Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 1235 | ‘KPop Demon Hunters': Paganism & LGBTQ Propaganda for Kids

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Starting point is 00:00:46 That's fellowship homelones.com slash alley, term supply, see site for details, fellowship home loans, mortgage lending by the book, nationwide mortgage bankers, DBA Fellowship Home Loans, equal housing lender, NMLS, number 819-382. K-pop demon hunters. Why is this kids movie so popular, not just among non-Christians, but also apparently in Christian communities as well. Is this just an innocent fantasy movie that is okay for your kids to watch? Or is there something much more sinister going on?

Starting point is 00:01:24 I'll give you my take on today's episode of Relatable. It's brought to you by our friends at Good Ranchers. go to good ranchers.com, use code Allie at checkout. That's goodrangers.com code Alley. Hey guys and welcome to Relatable. Happy Wednesday. Hope everyone is having a wonderful week. All right. I will never forgive your relatable audience because you have forced me to watch something that is anime adjacent. I have received dozens of messages, at least dozens of messages from you guys asking me if I can talk about K-pop demon hunters. Now, if you are like me and you didn't even really know what K-pop was, I think the K stands for Korean. Is that right, Bree? It's Korean pop. Okay. She says that is correct. So they're all, I guess K-pop is a genre of music. You've got all of these Korean girl bands and boy bands. Maybe some of them are intermixed. And there is also an entertainment genre that falls under, I think, the music genre of K-pop.

Starting point is 00:02:38 and this is one of those. And it's kind of anime, but not, maybe not completely anime. Maybe it's not like all the way anime. I don't really know. But y'all know I take issue with anime because I think it can, not always, it can lead people down a rabbit hole of a lot of confusion, especially when it comes to gender. Now, that is not the issue with this particular movie.

Starting point is 00:03:04 I think the reason you guys asked me about this is because it has. is because it has to do with the demonic. And there does seem to be a growing trend in children's, in adolescent entertainment of glorifying hell and glorifying the satanic and glorifying demons. We talked about that movie, was it a movie or series with Jack Black that had to do with Satan and a demon coming into the world? and it seemed to blur the lines of good and evil by making the demonic kind of likable. So I think understandably, when Christians see demon or demon slayer or Satan or something like that in secular media,

Starting point is 00:03:49 our ears perk up and we're like, hang on, what's going on? What is Hollywood trying to convey to our children? So I watched K-pop demon hunters. And that let me tell you, I don't think I ever would have known that this exists had it not been for you guys. But I totally understand why you want to know about it because you probably have older kids than mine. And maybe their friends are interested or maybe they've asked to watch it. And you just want to know, okay, like, what is the deal? So I not only researched this, I watched it for you.

Starting point is 00:04:27 It's on Netflix. and I will give my assessment and we'll get into the theological aspects of it and the things that I think you as a parent, a Christian in particular, should be thinking about. Let's go ahead and play the trailer for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about. It's not one. It's time. The world will know you as pop stars, but you will be much more than that. You will be hunters. They're stealing the souls of our lives.

Starting point is 00:05:10 fans let's send those disgusting demons back to the depths where they belong all right so you kind of get the premise there and we'll get more into the plot in a second but you should know that this is an extremely popular movie it was actually released a couple months ago in june it has become a huge hit it's gotten 184 million views it is netflix's second most watched movie ever and the top animated film likely to become the most watched overall. And this is incredible considering that I was reminded this morning as I was finishing this movie that The Notebook is on Netflix. And The Notebook is obviously the best movie of all time.

Starting point is 00:06:02 And the fact that Bree is raising her eyebrows skeptically, I wouldn't be surprised at all if she doesn't like The Notebook. And she has some subversive, subversive take on the show. the best movie ever. But this apparently, this anime adjacent movie has even topped the notebook, which just goes to show where our society is headed. But also three songs from the movie, I will say the songs were very catchy. They've cracked the Billboard Top 100. Okay. So here's a little bit about it. The story follows Huntrix, a K-pop girl group led by a girl named named Rumi. I guess I can say girl. They're probably teenagers, maybe 20, who fight soul-eating demons to

Starting point is 00:06:49 protect Han Moon, which is a magical barrier that keeps demons at bay. So they're trying to protect their world, protect their town, and they're battling a demonic boy band. The reaction has been varied to this. You've got obviously a lot of people saying, this is awesome, this is great, this is innocent, love letting my kids watch it, loved it myself. I saw a a lot of reviews saying that. But then also you've got Christians saying, well, I think this is probably belittling what is a very real realm and a real spiritual battle and a real desire of Satan to try to take the souls and to rule the hearts of as many image bearers of God as possible. But then you have other Christians saying, well, that theme, you know, in a different way through this

Starting point is 00:07:41 K-pop movie actually comes through and it's an opportunity to share the gospel with your kids. So before I give you what I believe to be the biblical take on it or my perspective on it, we'll talk a little bit more about the plot. And as we do that, you'll probably be able to put the pieces together yourself and form your own perspective based on your convictions and what the word of God says. So before we get into the plot, let me tell you guys, share the arrows is coming up. We've got, what is it? Six weeks. It might just be five, no, six, six, I think it's six weeks away. That's crazy, y'all. Six weeks away, that is going to go by so quickly. I am so excited to meet the thousands of you that are going

