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

00:00:00.620 K-pop demon hunters. Why is this kids movie so popular? Not just among non-Christians, 1.00

00:00:09.440 but also apparently in Christian communities as well. Is this just an innocent fantasy movie

00:00:17.340 that is okay for your kids to watch? Or is there something much more sinister going on? I'll give

00:00:24.460 you my take on today's episode of Relatable. It's brought to you by our friends at Good Ranchers.

00:00:29.220 Go to GoodRangers.com. Use code Allie at checkout. That's GoodRangers.com, code Allie.

00:00:42.900 Hey guys, and welcome to Relatable. Happy Wednesday. Hope everyone is having a wonderful

00:00:47.720 week. All right. I will never forgive your Relatable audience because you have forced me

00:00:53.440 to watch something that is anime adjacent. I have received dozens of messages, at least dozens of

00:01:01.100 messages from you guys asking me if I can talk about K-pop demon hunters. Now, if you are like me and

00:01:09.780 you didn't even really know what K-pop was, I think the K stands for Korean. Is that right, Brie? It's

00:01:15.940 Korean pop. That is correct. She says that is correct. So, I guess K-pop is a genre of music.

00:01:23.680 You've got all of these Korean girl bands and boy bands. Maybe some of them are intermixed. And there

00:01:29.820 is also an entertainment genre that falls under, I think, the music genre of K-pop. And this is one

00:01:39.020 of those. And it's kind of anime, but not, maybe not completely anime. Maybe it's not like all the

00:01:46.400 way anime. I don't really know. But y'all know I take issue with anime because I think it can,

00:01:53.000 not always, it can lead people down a rabbit hole of a lot of confusion, especially when it comes to

00:01:59.440 gender. Now, that is not the issue with this particular movie. I think the reason you guys

00:02:05.640 asked me about this is because it has to do with the demonic. And there does seem to be a growing

00:02:12.340 trend in children's, in adolescent entertainment of glorifying hell and glorifying the satanic and

00:02:22.700 glorifying demons. We talked about that movie. Was it a movie or series with Jack Black that had to do

00:02:30.160 with Satan and a demon coming into the world? And it seemed to blur the lines of good and evil by

00:02:37.340 making the demonic kind of likable? So I think, understandably, when Christians see demon or demon 0.98

00:02:45.160 slayer or Satan or something like that in secular media, our ears perk up and we're like, hang on,

00:02:51.880 what's going on? What is Hollywood trying to convey to our children? So I watched K-pop demon hunters. 0.99

00:03:02.860 And that, let me tell you, I don't think I ever would have known that this exists had it not been

00:03:08.240 for you guys. But I totally understand why you want to know about it because you probably have older kids

00:03:15.540 than mine and maybe their friends are interested or maybe they've asked to watch it and you just want

00:03:20.920 to know, okay, like, what is the deal? So I not only researched this, I watched it for you. It's on

00:03:27.860 Netflix and I will give my assessment and we'll get into the theological aspects of it and the things

00:03:35.320 that I think you as a parent, a Christian in particular, should be thinking about. Let's go

00:03:41.020 ahead and play the trailer for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about. It's not one.

00:03:45.500 The world will know you as pop stars. But you will be much more than that.

00:04:01.160 You will be hunters.

00:04:03.440 They're stealing the souls of our fans. 1.00

00:04:13.800 Let's send those disgusting demons back to the depths where they belong. 1.00

00:04:19.380 All right. So you kind of get the premise there and we'll get more into the plot in a second. But 0.90

00:04:26.080 you should know that this is an extremely popular movie. It was actually released a couple months ago

00:04:31.600 in June. It has become a huge hit. It's gotten 184 million views. It is Netflix's second most watched

00:04:41.340 movie ever and the top animated film likely to become the most watched overall. And this is

00:04:48.900 incredible considering that I was reminded this this morning as I was finishing this movie that

00:04:54.800 The Notebook is on Netflix. And The Notebook is obviously the best movie of all time. And the fact

00:05:03.820 that Brie is raising her eyebrows skeptically, I wouldn't be surprised at all if she doesn't like

00:05:09.320 The Notebook and she has some subversive subversive take on the best movie ever. But this apparently this

00:05:17.460 anime adjacent movie has even topped The Notebook, which just goes to show where our society is headed.

00:05:27.520 But also three songs from the movie. I will say the songs were very catchy. They've cracked the Billboard

00:05:33.160 top 100. OK, so here's a little bit about it. The story follows Huntrix, a K-pop girl group led by a girl

00:05:42.160 named Rumi. I guess I can say girl. They're probably teenagers, maybe 20, who fight soul-eating demons

00:05:49.160 to protect Han Moon, which is a magical barrier that keeps demons at bay. So they're trying to protect

00:05:55.780 their world, protect their town. And they're battling a demonic boy band. The reaction has been

00:06:04.460 varied to this. You've got obviously a lot of people saying this is awesome. This is great. This is

00:06:08.900 innocent. Love letting my kids watch it. Loved it myself. I saw a lot of reviews saying that.

00:06:13.900 But then also you've got Christians saying, well, I think this is probably belittling what is a very

00:06:22.220 real realm and a real spiritual battle and a real desire of Satan to try to take the souls and to rule

00:06:31.220 the hearts of as many image bearers of God as possible. But then you have other Christians saying, 0.54

00:06:37.240 well, that theme, you know, in a different way through this K-pop movie actually comes through

00:06:43.880 and it's an opportunity to share the gospel with your kids. So before I give you what I believe to

00:06:49.500 be the biblical take on it or my perspective on it, we'll talk a little bit more about the plot.

00:06:54.200 And as we do that, you'll probably be able to put the pieces together yourself and form your own

00:06:59.340 perspective based on your convictions and what the word of God says. So before we get into the plot,

00:07:05.520 let me tell you guys, Share the Arrows is coming up. We've got, what is it? Six weeks? It might just

00:07:11.400 be five. No, six, six. I think it's six weeks away. That's crazy, y'all. Six weeks away. That is going

00:07:17.920 to go by so quickly. I am so excited to meet the thousands of you that are going to be there.

00:07:23.840 Actually, yesterday I walked through the venue and I got to see where everyone's going to be seated.

00:07:29.940 Y'all, we are in the home stretch of making this the best possible experience for you. That is just

00:07:36.480 so incredibly important for me. I want you to come to this event. I want you to feel emboldened. I want

00:07:41.800 you to feel empowered. I want you to feel loved. I want you to feel taken care of. I want you to feel

00:07:48.020 that, oh my goodness, I can't believe that I get to get all of this teaching and encouragement from

00:07:52.980 some of the best Christian female leaders of our day. It is going to be amazing and such a time of

00:08:00.660 refreshment. So make sure that you get your tickets. Go to sharethearrows.com. You can see if you're

00:08:07.280 watching on YouTube. We've got Elisa Childers, one of the best apologists of our day. She is so

00:08:12.480 compelling. She was a favorite speaker last year. Ginger Duggar-Vuolo will be on stage with me.

