Catholic navigation of South Korean
President’s Political Agenda Koot van Wyk
(DLitt et Phil, ThD) There is nothing wrong in a president
of a country that prefers to attend his own religion due to freedom of religion
initiatives. I am a Seventh-day Adventist and I will attend the Adventist
Church if I was a president. No one will object. At least I thought so. Until I
ran into the subject of fascism especially described by the current philosopher
of neo-fascism, Alexandr Dugin of Moscow Russia. His fascism is a mixture of an
ecumenical kind of astrology, Islam, Russian Orthodox Church, Satanism,
mysticism, occultism, Sufi ideas, Samurai ideas, neo-Eurasian ideas,
neo-socialism, and actually conservative revolution. What about populism versus law? Immanuel Kant rejected populism as
method because this kind of society transformation “palingenesis” Kant felt that palingenesis was a
transition to a better constitution in 1797 A stark critic of revolutions, the
German philosopher, Immanuel Kant argued
in his 1797 Metaphysics of Morals that palingenesis is “the transition
to a better constitution […], which requires a new social contract on which the
previous one (now annulled) has no effect”. As Hannah Arendt said so profoundly: “'Only
the mob and the elite can be attracted by the momentum of totalitarianism
itself'”. The role of the mob in the election of
the current president of South Korea cannot be denied. He himself continuously thanked
the candle-light movement. Two million at one time. But what about Kant’s view in 1797, a
year before the removal of the papacy as papal-fascism of the world by
Berthier, the general of Napoleon, or the socalled “deadly wound” issued
according to the prophecy of John in Revelation 13 to this first beast, namely
the Holy Roman Empire. For Kant in this year before the end of papal fascism,
one of the negative aspects of palingenesis was that the palingenetic
transformation of a society 'would have to take place by the people acting as a
mob, not by legislation.' The concept of palingenesis is
described by Roger Griffin in 2002 which is a transformation of society towards
a neo-fascistic shape. 1.
Palingenesis
is a new birth after a period of perceived decadence 2.
Palingenesis
can only take place with the completed death of the old and none of the
existing structure can be used. 3.
A
liminoid stage of decadence or decay or chaos or death of the structure is
necessary for it to be reborn. 4.
In
Moscow philosopher Alexandr Dugin’s view he mix politics and metaphysics. What
does this mean? It means for example when you mix religion and politics. If
Moon would take his Catholic Priest Paul Yoo also to North Korea on a Summit,
it is mixing politics and religion. 5.
Catholicism
is a “Christianized paganism” scholars are telling me. It is also a political
religion like Islam, Judaism and many other religions in the world today. It
mixes politics and religion. Adventism absolutely separate religion and
politics. So in a nutshell, if a neo-fascist
transformation of a society from a society that was not fascistic inclined
towards fascism, chaos will first exist for some time and things will go bad,
for example the economy, but then they live in the dream that one day “heaven
will arrive on earth”. China for example envisaged such a
heaven in 2025 according to their president recently. Dugin is clear that Russia has not
arrived at that “heaven” or Eurasian ideal yet. With this introduction, one can ask
this question about the South Korean president: Is he a catholic? Yes. His
priest Paul Yoo described it to the journalist Victor Gaetan in November 2017.
There are photos of him and his wife in church. Then some comments followed
that is interesting: 1.
That
Moon asked the Catholic father and four nuns to visit the blue house and come
and bless it, after he incarcerated the impeached Buddhist previous president. A
photo can be seen with them at the Blue House. 2.
When
Moon went to his third Summit to North Korea which ended yesterday with many
photo-ops on Baekdusan, who showed up next to Moon? Father Paul Yoo. Religion
has to go with the politics. How much is the Catholic Church
involved in the current state of affairs of the Blue House and the leadership
of that party of the government? a.