Starting point is 00:08:23 to be there. Actually, yesterday, I walked through the venue and I got to see where everyone's going to be seated. Y'all, we are in the home stretch of making this the best possible experience for you. That is just so incredibly important for me. I want you to come to this event. I want you to feel emboldened. I want you to feel empowered. I want you to feel loved. I want you to feel taking care of. I want you to feel that, oh my goodness, I can't believe that I get to get all of this teaching and encouragement from some of the best Christian female leaders of our day. It is going to be amazing and such a time of refreshment. So make sure that you get your tickets. Go to share the arrows.com. You can see if you're watching on YouTube. We've got Elisa Childers, one of the best

Starting point is 00:09:11 Apologist of our day. She is so compelling. She was a favorite speaker last year. Ginger Dugger Voila will be on stage with me. We've got an incredible motherhood panel. Abby Halberstadt, Hillary Morgan Ferrer. Y'all know Abby. Hillary Morgan Ferre wrote Mama Bear Apologetics best-selling series. Shauna Holman-Holm and Taylor Dukes for biblical health and wellness. And then we've got Katie Fowles. You all know Katie, one of your favorite guests. She is going to be delivering really hard truths and the compelling and the gracious way that she does. And our girl Francesca Batisdelli Grammy Award winning artist is back with us this year to lead us in worship, y'all. I cannot wait. And of course, yours truly will be there speaking too. This year is Share the Arrows is brought to you

Starting point is 00:09:53 by our friends at every life. Go to share the arrows.com. Get your tickets. It's October 11th, Dallas, Texas. You can use any of the first names of the speakers. When you press unlock on Ticketmaster, you enter in say Shauna 15 and you'll see the 15% off price except for VIP tickets which y'all the VIP packages are awesome you will get the opportunity to talk with the speakers to come to the VIP event the night before so much good stuff I could talk about this forever just go to share the arrows dot com all right before we get back into k-pop demon slayer let me tell you about our first sponsor for the day it is paleo valley I absolutely love paleo valley y'all I have been absolutely absolutely obsessed with their protein powder. So their protein powder is a bone broth protein powder.

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Starting point is 00:11:37 That's paleovalley.com code Alley. Okay, let me tell you about the plot of K-pop demon hunter. So this is what it is. For centuries, women called hunters have fought demon-sealing souls for this evil king, Guimah. And I might accidentally slip and say Satan because it's obvious, like, that's what Guillae is. If we're to like look at that parallel, he is the king, the ruler of the demons and he wants to steal as many people's souls is possible. Now this K-pop trio, Huntrix,

Starting point is 00:12:20 Rumi, Mira, and Zoe, they use their singing to create a protective shield called the Han Moon. And there have been different K-pop groups, always female, over the centuries that have used their voices to protect this protective magical barrier. Unknown to her bandmates and fans, Rumi, who is a part of this Huntrix band, is also half demon. And that becomes like a real point of conflict throughout. It becomes a point of shame for her. And we see that throughout.

Starting point is 00:12:54 That is kind of a theme of conquering her shame of being half demon. And then her other friends have thinks that they're ashamed of too. And so there is a theme of friendship and belonging and acceptance and things like that. There is a new strategy, however, that Guillaume, the king of the demons, wants to employ to try to finally defeat the huntrics or the demon hunters and break down the barrier of Han Moon and finally steal all the souls in this place. And that is by using this boy band. They're actually demons, but they kind of shape ship. and they turn into a boy band called the Saja Boys. And they emerge on the K-pop scene and they become super popular.

Starting point is 00:13:42 One of the leaders of this new demonic band is named Jinnu. I think that's how they pronounced it. And he is now trying to win his soul back because 400 years ago he sold his soul to Guillaume to try to provide for. for his family. And as it turns out, even though he got famous and powerful at the time, Guillaume, just like Satan, was telling him a lie, got his soul and has enslaved him eternally. And then his family, of course, wasn't even provided for. Jeanneux is kind of used as a way to try to get Remy the half-demon huntrics to compromise and to be

Starting point is 00:14:32 weakened so they can infiltrate this magical barrier and steal the souls. But in the process, Jeanneux and Rumi, like, fall in love. There is this exchange thing that happens in the end. And the Huntrix's, the group does end up defeating the demon guys, defeating the gwee ma and saving the souls of all of these people. I would say that like going to Greek mythology, if you look at the male K-pop demon group, they're kind of like sirens in that they are using their voices as a way of temptation and also their good looks to tempt people into falling in love, following them, and you actually have a scene, where Guillae is like looking at these souls that he has stolen and he's like very happy that

Starting point is 00:15:33 the Saja boys have accomplished this. And I will say that is interesting. You don't see any explicit LGBTQ themes, but like in so much of anime, there is some implicit gender bending going on there, even if you look at the mythological aspects of it, but also like how the men look. Now I know and like Korean people don't have like a lot of body hair. And so you don't expect them to have beards and things like that. But they do look, the men do look in dress feminine, which seems to be a common trope actually in anime. So that's basically the plot. Did I miss anything, Bree?