00:08:17.920 We've got an incredible motherhood panel. Abby Halberstadt, Hilary Morgan Ferrer. Y'all know

00:08:23.240 Abby. Hilary Morgan Ferrer wrote Mama Bear Apologetics bestselling series. Shauna Holman

00:08:28.480 Taylor Dukes for biblical health and wellness. And then we've got Katie Faust. Y'all know Katie,

00:08:33.940 one of your favorite guests. She is going to be delivering really hard truths in the compelling

00:08:38.540 and the gracious way that she does. And our girl Francesca Battistelli Grammy Award winning artist

00:08:43.360 is back with us this year to lead us in worship, y'all. I cannot wait. And of course,

00:08:48.980 yours truly will be there speaking too. This year's Share the Arrows is brought to you by our friends

00:08:53.900 at Every Life. Go to sharethearrows.com. Get your tickets. It's October 11th, Dallas, Texas. You can

00:09:00.780 use any of the first names of the speakers. When you press unlock on Ticketmaster, you enter in, say,

00:09:06.680 Shauna 15, and you'll see the 15% off price, except for VIP tickets, which all the VIP packages are

00:09:14.320 awesome. You will get the opportunity to talk with the speakers, to come to the VIP event the night

00:09:19.440 before. So much good stuff. I could talk about this forever. Just go to sharethearrows.com.

00:09:23.840 All right. Before we get back into K-pop Demon Slayer, let me tell you about our first sponsor for

00:09:28.220 the day. It is Paleo Valley. I absolutely love Paleo Valley, y'all. I have been absolutely obsessed

00:09:36.340 with their protein powder. So their protein powder is a bone broth protein powder. And we've been

00:09:43.240 sneaking it into pancakes, oatmeal, all kinds of stuff. My kids love it. My oldest actually

00:09:49.000 asks for us to put this chocolate protein into her food, especially her breakfast food. And I love that

00:09:57.360 because she's getting more protein. It's made from totally clean ingredients. All of their products

00:10:04.900 are completely clean, organic. All of their dairy products are from grass-fed cows. Their beef sticks,

00:10:12.080 really good. My kids also love those. I've been loving their electrolytes. I mean, I just have been

00:10:18.060 so impressed. So if you are trying to be as healthy as possible to make sure that your kids are getting

00:10:25.320 as many nutrients as possible, you've got to try Paleo Valley. This is a family-run company. They are the

00:10:30.860 real deal. Go to paleovalley.com. Use code Allie. You'll get 15% off your first order. That's

00:10:37.820 paleovalley.com. Code Allie.

00:10:44.920 Okay, let me tell you about the plot of K-pop Demon Hunter. So this is what it is. For centuries, 0.50

00:10:53.300 women called Hunters have fought demon-sealing souls for this evil king, Guima. And I might 0.99

00:11:01.520 accidentally slip and say Satan because it's obvious that's what Guima is. If we're to look at

00:11:08.240 that parallel, he is the king, the ruler of the demons, and he wants to steal as many people's souls

00:11:15.180 is possible. Now, this K-pop trio, Huntrix, Rumi, Mira, and Zoe, they use their singing to create a

00:11:24.540 protective shield called the Han Moon. And there have been different K-pop groups, always female, 0.97

00:11:31.300 over the centuries, that have used their voices to protect this protective magical barrier. Unknown to

00:11:38.540 her bandmates and fans, Rumi, who is a part of this Huntrix band, is also half-

00:11:45.180 demon. And that becomes like a real point of conflict throughout. It becomes a point of

00:11:51.120 shame for her. And we see that throughout. That is kind of a theme of conquering her shame of being 0.82

00:11:57.640 half-demon. And then her other friends have things that they're ashamed of too. And so there is a theme

00:12:04.060 of friendship and belonging and acceptance and things like that. There is a new strategy, however,

00:12:10.520 that Gui Ma, the king of the demons, wants to employ to try to finally defeat the Huntrix or the demon 0.97

00:12:19.060 hunters and break down the barrier of Han Moon and finally steal all the souls in this place. And that 0.87

00:12:26.800 is by using this boy band. They're actually demons, but they kind of shapeshift and they turn into a boy

00:12:33.780 band called the Saja Boys. And they emerge on the K-pop scene and they become super popular. One of the

00:12:42.640 leaders of this new demonic band is named Jinu. I think that's how they pronounced it. And he is

00:12:52.360 now trying to win his soul back because 400 years ago, he sold his soul to Gui Ma to try to provide for 0.98

00:13:02.680 his family. And as it turns out, even though he got famous and powerful at the time, Gui Ma, just like

00:13:09.940 Satan, was telling him a lie, got his soul and has enslaved him eternally. And then his family, of

00:13:18.740 course, wasn't even provided for. Jinu is kind of used as a way to try to get Remy, the half-demon

00:13:28.120 huntrix to compromise and to be weakened so they can infiltrate this magical barrier and steal the 0.94

00:13:37.880 souls. But in the process, Jinu and Rumi fall in love. There is this exchange thing that happens in

00:13:46.620 the end. And the huntrix, the group, does end up defeating the demon guys, defeating the

00:13:56.380 gui ma and saving the souls of all of these people. I would say that like going to Greek mythology,

00:14:06.880 if you look at the male K-pop demon group, they're kind of like sirens in that they are using their

00:14:15.380 voices as a way of temptation and also their good looks to tempt people into falling in love,

00:14:24.120 following them. And you actually have a scene where Gui Ma is like looking at these souls that he has

00:14:30.620 stolen. And he's like very happy that the Saja boys have accomplished this. And I will say that 0.73

00:14:38.020 is interesting. You don't see any explicit LGBTQ themes, but like in so much of anime, there is some

00:14:46.100 implicit gender bending going on there, even if you look at the mythological aspects of it, but also

00:14:52.360 like how the men look now I know. And like, and like Korean people don't have like a lot of body 1.00

00:14:58.860 hair. And so you don't expect them to have beards and things like that, but they do look, the men do

00:15:03.860 look in dress feminine, which seems to be a common trope actually in anime. So that's basically the plot.

