Park Bo Gum Criticized for Promoting Religious Cult

[pearlychoco.livejournal.com]

Park Bo Gum has been accused of promoting cult. The 24-year-old actor recently took to his Twitter account to post an advertisement for a prayer meeting at his church, Jesus Centered Church. "#PrayForKorea. Prayer Assembly for the Peace of Our Nation and Country. The Seoul City Hall Square at 3pm on Oct. 2nd, 2017," read the tweet along with a pic of the ad.

The church, which Bo Gum has attended since he was young, was previously claimed to be led by a cult. His tweet has since drawn some negative comments. One wrote, "He's not a Christian but a cult member. Something is wrong with that." Another noted, "His religion is anarchist. They think people are sick because they're possessed and sick people should pray instead of going to hospital."

#PrayForKorea
Prayer Assembly for the Peace of Our Nation and Country.

The Seoul City Hall Square at 3pm on Oct. 2nd, 2017 pic.twitter.com/TX2YYeLFBh

— 박보검 (@BOGUMMY) September 25, 2017

But some loyal fans still defended the "Moonlight Drawn by Clouds" actor. "You are an actor and a Christian. What's wrong in sharing your religious beliefs in your own SNS? Support u," one wrote. Another commented, "And we support you no matter what. Haters will always be haters, and bad mouthing innocent people is what they do for fun. Ignore them!"

Jesus Centered Church was at the center of controversy last year after almost all Christian organizations in South Korea claimed it spread misleading teachings. The church was allegedly urging people in critically ill condition to undergo exorcism instead of getting medical treatment.

Responding to the controversy, Bo Gum said in February 2016, "I am just a regular Christian. I'm a bit disappointed that my church has gotten the spotlight for this." He further explained, "I am not part of a cult or a new world order. If I was, I would have left already."

Bo Gum recently talked about his religion when asked about his type of ideal girlfriend. "I'd like a nice, virtuous person. I like someone who makes me happy," he said. As for religious views, he shared, "I'd like it if we had a similar religion and similar values."

Article: Mixed reactions to Park Bogum promoting his church... "freedom of religion" vs "did he have to on a public account"

Source: Sports Kyunghyang via Nate

1. [+5,114, -146] Ah... this is not shiedable....

2. [+4,822, -132] Park Bogum's actually a part of a really famous cult pseudo-religion

3. [+4,609, -148] He's not Christian but a part of a pseudo-religion... there's some problems with this

4. [+474, -12] Yeah, he was born into this religion and his name was given to him by a pseudo-pastor to ward off evil spirits or something. He'd sooner quit his career than give up his faith. I doubt he cares anymore since he's made enough money to live off of for the rest of his life.

5. [+437, -15] Pretty sure everyone knows that he's a part of a pseudo-religion? It was a scandal back then but his stupid fangirls shielded him and let it get swept under the rug but here it is again ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

6. [+356, -11] I really like him but this feels wrong...

7. [+297, -10] Bogum-ah, you're a public figure, you can't be acting like this

8. [+287, -4] His religion is one of those anarchy types... they think that people become diseased because they're possessed by ghosts and anyone who gets sick has to go and pray instead of the hospital;;;

9. [+271, -7] He should be more considerate of his fans;;; this is hard for them to shield ㅜㅜ

10. [+259, -3] The biggest problem with cult followers is that they don't realize that they're a part of a cult. Park Bogum is free to believe in what he wants but he shouldn't be promoting it on his official account.

The church Bo-gum attends has been accused & known for their belief of curing the sick through an exorcism from the priest. They've been also involved in the death of a woman back in 2000 who was found dead with several broken bones and bruises at the conference led by the church’s pastor (she apparently attended the service to be cured of her illness). Their website is sketchy af

Sources: AceShowbiz, @BOGUMMY, Netizenbuzz via Nate

Comments

[demeulemeester.livejournal.com]

it sucks that he was born into it

[accioanime.livejournal.com]

yeah it reminds me of Leah Remini and Elizabeth Moss who are actresses born into Scientology and now Leah is in a crusade to expose the church for all its shadiness so maybe Bo Gum will do the same years down the road

[cafetin99.livejournal.com]

[pearlychoco.livejournal.com]

*screaming*

i was legit thinking of that drama & that exorcism episode from vampire detective

[dropthecrates.livejournal.com]

same, yikes

[micropia.livejournal.com]

why is he promoting his church in english???

anyway, boy RUN.

[scionofawhisper.livejournal.com]

The comments from his 'defenders' had me laughing. Still feels weird for journalism to include comments from people like ''support u' and 'haters will always be haters' but I guess sns and stuff is where a lot the relevant action is happening lately, not just with kpop...

[goldenrosalie.livejournal.com]

i'm still surprised it somehow became a big deal when it was a very well known fact for a long time.
this is actually a sad situation because he was born into it and it's not like you can just snap out of it and leave. his mother died, his own father scammed him out of money and i'm sure that this "church" get a good cut out of his earnings.
anyway shoutout to the comment with save me poster because that pretty much sums it up.