Starting point is 00:16:13 Was there anything that stood out to you and just like what happened in the movie? No, I think you covered almost everything. I mean, the main guy, the main demon boy, he actually, it's reversed. revealed that he sold his soul just for his own sake. Like he tells her first it was to provide for my family. And then it's revealed later that it wasn't. It was just for his own benefit. And he cast his own family out for it.

Starting point is 00:16:39 And so his whole internal struggle is like, oh, I'm a terrible person for doing that. So I deserve to be soulless or whatever. Yeah. And so he's trying to earn like the, he's trying to get his memories erase. So he doesn't have to dwell on that. all the time. So yeah. Yeah. Because he does feel guilty about it. He feels guilty about it. And then in the end, he he gains his soul back by sacrificing himself for them. And then he gives his soul. It's a little confusing. He gives his soul to Rumi because she's a demon and she needs one,

Starting point is 00:17:16 I guess. She's half demon. She's half demon. Because I guess her dad was a demon and her mom was a person, which also seems to be a theme in a lot of these kind of like demonic shows or shows about demons. Yeah. Yeah, it kind of, that exchange right there reminds me a little bit of beauty and the beast because the beast and beauty of the beast was very vain, very selfish. He ends up turning into a beast for many years. And it's like he has to have some kind of act. He has to truly love someone and have sacrifice before all of the petals in the

Starting point is 00:17:52 rose like fall and then he does he falls in love with bell he truly sacrifices himself for bell and she is saved but he seems to die but then she gives true love's kiss and then he turns back into himself it's kind of like that but you never actually what okay remind me because i was like also trying to do things when i was watching the end of this what happens to junie at the end they die so that's it it's not like beauty and the beast where he comes back and they're in love and they get married does not come back. They have revealed now that because of the success of this, they're probably going to make a billion sequels and TV shows and musicals and stuff.

Starting point is 00:18:29 So he might come back in the future. But at the end of this movie, he doesn't. The idea is that he sacrifices himself and they're all, the whole boy band is gone along with all the other demons. Okay. Before we get into the troubling aspects of this and the spiritual aspects, was there anything that you liked about it that you could say was good? I'm going to be honest, this was a hard watch for me.

Starting point is 00:18:53 It was a tough watch. It's just a very, I was just telling someone, you know how cocoa melon is like over stimulation all the time? Yeah. That's kind of what it felt like to me. It was like, it's pretty to look at, but it's just like color and movement and like there's so much happening the whole time. So I kind of get why kids like it so much. But for me, it was a lot. I thought that the animation was good, you know.

Starting point is 00:19:20 It's just, it was a hard watch. Yes. I noticed some things like in facial expressions. I'm like, okay, that must be an anime thing. Like how they change the eyes and different things. And like it's just so overly expressive while also not having a whole lot of detail in the drawing of the faith. Like there's just like silly things.

Starting point is 00:19:41 Like they're one of the K-pop girls. she sees a guy who has abs. She's like falling in love. Her eyes turn into corn cobs. And then as she's heating up because she thinks he's so attractive, the corn cobs burst into popcorn. Like that's the kind of humor that it is. There were a couple like kind of like funny parts, not really my humor.

Starting point is 00:20:06 But I could see how like a kid would think something like that is funny. I mean, there were some you could say, okay, if I were to give a totally. positive perspective of this. Like you could say, well, at least the satanic side or Guimah is seen as the bad guy. He is the bad guy. He is defeated at the end. The good guys want to protect the souls of people. We do kind of see this biblical theme that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light

Starting point is 00:20:36 and that he tempts people with power and with pretty things. and he gets people to idolize things that are not God in order to convince them to give him total control. And we see that theme. And so you could say that something similar. There's a theme of true friendship. As I said, there's no explicit LGBTQ themes, which I think speaks well, probably of Korean culture compared to our own. And so that's what I would say about it. also, I don't know if I would say it's part of like a very, the very dark trend of trying to get

Starting point is 00:21:19 kids into the demonic. You could maybe argue that. I'm not totally sure that I would say that when it comes to this particular movie. However, would I allow my kids or really any kid? Maybe a teenager, but would I allow my kids to watch this? No. Now, a teenager might be. be able to decipher, okay, fiction, nonfiction, obviously not biblical. But I honestly, before the age of like 13, 14, I don't, I do not think so. I think that it is very spiritually, theoretically, confusing. And so let's get into the spiritual theological aspects of this that I think are important. Let me go ahead and pause before we get there and tell you about good ranchers. You all know how much I love good ranchers. Let me tell you about their chicken

Starting point is 00:22:08 nuggets because I love chicken nuggets. Chicken nuggets are so good. But even the chicken nuggets in the grocery store, they have seed oils. They have sunflower oil. They have canola oil. Even the organic kind that are supposed to be healthy, all the stuff that they say on the front to make you feel like, okay, these are the healthy chicken nuggets. You turn it around. You look at the ingredients. It's got all kinds of crappola in there. But with the chicken nuggets from Good Rangers, you don't have to worry about that because it's got avocado oil and it's got all really good ingredients and you don't have to worry about any of the fake stuff. They really care about the quality of all of their food, including the chicken nuggets. I love the non-premernerated chicken. I love the filets. I love the ground beef.

