in

America. The subsequent 1992 Los Angeles riots called attention to the accumulating

inequalities, fear, prejudice, greed, and injustice that have long lurked beneath the surface

of the City of Angels.

On March 3, 1991, Rodney King, a twenty-five-year-old African American living in Altadena, California, was speeding down a highway in San Fernando Valley, when he was stopped, shot by a stun gun, and repeatedly kicked and beaten by police officers. What distinguished this episode of police brutality was that the “excessive force” used against King was videotaped by George Holliday, a nearby resident and repeatedly shown on television news shows throughout the United States. . . Yet, on April 29,

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1992, twelve Simi Valley jurors-—en European Americans, one Latino, and one Asian American—acquitted all four officers standing trial: Stacey Koon, Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind, and Theodore Briseno (Nancy Abelmann and John Lie, 1995:2).

The tensions were in the air brewing with the police beating of an African

American man, Rodney King. American legal system was on fire while the city itself

was burning. Racialized justice divided Los Angles into the tales of two cities. Taking

the black’s justice to the all white jury in the majority white County, Ventura ignited

flame in the majority minority region. All white jury verdict clamed the polices’ brutal

beating of the black man, Rodney King as not guilty. And a huge uproar broke out upon

the delivery of the verdict. Korean American mom and pop store owners had been

caught by the crossfire.

Watching the city burning through the Television screen was one of the most

powerless experiences. Where is the reconciling power of the gospel in the cities full of

huge churches? Korean American churches alone reached more than 1000 in 1992. One

of the most frequently raised questions during that time either through the media or in

person were, “Why aren’t these people burning their own neighborhood? Why don’t

they go to the rich neighborhood and burn? Somehow the white mass media attributed

the burning and rooting of the Korean mom and pop stores to the conflict between the

black and Korean American.

The media’s depiction of rage among the poor African Americans on the one side

and the powerlessly militarized Korean American mom-and-pop merchants on

the other only increased the stereotyping. Yet, the pain that hit Korean American

community was very complex. On the one hand the burning of the Korean American

business was a burning of their hope of achieving the American dream. On the other

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hand, confronting the naked public square haunted them severely amidst pain and

despair. Without a tool to express what they were going through in the language of the

powerful—English, a deep sense of alienation and powerlessness imbued the Korean

immigrants.

During and after the riots, many Korean immigrant churches came to the fore,

acknowledged the violence, and attempted to address the meaning of the deeply wounded

city. Once the emotional, media hype, rhetoric subsided, only empty promises confronted

the victims whose life long sweat and tears melt down in split seconds along with their

American dream.

The first generation’s vicarious dream of children’s success through their hard

work evaporated before their eyes. Furthermore, their dream turned out to be an illusive

one and was challenged to its core. The fundamental truth that everyone’s well being is

connected to everyone else struck them harder than the earthquakes.

Was the American dream on trial in the Los Angeles Eruption? Are traditional

systems breaking down? Is there a role for the religious institutions? Does it take crisis

to unite minority groups in urban America? What perceived and real roles have Korean

American churches adopted for the sake of victims? By what narratives do they abide in

understanding their social responsibilities?

Now that the heat is off, where are they and what have they accomplished?

Undoubtedly Korean immigrant churches were awakened during the burning of the city,

and yet moved back to their pre-crisis dormant position as quickly as the flame.

Meanwhile, since the riots proposition after proposition which protect, not the victim, but

the power elite had passed. Instead of empowering the victims, proposition 187 divided

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minority groups into the two class—documented and non-documented. The flag flown

by Proposition 187 symbolized the divided lives of the documented and non-documented,

the suburbanites and urbanites. A wave of minority bashing has come into fashion as

decades of affirmative action practice wane in the University of California schools,

despite the opposition of all nine chancellors. Initiated by the so-called California Civil

Rights Initiative, Proposition 209, the rollback of affirmative action, found its way to the

ballot in November 1996. Funded by rich corporate America it reversed the affirmative

action using the language of the civil rights movement.

What is the role of the churches in this political climate? Does Martin Luther

King Jr.’s famous statement that the most segregated hour of the week is 11:00 AM on

Sunday morning still stand true? Where are the Korean immigrant churches in light of

their relatedness to the wider society?

The broad brush strokes of society have made their marks on the canvas of

Korean American and African American churches. By investigating the dominant

narratives of the churches, this chapter will assess their role in social justice issues.

This chapter first seeks to interpret the mainstream ideology through the aftermath

of the LA Riots through the Proposition 209, the California Civil Rights Initiative.

Secondly it seeks to explore the Korean immigrant church’s underlying dominant

narratives and ethos as to what causes them to be silent from the social activism aspect of

God’s mission. Thirdly, it seeks to thaw and re-define frozen narratives of what it means

to be the church in the racially diverse contexts. Part I will devote to the Proposition

209 in order to assess the dominant themes of the mainstream ideology. For example,

themes such as equality, justice, uniformity, and fairness, which we also witnessed during

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the November 2000 Presidential election will be examined. Part II will focus on the

Korean immigrant church’s self-understanding and core theological narratives. Part III

will explore an alternative epistemology which will unleash the Korean immigrant church

beyond the dualistic frames into the holistic understanding of the church and its public

witness.

