Juche
Juche is one of the largest religions of the world with 19 million followers, whom are mostly North Korean. Its literal translation in English is "self-reliance". This is translated in practice by North Korea to conduct itself as an independent, self-reliant nation. Juche was founded by the late North Korean President Kim Il Sung as a communist related revolutionary philosophy that formed the basis of the political ideology of the dictatorship like, North Korean government. Although officially promoters of Juche would not call it a religion, those who have studied Juche consider it as a religion. Oxtoby provides a definition of religion that can be used to describe the characteristics of Juche that classify it as a religion. However, Juche does not fulfill all the criteria of Oxtoby's definition. The first part of Oxtoby's definition of religion states that religion is "a sense of power beyond the human" (Oxtoby, pg. 454), embraced, celebrated and passed on by its followers. Juche in theory has the basic underlying principle that man through his independence, creativity and consciousness, is the master of his own destiny and decides how the world around him changes. In theory this principle do
The second part of Oxtoby's definition of religion states that religion offers interpretations, meanings and guidelines towards life and its experiences. "The philosophical principle of the Juche idea is the principle of man-centered philosophy which explains man's position and role in the world" (North Korean News Agency). The whole idea of a man-centered world orients followers of Juche towards believing that they are masters of their own destiny and have an important role in shaping the world around them. Being masters of their own destiny followers of Juche are taught to be completely self-reliant and reject outside influence. The result of this philosophy causes North Korea to be a closed society. Juche also dictates that all its followers dedicate their lives to the leader. Juche prescribes that self-reliance can only be achieved through loyalty to the leader. It teaches that, "At the end of the day the 'leader' is the source of life of the individual. Because he lives they live" (Lee, 1999). Thus followers of Juche are taught to dedicate their lives towards becoming a self-reliant society. A goal that can only be attained through worship of their leader Kim Jung Il. One criteria of Oxtoby's definition that Juche doesn't fulfill is that Juche offers no vie
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Approximate Word count = 856
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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