Starting point is 00:22:53 It's all so good, all from American farms and ranches. Go ahead and subscribe. Get you those chicken nuggets every month as well as the other meat that you and your family will eat on a nightly basis on dry ice in a box to your front door every month. It'll just make your life easier. Plus when you use my code alley, you'll get $40 off good ranchers.com slash alley code Alie. Breaking news, everyone. Breaking news, everyone. I just heard Bree gasp. And I thought, I don't know what I thought happened. I thought that we had, because we have a guest that I'm about to interview next, I thought that we had a scheduling snafu. No, y'all.

Starting point is 00:23:45 Taylor Swift is engaged. Big news. Really big news. It's actually pathetic because she posted one minute ago and I saw it already. Oh, I thought you were going to say it's pathetic that you had to wait 60 whole seconds to know. That too. Okay. So she is engaged to Travis.

Starting point is 00:24:09 Kelsey. Okay. Now we just got a buzz. We just got to pause and talk about whether this is real or whether this is a marketing scheme to get Normies to watch the NFL and vote for Joe Biden. Vote for Joe Biden again. Yeah. Okay. How do you feel?

Starting point is 00:24:28 I feel like we have to pause and talk about this. I knew this would happen. You knew? I knew this would happen. Okay. And we've all been waiting. You thought it would happen before her new album came out? No.

Starting point is 00:24:41 That's a good point. that's a good point it could have happened before though she could have just been telling people now I don't know oh yeah yeah what does her ring look like well we'll put a picture up

Starting point is 00:24:55 it's huge okay it's gigantic that is that would that would be so surprising if she did not have a huge ring I know a nice humble ring yes okay nope oh my gosh well I don't know

Starting point is 00:25:09 that my audience cares about Probably not. So like I would like spend 30 minutes analyzing this, not because I'm a Swifty. Please. Please you guys know that I'm not. That is why I had to fire Bree. That is why. I'm just kidding.

Starting point is 00:25:29 If you missed it, she's leaving to go back to ministry where they definitely won't let her talk about Taylor's. It's forbidden. Okay. But I'm not a Swifty. In fact, I don't think you should allow your daughters to listen to her idolize her at all. And I think Bre actually agrees with that. But I have so many thoughts right now. And I wish that we could spend the rest of the time analyzing it.

Starting point is 00:25:52 But I think people will be annoyed. Yeah, probably. Sorry for the interruption. Okay. Big news in my life. We're going to have to put up like a breaking banner and like all kinds of stuff. And then the little ticker at the bottom will keep going with what I was going to say about K. Bob. Okay, guys, we're back. We are back. If only y'all could have heard that gasp. Wow, it really

Starting point is 00:26:17 scared me. Okay. So let's get back into it. Korean shamanism. So I was looking at what religions are dominant in Korea, in South Korea. And it has a lot of Christianity, but it's got a lot of secularism. It's mostly like agnostic, atheistic people, which is very common in a lot of of Asian cultures, not all. But the, what Ali Wong calls the fancy Asian cultures, I would say that it is more secular, like Japan, very secular. But before Christianity came to South Korea, there was something called shamanism. And it probably still affects Korean culture today. So the film draws heavily on shamanism, which is a folk religion. It is. It is based on this idea that shamans can connect with the spiritual world through ceremonies.

Starting point is 00:27:16 They can foresee people's futures using the Chinese calendar. They can assist with tasks like naming children, arranging marriages, or choosing lucky dates for events like weddings, moving home, starting businesses. Very superstitious. Yun Sun Yang, a Boston University Associate Professor of Korean in Comparative Literature, notes that Korea has a long cultural history. of female shamans who use music and rituals to drive away evil spirits, which the movie mirrors in the Huntrix's A Demon Hunting Song. So there is explicitly a religious motivation and pagan ideology that undergirds this. It's not just, oh, Christians are looking for things and they're taking things too seriously. No, the film is actually based on this pagan idea of,

Starting point is 00:28:10 shamanism, that there are these mediums that can communicate with the other side and that can fight off evil spirits and really encourage this kind of paranoid superstition that so many people of all different kinds of religions fall into. Maggie King, who directed the film alongside Chris Appelhans, drew inspiration for this movie from her Korean heritage, having grown up in Toronto, but spending summers in South Korea. She said when I first came up with the idea, it felt just purely a superhero, like a purely superhero film about Korean women.

