A very interesting post today, @slowwalker, about the history of Protestantism in Korea.

Ironically, the word Protestant itself means protester and conjures up images of rebellion and resistance. Historically, the Protestants were rebelling against some of the abuses in the Catholic Church, and so they wre determined to reform it but ended up separating from it.

Without opposition religious beliefs gradually mellow, but persecution and adversity fans the flames of belief like adding oxygen to a fire. Such was the case of these Korean Christians.

The fish symbol at the statue's base was actually a secret symbol for Jesus Christ. It's called the Ichthys, and is an acrostic of Greek letters standing for, "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour".

Early Christians, under persecution by Rome, would often use this secret symbol as a code to identify themselves to other Christians.

It seems that strong beliefs always lead to opposition. Hegel would have liked that and saw it as a dialectic ultimately leading to a compromise.

Thesis - antithesis - synthesis.

I suppose that's how we make progress