PART I. UNDERLYING BELIEF SYSTEM OF THE CALIFORNIA CIVILRIGHTS INITIATIVE (Proposition 209)

Violence dressed in the rhetoric of equality and non-discrimination is California

Civil Rights Initiative, Proposition 209. It is violent because it does not consider the

conditions certain groups are under and assumes that everyone from child, adolescent,

adult, to elderly run the same race equally. CCRI launched a wholesale approach to

equality, ignoring the diverse realities of California. At the core of Affirmative Action

lies pursuit toward equality with diversity. At the core of CCRI, however, lies personal

anger misdirected at diversity. Its ideology is steeped in competition and success. It

promotes individualistic, acultural, ahistorical, fragmented values. CCRI views the

human being in a vacuum, and worst of all, redefines the discriminator as an avid

advocate for equality. The very notion of equality is so unilateral that it violates the

realities of human diversity and condemns diversity as a cause for discrimination.

Conformity and equality are not necessarily the same. How should individuals and

institutions practice the CCRI version of equality without denigrating the dimensions of

diversity?

“You do not take a person who for years has been hobbled by chains,liberate him, bring him to the starting line of a race and then say, ‘You are

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free to compete with all others,’ and still justly believe you have beencompletely fair” (President Lyndon Johnson announcing AffirmativeAction in 1965)

After 30 years, Affirmative Action is charged by CCRI, through its microscopic

lens, as discriminatory. As long as you can keep diversity in its exotic place at cultural

celebrations and food festivals, and ignore structural levels, it is manageable and

tolerable. Ironically, the call to end discrimination in the name of equality is nothing

more than an attempt to institute discrimination based on race, class, and gender.

The Power of Language

Language is powerful because it connotes meaning. The group which defines and

controls the meaning of words, therefore, owns power. And the groups whose identities

are defined by the other group are powerless by simply being subject to a self-fulfilling

prophecy. In other words, the groups which are negatively defined are trapped and thus

become victimized by the very categories superimposed unto them. As testified in human

history, it takes a great deal of courage and consciousness for the subordinate group to

recreate the meaning of the definitions given to them. Slavery and even genocide were

justified when the powerful simply defined the other as less than human.

The deception and oppression of CCRI is found in its hijacking of the language of

the victim and application of that language to the members of the dominant group. They

hijack the only power of the underprivileged that is, words which authentically describe

their reality, and apply them to the dominant group for its own interest and benefit:

The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferentialtreatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex,color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public

7

employment, public educational or public contracting (CaliforniaCivil Rights Initiative, 1995).

The word discrimination here contradicts with equality and derives solely from

the micro individual perspective. Its perspective, therefore, is not only untruthful but also

dangerous considering the interdependent nature of the human beings. Through this lens,

uniformity is seen as equality. Therefore, any deviation from upper and middle class

white parameters is perceived as a diminishing of quality. Regretfully, the examination

at the level of the parameter itself is inconceivable because it is labeled immediately as

disruptive.

CCRI simply reduces already unequal realities of a great number of people to a

colorblind policy as if race, ethnicity, and gender as social constructs cease to intersect in

American experience today. Stanley Fish emphasizes that “a distinction must surely be

made between the ideological hostility of the oppressors and the experience-based

hostility of those who have been oppressed” (1993:130). Then California Governor Pete

Wilson’s usage of the term, “colorblind” and Martin Luther King’s term, “colorblind”

therefore, must surely be distinguished. Wilson’s use of the term refers to the ignoring

of inequalities; King’s use of the term referred to overcoming inequalities.

Fairness, according to the forerunner of the CCRI, is perceived as fair

only when the measure of the upper middle class is enhanced regardless of huge

discrepancies of cultural and social locations of various people. Any adjustment

of the measurement itself is perceived as troublesome. Thus, they dare use the

terminology of the recipients of discrimination, words such as justice,

discrimination, colorblind, and equal opportunity. By reversing the position and

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hijacking the language of the victim, the CCRI not only discounts the victim’s

daily lives but also distorts their realities.

Repercussions of Prop 209 for Asian Pacific Americans

Asian Pacific American students have ceased to be the numerical minority at

major universities in California. Yet, many Asian Pacific American groups continue to

cry out against injustice in their personal experiences when their primary college

applications are rejected. By looking at the issue through a microscopic lens of their

personal experience, Asian Pacific Americans also quickly direct anger against other

minority groups who appear to benefit from Affirmative Action. But each Asian Pacific

American must see beyond individualized experiences to the greater collective diversity

issues. The organic nature of the Affirmative Action unlocks those in the bind of a

catch-22 and reverses unfair criteria based on white, mechanistic standards. Thus many

Asian American candidates at the University of California who have several options can

interpret their rejection not as losing but as sharing opportunities to make diversity

possible--at least at the student level.

Rev. Jesse Jackson lamented the immediate impact of the CCRI in higher

education. “Nowhere is re-segregation more apparent than in California’s higher

education system. With Proposition 209 in place to stifle affirmative action, schools that

once were the most diverse in the country are backsliding at breakneck speed.” Jackson

predicted that “Berkeley’s law school may end up with zero new African American

students this year” (Los Angeles Times, August 24, 1997:M5). His prediction has come

to pass. The strong implication here points to the fact that once again the justice system

9

will be in the hands of the dominant group when so many nonwhite defendants seek

justice in the judicial system.