00:15:11.440 Did I miss anything, Bree? Was there anything that stood out to you and just like what happened in the

00:15:15.660 movie? Um, no, I think you covered almost everything. What, I mean, the, the main guy, the main demon boy, he

00:15:24.060 actually, it's revealed that he sold his soul just for his own sake. Like he, he tells her first, it was to

00:15:31.780 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

00:15:37.580 own family out for it. And so his whole internal struggle is like, Oh, I'm a terrible person for

00:15:43.420 doing that. So I deserve to be soulless or whatever. Um, and so he's trying to earn like the, he's trying

00:15:51.740 to get his memories erased so he doesn't have to dwell on that all the time. So, um, yeah.

00:15:57.740 Yeah. Cause he does feel guilty about it. He feels guilty about it. Um, and then in the end, he,

00:16:04.500 he gains his soul back by sacrificing himself for them. And then he gives his soul. It's a little

00:16:11.280 confusing. He gives his soul to Rumi because she's a demon and she needs one, I guess. 0.99

00:16:16.400 She's half demon. She's half demon. Yeah. Because I guess her dad was a demon and her mom was a 1.00

00:16:21.820 person, which is also seems to be a theme in a lot of these kind of like demonic, uh,

00:16:27.740 shows or shows about demons. Yeah. Yeah. It kind of that exchange right there reminds me a little

00:16:33.520 bit of beauty and the beast because the beast and beauty of the beast was very vain, very selfish. 0.95

00:16:39.960 He ends up turning into a beast for many years and it's like, he has to have some kind of act.

00:16:46.000 He has to truly love someone and have sacrifice before all of the petals in the rows like fall.

00:16:53.600 And then he does, he falls in love with bell. He truly sacrifices himself for

00:16:57.540 bell and she is saved, but he seems to die. But then she gives true love's kiss and then he turns

00:17:04.760 back into himself. It's kind of like that, but you never actually, what? Okay. Remind me. Cause I was

00:17:10.360 like also trying to do things when I was watching the end of this, what happens to Junie at the end?

00:17:14.980 They die.

00:17:16.120 So that's it. It's not like beauty and the beast where he comes back and they're in love and

00:17:19.820 they get married.

00:17:20.220 He does not come back. Um, they have revealed now that because of the success of this,

00:17:24.520 they're probably going to make a billion sequels and TV shows and musicals and stuff. But, um,

00:17:29.820 so he might come back in the future, but at the end of this movie, he doesn't. The idea is that he

00:17:34.580 sacrifices himself and they're all, the whole boy band is, is gone along with all the other demons.

00:17:40.180 Okay. Before we get into the troubling aspects of this and the spiritual aspects, was there anything

00:17:45.100 that you like, liked about it that you could say was good?

00:17:49.840 I'm going to be honest. This was a hard watch for me.

00:17:53.380 It was a tough watch. Um, it's just a very, I was just telling someone, you know, how Cocomelon is

00:17:59.180 like overstimulation all the time. Yeah. That's kind of what it felt like to me. It was like,

00:18:04.520 it's pretty to look at, but it's just like color and movement. And like, there's so much happening

00:18:08.940 the whole time. So I kind of get why kids like it so much, but for me, it was a lot. Um, I thought

00:18:16.060 that the animation was good. You know, I, it's just, it was a hard watch. Yes. I noticed some

00:18:24.360 things like in facial expressions. I'm like, okay, that must be an anime thing. Like how they change

00:18:30.080 the eyes and different things. And like, it's just so overly expressive while also not having a whole lot

00:18:37.380 of detail in the drawing of the face. Like there's just like silly things. Like they're one of the

00:18:42.600 K-pop girls. She sees a guy who has abs. She's like falling in love. Her eyes turn into corn cobs.

00:18:50.460 And then as she's heating up because she thinks he's so attractive, the corn cobs burst into a popcorn.

00:18:58.320 Like that's the kind of humor that is. There were a couple like kind of like funny parts,

00:19:04.560 not really my humor, but I could see how like a kid would think something like that is funny.

00:19:09.900 I mean, there were some, you could say, okay, if I were to give a totally positive perspective of this,

00:19:15.580 like you could say, well, at least the satanic side or Gwima is seen as the bad guy. He is the bad 0.71

00:19:22.820 guy. He is defeated at the end. The good guys want to protect the souls of people. We do kind of see

00:19:31.500 this biblical theme that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light and that he tempts people with

00:19:38.560 power and with pretty things. And he gets people to idolize things that are not God in order to

00:19:47.740 convince them to give him total control. And we see that theme. And so you could say that something

00:19:53.460 similar. There's a theme of, you know, true friendship. As I said, there's no explicit LGBTQ

00:20:02.580 themes, which I think speaks well, probably of Korean culture compared to our own. And so that's

00:20:09.560 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

00:20:16.840 trend of trying to get kids into the demonic. You could maybe argue that. I'm not totally sure

00:20:24.820 that I would say that when it comes to this particular movie. However, would I allow my kids

00:20:33.200 or really any kid, maybe a teenager, but would I allow my kids to watch this? No. Now a teenager

00:20:39.980 might be able to decipher, okay, fiction, nonfiction, obviously not biblical. But I honestly, before the

00:20:48.260 age of like 13, 14, I don't, I do not think so. I think that it is very spiritually, theologically

00:20:55.760 confusing. And so let's get into the spiritual theological aspects of this that I think are

00:21:01.520 important. Let me go ahead and pause before we get there and tell you about Good Ranchers. You all

00:21:05.840 know how much I love Good Ranchers. Let me tell you about their chicken nuggets because I love

00:21:09.600 chicken nuggets. Chicken nuggets are so good. But even the chicken nuggets in the grocery store,

00:21:14.420 they have seed oils. They have sunflower oil. They have canola oil, even the organic kind that are

00:21:21.040 supposed to be healthy. All the stuff that they say on the front to make you feel like, okay, these are

00:21:25.960 the healthy chicken nuggets. You turn it around, you look at the ingredients. It's got all kinds of

00:21:31.340 crapola in there. But with the chicken nuggets from Good Ranchers, you don't have to worry about that

00:21:37.180 because it's got avocado oil and it's got all really good ingredients. And you don't have to

00:21:43.360 worry about any of the fake stuff. They really care about the quality of all of their food,

00:21:47.760 including the chicken nuggets. I love the non-premier chicken. I love the fillets. I love

00:21:53.020 the ground beef. It's all so good. All from American Farms and Ranches. Go ahead and subscribe.

00:21:59.060 Get you those chicken nuggets every month, as well as the other meat that you and your family will eat on a

00:22:04.620 nightly basis on dry ice in a box to your front door every month. It'll just make your life easier.

00:22:10.000 Plus, when you use my code Allie, you'll get $40 off GoodRanchers.com slash Allie code Allie.

