| The purpose of this grounded theory study is to understand and explain non-Christian Koreans' negative perception and public criticism of the Korean Protestant Church from the socio-cultural perspective. Specifically, this study tries to discover Korean perceptions of how the Korean Protestant church (KPC) has interacted with Korean society and culture, the position of the KPC in Korean society and culture, and the socio-cultural roles of the KPC within Korean society.;The opinion leaders of Korean society such as media persons, scholars of social sciences and Korean history, researchers of various institutions, and civil activists and theorists were selected as the participants of this study because they were thought of as the representatives of non-Christian Koreans who clearly recognized religious issues of Korean society. By utilizing the grounded theory study, the researcher tried to discern the factors that provoked negative perceptions and public criticisms of the KPC in the minds of the participants.;The participants perceived that the KPC was a "snobbish" and "unengaged" religion that was enmeshed or undistinguished from secular or profane desires as well as not engaged with or committed to the external Korean society. On the one hand, the participants thought that the KPC pursues profane desires like political power and capitalistic self-expansion, making it indistinguishable from secular Korean society and felt that Korean Christians are exclusive, intolerant, and aggressive because of their selfish and profane desires. On the other hand, according to the participants, Korean Christians carry a separatist lifestyle in which they concentrate on church life, disconnecting themselves from external society. In addition, the participants perceived that the KPC's isolation from the external Korean society also comes from intolerant, exclusive, and aggressive attitudes, its domestic evangelism and overseas mission as well as its conflicts with other religions and cultures. In particular, the participants thought that the "enmeshed isolation" of the KPC is closely related with its internal contradictions and problems. |