Starting point is 00:28:48 Once we really grounded the mythology in Korean shamanism, it opened up an opportunity to feature so many different eras of Korea, really show the history of how Korean music evolved through the ages. She saw shamanism as a way to tell a feminist story, noting I found it interesting that, most historically it has been traditional. I think it's progressive and a symbol of feminism. Therefore, and naturally I thought it was appropriate to connect with the Korean shamans that I wanted to address in the women's narrative. So there's feminism here. There's paganism here. There's

Starting point is 00:29:22 witchcraft here. There is a combination of all of these things. The Saja Boys' name and costume design with their dark outfits and traditional Korean hats, it's supposed to look like Zhusang Saja, the Korean grim reaper, a pale-faced figure in black robes from folklore who symbolizes death. Okay. So you can see that in the picture there. And we've got lots of themes that are very similar, kind of showing the paganism and the demonic aspects of Korean religion over the years or parts of Korean religion over the years. So the big concerns that I think Christians should have with the film. So there's a few. One, we see that there are demons and the demons are very scary looking. Like that is one reason why I would not allow young children to watch this. Just one of the reasons. They're scary looking, but they're also bumbling idiots. Like if you have watched Anastasia, it's kind of like Raspoo. like his little minions. They're almost like minions. And so on the one hand, you get the impression

Starting point is 00:30:40 that these are very scary individuals carrying out the task of trying to steal your soul, but also that they are harmless, that they are powerless, and that there is some kind of human figure with the power to stop these demons if we worship them. But the people that are demanding our These huntricks people are obviously human beings with supernatural powers, not the only person who does have the power to defeat demonic activity in Satan himself, Jesus Christ. You see some themes, as we've already talked about, that we do see in scripture of Satan tempting. but I would say that the fact that Rumi is part demon and we see that she falls in love with the demon, I believe that this blurs the lines between good and evil. Even if Gwe Ma, this satanic figure, is ultimately the enemy, you do start seeing the demonic side of Rumi as being this quirk, as being a part of her personality that she should not be ashamed of.

Starting point is 00:31:54 That's my opinion. we do see some temptation from Guimau that is very similar to what we see in real life, that he exploits people's insecurities and fears to convince them to take authority of their lives. But of course, the solution that is presented in this movie is not denying yourself and following Jesus Christ, but it is further idolizing this girl band, this hunter- band. You can actually see this in some of the songs, like one of the competitions has the word idol in it and that's not supposed to be a bad thing. It's just that we're not supposed to idolize the demons, but we are supposed to idolize the demon hunters. The Saja boys sing a song,

Starting point is 00:32:46 I'll be your idol. I'm the only one who will love your sins. And even if they are considered the bad guys in this movie, I do think that that is confusing for a child because these guys are also seen as very attractive. And again, the lead singer ends up being almost the Christ-like self-sacrificial being, even though he is a demon. So we've got more on the theological aspects of that in just a second. Let me go ahead and pause. Tell you about our next sponsor. It's WeHeart Nutrition. we heart nutrition has another awesome product out it is called wholesome bone support it's a comprehensive formula with plant based calcium from red algae it's got magnesium vitamin d3 and k2

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Starting point is 00:34:50 In the movie, demons aren't just evil. They're complex. They're layered. They are people that you can talk to. They are people that you can relate to. They have very similar kind of fears and insecurities as you do. You find yourself being very sympathetic towards this demon who is enslaved to the satanic figure himself. And you can see also that Rumi being half demon, she ends up being the hero.

Starting point is 00:35:18 So really the two main heroes of this are either demons or part demons. Now you might say, well, Rumi ends up like. like getting rid of that part of her identity through her sacrificial act. But it's not ever really clear that being a demon is objectively evil. We can see from the director that there is something that she is actually trying to communicate through this portrayal. It's sought to. I read somewhere that the solution to shame is empathy. And I find that how do you manage to bring.

Starting point is 00:35:56 all of this together into your storyline. Well, thank you. When we were crafting the story, we used to always compare it of Rumi's story as like she's coming out of the closet. Yeah. Coming clean to her parent who is, you know, is wanting her to be something that she's not. And so, yeah, it was just kind of naturally part of the kind of crafting of it and the storytelling. So understand that that is the allegory here. Not only are they purposely drawing upon, say, and pagan themes, but they are also using this as a metaphor for an adolescent coming out of the closet and trying to attain or come into a new sexual or gender identity. This is so common in anime.

Starting point is 00:36:48 And I know I said that there's no explicit LGBTQ themes, and that's true. I don't think a child would necessarily see this, but just know that this is the message that the director herself is trying to convey. I think that's true of so much anime. Even when it's not explicit, the gender bending and the self-liberation and self-empowerment and superstition, so much of what you're seeing in the culture she's representing is actually woven through so much of anime. And of course, it's not just anime. It is also woven through all kinds of children's entertainment. And while your child may not pick up on it, don't be fooled. Like these things can plant a seed. This actually, the irony is, is that it's almost so on the nose with what Satan does, that he can actually

Starting point is 00:37:40 use entertainment that looks and sounds fun and sounds innocent to plant seeds of deception in your child. Now, I'm not saying that we have to make sure that our children never watch anything or listen to anything that's not a nursery rhyme or is not explicitly Christian, but I do think that we have to be careful. And I think it's better to go to that direction than to be so naive as to think that cartoons can't be insidious and can't have a negative impact on our children. The songwriter behind some of the music that I referenced, like I said, one of the songs, I'll be your idol. I'm the only one who will love your sins. There's all different kinds of lyrics that are similar to that. The songwriter behind some of that music said it's about