00:22:25.300 Breaking news, everyone. Breaking news, everyone. I just heard Brie gasp. And I thought,

00:22:34.620 I don't know what I thought happened. I thought that we had, because we have a guest that I'm about

00:22:40.040 to interview next. I thought that we had a scheduling snafu. No, y'all. Taylor Swift is engaged.

00:22:48.660 Big news. Really big news. It's actually pathetic because she posted one minute ago and I saw it

00:22:55.680 already. Oh, I thought you were going to say it's pathetic that you had to wait 60 whole seconds 0.98

00:23:02.100 to know. That too. Okay. So she is engaged to Travis Kelsey. Okay. Now we just got to pause. 0.97

00:23:13.300 We just got to pause and talk about whether this is real or whether this is a marketing scheme to

00:23:18.340 get normies to watch the NFL and vote for Joe Biden. Vote for Joe Biden again. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

00:23:27.300 How do you feel? I feel like we have to pause and talk about this. I knew this would happen.

00:23:32.620 You knew? I knew this would happen. Okay. And we've all been waiting.

00:23:36.400 You thought it would happen before her new album came out?

00:23:39.580 No. No. That's a good point. That's a good point. It could have happened before, though. She could

00:23:48.140 have just been telling people now. I don't know. Oh, yeah. Yeah. What does her ring look like?

00:23:53.980 Well, we'll put a picture up. It's huge. Okay. It's gigantic. That would be so surprising if she did

00:24:02.340 not have a huge ring. I know. A nice humble ring. Yeah. Yes. Okay. Nope. Oh my gosh. Well,

00:24:08.600 I don't know that my audience cares about this. Probably not. Don't leave any angry comments.

00:24:14.440 I would spend 30 minutes analyzing this, not because I'm a Swifty, please. Please. You guys know

00:24:21.280 that I'm not. That is why I had to fire Bree. That is why. Just kidding. I'm just kidding. If you missed

00:24:29.940 it, she's leaving to go back to ministry, where they definitely won't let her talk about Taylor Swift.

00:24:34.780 It's forbidden. Okay. But I'm not as Swifty. In fact, I don't think you should allow your

00:24:42.800 daughters to listen to her, idolize her at all. And I think Bree actually agrees with that.

00:24:47.600 But I have so many thoughts right now. And I wish that we could spend the rest of the time

00:24:51.840 analyzing, but I think people will be annoyed. Yeah, probably. Sorry for the interruption.

00:24:56.420 Okay. Big news in my life. We're going to have to put up like a breaking banner

00:25:01.360 and like all kinds of stuff. And then the little ticker at the bottom will keep going with what I

00:25:07.600 was going to say about K-pop. Okay, guys, we're back. We are back. If only y'all could have heard

00:25:15.300 that gasp. Wow. It really scared me. Okay. So let's get back into it. Korean shamanism.

00:25:23.060 So I was looking at what religions are dominant in Korea, in South Korea. And it has a lot of

00:25:32.260 Christianity, but it's got a lot of secularism. It's mostly like agnostic, atheistic people,

00:25:38.300 which is very common in a lot of Asian cultures, not all. But what Ali Wong calls the fancy Asian

00:25:47.540 cultures that I would say that it is more secular, like Japan, very secular. But before Christianity 0.90

00:25:56.380 came to South Korea, there was something called shamanism. And it probably still affects Korean

00:26:02.240 culture today. So the film draws heavily on shamanism, which is a folk religion. It is based

00:26:11.620 on this idea that shamans can connect with the spiritual world through ceremonies. They can

00:26:17.080 foresee people's futures using the Chinese calendar. They can assist with tasks like naming children,

00:26:23.960 arranging marriages, or choosing lucky dates for events like weddings, moving home, starting

00:26:29.080 businesses. Very superstitious. Yoon Sun Yang, a Boston University associate professor of Korean

00:26:35.480 and comparative literature, notes that Korea has a long cultural history of female shamans who use

00:26:41.620 music and rituals to drive away evil spirits, which the movie mirrors in Huntrix's demon-hunting song.

00:26:49.480 So there is explicitly a religious motivation and pagan ideology that undergirds this. It's not just,

00:27:00.980 oh, Christians are looking for things and they're taking things too seriously. No, the film is actually 0.99

00:27:07.200 based on this pagan idea of shamanism, that there are these mediums that can communicate with the

00:27:15.020 other side and that can fight off evil spirits and really encourage this kind of paranoid superstition

00:27:22.260 that so many people of all different kinds of religions fall into. Maggie King, who directed the film

00:27:28.280 alongside Chris Appelhans, drew inspiration for this movie from her Korean heritage, having grown up

00:27:36.020 in Toronto but spending summers in South Korea. She said, when I first came up with the idea,

00:27:42.920 it felt just purely a superhero, like a purely superhero film about Korean women. Once we really

00:27:48.920 grounded the mythology and Korean shamanism, it opened up an opportunity to feature so many different

00:27:55.060 eras of Korea really show the history of how Korean music evolved through the ages. She saw shamanism

00:28:01.580 as a way to tell a feminist story, noting, I found it interesting that most historically it has been

00:28:08.260 traditional. I think it's progressive and a symbol of feminism. Therefore, naturally, I thought it was

00:28:14.060 appropriate to connect with the Korean shamans that I wanted to address in the women's narrative. So

00:28:19.540 there's feminism here, there's paganism here, there's witchcraft here, there is a combination of all of

00:28:25.600 these things. The Saja boys' name and costume design with their dark outfits and traditional Korean hats,

00:28:33.260 it's supposed to look like Jusung Saja, the Korean grim reaper, a pale-faced figure in black robes from folklore

00:28:41.040 who symbolizes death. So you can see that in the picture there, and we've got lots of themes that are

00:28:50.080 very similar, kind of showing the paganism and the demonic aspects of Korean religion over the years, 0.69

00:29:00.480 or parts of Korean religion over the years. So the big concerns that I think Christians should have 1.00

00:29:07.820 with the film. So there's a few. One, we see that there are demons, and the demons are very scary

00:29:15.300 looking. Like, that is one reason why I would not allow young children to watch this, just one of the

00:29:21.980 reasons. They're scary looking, but they're also bumbling idiots. Like, if you have watched Anastasia, 1.00

00:29:29.320 it's kind of like Rasputin's, like, his little minions. They're almost like minions. And so on the

00:29:38.860 one hand, you get the impression that these are very scary individuals carrying out the task of trying

00:29:43.620 to steal your soul, but also that they are harmless, that they are powerless, and that there is some kind

00:29:51.760 of human figure with the power to stop these demons if we worship them. But the people that are demanding

