Abstract
During rapid social change in the wake of Korea's modernization, conservative Buddhists, especially the majority female adherents, favor a mixture of Amitabha and traditional shamanistic practices to secure secular desires. Some intellectuals and radical activists are trying to revive Buddhist consciousness to eradicate “suffering” in the name of Minjung Buddhism. Weber's assertion that religion is a key factor determining societal change needs to be used cautiously in the case of Korea. The author demonstrates that, with education level controlled, the disparity between Buddhists and Protestants holds true for those who have not received more than an elementary school education. This finding shatters the widespread supposition that Korean Protestants are somehow “more modern” than Korean Buddhists; the popular view that correlates Protestantism with modernity is clearly unwarranted in modern Korea.