The majority groups need to realize the ramifications in society of losing the

diverse make up in higher education where leaders of the society are shaped. Future

leaders will be ill-equipped under the CCRI to lead in the diverse and changing face of

America. Consequently the already uneven playing field will become more lopsided,

segregated, and divided. Yet the issues of diversity will not even be visible because the

diverse groups will be absent and thus voiceless at the universities of California. Can

American higher education afford to be in such denial and yet continue to claim to be a

leader in the diverse world? By serving the greater societal needs, we fellow Asian

Americans can broaden our hearts and see the bigger picture beyond rugged American

individualism. Depicted by the globe, all humans are part of an inclusive circle. When

some of the inter-connected parts of the circle are missing, a circle ceases to be a circle.

In order to keep the circle intact, we must strive for wholeness by making a concentrated

effort to be humane. Then our yielding for the sake of others can no longer be perceived

as losing but actually winning toward the greater purpose of harmony and balance.

Asian Americans Unerrepresented

White ideology firmly holds hegemony in higher education in spite of its diverse

student population. Nonwhite epistemology is dismissed as distant other and thus

inferior. Very often the issues of diversity are associated with divisiveness and thus

seen as the sources of problems. Conflict is rarely seen as progress toward harmony.

Instead higher education would rather choose superficial smoothness of homogeneity in

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denial. A lack of diverse representations in the curriculum and among the faculty is

problematic. In the job hiring process, the search for diversity is in many cases still a

search for an ethnic face with a white ideology. Conformity and uniformity stifle the

otherwise enriching curriculum in higher education.

The fear of the diversification of the curriculum is unfounded thus impoverishes

multivocal perspectives. When courses are offered on world religions and particular

religions often the white faculty offers the course with the following frequent remark

attached if he or she is so-called sensitized: “We cannot find a qualified nonwhite person

to teach the course.” In reality, the narrowly defined hiring criteria of white faculty is

not flexible enough for nonwhite candidates to fit into. In other words, the very hiring

system is not inclusive to the minority groups because the process, criteria, make up of

the search committee members, and the listing of the candidates are all interconnected to

their social locations. The whole search process for higher education often turns out to be

a mere merry-go-round. Therefore, the opportunities for the minority faculty have

become much more scarce without the conscious structural effort which Affirmative

Action provided.

Thus, domination and educational imperialism, are pervasive and ought to be

democratized in its criteria, worldviews, perceptions, and evaluations. The diverse

representation among those who evaluate education has not been realized.

The following story addresses the question of how differences are treated in a

Christian school. In the midst of her lecture, a teacher described a beautiful, clean

community in Los Angeles where she had lived for many years. She said that

when Chinese immigrants began to move into the city, white residentsbegan moving out. The Chinese opened many stores and displayed signs

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written in Chinese which made no sense. The Chinese cashiers andsalespersons were rude. The traffic became terrible because the Chinesedid not follow the law and drove whichever way they wanted. But wemust forgive these people because they come from a country where theydo not drive cars but only ride bicycles.

Many students in the class knew that one of the students in the class was a

Chinese immigrant, and they looked at her and laughed. This student described

her discomfort, knowing that what the teacher said was inappropriate. She no

longer wanted to go to class and no longer wanted to listen to this teacher whom

she once enjoyed as funny and interesting. The student had been offended by a

teacher who otherized her and her ethnic community.

This story highlights the urgent need for diversity at the faculty level. Asian

Pacific Americans shift from the majority to the minority in numbers when moving from

the student to the faculty level. At the faculty level, Asian American representation is

scarce, becoming disadvantaged under the banner of CCRI. As an under-represented

group, we, too are perceived as the “other” no matter how long we have lived in the

United States. This is due to externally defined foreign appearance. Prior to the access

of opportunity, we are prejudged as outsiders in the narrowly networked world of

Academia.

Gender-based affirmative action gave white women more opportunity than

minority men and women in academic employment. As the number of white women’s

representation in Academia reaches a critical mass, the proposal of rolling back the carpet

was initiated. This excluded opportunities for many, including Asian Pacific American

women faculty when they are still not properly represented in comparison to the many

Asian American students at the University of California. Thus further marginalization is

12

legitimized in the name of non-discrimination and equality. Blaming the victim ideology

persists at the cross roads of the 21st century.

In this context CCRI prematurely puts up a huge wall against minority hiring at

the faculty and administrator levels in the name of equality and fairness.

Is Uniformity Equality?

Does Equality Mean Uniformity? Whose uniform then should people wear?

While America as a whole is demographically diversifying, the power structure continues

to be held mainly by the white power elite. The policy making and decision making

levels do not coincide with the diverse face of California. The insistence that all people

follow the same criteria regardless of their history and culture does not accommodate

equality. Ironically CCRI cleverly claims to reverse discrimination when in fact it

instituted discrimination.

The underlying ideology of the CCRI advocates equality based on the sameness

and thus distorts the uneven realities. How does the power structure serve equality in

such an unevenly ranked society? Whose justice is more important? Unilateral equality

is inequality because the very practice of equality in decision making whether in college

enrollment or employment contains a value-ridden criteria which predetermines who the

insiders and outsiders will be.

When the very social construct is unjust can we even diagnose realities justly?

What group does existing social construct serve and what group does it victimize? The

times are changing drastically, indicated when the language of the oppressed, the only

tool the underprivileged own, is stripped away in the name of justice and equality.

Meanwhile, its victims are hidden in silence.

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The champions of CCRI must reflect on the ultimate goal of “equality” which

they claim. If their equality destroys the circle of humanity, it is mutually self-

destructive. Equality does not mean sameness with a uniform measure. Equality is

balance which is crucial as illustrated in keeping the diverse human body parts whole.

