Juche Ideology and Religion

1:6 How are the political aspirations of Judaism given a spiritual fulfillment in Acts? What two interrelated traditions echo in question of the disciples about restoration of the kingdom to Israel? How does Acts confirm the hopes of the disciples?

The government structure of North Korea has its existence in one man, Kim Jong Un. It existed in his father, Kim Jong Il, before him, and in his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, before him. North Korea has one of the few successful hereditary dictatorships based on a personalistic regime where the leaders are worshipped as almost a deity (after Kim Il-sung’s death he was made “eternal president”) creating a dynastic transfer of power (Aoki, 2012). In China the one party of the Chinese Communist Party will rule as an Authoritarian body over the nation, but in North Korea the sole power rest dangerously in the arms of one person. Some of the reason for this dissimilarity between the two government structures lies in the country’s differing political cultures.

Family traditions are passed on from generation to generation, however they are not always static rules. Tradition is like a living organism that adapts to change over time. In order to understand modern North Korea’s family customs, it is important to consider the tradition of the past. Before North Korea’s liberation from Japan in 1945, North Korean families operated differently than they do today. Their ideology was founded on Confucius’s principles of family, including “only a country where family life was harmonious could be peaceful and prosperous” (Asia Society). The family is an integral part of society the same way a cell is important to a body (Suzy, 264). The government is even considered “one family” that everyone is a part of (Monday). Every individual in a family has a role and every family has a role in society. The ideal family is modeled from Kim Il Sung’s nuclear family (Suzy, 268). It is clear that family is a fundamental priority in North Korean society.

I believe that North Korea is similar to the society in the book Anthem. I believe this for the reason that they are both collectivism societies and their leaders go to extreme ends to protect their collectivism (71). Firstly, they are both collectivism societies which means that the citizens are taught to work for the greater good instead of just themselves. If they aren’t contributing or making the culture better, than the leaders would not approve of their action. For example, in North Korea the citizens have to work for the greater good and are not encouraged to be individualized. Another example, is that in the book Anthem they are not allowed to speak the word “I” because that hints towards individualism which the society is not about

One of them believes that “Communism, he reported, was proving a failure as an economic system,” (17). They are clearly not happy with how they are being treated. In North Korea, the government has full control over everything the people do; everything down to their haircuts, which is shown in paragraph four where it states, “They also made sure people weren’t violating the dress code by wearing blue jeans or T-shirts with Roman writing-considered a capitalist indulgence-or wearing their hair too long. The party issued regular edicts saying that men shouldn’t allow the hair on top of their head to grow longer than five centimeters...If a violation was severe, the offender could be arrested by the Public Standards Police.” Because the government has so much power, they easily force the people into submission, and they are unhappy. They get no say in what goes on. They are stripped of their individuality and silenced by the blindness of their higher powered officials. If there is anyone or anything who knows what’s right for the people, it would be the people

The current government that North Korea has in place in its country is a communist state. Communism can be defined as advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs. North Korea’s major political party is the Korean Workers’ Party (KWP) and has been governed by the Kim dynasty since 1946. North Korea also has minor parties such as the Chondoist Chongu Party and the Social Democratic Party (Both run by the KWP). All political parties are controlled by the “Supreme Leader” and appoints members to political positions as needed. The people of North Korea refer to whoever is leading the government as “Supreme Leader.” Currently, North Korea’s “Supreme Leader” is Kim Jong Un and he was elected, unopposed, in December 17, 2011. The biggest concern with North Korea’s government is that they do not possess any diplomatic representation in the United States, nor does it posses any diplomatic representation from the United States.

The article shows the first reason as “the chaebol (the super-rich) rose to exercise immense influence on labour market restructuring.” The evidence of this reason is that the top 10 super riches have 84 percent of the country’s assets in 2012. It shows the second reason as “labour unions share the responsibility of having creating this insecure class.” Only 1.4 percent of irregular workers were participated to the labour unions, so the labour unions are hard to represent them. Finally, it shows the third reason as “the absence of a pro-labour party in South Korea’s institutional politics.” Because of the absence of a pro-labour party, the policies about labour and social protection were

The Secret State of North Korea offered a great look into what basic things North Koreans are lacking. Even within the realm of Communism. Lack of freedoms, lack of food, lack of community, lack of trust, lack of a social society, lack of programs for children, lack of equality, and a lack of information. When Kim Il-Sung created North Korea, the government was based on Marxism and Leninism, called “Juche.” Just as the Soviets, the North Koreans followed suite with massive inequality between the government officials and the common people. The documentary showed its viewers what the government is omnipresent in the everyday lives of its people, so much so that recordings of daily life are illegal, and “random” searches take place commonly.