00:30:02.240 our worship, these Huntrix people, are obviously human beings with supernatural powers, not the only person 0.92

00:30:11.920 who does have the power to defeat demonic activity and Satan himself, Jesus Christ. You see some themes,

00:30:21.380 as we've already talked about, that we do see in scripture of Satan tempting, but I would say that the fact

00:30:28.580 that Rumi is part demon, and we see that she falls in love with the demon, I believe that this blurs the

00:30:35.360 lines between good and evil. Even if Guima, this satanic figure, is ultimately the enemy, you do start seeing

00:30:45.480 the demonic side of Rumi as being this quirk, as being a part of her personality that she should not

00:30:53.040 be ashamed of. That's my opinion. We do see some temptation from Guima that is very similar to what

00:31:03.300 we see in real life, that he exploits people's insecurities and fears to convince them to take

00:31:10.400 authority of their lives. But of course, the solution that is presented in this movie is not denying yourself and

00:31:20.400 following Jesus Christ, but it is further idolizing this girl band, this Huntrix band. You can actually see this

00:31:29.840 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.

00:31:38.460 It's just that we're not supposed to idolize the demons, but we are supposed to idolize the demon

00:31:44.220 hunters. The Saja boys sing a song, I'll be your idol. I'm the only one who will love your sins. And even if 1.00

00:31:52.360 they are considered the bad guys in this movie, I do think that that is confusing for a child, because

00:32:01.360 these guys are also seen as very attractive. And again, the lead singer ends up being almost the

00:32:09.320 Christ-like self-sacrificial being, even though he is a demon. So we've got more on the theological

00:32:16.620 aspects of that in just a second. Let me go ahead and pause, tell you about our next sponsor.

00:32:21.300 It's WeHeart Nutrition. Y'all, WeHeart Nutrition has another awesome product out. It is called Wholesome

00:32:27.220 Bone Support. It's a comprehensive formula with plant-based calcium from red algae. It's got

00:32:33.320 magnesium, vitamin D3, and K2 to promote strong, resilient bones for women and men, specifically

00:32:40.000 aged 40 and older. Vitamin D3 helps your body absorb calcium effectively, while vitamin K2 directs

00:32:48.220 calcium where it belongs to your bones, not to your arteries. And that is just the amazing thing

00:32:54.280 about all products from WeHeart Nutrition is that they are so carefully crafted and formulated to

00:33:00.680 make sure that they are doing exactly what needs to be done for your body. Every ingredient comes in

00:33:07.300 the most bioavailable form, so your body can actually absorb and use these nutrients how you need them.

00:33:14.300 And that is exactly why I rely completely on WeHeart Nutrition for all of my supplements. I take

00:33:21.120 their postnatal vitamin, I take their omega-3s, I take their iron supplements, I take their magnesium

00:33:27.000 every single day. I think it's made a big difference in my health, as well as my hair, skin, and nails.

00:33:32.620 Go to WeHeartNutrition.com, use promo code ALLY for 20% off your order. That's WeHeartNutrition.com, code ALLY.

00:33:40.280 So to get into this a little bit more, one big concern is the portrayal of demons. In the movie,

00:33:50.720 demons aren't just evil. They're complex. They're layered. They are people that you can talk to.

00:33:56.620 They are people that you can relate to. They have very similar kind of fears and insecurities as you

00:34:04.160 do. You find yourself being very sympathetic towards this demon who is enslaved to the satanic

00:34:11.760 figure himself. And you can see also that Rumi, being half-demon, she ends up being the hero. So

00:34:18.980 really, the two main heroes of this are either demons or part-demons. Now, you might say, well,

00:34:25.080 Rumi ends up getting rid of that part of her identity through her sacrificial act, but it's not ever

00:34:32.200 really clear that being a demon is objectively evil. We can see from the director that there is

00:34:41.660 something that she is actually trying to communicate through this portrayal. It's not too.

00:34:47.640 I read somewhere that the solution to shame is empathy. And I find that how do you manage to bring

00:34:56.480 all of this together into your storyline?

00:34:58.620 Well, thank you. When we were crafting the story, we used to always compare it of Rumi's story as like

00:35:04.840 she's coming out of the closet, coming clean to her parent who is, you know, is wanting her to be

00:35:12.420 something that she's not. And so, yeah, it was just kind of naturally part of the kind of crafting of it

00:35:19.400 and the storytelling.

00:35:20.140 So understand that that is the allegory here. Not only are they purposely drawing upon satanic and

00:35:27.240 pagan themes, but they are also using this as a metaphor for an adolescent coming out of the closet

00:35:37.760 and trying to attain or come into a new sexual or gender identity. This is so common in anime.

00:35:48.280 And I know I said that there's no explicit LGBTQ themes, and that's true. I don't think a child 1.00

00:35:54.020 would necessarily see this, but just know that this is the message that the director herself is

00:36:00.320 trying to convey. I think that's true of so much anime, even when it's not explicit, the gender

00:36:05.720 bending and the self-liberation and self-empowerment and superstition. So much of what you're seeing

00:36:11.720 in the culture she's representing is actually woven through so much of anime. And of course,

00:36:19.000 it's not just anime. It is also woven through all kinds of children's entertainment. And while your

00:36:26.040 child may not pick up on it, don't be fooled. Like, these things can plant a seed. The irony is that

00:36:34.580 it's almost so on the nose with what Satan does that he can actually use entertainment that looks

00:36:42.460 and sounds fun and sounds innocent to plant seeds of deception in your child. Now, I'm not saying that

00:36:49.760 we have to make sure that our children never watch anything or listen to anything that's not a nursery

00:36:57.400 rhyme or is not explicitly Christian, but I do think that we have to be careful. And I think it's 0.99

00:37:04.320 better to go to that direction than to be so naive as to think that cartoons can't be insidious and

00:37:12.660 can't have a negative impact on our children. The songwriter behind some of the music that I

00:37:21.100 referenced, like I said, one of the songs, I'll be your idol. I'm the only one who will love your

00:37:26.840 sins. There's all different kinds of lyrics that are similar to that. The songwriter behind some of that

00:37:32.760 music said, it's about the obsession of fans because the Saja boys want them to be obsessed

00:37:38.320 to control them. That sounds like what an idol is. I was raised Christian and remembered it's a

00:37:42.400 sin to idolize something. So it was like a twist of I'll be your idol. It was kind of creepy. Like,

00:37:48.880 he's writing that about his own song. So the movie also suggests that salvation comes through music and

00:37:55.100 personal strength. Huntrixis, gosh, it's so hard to say. There's songs like Golden are portrayed as having

00:38:01.760 the power to defeat evil and seal the Han moon, implying humans can overcome spiritual battles on their

00:38:08.000 own. This decenters Jesus, who is the true source of victory over evil. There is also a theme of

00:38:16.760 humanism, secular humanism in the film. And this is from Focus on the Family's review, which actually was

00:38:25.260 kind of positive. I didn't think that this review hit on all of the issues with this movie. But it did

00:38:32.940 say this, the film itself takes a more humanistic approach that we can overcome our sins or at least

00:38:39.880 accept our flaws through self-actualizing effort. And so this particular person from Plugged In says

00:38:48.360 that you can use that as like a conversation piece with your kids. I personally don't think that's the

00:38:53.700 wisest thing to do. I think that it's cultivating a lot of confusion personally. And then you've got

00:39:01.260 Christianity Today. Obviously, lots of takes that Christianity Today has that I don't agree with.