The Chinese diagnosed human anatomy holistically based on the dynamic balance

between Yin and Yang; their imbalance causes harm and sickness (Capra 1983:36).

Likewise, the body of higher education, when lacking a balance in its diversity, will

become dysfunctional and wreak havoc.

When they seek more opportunity for the white they use the term discrimination.

When they mean justice for one kind of group they make it sounds as if it means justice

for all groups. When in fact diverse representation is viewed as discrimination of the

already over-represented group, the language becomes a powerful means to enhance the

existing domination. Since diversity connotes low quality in their minds, the very

purpose of Affirmative Action, that is, diversifying representation, is disregarded.

Justice Harry A. Blackmun warns against the equation that sameness equals

equality:

In order to get beyond racism, we must first take account of race. There is no other way. And in order to treat some persons equally, we musttreat them differently. We cannot –we dare not—let the Equal Protection Clause perpetuate racial superiority (Quoted by Parrillo 1997:93).

The Bush Vs Gore election court case also depicts an ideology of the uniformity

as equality. The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, which was enacted to

give equal status to newly freed black slave was reversed to protect the wealthy white Ivy

League political candidate (Time, December 25, 2000-January 1, 2001: 78). Once again

14

in the name of equality justice was stripped off from the poor inner city folks but served

the wealthy political candidate. The fusion of equality with uniformity continues to

advocate for the power elite at the expense of the poor.

Whose Rights Count?

Was the CCRI a counterattack of the OJ Simpson criminal trial? One of the most

widely telecast trial of the century signaled that the justice system no longer serves the

dominant group. While there are many cases of injustice such as the Rodney King case,

it only took one losing case for the political mobilization of a proposition such as the

CCRI. The strong belief system here is that white people are superior and are thus

entitled to all rights in preference to the rights of other people. If white rights are not

ensured, all the political and economic resources can be mobilized to make sure white

rights are preserved.

In contrast to more than 200 years of slavery, Proposition 209 with only one

stroke, redefined and overturned the Civil Rights Movement. It took only six federal

court cases from 1990 to 1994 to come up with the CCRI: “. . . according to the

Department of Labor, affirmative action has caused very few claims of reverse

discrimination by white people. Fewer than 100 of the more than 3,000 discrimination

opinions in federal courts from 1990 to 1994 even raised the issue of reverse

discrimination, and reverse discrimination was actually established in only six cases

(New York Times, 1995b). Yet, by mid-1995, affirmative action was the focus of the

presidential campaign. The true meaning of the language of the underprivileged is

successfully abducted because there was not even a major resistance expressed by the

15

very people whose lives are being affected. Therefore, the advocates of the CCRI do not

need to exercise force.

to argue that affirmative action, which gives preferential treatment todisadvantaged minorities as part of a plan to achieve social equality, is nodifferent from the policies that created the disadvantages in the first placeis a travesty of reasoning (Stanley Fish, 1993:130).

“Race no longer matters.”

The increase of minority groups’ affluence is regarded as the end of racial

discrimination as well. However, more well-to-do minority groups share that their social

location is predetermined by their skin color as someone who is lower than others. An

affluent African American male says, “You walk down the street with a suit and tie and it

doesn’t matter. Someone will make determinations about you, determinations that affect

the quality of your life” (Ibid. 1993:135).

How can we deal effectively with racial and ethnic diversity with integrity? First

and foremost, the decision makers and administrators’ own individual lenses as well as

their institutional belief system must shift for ongoing changes to occur.

In summary, CCRI is more violent than the blatant racism because stealing the

language of the underprivileged is legitimatized. Even the victim may naively dance to

the CCRI tune believing that it would also represents them. The languages which had

given rise to the Civil Rights Movement now has become the language of the dominant

30 years later.

Undoubtedly, CCRI is violent because it marginalizes the other, distorting the

Affirmative Action as reverse racism. CCRI is violent because it dismisses diversity and

16

replaces it with assimilation and conformity at the expense of sacrificing diversity. Is

the

Is American Dream really accessible to everyone in the United States? As long as

American society remains obsessed with dividing and segregating people according to

false social constructs of race, class, and gender, affirmative action must persist. Against

such an organized exercise of power, anointed by the right wing Christian group, is any

Korean immigrant church aware of the consequence of their silence and vacuum in the

public arena? With what are the Korean immigrant churches consumed? Would it take

another crisis to wake them up from its frozen state?

PART II. The Korean Immigrant Church’s Response

During the large scale of reversal of the Civil Rights Movement sweeps the

nation, where are the Korean immigrant churches’ voices in public square? ? In light of

the pains and hopes of Asian Americans, what are the religious and theological resources

that we can tap? What kind of balm does the Christian tradition have to offer to the wider

society in need of healing? What are some of the projects that need to be strengthened

and pursued and others that need to be created? How are we to empower Asian

American communities? What are some of the basic steps that need to be undertaken to

forge a common historical project among Asian American communities and other

communities?

Because Korean American community centers around the church, I want to

pursue where the Korean immigrant church consume their energy and what the

17

underlying theological narratives they espouse. Once these questions are answered then

we can move onto proactive steps and strategies.

The number of the Korean immigrant church in Los Angles area today is more

than 1500. Therefore, exploring fundamental belief system, ethos is significant in

answering why the public presence of the Korean immigrant church is weak despite its

critical mass in numbers. Although much sociological investigation has taken place, there

is a lack of research relating the Los Angeles riots and Christian churches’ response.

