Christianity for a Korean Immigrant

As a stupid punk kid and teen, I felt Christianity was stifling, boring and uncool. I wasn’t able to do anything fun or “cool” that the cool heroes did on TV or movies, such as kiss or have bedscenes with feathered-haired women with a saxophone playing in the background, fight, shoot guns, do drugs, gamble, listen to rock/pop, watch anything not PG, or whatever other garbage was portrayed as cool. I also had to go to Korean church since I was a toddler, and I didn’t enjoy it. It was a life similar to that of Ned Flanders’ kids, with the added hardship of being an immigrant and minority. I grew up sheltered and naive.

Despite the early angst, I now think exposure to Christianity was beneficial in some ways. It had me adhere to higher morals — if only out of fear of Hell. This gave me some dignity and moral high ground in the west even though I was from a poor country and I’m inherently just a punk. I had a higher standard of living compared to Koreans in Korea, even though my family was just lower middle class. I kept out of trouble and was able to get a quality western education despite my ability and work ethic being mediocre. The education in Korea is different and more of a filtering and preparation for rank and file jobs, and any learning that happens is incidental.

Listening to Hell testimonies brought me back to Christianity.

I strayed from Christianity for 30+ years, during which I tried some of the “bad” things. They are mostly demonic and degrading with nightmarish consequences. There are wholesome ways to ways have fun and to let off steam such as sports, travel, and hobbies.