God exists, not Religion.

     Before I start, I want to define "god" in my way. Thanks to all the religion in the world, most people now and before think that god is a mighty individual or mighty individuals who created the world and has been ruling everything. Christians believe that "he" is a good-looking, charismatic middle-aged man with European appearance. Hindus, ancient Egyptians, and many others believe gods look like a combination of human and animal. Still almost all the religions say their gods exist in firm shape. I believe god is something different. God is something that we can deduce from asking "Why?" At any question of phenomenon, if we keep asking "Why?" we will eventually reach to the very question that how the universe began to exist. There is a theory called the Big Bang, but we still can not even guess what caused the Big Bang. I believe when we finally reached the very question what was the cause of the beginning, it would be the perfect time to believe in god. God is not someone nor something. God is that which had ignited the entire world, and therefore, god is the most fundamental answer for everything in the world.

-Uhh, so Mr.God is European? Asians don't have any chance?

     Wo, that was a long first paragraph, but I think I explained enough about that "god exists." Religion, on the other hand, is the very primitive way of worshiping the god. Presumably the founder of religions might concluded that god is someone who just looks like themselves -with some variations- , because human has been the only intelligent species that can be observed on the earth. For example, the Bible says that the god created the first man, Adam, to resemble himself. For those who believe in religion, god is something like a king, the most powerful authority in the bureaucracy of the earth. This kind of presumption is acceptable, but it can never be the final conclusion human being is trying to reach; religion is a part of trials and errors of human species. Now with all the development of technology, we can see that all the religions bare a same lethal error: inconsistency in themselves. Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, and all the other religion assert that their god is one which is the only valid one, and all of them use same logic of the presumption of bureaucratic god resembling human. All of them refute each other, and there is none which is special or which adopts different logics. Thus, the only possible conclusion is that none of them is valid. God exists, but no religion is true, and no god lives in religion.

-A Lecture of Richard Dawkins
He doesn't believe in any god, and I disagree with that point. Still I firmly agree with what he says in this video clip.

Disappearing Language, and Disappearing Culture

   As we saw in the video, English is becoming the world language. Partly, it is a corollary of the Britain and the US being the most powerful nations in the world. However, some part of the globalization of English is due to a planned, intentional effort : standardized English tests, universities requiring the tests, and even the government trying to teach English to the students of the nation. The government of South Korea is trying really hard to make the students learn English. In public schools, students spend more, at least equal, time to learn English than to learn their native language.

   Some might think that there would be no difference even if a language disappears. They might think that English can replace the language. I completely disagree. There is a culture in the language. When a language dies, a huge part of the culture disappears. For a solid evidence, a language of a culture has its own unique words. For example, the tribes in Arctic area has dozens of different words indicating snow or ice. They try to classify different types of snow (dry, melting, half-melted, of fine particles, lumpy, etc) with separate words. It is a significant portion of their culture.

   Still we need a global language, and English is likely to be the best candidate. Therefore, we need to learn English, but what I want to say here is that English cannot be the primary goal over our culture and native language. These days, students of South Korea lack the ability to use their native language then before. For a short example, the lyrics for popular music is getting worse and worse. As a result, we can see that teenagers these days do not have a firm national identity. This is terribly wrong. Teachers, parents from the first place must teach what must be taught.




개똥벌레 Firefly (1987)
(For some reasons -linguistic one or whatever-, Koreans call "firefly" "dog-poop bug")


아무리 우겨봐도 어쩔수 없네
Though I insist, it goes as it should.
저기 개똥 무덤이 내 집인걸
That little grave of poop is my home.
가슴을 내밀어도 친구가 없네
Though I approach them, none come to be my friend.
노래 하던 새들도 멀리 날아가네
Singing birds stop singing and fly far far away.
가지마라 가지마라 가지말아라
Do not go, Do not go, Please stay with me.
나를 위해 한번만 노래를 해주렴
I beg you sing a single song for me.
나나 나나나나 쓰라린 가슴안고
nana- nananana- holding my painful heart,
오늘 밤도 그렇게 울다 잠이든다
I fall asleep this night tearing, as I used to.

-Coarse Translation : l



Shy Boy (2011)


뚜루왑 두밥 두밥 뚜루왑 두밥 두밥 뚜루왑 두밥 두밥 뚜루왑 두밥 두밥
Du-ru Wap Du bop Du bop Du-ru Wap Du bop  Du bop Du-ru Wap Du bop Du bop
Time Time Time To Shine Time Time Time Secret Time
Time Time Time To Shine Oh Oh Oh Secret Time
우쭐대지 마 아 아 넌 넌 장난치지 마 아 아 넌 넌
Don't be arrogant, Ah Ah You You Don't make joke with me, Ah Ah You You
오오오 오오오 더는 못 참겠어 그만
OhOhOh OhOhOh I can't stay any long Stop
제발 있는 척 좀 마 아아 No No 이젠 너 같은 남자 아 아 No No
Please don't pretend anymore Ah Ah No No Man like you - no more Ah Ah No No
오오오 오오오 더는 못 보겠어 그만
OhOhOh OhOhOh I can't see it anymore. Stop.

(WTF. It doesn't even require much translation.)


Motions
1. English must be a mandatory course for elementary school students.
2. English must be the global language.
3. Teaching foreign language to those under 13 is harmful.