about it than any other religion, excluding our own, right off the top of our

I decided to watch 330 Million Gods to gain more insight on the rituals and beliefs in Hiduism, which is the philosophy of life. In the beginning of the film, there were millions of people comes together and bath at the hole river as part of their religious beliefs. Once a year, school celebrate Saraswati, Goddess of art and learning, by offering food, flowers, and a change of clothes as if the goddess is a special guest. Also, ritual was performed in order to breath life into the goddess. Nevertheless, the people understand that the god status is being replace every year, but they believe that the painted clay god is a symbol of communication or represent of divinity. The most famous god in Hindu are Brahma, the god of creator of the universe,

In my belief, instead of having North Korea be in the high level of authoritarian regime they should stick to their label of being socialist in the part of providing their people social welfare. By providing them the ability to have innovation in the country, grow economically and as a country by finding ways to encourage and provide people to believe they have opportunities. According to Socialist Constitution of The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Korea describes itself as a socialist country, however it’s mainly viewed by others in the world as a totalitarian dictatorship regime. How could North Korea claim they are socialist when social welfare is far from their concern. They are more focused to gain power by restricting its people from endless opportunities. The ideal state for me is a weak state with a little bit of socialism and liberalism. For instance, having socialism like Denmark where education and shelter is provided to the people, and in return they tax individuals a high amount. In my opinion, that’s very smart because the people will technically be paying for the government to have a broad security net, instead of the people having to fall down on nothing if something happens economically. On the other side, being liberalist will allow the state to focus more on economic situations and worry less about the individual’s choice. Instead of having a strong controlling regime, there would be a better outcome to have a strong government encouraging their people to grow and become innovative and allow them to unleash their talents by offering endless ways to

With the creation of a popular democratic front, KIM IL SUNG will be a suitable candidate to head it” (Report on Communists in Korea). If it weren’t for the Soviets, there would be less separation and the North and South Korean governments would be completely different. The author refers to the mass separation between the two parties but doesn’t really pay any attention to it, “In South Korea, besides the Communist Party, the strongest party is the Democratic Party, which represents the interests of the big landowners and capitalists. The party numbers about 10,000 and is headed by Song Jin-u. The party openly engages in pro-imperialist and anti-Communist propaganda”(Report on Communists in Korea). The Cold War affected North Korea in ways other than politically, also.

Religion, as defined by the High Court of Australia, is ‘a complex of beliefs and practices which point to a set of values and an understanding of the meaning of existence’ (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2005) and can be studied either substantively or functionally (Berger 1974:126). Substantive studies of religion fall predominantly in the realm of theology and are more concerned with defining religious beliefs; their historical accuracy; and the existence of supernatural entities (Holmes, Hughes & Julian 2007:425). Sociology however, concerns itself primarily with the relationship between religion and society, examining religion as a social construction (Van Krieken et al. 2010:350-1) and concerned only with the substance of

Kim Il Sung created this “dangerous belief system” so that North Koreans would always obey him. Before Dictatorship North Korea was an independent nation, it was a colony full of Christians. Kim Il Sung noticed how Christians worshipped the Japanese ruler who ruled Korea. When North Korea declared as a country, Kim Il Sung changed the form of Christianity and he declared himself as a God so that North Korea will always praise and pray him. Christians revolted against this, so Kim Il Sung annihilated most of them because he did not want his own people suspecting him of Juche and put lots of people in concentration camps and they still reside there. (Juche Religion) Juche originated from Marxism-Leninism. Marxism-Leninism was created by Karl Marx, some of the main points in this ideology are that a communist party should be able to perform and play major roles in society. Some other beliefs in Marxism-Leninism are that modern capitalism should turn into imperialism. (Piskunov) North Korea gained inspiration from Marxism-Leninism, which is why this ideology is one of the main ideologies that Juche originated. Some other ideologies that Juche originated were Confucianism. Confucianism was developed in China by a man named Kong Qiu (Confucius). Kong Qiu travelled across the country to spread his teachings, but at that time his beliefs was not popular and some of his beliefs were how to do the right things in life. He

For millions of years, billions of humans have existed and every single one of their lives will end with death. Over these years, many humans have founded multiple religions that explain that which cannot be explained. While the majority of people devote their lives to these religions, these religions come across as fear mongering campaign against the evils they are creating. The honest answer of what happens after death is still not proven in today, leaving millions of people to decide to either believe in a religion where they find closure, of the complete opposite. When it comes to religion, many humans lost their lives standing up for their cause in hopes of not being forsaken by their God. Christianity alone is responsible for many outburst of violence in the world, such as the Thirty Years War and the Crusades. While these wars do not disprove religion in any means, they do prove that people will fight others for having slightly different beliefs that themselves. In other words, religion can be used an excuse in order to fight for superiority amongst the Earth population. Humans genetically want to be involved in modern life and change, which all ends once death rears its ugly head, so is it possible that a religious afterlife after death is a man-made?