Starting point is 00:38:34 the obsession of fans because the Saja boys want them to be obsessed to control them. That sounds like what an idol is. I was raised Christian and remembered it's a send to idolize something. So it was like a twist of I'll be your idol. It was kind of creepy. Like he's writing that about his own song. So the movie also suggests that salvation comes through music and personal strength. Huntrixus, gosh, it's so hard to say. There's songs like Golden are portrayed as having the power to defeat evil and seal the Han moon, implying humans can overcome spiritual battles on their own. This decenters Jesus, who is the true source of victory over evil. is also a theme of humanism, secular humanism in the film. And this is from Focus on the Families

Starting point is 00:39:22 Review, which actually was kind of positive. I didn't think that this review hit on all of the issues with this movie. But it did say this. The film itself takes a more humanistic approach that we can overcome our sins or at least accept our flaws through self-actualizing effort. And so this particular person from plugged in says that you can use that as like a conversation piece with your kids. I personally don't think that's the wisest thing to do. I think that it's cultivating a lot of confusion personally. And then you've got Christianity Today. Obviously lots of takes that Christianity today has that I don't agree with.

Starting point is 00:40:06 But there are some interesting things in this particular article about humanizing demons and the problem with that. So this author says, but what stands out most in the movie is how demons are portrayed as creatures with conflicting emotions and a desire to do good. Instead of the grotesque one-dimensional caricatures I watched and read about years ago, that were most definitely 100% wicked and therefore deserving of total destruction, the monsters and demons that are capturing our collective consciousness today are relatable and humorous, anthropomorphized, or animal-like in their expressions, body language, and actions. Don't get me started on derpy.

Starting point is 00:40:43 adorable tiger demon sidekick in K-pop demon hunters. I'd love that plushy, this person said. Unconsciously or otherwise, we have placed ourselves in the center of every battle between good and evil. The narrative de jour is how a human demon or half demon can successfully overcome the darkness within by their own strength as characters like Rumi and Nizuco exhibit. Mastery of the self is the pinnacle of achievement. There's a spillover effect in how. how we are remaking demons and monsters in our own image as these flawed beings that are capable of building up and tearing down, capable even of saving humanity. These creatures might remain fearsome, but more than that, they're also surprisingly deserving

Starting point is 00:41:30 these movies are portraying of our compassion and empathy. And this atmosphere, spiritual ambivalence thrives. But I am intrigued by our modern day pension for making monsters and demons safe or cute or attractive or morally ambiguous and how this might be creating a sense of spiritual ambivalence and even worse than that convincing people in an age where Ouija boards and tarot cards are seen as neutral or good. This is my commentary now that it would convince kids that you can dabble in that without any consequences when in reality we know that demonic power is real, that there's no such thing as neutral power. There is either God's power or there is demonic power. We read that

Starting point is 00:42:13 very clearly as we read about the spiritual armor that we are to put on in Ephesians 6, that our enemy is the spiritual realm of demonic principalities that is run by Satan, who is called in Ephesians to the prince of the power of the air, who is not funny, who is not quirky, who is not bumbling but is extremely cunning and has it out for your soul and your child's soul. That is, in the realest sense, it is dangerous as hell. Okay. So for us to trivialize it actually does mean something. It actually does have an impact on your home. Here's what First Thessalonians 522 through 24 says. Obstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit.

Starting point is 00:43:05 and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it. There are other translations of this verse that says, abstain from every appearance of evil. So that's a really important addition there, I would say. Isaiah 520 says, woe to those who call evil good and good evil,

Starting point is 00:43:27 who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. I think that there is an interesting conversation to be had about what level of fantasy and magic is okay in children's fiction. Because I don't think it's necessarily zero. I mean, I love the Chronicles of Narnia. I think that there's a really good message in Lord of the Rings. I think that there is an argument to be made, that there is a redemptive theme and books like Harry Potter. So I think that there is a place for fantasy, a place for fiction.

Starting point is 00:44:03 I think it can be really good for the creativity of the mind. We've already read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to our kids in our home. I love C.S. Lewis. And so I don't think all manners of magic are bad when it comes to fiction and when it comes to children's entertainment. To me, I think the distinction is between magical themes that show that evil really is evil. That it's not layer, that it's not nuanced, that when you flirt with evil, the way that Edward Edmund did with the white witch and the lion, the witch in the wardrobe, that really

Starting point is 00:44:44 bad things happen, that it's not cute, that it's not funny, we shouldn't be a part of that. So maybe that's the difference there, that evil really is evil in those kinds of books and good really is good, whereas in these kinds of magical themes, it is extremely blurred, and that can be confusing for our kids that we are trying to disciple and catechise. All right, a little bit more about what the Bible has to say about idolatry, necromancy, witchcraft, and this shamanism that glorifies trying to communicate with evil spirits. But let me go ahead and pause, tell you about our next sponsor, and that is Constitution wealth. The question that you got to ask yourself when you are wondering what kind of financial institution to work with is are you

