Why Should Seoul Care?
NPR presents yet another interesting angle on the South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan: Mike Pocock who discusses missionary work. And, TMH provides good reason to doubt the value of South Korean reporting (TMH) on the hostage crisis.
Pocock's opinions raise an issue I, as one who does not observe any organized religious rules, have wondered about. Why should non-practitioners laud and support fellow citizens for behavior considered dangerous and irrational, indeed repulsive. Christians differ from secular persons, because they seek rewards for behavior secular individuals would consider foolhardy and even illegal. Sometimes there is a confluence of interests between religious and secular practitioners, as in the civil rights movement, but secular individuals cannot condone behavior that undermines public order or personal safety, no matter how praiseworthy practitioners might conceive of these actions within their own organization.
These South Koreans are citizens, but can the government, and secular individuals, be held responsible for those practitioners who act irresponsibly and who might involve their fellow secular citizens in compromising situations. Practitioners might very well receive their reward (i.e., heaven), but governments and individuals have to deal with other terrestrial issues and the certainty of death. Where do governments draw the line between reasonable practice for which they can provide support and unreasonable behavior which dissolves its responsibility. Pocock's discussion above points to the need for rigorous training for missionaries. In that context, I would argue that the South Korean government is no longer responsible for the 21 remaining South Korean hostages, who have decided to act unreasonably with adequate precautions.
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