The
anti-US sentiment is part of
the Catholic opinion strongly in South Korea and the leadership is said by Yoo
to support his own feelings of remorse of their presence (see essay below by
Gaeten). The date? November 2017. Writes Gaeten: “Our diplomacy has suffered
from the loss of independence,” observed Father Yoo, in reference to the
dominant U.S. influence in the South. Every Catholic cleric I talked to (including
bishops and the cardinal) said overtly or subtly that the dominant US.
influence has caused an anemic Korean diplomacy.”
b.
The
pro-Chinese stance is
expressed by Yoo and other Catholic clerics to indicate that they are
progressing in their dream to enter the Chinese religious market. Moon did take
a couple of trips to China. Again, a pro-Chinese approach is nothing wrong in
itself, provided religion is not a baggage that one tries to wiggle into the
picture. If a ruler goes to further the cause of the Catholic Church in another
country, he is not furthering the cause of his own people but of the country
called the Vatican.
c.
People
do not realize but Vatican property (many mountains as graveyards for example)
does not belong to South Korea, it belongs to the country of the Vatican. Catholic
Universities in South Korea, are not South Korean Universities. They are
Vatican Universities stationed in South Korea. There is a legal difference or
nuance. In this way, Catholicism and Buddhism are not the same. Buddhism does
not have a country which is a political independent entity recognized by all
countries.
d.
All
governments before 1992 were “dictatorships”(Catholic opinion) Catholics
described all governments before 1992 as “dictatorships” and after this time as
“democracy” in South Korea. “Thousands of Koreans were arrested under the
dictatorship, which ended in 1992, when the first civilian president was freely
elected.” (see Gaeten below).
e.
Hiding
of anti-government protesters and involved in political activism (Catholic political
pragmatism)
“Another
historical factor that fuels national respect for Catholicism — and converts —
was the Church’s role in promoting democracy, especially against military dictatorship
in the 1970s and 1980s. The Catholic Priests’ Association for Justice (CPAJ),
founded in 1974, was one organization determined to confront a series of
regimes accused of corruption and abuse of power. The Catholic Church
encouraged student activists, explained Father Yoo, even giving sanctuary to
some who ran afoul of the government and needed to evade arrest.” (see Gaeten
below).
f.
One
of the first things the new president [Moon of South Korea] did after taking
residence at the presidential palace, known as the Blue House, was to ask
Father Yoo to come and bless it. (See Gaeten below). Again this act by itself
is not out of place. It is private and for him and his wife in their new
setting. Fine.
g.
“Father
Yoo hopes the president will seek reconciliation with the communist North, one
of his campaign promises, which is also the Catholic Church’s stand on the
preferred solution.” (Gaeten below citing the words of Archbishop Kim). Here we
see some agenda spelling by the Catholic Church to the Catholic President of
South Korea. As a Seventh-day Adventist looking at the
prediction in Ellen White’s book Great Controversy that the papacy will again
regain political agendas worldwide in line with the role of the second Beast of
Revelation 13 or the USA, one cannot but recognize that the papal fascism of
the Middle Ages (First Beast) will surface up again in the near future although
it is now democractic neo-fascism of a Dugin kind (liberalism) and papal
democratic neo-fascism mixed as one can see here in South Korea.
Source: Victor Gaetan, “South Korea’s Hidden
Treasure: A Vibrant Catholic Church”. National Catholic Register
November 28, 2017 downloaded from http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/south-koreas-hidden-treasure-a-vibrant-catholic-church Immanuel Kant,
The Metaphysics of Morals (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996),
p.112. Op. cit. by Shekhovtsov 2008: 491-506 on Alexandr Dugin’s neo-fascism. Hannah Arendt,
The Origins of Totalitarianism (New York: Harcourt, 1973), p.341). Roger Griffin,
“The Palingenetic Political Community: Rethinking the Legitimation of
Totalitarian Regimes in Inter-War Europe,” Totalitarian Movements and
Political Religions 3/3 (2002), pp.24-43. Op. cit. Shekhovtsov 2008:
491-506.