@GB,

I’ll answer you out here. It’s easier.

You said,

Hi @pkml3, I’m taking meds and resting as well. I’m supposed to be at a half-day event now, but had to bail because of the virus. Before the medication makes me too sleepy, I thought I’d just add my 2 cents. (Now that I’m re-reading what I wrote it’s a pretty long 2 cents!!! I’ll break it up a bit.)

I always take issue with dramas for wanting to make use of things Christian (or Catholic) without knowing what they are about, and worse, for not caring that they don’t know. In the same way that they should have/would have researched how diseases are to be diagnosed and treated for a medical drama, they should have called in individuals who really know and love the Christian faith (or in the case of this show, the Catholic faith) to run the script by and to edit it with. Heheheh! They should have hired a properly formed catechist!

I agree. Just like they hire history professors when filming period dramas out of fear of misrepresenting their history, they should also consult a practicing Catholic when doing a show with a Christian subject. The Catholic doesn’t have to be a priest or deacon. He/she can be a lay minister who is an authority on the dogma, rites and traditions of the faith. He/she must also keep a good collaboration with bishops, priests, and deacons (meaning, he doesn’t have any ax to grind with the Church).

Note: In “Reply 1988,” the screenwriter(s) supposedly did intensive research on the game of baduk. IIRC, the writer(s) were reportedly inspired by a real baduk champion, and they interviewed him to get his perspective. Now, I’m NOT saying that the “My Demon” writers should interview a real devil (although a devil may perhaps be easier to find than a saint nowadays). But they should interview someone knowledgeable about the topic, and get their confusion cleared out.

Ha! Maybe they should hire a “properly formed catechist” like you, @GB. How much are your rates? Shhh…Don’t tell them that you’re willing to be paid with roundtrip tickets to Seoul and hotel accommodation for a family of 5.

You wrote:

I feel that because the Christian Churches (the Catholic Church, in particular) are pretty tolerant, many think that they can run roughshod over any matters of faith and not get persecuted for it. Hence the Church(es) are always easy pickings to take from, to add to dramas to enhance an idea in any which way show pleases, to serve the plot or theme, without caring that the faith has been sorely mis-represented. (Continued…)

True. Christians haven’t beheaded, hijacked, or fire-bombed a nonbeliever’s place of work and worship recently. And if a Christian does commit something violent, he/she is roundly condemned by us as UN-Christianly.

The most we do to protest is write to film producers, or editors (which they could ignore) and…pray. Ugh. Sometimes I get frustrated at how passive/tolerant/cowardly/forgiving Catholics have become. Being martyred is ingrained into our collective psyche.

You wrote:

(Continued…) You are correct, @pkml3, in the matters of faith that you brought up. The Christian God is foremost a community of persons whose nature is love. God for us is the community of the Holy Trinity, made up of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, in constant loving relationship.

In the Plan of God, all are offered the opportunity to enjoy everlasting life (hence this Show’s idea of equality). The story of Creation shows what God’s intent has been for all time. In the unbounded, immensity of God’s love, He offers a share of His everlasting life to humankind, and even something His nature and likeness, so that we too, if we wish, can be united with God, to enjoy perfect joy in His Kingdom (one of the images of this is the Garden of Eden). This should have been the point about which Gu Won got all excited. Just being equal with other humans is great, but what God is about, was to make us god-like, by how we live and the choices we make (not easy, but worth it!) He should have been ecstatic about finding out that the Kingdom of God/Heaven was possible for him and Do Hee, if he embraced the full truth of the faith. (Continued…)

Yes, GuWon’s excitement about discovering a religion that promises “equality” was jarring to me. That isn’t the “Good News” (in big letters) that Jesus came to proclaim.

The Good News (aka Gospel) = “The Kingdom of God is at hand!”
The Kingdom of God = Kingdom of Heaven.
The Kingdom of God isn’t the Kingdom of Joseon.

That said, I understand where his “error” (I’ll call it an error) originates. You see, typically, when Christianity is transplanted into a foreign land, it is the Catholic missionaries from Europe who bring and teach it to the citizens. But in the case of Korea, the introduction of Christianity is unique because it is their native SCHOLARS who brought it into the land and promulgated it. Scholars are from the yangban (noble) class.

Here’s a brief summary from Britannica.com.

Along with the European merchants came Roman Catholic priests. Korea’s first significant contact with Christianity was through missionaries in China. Korean envoys to China in the 16th century brought back with them a world atlas and scientific instruments made by the priests, as well as literature on science and Christianity. Some silhak scholars had converted to Catholicism by the late 18th century, even before missionaries reached Korea. Most of the early converts were scholars of aristocratic background. Commoners were later attracted to Catholicism, finding hope in the Christian doctrine of equality of all people before God and a new source of solace in the Christian belief in life after death. Catholicism spread from Seoul to the provinces steadily.

Source: https://www.britannica.com

Note: “Silhak” literally means practical learning. “Sil” means practical; “Hak” means learning. It’s safe to assume that silhak scholars are opposed to “book learning” because of its connotation as being merely regurgitation of Confucian principles without critical thought.

The “world atlas and scientific instruments” brought by these missionaries (Jesuits missionaries) impressed these scholars. They saw that, compared to their society, the Western world had so technological innovation and progress. They attributed these scientific advancements to the “openness” of Christianity to explore “new knowledge” and the “new world.” To their eyes, it was unlike the Confucian educational system which demanded obedience to hierarchy and social mores, and resisted calls for reformation.

In a sense, GuWon is representative of the yangban class who were attracted to this new religion because of what they thought it brought. But when the novelty wore off – or when the hardship came – he bailed out.