00:39:06.580 But there are some interesting things in this particular article about humanizing demons and

00:39:11.400 the problem with that. So this author says, but what stands out most in the movie is how demons are

00:39:16.340 portrayed as creatures with conflicting emotions and a desire to do good. Instead of the grotesque

00:39:21.720 one-dimensional caricatures I watched and read about years ago that were most definitely 100%

00:39:26.720 wicked and therefore deserving of total destruction, the monsters and demons that are capturing our

00:39:31.560 collective consciousness today are relatable and humorous, anthropomorphized or animal-like in their 0.90

00:39:38.780 expressions, body language, and actions. Don't get me started on Derpy, Genu's adorable tiger demon

00:39:45.000 sidekick in K-pop demon hunters. I'd love that plushie, this person said. Unconsciously or otherwise,

00:39:53.160 we have placed ourselves in the center of every battle between good and evil. The narrative du jour is

00:39:58.820 how a human demon or half demon can successfully overcome the darkness within by their own strength

00:40:05.260 as characters like Rumi and Nozuko exhibit. Mastery of the self is the pinnacle of achievement.

00:40:11.480 There's a spillover effect in how we are remaking demons and monsters in our own image as these

00:40:18.180 flawed beings that are capable of building up and tearing down, capable even of saving humanity.

00:40:25.160 These creatures might remain fearsome, but more than that, they're also surprisingly deserving.

00:40:30.720 These movies are portraying of our compassion and empathy in this atmosphere, spiritual ambivalence

00:40:35.260 thrives. But I am intrigued by our modern day penchant for making monsters and demons

00:40:41.060 safe or cute or attractive or morally ambiguous and how this might be creating a sense of spiritual

00:40:47.180 ambivalence. And even worse than that, convincing people in an age where Ouija boards and tarot cards

00:40:54.180 are seen as neutral or good, this is my commentary now, that it would convince kids that you can dabble

00:41:00.320 in that without any consequences when in reality, we know that demonic power is real, that there's no such

00:41:07.640 thing as neutral power. There is either God's power or there is demonic power. We read that very clearly

00:41:14.320 as we read about the spiritual armor that we are to put on in Ephesians 6, that our enemy is the

00:41:23.040 spiritual realm of demonic principalities that is run by Satan, who is called in Ephesians to the prince

00:41:30.340 of the power of the air, who is not funny, who is not quirky, who is not bumbling, but is extremely

00:41:37.340 cunning and has it out for your soul and your child's soul. That is, in the realest sense, it is dangerous 0.94

00:41:46.360 as hell. Okay? So for us to trivialize that actually does mean something. It actually does have an impact

00:41:53.300 on your home. Here's what 1 Thessalonians 5.22-24 says. Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the

00:42:01.460 God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept

00:42:06.820 blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it.

00:42:14.400 There are other translations of this verse that says abstain from every appearance of evil. So that's a

00:42:21.800 really important addition there, I would say. Isaiah 5.20 says, woe to those who call evil good and good

00:42:27.220 evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for

00:42:33.500 bitter. I think that there is an interesting conversation to be had about what level of

00:42:38.620 fantasy and magic is okay in children's fiction, because I don't think it's necessarily zero. I mean,

00:42:45.420 I love the Chronicles of Narnia. I think that there's a really good message in Lord of the Rings. I think

00:42:53.260 that there is an argument to be made, that there is a redemptive theme in books like Harry Potter. So I

00:43:00.840 think that there is a place for fantasy, a place for fiction. I think it can be really good for the

00:43:05.760 creativity of the mind. We've already read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to our kids in our home.

00:43:11.280 I love C.S. Lewis. And so I don't think all manners of magic are bad when it comes to fiction and when

00:43:23.720 it comes to children's entertainment. To me, I think the distinction is between magical themes that show

00:43:32.280 that evil really is evil, that it's not layered, that it's not nuanced, that when you flirt with evil

00:43:38.580 the way that Edward Edmund did with the White Witch and the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,

00:43:43.980 that really bad things happen, that it's not cute, that it's not funny. We shouldn't be a part of that.

00:43:50.580 So maybe that's the difference there, that evil really is evil in those kinds of books, and good

00:43:57.580 really is good, whereas in these kinds of magical themes, it is extremely blurred, and that can be

00:44:03.900 confusing for our kids that we are trying to disciple and catechize. All right, a little bit more about

00:44:09.560 what the Bible has to say about idolatry, necromancy, witchcraft, and this shamanism that glorifies trying 0.99

00:44:18.300 to communicate with evil spirits. But let me go ahead and pause, tell you about our next sponsor,

00:44:22.300 and that is Constitution Wealth. The question that you got to ask yourself when you are wondering what

00:44:31.460 kind of financial institution to work with is, are you unknowingly funding companies and funding an

00:44:39.140 institution that actually opposes your values with every investment that you make? Do you know if

00:44:47.160 your hard-earned dollars are supporting businesses that actively work against the Christian principles

00:44:52.180 that you hold dear? You don't really want to risk that. Where your money is, there your heart will be.

00:44:58.520 Also, how we spend our money is an indication of our hearts, is an indication of our value system.

00:45:05.260 You want to work with a company that knows that, that believes that, that cares about that, that sees

00:45:10.680 every investment as an investment in the kingdom. 2 Corinthians 6.14 says,

00:45:16.360 Don't be yoked together with unbelievers. What do righteousness and wickedness have in common, 1.00

00:45:21.580 or what fellowship can light have with darkness? Obviously, we live in an unbelieving world, 0.93

00:45:26.740 but every effort we can make to partner with those who align with our biblical values is a step in the

00:45:34.300 right direction. And that is why you've got to check out Constitution Wealth. They are abiding by

00:45:40.260 those biblical values that we care about so much. They're a registered investment advisor. You can

00:45:45.620 review Constitution Wealth's disclosures at constitutionwealth.com to understand more about

00:45:51.780 them, what their value system is, as well as their services and fees. All investing does involve

00:45:56.960 risk, including the risk of loss. This is a paid endorsement. My opinions are my own, and my opinion

00:46:03.920 is that you should give them a call and check them out. This could be one of the best decisions that you

00:46:09.100 make financially. Go to constitutionwealth.com slash Allie for a free consultation. That's 0.99

00:46:14.720 constitutionwealth.com slash Allie.