Dualistic Epistemology

Does the Korean immigrant church continue to play the role of the protective

ethnic sanctuary or intend to engage in a prophetic public witness? What are the

theological and cultural ideals, which the Korean immigrant churches uphold?

While the number of the Korean immigrant church has reached beyond its critical

mass, the public role as a religious institution has not emerged yet. Different from the

Anglo Protestant ideal (Dinnerstein 1961; Moore 1986; Higham 1988), Korean

Protestant immigrant church’s main role is limited to being an ethnic sanctuary with its

ethnic island mentality. The dominant theme of the sermons preached on Sunday

morning in the Korean immigrant church resorts to “If you obey and serve the church by

giving all sorts of offerings and tithes, you and your children will be blessed.”

The wake up call came through during the Los Angeles Riot (1992) which

awakened Korean immigrant church from a deep sleep of being an ethnic island. Korean

immigrants had to powerlessly confront the naked public square without any public voice

for their well being. However, after the crisis, the churches resorted back to their familiar

life. Preoccupied with its otherworldy theology and programs on the one hand, and this

18

worldly materialism on the other, Korean immigrant churches remain socially anesthetic

while mainstream organized groups passed Proposition 181, and Proposition 201 which

impact the lives of minorities.

The "public expression of the sacred" (Robert Wuthnow 1994) is still absent in

the Korean immigrant church. Although mainstream sociological literature has addressed

how religious ideals inform a congregation's public presence (Troeltsh 1931; Weber

1946b; Niebuhr 1951; Niebuhr 1929; Wilson 1988; Roozen et. al., 1988; Wuthnow 1994;

Ammerman 1999; Warner 1988), immigrant churches’ public presence is weak. There

are several reasons as to why immigrant churches face naked public square unlike Anglo

Saxon Protestantism.

One of the major causes of theological polarization in Korean immigrant church

stems from the dualistic theological paradigm. It is dualistic in several aspects: this

world against other world; the church against the world; faith against social action;

conservatives against liberals. The above lists are not in any way uniquely Korean

American worldview. In fact, it is rather difficult to pin point such a theology as Korean

theology yet. On the contrary, the above dichotomies are highly Western as well. The

reason for lacking public voice of the Korean immigrant church primarily lies on the

theological bias. The doubly reinforced dualistic theology, from Confucian and Puritan

theology, which promotes otherworldly faith renders public disengagement . Factors such

as geographic locale, socio-economic class of members, congregational size, authority

structure and human and material resources impact the congregational life much less than

the fusion of the Confucian and Protestant fundamentalism.

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The Marxist’s critique of evangelicalism is on the target as the majority of the

Korean immigrant churches espouse evangelicalism. It causes social disengagement by

“channeling people’s repressed energies, anxieties, and general social dissatisfaction into

a spiritual obsession and attendant eschatological hope that preclude critical political

thought” (Quoted in Gathering in Diaspora: Religious Communities and the New

Immigration, eds by R. Stephen Warner and Judith G. Wittner, 1998, Temple Univ.

Press, p.164; Anderson 1979, D’Epinay 1969).

I was struck by the emerging 1.5 Korean American professionals in their political

and religious fundamentalism. Among the Korean American 1.5 and 2nd generation,

conservative ideology around gender, religion, and politic is predominant. Particularly

gender disparity among the male and female Korean American is serious as more women

enter into the professional life and thus liberated from the patriarchal value. They are on

the margin of the Korean American culture. The Korean immigrant church sanctions

such women and labels them as the other. In addition to the multiple dualistic

epistemology, in case of the first generation, the language and cultural differences block

them from any desire to venture into the mainstream.

Tension between Particularity and Universality

One of the core issues in multicultural life is the complex relationship between

particularity and universality. Working out particularity and universality involves

reinventing ideologies of hegemony. During the Colonial era the world universality

meant Westernization and thus all the rest of the world fell under the particularities, even

if subtle or exotic. During the Post Colonial era many “particular” voices began to

20

surface and hound for legitimacy may be race, ethnicity, class, gender, and the disabled.

This sounds positive to a degree in bringing commonality toward global unity. However,

it also seems to allude to colonial hegemony dressed in Post Colonial fashion. Thus, it

requires a more thorough review in the following areas: What motif? Whose initiative

for whom at the expense of whom? Who is assimilating to whom? Who is involved in

evaluating and with what criteria?

The need for Usness and the Challenge of Otherness

The Korean immigrant church, made up of immigrants is like an island around

usness within the sea of the mainstream otherness. What unites them as the church is

ethnicity, which sets a static tribal value against the dynamic mainstream culture. In the

land of the unfamiliar Korean migrants crave for familiarity. The very need for the

common heritage disconnects them from the public arena.

Victor Turner refers to this as communitas which Paul Hieberts interpret as the

deep sense of oneness with other humans that runs deeper than surface social differences

of gender, class, ethnicity, and office. Turner defines three types of communitas:

normative, existential and ideological. What Korean ethnic church experiences seem to

include all three aspects.

Kinship vs Citizenship

Is the Korean Immigrant Church the Body of Christ? What holds Korean

immigrant church together? What drifts them apart? Where do they stand in relation to

the public social witness? The dialectic tension between the need for usness and the

challenge of otherness in relation to the wider society confronts the Korean immigrant

21

church. The usness takes a form of a strong kinship while otherness involves

citizenship.

The first generation Korean American, despite their long life in America with

American citizenship, still feel alienated. Their life depicts forever guest in the land of

immigrants. The otherness also defines Asian American’s identity as usness kinship.