You wrote:

(Continued…) God gave gifts, however humankind exercised their free will to reject what God offered. And so we have God working out His plan to include our salvation (from our wrong choices, our choice to reject God, and consequently, eternal life). In the New Testament of the Holy Bible, we see that Jesus, who is God the Son, came to clarify humankind’s understanding of whom the Person God is. Instead of being merely judgmental or punitive, Jesus showed by how He lived and through parables and his acts (miracles), that God is foremost a loving God, desirous of forgiving, wanting us to have fullness of life, and is overjoyed to welcome back any sinners who wish to return.

The parables that @pkml3 mentions (The Lost Sheep [I prefer calling it the Found Sheep], The Lost/Found Coin and the Prodigal/Found Son or rather a better name… The Loving Father, are the very 3 we reflect on each time we prepare ourselves to once again be in more right relationship with God. [Sidenote: The Prodigal Son could actually be called The Prodigal Father, because of his generous, wasteful love for his wastrel of a son LOL.) But these tell us that this is the way God loves.

All the dramas that depict a Christian God being mean, petty, vindictive, etc… are way off the mark. (Continued…)

Good one, @GB. “Found Sheep” is more hopeful than the “Lost Sheep.”

You wrote:

Yes, what is incredible about our Catholic faith is that God did not remain high and mighty in His distant heaven, but that He chose to come to be one like us, living/celebrating/suffering/dying as we do and hence raising to godliness, our normal daily living/celebrating/suffering and dying. He accepted an unfair death with all the horrors of torture and rejection, so that we in our sufferings can unite our pain with his. He rose from the dead to conquer death (and sin) once and for all, resurrecting to new life in a new body, so that when we die, our souls do not ‘stay dead’ and so we too will have new bodies and new life when the Kingdom of God is fully realised. That is the time we call Parousia, when Jesus Christ will come again. Yes, it is called the Mystery of our Faith that we proclaim.

We are called (invited) to enter into a relationship with God. It is both personal and communal. God first loves us, gives us everything we need (not want… NEED) and invites us to respond. When we respond in love for Him, we also need to love our fellow human beings and ourselves as well (hence killing others and suicide are not the thing!) This is not an ideology, but a way of living, intentionally. (Continued…)

That’s why this poser of a goddess in “My Demon” is offensive to behold. When GuWon shouted at her to shut up already, I wanted to give him a standing ovation.

You wrote:

The cross and crucifix remind us of how an instrument of torture became the sign of the greatest love of all. “Greater love has no one than this, that a person will lay down his life for his friends.” (New American Bible, John 15:13). It includes not just the happy end where one takes a shorter more direct route to heaven, but also the fact that we walk our life’s journey with our own cross, with all possible ups/downs of life.

I dropped this show when the grotesque woman showed up. I didn’t even know at that time that she was supposed to be a god of some kind, but her appearance and hint of being supernatural, on top of other random stuff in the first episode or so made me stop watching. If Show wants to ‘make’ a god, it should at least have chosen more fitting attributes for her. What kind of god is the character if she/he is lacking at least being all powerful.

Her enjoyment of other’s suffering or of making use of humans and bringing about their downfall makes her sound more like she is a demon herself. She should not be accorded the title, ‘god’. (Continued)

Yes, I think it’s significant that it was DoHee who wore the cross. It was a sign of her love for him that she didn’t betray him to her executioners. They had asked for names but she refused to give his. She was adamant that the cross was hers, and that she and she alone would die for him.

In a way, she sacrificed her life for him (Christ-like) and she proved to herself that love could indeed save a person. She saved him, didn’t she?

But of course, GuWon didn’t see it that way.

You wrote:

@pkml3 @Cleo
The Saviour of Destruction (or Saviour from Destruction)? Since it’s the former, the title for Gu Won sounds like he destroyed with the excuse that he ‘saved’ by doing so, and that he glorifies destruction and would preserve it. In other words, he saves nothing and should not be called a saviour at all.

Thanks @Cleo for pointing out how drama gods are most wanting/lacking in aspects that should make them gods. Since they lack what is godly, they are actually merely imperfect beings with some powers.

Thanks @pkml3 and @Cleo for continuing to watch this Show (which might become a hate-watch for you!) and for continuing to analyse and point out its flaws.

The issue always is that viewers who do not go beyond imbibing messages from Shows, continually receive and naively accept the wrong concepts of (in this case) the Catholic faith. If Show insists on bringing in things of a specific religion, it should have had the integrity to keep to what’s true and not twist bits of info to suit its plot.

Oh,… one more point about our Catholic faith being communal, … we include in our understanding of God’s inclusiveness, not only those who are living now, but also those who have passed away, and even those who are yet to be born. At every Holy Mass, we join our praise and prayer with the whole Church throughout the world and beyond. That’s how wide, deep and vast God’s love is, and we strive to be more like Him.

(The End for Now) 🙂

Yes. The title is “Savior OF Destruction.” It’s an oxymoron. Kind like “honest lawyer” (welllllllll…we do try, you know) and true fiction (But which part is true and which part is fiction?).

Yes. That’s my concern about this show. When you look at the reactions on blog sites, how many viewers question the religious concepts of the show? Ten? Five? Two? None? Of course, they will argue that they aren’t stupid enough to take their religion from a kdrama. Yes, they will be stupid enough to remember the untruths and add them to their confirmation bias.

Yes. Shows like this encourage people to turn off God and to distrust Him. Nothing much we can do about that but to point out the lies, and hope for the best.

Gotta run, @GB. It’s the weekend here.