00:46:22.360 So obviously, we read in the Old Testament and the New that we should flee idolatry. We see it in

00:46:28.360 Exodus 23 through 5. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make yourself a carved image

00:46:34.800 or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the

00:46:39.780 water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them. That is really important. A lot of

00:46:45.980 people need to hear that. We do not need to make carved images that we are bowing down in front of, but not

00:46:50.680 just carved images. Obviously, people, anything that is the creature rather than the creator who is blessed

00:46:55.800 forever. Amen. That's Romans 1. Deuteronomy, Joshua, 1 Corinthians 10, 14, as we move into the New

00:47:02.260 Testament. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. Flee from it. Galatians 5, 19 through 21. Now the works of the

00:47:09.420 flesh are evident. Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife,

00:47:15.540 jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things

00:47:19.600 like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things, all of those things

00:47:24.840 will not inherit the kingdom of God. Colossians 3, 5. But to death, therefore, what is earthly in you,

00:47:31.300 sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness, which is idolatry. 1 John 5, 21.

00:47:38.520 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. This movie does encourage idolatry, the belief that

00:47:47.640 these people through their own power, that you through your own power can save yourself.

00:47:52.860 Deuteronomy 18, 10 through 12, as we look at this theme of shamanism that the creators are

00:47:59.220 explicitly saying is woven into this film. Deuteronomy 18, 10 through 12 says,

00:48:03.960 There shall not be found among you anyone who practice divination or tells fortunes or interprets 1.00

00:48:09.200 omens or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer that someone who talks to the dead 0.90

00:48:14.320 or one who inquires of the dead or whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord.

00:48:22.340 Leviticus 19, 31. Do not turn to mediums or necromancers. Do not seek them out. 1.00

00:48:27.040 And so make yourselves unclean by them. I am the Lord, your God. Acts 19, 19. And a number of those

00:48:35.760 who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them all in the sight of all.

00:48:42.100 So this was not just an Old Testament command because the principle is still true today.

00:48:47.160 Practicing these kinds of works, it's idolatry. And also, Christian, it produces anxiety and paranoia 1.00

00:48:53.520 in you. We are so inclined. All people are so inclined to this works-based empowerment and

00:48:59.120 this works-based salvation that if I do this, then some power will give me favor. Remember those

00:49:06.520 power beads, 90s Kids Unite, like 1999, 2000? I remember my mom being very skeptical of power beads

00:49:14.880 because they were some kind of like Asian mystical thing that you could put on and it was supposed to

00:49:20.760 speak to your personality and protect you. Even though all those good luck charms, like the

00:49:25.800 little rabbit foot and all of that that we had growing up, it creates a lot of anxiety. And God

00:49:30.840 in His grace wants to protect us from that. And He wants to say, look, I'm not fickle. I'm not

00:49:35.820 capricious. I am not telling you that you have to do X, Y, Z in order for me to hear you, listen to you,

00:49:43.060 because He sent His Son who is unchanging. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today,

00:49:48.000 and forever. Hebrews 13, 8. To die for us. John 3, 16. To take our pain. To take our sins. To take our

00:49:57.000 punishment. To stand in our stead. To advocate for us. And every time God looks to us, He sees Jesus

00:50:05.480 standing in our stead, giving us a blank slate. If we believe in Him by grace through faith, like that

00:50:11.400 is the unconditional favor and love that we have. And because of that, because Jesus has given us

00:50:17.960 His righteousness, and we read that prayer, the prayer of a righteous person has great power as

00:50:23.800 it is working. James 5, like we can trust that God hears us and that God's great power can work

00:50:30.180 through us. The power of our prayers. How amazing is that? It's so much better than luck. It's so much

00:50:35.280 better than self-empowerment. It's so much better than self-idolatry. It's so much better than shamanism

00:50:40.400 or necromancy or psychics or mediums or all of this madness that really is just glorifying the demonic 0.99

00:50:47.880 and will lead you down a destructive path. So it's kind of like the conversation we have every year

00:50:53.360 about Santa, how Santa presents like this false, fake, cheap, superficial gospel, legalistic gospel.

00:51:00.180 It's like, why do we point our kids towards the counterfeit of something when the real thing,

00:51:05.680 the real power that is available to them is right there and is so much better? Now, as we get into

00:51:12.240 the fake portrayal, the wrong portrayal of who demons actually are, like what does the Bible actually say

00:51:17.460 about demons? It's important for us to remember they are real. It's not just fantasy. They are real.

00:51:24.160 So who are they? What are they? What should we think about? Should we think about demons at all?

00:51:28.600 Let me tell you about our last sponsor for the day before we get into that. It's Fellowship Home

00:51:32.140 Loans. If you are looking to refinance, if you are looking to make the major purchase of buying a home,

00:51:37.460 you got to call my friends at Fellowship Home Loans. Mike and Brian are the real deal. They are doing

00:51:42.080 things by the book that is the Bible, another company aligned with biblical values. And when you

00:51:48.200 have someone handling your money, talking about these major loans and all of that, like you want to

00:51:53.000 make sure that they are operating under the values of integrity and honesty, excellence, hard work,

00:51:58.300 because they are trying to glorify God just like you. Now, here's what you need to know

00:52:03.280 practically. Rates could drop at any moment. When they do, the smart people, the prepared people

00:52:08.540 will move fast. That's why now is the time to talk to Fellowship Home Loans. They'll help you run the

00:52:14.100 numbers, look at the full picture, ask the honest question, what's it going to take to get into the

00:52:19.080 home that you and your family need right now? So start with a free consultation at

00:52:24.180 fellowshiphomeloans.com slash Allie. You can even get a $500 credit at closing. Terms apply. See site

00:52:30.640 for details. Fellowship Home Loans, Mortgage Lending by the book, Nationwide Mortgage Bankers,

00:52:35.780 DBA Fellowship Home Loans, Equal Housing Lender, NMLS number 819382.

