Korea Journal of Buddhist StudiesISSN:1598-0642(Print)불교학연구회

The religious conflicts can be categorized into the conflicts between different religious groups, the conflicts within the religious groups, and the conflicts between a religious group and the larger society. Since the inauguration of Lee Myung-bak administration, latent religious conflicts have risen to the surface, and the conflicts between Protestantism and Buddhism and the conflicts between Buddhism and the government are becoming intensified. So this paper examines the religious conflicts during the Lee Myung-bak administration and solutions to them, focusing on the conflicts between the religious groups and the conflicts between the religious groups and the larger society. The cases of conflicts between Protestantism and Buddhism that have intensified since Lee Myung-bak government came to power can be categorized into the Prayer Walking and the Holy City Movement, and the magnitude of the problem lies in the fact that these movements are taking place not by chance but based on the authority of the Bible. The cases of conflicts between Buddhism, Protestantism, and the government can be categorized into the government’s religious bias and the controversies over the appropriateness of government support, and the seriousness of the problem consists in the fact that the conflicts between the two religions are caused by the government, which should be neutral about religions, but instead acts as a vehicle for the conflicts. The religious conflicts that have surfaced since the inauguration of the Lee Myung-bak government have been caused by various complex and organic factors such as latent exclusiveness of Korean Protestant fundamentalism, ignorance about the other religions, recently intensified competition in the Korean religion market, reinforcement of Protestants’ missionary aggressiveness in the Yeongnam region, intensified social mainstream consciousness of Protestants caused by the inauguration of Lee Myung-bak, an elder of a church, administration, and expression of consciousness of crisis on the part of Buddhism. This researcher analyzed these causes and cases and examined popularization of the religious cooperation movement and education and learning about the neighboring religions as action plans of the religious groups to solve the conflicts between Buddhism and Protestantism. And as action plans of the religious groups and the government attempt to solve the conflicts between Buddhism, Protestantism, and the government, I examined the self-reliance of religion to be freed from government support, continuance and expansion of preventive education on public officials against religious discrimination, legislation of disciplinary actions for public officials discriminating against religions, and enactment of hate crimes law.