Starting point is 00:45:35 unknowingly funding companies and funding an institution that actually opposes your values with every investment that you make do you know if you're hard-earned dollars or supporting businesses that actively work against the Christian principles that you hold dear you don't really want to risk that where your money is there you're your hard heart will be also how we spend our money is an indication of our hearts is an indication of our value system you want to work with the company that knows that that believes that that that cares about that that sees every investment as an investment in the kingdom second corinthian six 14 says don't be yoked together with unbelievers what do righteousness and wickedness have in common

Starting point is 00:46:21 or what fellowship can light have with darkness obviously we live in an unbelieving world but every effort we can make to partner with those who align with our biblical values is a step in the right direction. And that is why you've got to check out Constitution wealth. They are abiding by those biblical values that we care about so much. They're a registered investment advisor. You can review Constitution wealth disclosures at Constitutionwealth.com to understand more about them, what their value system is, as well as their services and fees. All investing does involve risk, including the risk of loss. This is a paid endorsement. My opinions are my own, and my opinion is that you should give them a call and check them out. This could be one of the

Starting point is 00:47:08 best decisions that you make financially. Go to constitutionwalt.com slash alley for a free consultation that's constitutionwealth.com slash alley. So obviously we read in the Old Testament and the new that we should flee idolatry. We see it in Exodus 23 through five. You You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them. That is really important.

Starting point is 00:47:45 A lot of people need to hear that. We do not need to make carved images that we are bowing down in front of, but not just carved images. Obviously people, anything that is the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever. Amen. That's Romans 1. Deuteronomy, Joshua, 1 Corinthians 1014 as we move into the New Testament.

Starting point is 00:48:03 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. Flee from it. Galatians 519 through 21. Now the works of the flesh are evident. Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery. Enmity strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these, I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things, all of those things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Starting point is 00:48:26 Colossians 3, 5. But to death, therefore, what is earthly in you. Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness, which is idolatry. 1 John 521, little children, keep yourselves from idols. This movie does encourage idolatry, the belief that these people through their own power, that you through your own power can save yourself. Deuteronomy 18, 10 through 12, as we look at this theme of shamanism that the creators are explicitly saying is woven into this film.

Starting point is 00:49:02 Deuteronomy 1810 through 12 says, There shall not be found among you. Anyone who practice divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer that someone who talks to the dead or one who inquires of the dead or whoever does these things is an for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. Leviticus 1931, do not turn to mediums or necromancers. do not seek them out. And so make yourselves unclean by them. I am the Lord your God. Acts 19.

Starting point is 00:49:34 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them all in the sight of all. So this was not just an Old Testament command because the principle is still true today. Practicing these kinds of works. It's idolatry and also Christian. It produces anxiety and paranoia in you. we are so inclined. All people are so inclined to this works-based empowerment and this works-based salvation that if I do this, then some power will give me favor. Remember those power beads? 90s kids unite, like 1999, 2000. I remember my mom being very skeptical of power beads because there were some kind of like Asian mystical thing that you could put on and it was supposed to like speak to your personality and protect you.

Starting point is 00:50:23 Like even though all those good luck charms, like the little rabbit foot and all of that that we had growing up, it creates a lot of anxiety. And God and His grace wants to protect us from that. And he wants to say, look, I'm not fickle. I'm not capricious. I am not telling you that you have to do X, Y, Z, in order for me to hear you, listen to you, because he sent his son who is unchanging. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Starting point is 00:50:49 Hebrews 13, 8. to die for us. John 316 to take our pain, to take our sins, to take our punishment, to stand in our stead, to advocate for us. And every time God looks to us, he sees Jesus standing in our stead, giving us a blank slate. If we believe in him by grace through faith, like that is the unconditional favor and love that we have. And because of that, because Jesus has given us his righteousness, and we read that prayer, the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. James 5, like, we can trust that God hears us and that God's great power can work through us, the power of our prayers.

Starting point is 00:51:32 How amazing is that? It's so much better than luck. It's so much better than self-empowerment. It's so much better than self-idolatry. It's so much better than shamanism or necromancy or psychics or mediums or all of this madness that really is just glorifying the demonic. and we'll lead you down a destructive path. So it's kind of like the conversation we have every year about Santa,

Starting point is 00:51:54 how Santa presents like this false, fake, cheap, superficial gospel, legalistic gospel. It's like, why do we point our kids towards the counterfeit of something when the real thing, the real power that is available to them is right there and is so much better? Now, as we get into the fake portrayal, the wrong portrayal of who demons actually are, Like what does the Bible actually say about demons? It's important for us to remember, they are real. It's not just fantasy. They are real.

Starting point is 00:52:24 So who are they? What are they? What should we think about? Should we think about demons at all? Let me tell you about our last sponsor for the day before we get into that. It's Fellowship Home Loans. If you are looking to refinance, if you are looking to make the major purchase of buying a home, you got to call my friends at Fellowship Home Loans.

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Starting point is 00:53:30 See site for details. Fellowship home loans, mortgage lending by the book, nationwide mortgage bankers, DBA Fellowship Home Loans, Equal Housing Lender, in MOS number 819382. demons are not these layered complex creatures that we should have any compassion for or who can be convinced to have any compassion for us. Demons are fallen angels who are now under the dominion of Satan. They were cast out of heaven because of their pride, because of Lucifer's pride, because of setting themselves up against the Creator, against God himself. They are now eternally damned and they are bound for destruction just like Satan himself. The 2. Peter 2.4, part of it says, God did not spare angels when they sin, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment. And just a

Starting point is 00:54:24 little bit more about Satan, 2 Corinthians 44. In their case, the God of this world, Satan has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. So what we need to know about demons, they seek to deceive people by promoting false teachings and idolatry or any teaching that opposes the true gospel of Jesus Christ. We read in 1 Timothy 401 through 3. Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times, some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared through the, I just think that's so important. the teachings of demons and deceitful spirits through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with Thanksgiving

Starting point is 00:55:25 by those who believe and know truth. And I actually think it's important of the examples that are given there. And obviously the deceitful spirit and the activity of demons goes far beyond just those two things that he had to write, that Paul had to write to Timothy at the time about the congregation that he was leading, but forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created. And so you can see that at this time and this place, that Satan was using things that sounded holy, that sounded good, that sounded like they were going to earn someone righteousness, that he used legalism in order to deceive people and pull people away from Christ.

Starting point is 00:56:13 And so I think that Satan can use all kinds of means, but it's not always things that are so blatantly wrong like this particular K-pop movie. We see demons and demonic activity and oppression and possession a lot in the Gospels. It was something that Jesus and his apostles dealt with. demons can possess non-Christians aiming to destroy them, not only to take their souls in eternity, but to control their bodies. We read this in Mark 5, for example. They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of Jerasinies. That's how I'm going to go with that pronunciation. And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit.

Starting point is 00:57:01 He lived among the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. free had often been bound by shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart and he broke the shackles and pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him night and day among the tombs and on the mountains. He was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. Okay. Verse six. And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him and crying out with a loud voice. He said, what have you to do with me? Jesus, son of the most high God, I adjure you by God, do not torment me. So that's another aspect we see of demons that they know who Jesus is. They know that he is the son of the most high God. They know his power. And they actually fear Jesus. They fear his power. They fear his name. For he was saying to him,

Starting point is 00:57:47 come out of the man you unclean spirit. Jesus was saying this to him. And then Jesus asked him, what is your name? He replied, my name is legion. For we are many. And he begged him earnestly not to send him out of the country. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. Send us to the pigs. let us enter them, this demon said. So he gave them permission and the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs in the herd numbering about 2000 rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea. Sin makes you stupid. Demonic oppression makes you stupid. It leads you to death in so many different ways. Jesus has the power over these. And that is why Christians cannot be possessed by demons due to the presence of the Holy Spirit. We read, for example, in 1 John 4, 4,

Starting point is 00:58:33 little children, you are from God and have overcome them. For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. The Holy Spirit indwells us and whatever fills us controls us. And because we are filled by the authority and the power and the goodness of the Holy Spirit, we cannot be filled and possessed by a demon. Romans 8, 9 through 11. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. If in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you, if the Spirit of Him, raise Jesus from the dead dwells in you. He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give a life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. So it's important to remember that demons are real, that they have real power, that Satan really uses them to tempt you to try

Starting point is 00:59:20 to deceive you, but they do not have ultimate power over you because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world, the prince of the power of the air. So understand that, that Jesus has already conquered, that we are living as people who are powerful, who are victorious in Christ, but not because of our own self-liberation, not because we do this like dance with the demonic, not because we like have compassion for them, not all of these demonic and satanic tropes that we are seeing in movies like this one, but because of Christ, because of his power, because we rely on him completely. I would just encourage you not to watch anything, not to allow your child to read anything

Starting point is 01:00:08 that blurs the lines of good and evil, of light and darkness, of the satanic and the godly, because those distinctions are real and they matter. They matter for how we live our lives today. They matter for the peace and the calm, the serenity that we can have in Christ, knowing that we are on the winning side. But they also matter eternally. We as parents have every responsibility to disciple our kids, to steward their hearts and their minds. The time that we have here on earth is fleeting.

Starting point is 01:00:39 It goes by like that. But the time that you have with your children in your home is even shorter. And I am not opting for legalism. I am not saying that you have to pretend that the world doesn't exist. I'm saying be careful. I'm saying that we should be a lot more careful than even Christians tell us that we should be. We will be demonized and we will be made fun of for being Christians who take things seriously and who really care about protecting the hearts and the minds of our children and properly

Starting point is 01:01:10 discipling them. You will be told by people at your Christian school, in your Christian community, among your Christian friend group, in your Christian homeschooling co-op, and in your church that you care too much about what your child consumes. And let me just remind you, Christians are supposed to be weird. Christians are supposed to be set apart. We're supposed to be different. We're not supposed to be consuming all of the same things that other kids do, that other people do. And it is normal. It is a normal part of Christian life to be called different and to be made fun of for being different. Now,

Starting point is 01:01:48 be weird for the right reasons, not the wrong reasons, but the right reason is the pursuit of holiness. And I do not think this movie is in line with helping our children on that. path. All right, that's all we've got time for today. We will be back here tomorrow.

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 1235 | ‘KPop Demon Hunters': Paganism & LGBTQ Propaganda for Kids

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