This perceived otherness by the mainstream society and self perception by the

immigrants themselves has been the driving force for Asian American churches’

existence. Many first generation Korean immigrants live in America as guests, not hosts.

The guest consciousness strips the first generation from exercising any rights as citizen.

The very notion of citizenship is rather foreign to the kinship-oriented Asian American

worldview. The crisis of 1992 LA Riot caused Korean immigrants for the first time saw

their realities beyond their own kinship. Yet, a strong kinship oriented value as

primordial consciousness prohibits Korean Americans to actively engage in public

responsibilities as citizens.

Paradoxically the naked public square of the Korean immigrants turn their energy

inward. The sense of powerlessness is manifested too frequently power seeking and

abusing. Regrettably, the church positions of the servanthood turns into a big political

campaigning. It is not a surprise to witness more and more church leaders in Korea tend

to choose their sons, son-in-law to be their successor. Passing the torch issue plagued

many Korean immigrant church as well.

In summary, the Korean immigrant church is weak in public expression of faith

lies on the theological and cultural fundamentalism. With a forever guest consciousness,

engaging in public roles both as the church and individual is immobile. Therefore, re-

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shaping the dominant theological narratives is crucial if indeed any public representation

should be organized in the face of injustice and violence. Another crisis as a stimulus is

as risky as the flame, which charred the City of Angel.

PART III. YINIST EPISTEMOLOGY

Bringing in the theological dimension, what visions of dwelling are generated

from the wells of Asian American pluralistic religious traditions? Can we identify some

theological motifs and metaphors that would adequately and responsibly address the

plight of Asian Americans and their commitment to the wider wellbeing?

The calling and the mission of the churches today in multicultural setting require

both racially homogeneous community and the heterogeneous unity. In balancing such

unity in diversity the very lens we see reality through must be inclusive and holistic.

Bringing in the theological dimension, what visions of dwelling are generated

from the wells of Asian American pluralistic religious traditions? Can we identify some

theological motifs and metaphors that would adequately and responsibly address the

plight of Asian Americans and their commitment to the wider well-being?

One of the primordial consciousnesses of Asian Americans is taoistic language,

which connects with Pauline concept of wholeness. It is an old concept and yet new

because it engages today’s postmodern realities. The following attempts to provide an

alternative theological lens from Taoism to reconcile dualistic, fragmented understanding

of the gospel and the role of the church.

Reconciling the Dualistic Worldview

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Feminists has challenged the dichotomous epistemology between reason and

intuition. Many cultural feminists, Griffin, Leland, operate out of gendered dualism of

culture as masculine and nature as feminine. According to Leland, masculine impulse is

to “separate, divide, individuate, discriminate, dominate. The list of gender dichtomies

include “objective/subjective, reason/intuition, patriarchy/matriarchy, public/private”

(Judith Grant, “I feel Therefore I Am: A Critique of Female Experience as the Basis for a

Feminist Epistemology” In Feminism and Espistemology (ed by Maria J. Falco)

1987:103). Judith Grant confronts cultural feminists as embracing patriachal definition

of masculine and feminine dualism when they thought they were advocating for women’s

status. The question Grant raises is worthy to pay attention to—“to what extent do these

gendered dualisms themselves reflect and reproduce patriarchal social relations? Grant

is rightly concerned about the problem of reason representing male and intuition female,

reinforcing the dichotomy of masculinity and femininity.

This is where Yinist paradigm based on Taoism overcome dualistic separation

through its emphasis on balance and harmony both within and without.

Human culture has polarized maleness with yang exclusively, andfemaleness with yin exclusively. However, both male and female haveyin and yang energies. Yinist feminism as theology of balance is twofold.First, yin and yang are found both in male and female. One reaches thefullness of humanity when he or she identifies with both yin and yangwithin himself or herself. Simultaneously, yin in male and yin in femaleare not the same. . . Second, once the first point is reached, the extremepolarization of male as yang and female as yin will be balanced (Hertig1998:19).

“Our options limited by linear reductionism, we perceive reality as two opposite points

on a line. Unable to find a synthesis or consider other alternatives, non-Tao people become

trapped in the false dilemma of either/or (Diane Dreher 1990:7-8).

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Therefore, yin and yang polarity “is not to be confused with the ideas of

opposition”, “The yin-yang principle is not, therefore, what we would ordinarily call a

dualism, but rather an explicit duality expressing an implicit unity”, writes Alan Watts in

his last book on Taoism (1975:19, 26).

The duality, instead of dualism offers non-linear, non-oppositional lenses to work

on balance of social, cultural, and ecological relationships.

Powerlessness and power hunger (Fear)

Rev. Byung Tae Kim’s story depicts a typical power-driven person in a ministry

of care and attend. The following examples illustrate the pitfall of compartmentalized

education which focuses on mere mind-exercise.

Byung Tae started his seminary training late forty’s. Upon graduating from the A Seminary he tirelessly drove himself toward senior pastor position skipping the usual Educational pastor, or Associate Pastor position. During the many months of struggles to move toward his own goal, Rev. Byung Tae maximized his network. Finally he reached his goalof becoming a senior Pastor of a church with its own building. Once he was installed as a Senior Pastor, his language, tone, and the ministry type changed dramatically as if it is a different person. Leaving all the rhetoric of the ministry of empowerment behind Rev. Byung Tae, upon reaching his goal, immediately exercised a “top down” leadership with a frequent remarks such as, “Session decided”. Some people whom he owed favor to get him to his position Rev. Byung Tae basically used them and drop them. The whole emphasis on partnership ministry quickly evaporated with the change of the position.