00:52:45.340 Demons are not these layered complex creatures that we should have any compassion for,

00:52:50.220 or who can be convinced to have any compassion for us. Demons are fallen angels who are now under

00:52:57.380 the dominion of Satan. They were cast out of heaven because of their pride, because of Lucifer's pride, 0.94

00:53:03.280 because of setting themselves up against the creator, against God himself. They are now eternally

00:53:08.780 damned, and they are bound for destruction just like Satan himself. 2 Peter 2.4, part of it says,

00:53:14.460 God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of

00:53:20.180 gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment. And just a little bit more about Satan, 2 Corinthians

00:53:25.800 4.4, in their case, the God of this world, Satan, has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep 0.96

00:53:31.040 them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. So what we need

00:53:36.900 to know about demons? They seek to deceive people by promoting false teachings and idolatry or any

00:53:45.140 teaching that opposes the true gospel of Jesus Christ. We read in 1 Timothy 4.1-3,

00:53:51.720 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times, some will depart from the faith by devoting

00:53:57.340 themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons through the insincerity of liars whose

00:54:03.700 consciences are seared through the—I just think that's so important—the teachings of demons and

00:54:11.000 deceitful spirits through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage

00:54:19.640 and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe

00:54:26.580 and know truth. And I actually think it's a point of the examples that are given there,

00:54:31.480 and obviously the deceitful spirit and activity of demons goes far beyond just those two things that

00:54:38.420 he had to write, that Paul had to write to Timothy at the time about the congregation that he was

00:54:45.860 leading, but forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created. And so you can see that

00:54:53.120 at this time in this place that Satan was using things that sounded holy, that sounded good, that

00:55:01.540 sounded like they were going to earn someone righteousness, that he used legalism in order to

00:55:10.220 deceive people and pull people away from Christ. And so I think that Satan can use all kinds of means,

00:55:17.200 but it's not always things that are so blatantly wrong, like this particular K-pop movie. We see

00:55:24.200 demons and demonic activity and oppression and possession a lot in the Gospels. It was something

00:55:31.940 that Jesus and his apostles dealt with. Demons can possess non-Christians, aiming to destroy them,

00:55:39.160 not only to take their souls in eternity, but to control their bodies. We read this in Mark 5, 0.76

00:55:44.440 for example. They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of Gerasenes. That's how I'm

00:55:51.200 going to go with that pronunciation. And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met

00:55:57.480 him out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs, and no one could bind him

00:56:03.840 anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound by shackles and chains. But he wrenched the

00:56:08.580 chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him night and day,

00:56:14.440 among the tombs and on the mountains. He was always crying out and cutting himself with

00:56:18.700 stones. Okay, verse 6. And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. And crying

00:56:25.000 out with a loud voice, he said, What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure

00:56:29.780 you by God. Do not torment me. So that's another aspect we see of demons, that they know who Jesus is.

00:56:37.880 They know that he is the Son of the Most High God. They know his power, and they actually fear

00:56:43.020 Jesus. They fear his power. They fear his name. For he was saying to him, Come out of the man,

00:56:48.320 you unclean spirit. Jesus was saying this to him. And then Jesus asked him, What is your name? He

00:56:52.800 replied, My name is Legion, for we are many. And he begged him earnestly not to send him out of the

00:56:59.320 country. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. Send us to the pigs. Let us enter

00:57:04.560 them, this demon said. So he gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs. 0.97

00:57:10.720 And the herd, numbering about 2,000, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea. 1.00

00:57:16.420 Sin makes you stupid. Demonic oppression makes you stupid. It leads you to death in so many different 1.00

00:57:21.520 ways. Jesus has the power over these. And that is why Christians cannot be possessed by demons due to

00:57:27.720 the presence of the Holy Spirit. We read, for example, in 1 John 4, for little children, you are from God

00:57:35.040 and have overcome them. For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. The Holy

00:57:41.580 Spirit indwells us, and whatever fills us controls us. And because we are filled by the authority and

00:57:50.860 the power and the goodness of the Holy Spirit, we cannot be filled and possessed by a demon.

00:57:56.300 Romans 8, 9 through 11. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If in fact the Spirit of

00:58:01.360 God dwells in you, if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised

00:58:05.500 Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells

00:58:11.020 in you. So it's important to remember that demons are real, that they have real power,

00:58:17.340 that Satan really uses them to tempt you, to try to deceive you, but they do not have ultimate power

00:58:23.800 over you. Because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world, the prince of the power of

00:58:32.740 the air. So understand that, that Jesus has already conquered, that we are living as people who are

00:58:38.760 powerful, who are victorious in Christ, but not because of our own self-liberation, not because we

00:58:46.380 do this dance with the demonic, not because we have compassion for them, not all of these demonic

00:58:54.220 and satanic tropes that we are seeing in movies like this one, but because of Christ, because of his

00:59:00.780 power, because we rely on him completely. I would just encourage you not to watch anything, not to allow

00:59:06.880 your child to read anything that blurs the lines of good and evil, of light and darkness, of the satanic

00:59:14.200 and the godly, because those distinctions are real and they matter. They matter for how we live our

00:59:19.360 lives today. They matter for the peace and the calm, the serenity that we can have in Christ,

00:59:24.900 knowing that we are on the winning side, but they also matter eternally. We as parents have every

00:59:31.540 responsibility to disciple our kids, to steward their hearts and their minds. The time that we have here

00:59:38.100 on earth is fleeting. It goes by like that, but the time that you have with your children in your home

00:59:43.320 is even shorter. And I am not opting for legalism. I am not saying that you have to pretend that the

00:59:51.480 world doesn't exist. I'm saying be careful. I'm saying that we should be a lot more careful than

00:59:56.600 even Christians tell us that we should be. We will be demonized and we will be made fun of for being

01:00:03.840 Christians who take things seriously and who really care about protecting the hearts and the minds of our

01:00:09.380 children and properly discipling them. You will be told by people at your Christian school, in your

01:00:14.680 Christian community, among your Christian friend group, in your Christian homeschooling co-op, and in

01:00:19.460 your church that you care too much about what your child consumes. And let me just remind you,

01:00:26.440 Christians are supposed to be weird. Christians are supposed to be set apart. We're supposed to be 1.00

01:00:31.980 different. We're not supposed to be consuming all of the same things that other kids do, that other

01:00:37.480 people do. And it is normal. It is a normal part of Christian life to be called different and to be 1.00

01:00:44.640 made fun of for being different. Now, be weird for the right reasons, not the wrong reasons, but the

01:00:51.800 right reason is the pursuit of holiness. And I do not think this movie is in line with helping our

01:00:57.960 children on that path. All right, that's all we've got time for today. We will be back here tomorrow.

01:01:07.480 Bye.

01:01:08.480 Bye.

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - August 27, 2025

Ep 1235 ｜ ‘KPop Demon Hunters'： Paganism & LGBTQ Propaganda for Kids

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript