Religion CCT - Juche

Rituals

God(s)

Thank you for watching my presentation.

- Rachelle

Juche requires North Koreans to bow daily to the three Kims' portraits. Neglecting proper care of the portraits is a capital crime and the members of Juche are praised for rushing back into burning homes to save the portraits of the three Kims.

Being the son of Christian parents and the grandson of a Christian pastor, Kim Il-sung was very familiar with Christianity and witnessed Christians choose martyrdom over worshipping the Japanese Emperor. Kim wanted the power that Christianity had to be directed upon himself. He removed God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit and replaced them with himself, his son and his wife.

The Juche religion is modeled after Christianity. But instead of worshiping God, they worship Kim Il-sung, who was North Korea's first dictator who died in 1994 yet continues to rule as North Korea's "Eternal President" and official head of state. In theJuche religion they teach North Koreans that upon death, they will be reunited with Kim Il-sung and be with him in afterlife.

Also instead of Gods son, Juche worships Kim Il-sung's son, Kim Jong-il, who until his own recent death, reigned as the surrogate of his dead father. Also, the Holy Spirit, in Juche religion is Kim Jong-soko, the mother of Kim Jong-il and the wife of Kim Il-sung.

Festivals and Rituals

God(s)

Milestones

Kim Il-sung proclaimed the three fundamental principles of Juche in his April 14, 1965, speech "On Socialist Construction and the South Korean Revolution in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea":

• Political independence
• Economic self-sustenance
• Self-reliance in defense

In Juche they emphasize the importance of self defense.

Religion CCT

"man is the master of everything and decides everything."

Juche

Milestones

He stated, "To make revolution in Korea we must know Korean history and geography as well as the customs of the Korean people. Only then is it possible to educate our people in a way that suits them and to inspire in them an ardent love for their native place and their motherland."

Origins and Founder

The meaning of Juche is "self-reliance" and "independence" in politics, economics, defense, and ideology.

The the first mention of Juche was June 30th, 1930 when Kim II- Sung made a speech that was lost. At that time he was 18 years old. The first known reference to Juche was a speech that Kim II- sung made December 28th, 1955, titled "On Eliminating Dogmatism and Formalism and Establishing Juche in Ideological Work."

Origins and Founder

The word Cult refers to a new religious movement that has beliefs and practices that may seem abnormal or bizzare.

Juche is a political communist ideology used in North Korea. Though it is not actually a religion, it is practiced simular to one. It was first founded around 1955, when Kim Il Sung (April 15, 1912 – July 8, 1994) served as Prime Minister of Korea. The ideology of Juche originally intended that developing countries should be able to rely on their own resources in order to develop into a country.

For the Juche religion there is no Sacred place, other than their home country Korea.

There were also no symbols, the only thing that is symolic to them was their leaders, which is why in the video showed the people were so saddened to have their leader gone.

Juche is a cult but is fighting to be a religion.

Contemporary issues

Main beliefs and sacred scriptures

According to Kim Jong-il's On the Juche Idea, the state entails that these things are the things that must be applied:

• People must have independence (chajusong) in politics and in thought, economic self-sufficiency, and self-reliance in defense.
• Policy must reflect the will and aspirations of the masses and employ them fully in revolution and construction.
• The Methods of revolution and construction used must be suitable to the situation of the country.
• The most important work of revolution and construction is molding people ideologically as communists and mobilizing them to constructive action.

In Juche the outlook requires loyalty to the revolutionary party and leader.

This idea of Juche is one big contemorary issue due to the fact that it has only been in place since 1955. Juche has claimed to be a religion but when in fact is a cult. They practice self- defense and self- reliance, which are both practiced in the war.

Kim II- sungs words were considered the scared text.

The scriptural language is Korean.

Important Passages from Kim II- Sung:

"What is Juche in our Party's ideological work? What are we doing? We are not engaged in any other country's revolution, but precisely in the Korean revolution. This, the Korean revolution, constitutes Juche in the ideological work of our Party. Therefore, all ideological work must be subordinated to the interests of the Korean revolution. When we study the history of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the history of the Chinese revolution, or the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism, it is all for the purpose of correctly carrying out our own revolution."

Taken from: http://religions.theblaze.com/l/38/Juche

Main Beliefs and Sacred Scriptures

Juche is very criticized among many people and continues to be a problem that arises. Juche is often compared to the Nazis. This leads people to feel like this group will start something big again or do something bad.

Contemporary Issues