Rev. Byung Tae’s case is unfortunately typical among many candidates of ministry.

Power by position becomes a primary goal in the course of getting to the position they want.

John Cobb and Griffin wrote, “much of the tragedy in the course of human affairs can be

attributed to the feeling that to control others, and the course of events, is to share in divinity”

(53-54).

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It is as if the water itself is so contaminated that any one who enters into the water

is tainted. According to the following lyric, written by a Korean version of Bob Dylan,

Min Ki Kim , the water did not pollute itself:

In a small pond along a deep mountain path only black water welled up with no sign of life. They say that long ago two beautiful gold fish lived in this little pond deep in the mountain. One clear summer day the fish began to fight.One floated above the water and its soft flesh decayed, Soon the water decayed as well. No living creature could live there again.

In a small pond along a deep mountain path only black water welled up with no sign of life.

The leaves once green fell one by one floating a smallship on the pond and then sank deep in the water. A lost flower deer wandered in the mountain and found the pond. Upon drinking the water it quietly fell asleep.

This lyric was written during the dark time in Korea when so many innocent

students were imprisoned for protesting against a long-held military dictatorship. No

voice against violent oppression was allowed. The poet courageously holds the truth with

powerful metaphors, when the voices of the truth was brutally crushed. Against the

power held by the military force was confronted by armorless voice. The little pond

describes the human evil killing the life-giving, life-sustaining water. Consequently the

living and the dead make no difference except the fact that the living ends up also dying.

The poet turns our attention to mutual and interdependent nature of life.

The Need for a Holistic Theological Epistemology

The embodiment of the holistic theological epistemology is crucial. Many

seminarians are not capable of incarnational nature of ministry without the integration of

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knowledge and the person in the training. For this to happen balancing the Yang biased

education with Yin principle will bring wholeness in education and thus prevent learning

from separating the learner from the knowledge. (the learner from compartmentalizing

the knowledge)

Ministry in immigrant context often revolves around crisis intervention where

immigrant churches become the primary community. This life style grounded on

extreme capitalism paralyzes the possibility of common good. Conversely, against this

extremity people show their hunger for spirituality. Anyhow, unless the very glasses we

see life through changes the enhancement of the humanity is not feasible. We will only

be caught with a bandage treatment to the symptoms caused by dysfunctional glasses.

The interdependent nature of social, ecological life is graphically depicted and

addresses the destructive nature of competition of winning at all cost life style. Just as

Taoism was launched during the extreme corruption in China, the parallel is truthful in

today’s economic driven culture where human life and species are endangered.

Lao Tzu describes a society which lost common truth:

When people stray from the subtle way of universal nature, they can no longer perceive their own true nature.Thus, they emphasize relative virtue.When natural virtue is lost, society depends on the doctrine of humanism.When humanity becomes corrupted, social and religious teachings appear and become powerful forces. When social and religious teachings become corrupted, what is left behind is the empty shell of superficial ceremonies and artificial etiquette.When etiquette is emphasized, it is because people lack the simple qualities of fairness and kindness.This is the starting point of people of confusion.

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Unfortunately, many pastors who have gone through the theological education are

crippled by the lack of holistic education. Tao Teh Ching offers a theological model

which will connect mind, body, and spirit. In the concept of Tao Teh Ching there is no

separation of theory from the action. “Tao means the integral truth of the universe, Teh

means the virtuous application of such high, subtle knowledge, and Ching means serious

spiritual guidance (Hua-Ching Ni, trans. 1995:3). In Taoism knowledge and application

are not separable. Therefore, it can balance the dichotomized structure and theological

education. Taoism as an epistemology can offer hope of recovering broken humanity and

Nature through holistic education.

Conversely in Eastern mind the very essence of learning takes place when there is

a fusion between the idea and being. Fung Yu-Lan states this as “sageliness within and

kingliness without” (1948:8). In the discipline of sage the idea and deed are one and thus

the Western quest for practical theology stemming from the dichotomy of the two is not

necessary.

This-worldliness and other-worldliness stand in contrast to each other asdo realism and idealism. The task of Chinese philosophy is to accomplisha synthesis out of these antitheses. That does not mean that they are to beabolished. They are still there, but they have been made into a syntheticwhole. . . According to Chinese philosophy, the man who accomplishesthis synthesis, not only in theory but also in deed, is the sage (Fung Yu-Lan? Ibid.).

Scientist Fritjof Capra articulated the above complementary nature of Yin and

Yang in human beings (1983:38). However, he laments the fact that throughout human

civilization, Yang driven culture swallowed Yinish culture. Despite the current western

awakening to Chinese philosophy, Capra critiques that the west has never understood the

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Yin and Yang concept in the Chinese sense. Capra gives credit to Manfred Porkert for

his comprehensive interpretation of the concept through the study of Chinese medicine.

The Chinese diagnosed human anatomy holistically based on the dynamic balance

between Yin and Yang; their imbalance causes harm and sickness (1983:36). This

dynamic balance essential in human anatomy also applies to human social dynamics.

The core of the Yinist epistemology seeks the balance of Yin and Yang. It is ecologically

and spiritually connected. It seeks harmony but not without chaos. Yinist epistemology

accepts dialectic tension between harmony and conflict, allowing interconnectedness

between the paradox of order and chaos. Therefore, it seeks to understand reality

through the lens of integrated wholes whose properties cannot be reduced to those of

smaller units. It is thus nonlinear and dynamic. It understands Nature as dynamically

interconnected network of relationships that include the human observer as an integral

component.

All life embodies yinAnd embraces yang,Through their unionAchieving harmony (TAO 42).

Yang biased curriculum with mere cognitive exercise disconnect its candidate from

their heart.

Ministering to the immigrant community takes mostly shepherding role due to the

community’s extreme internal and external stress in daily life. What does the Christian

notion of covenanted community and sacraments have to say? How are we to

[re]interpret the church, its calling, mission and ministry?

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The Body as a Unit

The mosaic of multicultural realities can be likened to a living organism. For the

sake of the health of the body, all of its parts need to be well attended. Both Jesus and the

Apostle Paul use this body analogy to describe Christian identity and unity. On the

evening of the Passover, Jesus offered his body as a Lamb, “Take it; this is my body. . . .

This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” (Mark 14:22, 24).

Jesus laid down himself in order for us to be whole, setting the radical contrasts against

the culture of hegemony and culture of lip service.

In order to serve the diverse make up of the population in California and America

as a whole, a kaleidoscopic lens should be adopted. When our lens is expanded then we

will be able to finally see the whole picture not just part of it. All the policies

accompanied by a kaleidoscopic value will serve all segments of the society relatively

fair, not maximally fair. Everyone must yield to make a whole circle possible. Everyone

realizes that we all are beautiful parts in the design of a kaleidoscopic circle. The Apostle

Paul in 1 Corinthian 12 lays out this principle very clearly in which the weaker parts of

the body need to be attended more.

Also Paul stresses connectionalism, not fragmentation; mutual plurality, not

conformity. Thus, the otherization of certain parts only jeopardizes the body as a whole.

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and Though all its parts are many, they form one body. . . .

Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. . .Those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of lthe body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern

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for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it (ICor 12:12-27).

Paul has laid out principles which are foundational for being and becoming the

body of Christ. Both love and justice are the foundations of the wellbeing of the

interconnected organism. In contrast to the principles of greed-driven alienation, Paul

urges Christians to accept and apply the life-giving rather than life-killing concept of

diversity. Indicating harmonious relatedness among all different parts of the body, Paul

stresses the importance of giving more attention to the weaker parts in order to balance

every part. Yet, in today’s multicultural capitalistic world of local and global

competition, often the weaker, who lacks a power base of protection, tend to fall into prey

of the stronger.

Paul’s body analogy with its systemic emphasis can serve as a paradigm for

illuminating the escalating dark side of today’s multicutural realities. Using Eastern

philosophical categories, Fritjof Capra provides an alternative paradigm which

illuminates the diverse nature of being the church.

The rational and the intuitive are complementary modes of functioning of the

human mind. Rational thinking is linear, focused, and analytic. It belongs to the realm of

the intellect, whose function it is to discriminate, measure, and categorize. Thus rational

knowledge tends to be fragmented. Intuitive knowledge, on the other hand, is based on a

direct, nonintellectual experience of reality arising in an expanded state of awareness. It

tends to be synthesizing, holistic, and nonlinear (1982:38).

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The term “holistic,” from the Greek holos (“whole”), refers to an understanding of

reality in terms of integrated wholes whose properties cannot be reduced to those of

smaller units. This fits the Apostle Paul’s analogy of the human body for what it means

to be the church. In other words, the alienation of parts from the body endangers the well

being of the organism. Therefore, the recipe for a healthy multicultural dynamic requires

the ingredients of shared power and resources, which allows all parts to harmonize into a

wholeness.

As the 1992 Los Angles Riots alarmed the truth of human connectedness, the

Korean immigrant church needs to re-interpret who they are and who they ought to

become. A fixated self understanding only rotates the problems exhausting rather than

revitalizing the body of Christ. Only when the Korean immigrant church balances its

inward and outward journey then the healthier connection with the transforming power of

the Gospel may be represented. For this endeavor, the ungoing theological reflection of

the 1992 Los Angeles Riots needs to be processed and thus fill the void in the public

arena as the body of Christ. The theological espistemological lens is offered in this

chapter, called yinist which reconciles the pitfall of the dualistic, dichotomous paradigm

which divides rather than connects the diverse parts. It bridges both usness and

otherness to become whole.

For carrying out God’s presence in public arena through the body of Christ, the

Korean immigrant church must dare to re-examine, re-member its own windows through

which we see ourselves and neighbors. Otherwise gapping hole of the public arena will

continue to distort and exploit the lives of the powerless. The aftermath of several

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propositions need to be revisited and reminded so that the organism may not be subsided

by the organization.

Reference Cited

Frijof Capra The Turning Point: Science, Society, and the Rising Culture. New York:Bantam Books, 1983.

Los Angeles Times, “The Race Line Is Drawn in California”, August 24, 1997:M5.Los Angeles Times, “Pete Wilson’s Twisted Logic on Handguns”, September 30,1997:B7California Civil Rights Initiative, 1995. Lyndon Johnson announcing Affirmative Action in 1965New York Times, “Reverse Discrimination of Whites is Rare, Labor Study Reports.

March 31, 1995:A23. Stanley Fish “Reverse Racism or How The Pot Got To Call The Kettle Black”, Atlantic

Monthly, November 1993:130Vincent N. Parrillo Strangers to These Shores: Race and Ethnic Relations In the United States. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997.

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