[tungatunga.livejournal.com]

I think because he promote church event on his official SNS, so commenters treat like recruiting tactic and pairing with article about how his perfect women should have the same beliefs. And it worked because his fans started declaring participation in original SNS post comments.

[bri-and-red.livejournal.com]

Eek. He was born into it so that's rough...but, this reminds me a bit of Tom Cruise and I wouldn't be surprised if they use his "star power" in a similar way

[torontok.livejournal.com]

I'm calling it now, in a few years we'll find out he's broke or in debt becase this cult scammed him out of his money and made him invest in shit that failed.

[2cutelena.livejournal.com]

i wouldn't be surprised.

[annayism.livejournal.com]

riding that "save me" cult relevancy I see

[yxerin.livejournal.com]

lmao

[gathyou.livejournal.com]

It's sad that he probably doesn't know what life is outside his cult :( it's going to be really hard to snap out of it.
Also as a celeb bringing money in, he's probably better treated than the rest of the cult.
I hope his fans skip the event and don't get sucked in the cult... that's the most worrying part about this news.

[blck-ink.livejournal.com]

omg for some reason i never knew he was in a cult. the fact that he was born in the cult makes it even sadder cause he doesn't realize how bad this is .

[sayuai.livejournal.com]

Yikes. It sucks that he was born into it, but the way he's actively promoting his church is really dangerous. With how overzealous fans can be, I can see a lot of them just blindly joining this church bc of him and that's really fucked up. Cults really creep me out...

[yxerin.livejournal.com]

he's always made me uncomfortable tbh, now it just feels more justified. the cult rlly hit jackpot with having such a big celebrity representing them. korea's got their own tom cruise now
what makes me concerned is that many naive fans could be recruited into the cult bc of this, esp when he's out here openly advertising for meetings.
also i hate myself for saying this but i can't help but feel a bit worried for taehyung now, like not to make everything abt bts but tae's always struck me as v easily impressionable. it can also lead to more fans getting sucked in if more celebs are recruited

[2cutelena.livejournal.com]

mte about the potential recruiting and PBG. I could never get into him because he just seem to be trying to be too pure, too good, too innocent to be real. Also I find his personality to be soooo boring. Honestly what personality..? He laughs and smiles innocent as a new born deer. This news as sad as it is, doesn't surprise me.

[friedchickeneu.livejournal.com]

oh god. i thought he was just a devout christian, not a cult member. hope he runs away from the cult tbh. it could be dangerous over how he's so famous and influential and he's promoting such practice.

[rosiemotleymind.livejournal.com]

Ugh this sucks. I really hope one day he gets out of it or this scandal maybe makes him realize something isn’t right. Hopefully before the cult ruins his life or something. Being born in it and probably being treated well makes it infinitely more hard to leave as well. :/

[modestgoddess79.livejournal.com]

I doubt he will leave. The cult leader named him, he would be rejected by his family if he left. In Korea it is normal for adults to live with their parents so it’s not like he had the opportunity to move away for college and get away from the cults influence. Most people stay in the religion they were raised in, people are not as independent as they think they are. At most they have a brief rebellious phase then return when the are ready to have kids.
He believes the cult leader cured him of a childhood illness. His mother dying and his father taking out loans in his name will not convince him to leave. The cult probably just blamed Satan or said they didn’t pray enough. Also they probably control his finances and use him as a recruiting tool. This is the only life he knows. If he does manage to overcome the odds and leave he will endure severe trauma.

I’m not saying he’s blameless for influencing his fans but it is hard to change a lifetime of brainwashing. He originally auditioned to be a singer songwriter. It is possible the cult groomed him for fame.

I’m not religious but I did a minor in comparative religious studies because I was curious. I’m trying to be neutral instead of my normal judgmental self. People become very hostile if you don’t agree with their religious beliefs. I’ve had people ask me if I worship the devil when I said I was atheist. Now I just avoid revealing myself and play along cause it isn’t worth the hostility.

[ashdevilrun23.livejournal.com]

Yikes yikes yikes
It's like Tom Cruise all over again. Cept cruise really freaks me out ew
He's in a very bad position since he was born into this cult

[leghair.livejournal.com]

leave taehyung alone

[sethelaezekiel.livejournal.com]

The jokes armys have been making about this situation has had me dying

my fave is

yoongi after taehyung lets bogum come over https://t.co/7ZcE26IcHI (https://t.co/7ZcE26IcHI)

— C LOVES BTS (@FxxkAgustD) September 27, 2017 (https://twitter.com/FxxkAgustD/status/912884878328434688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

[honey-baymax.livejournal.com]

He's always given me bad vibes and now I know why.

It sucks that he was born into it, but he's a celebrity with a lot of young impressionable fans, so promoting his cult is such a shitty thing to do.

[tsuyoi-hikari.livejournal.com]

What do you mean he gave you bad vibes? Is it because he is too overly polite?

[audiograms.livejournal.com]

Honestly I have always been his fan, he is still a good actor and he does so much for charity. We cant blame him for something he was born into. If he believes hia faith has made him successful of course he would want to share it.

[sethelaezekiel.livejournal.com]

You don't see the problem with promoting a cult to young impressionable fans?

[mjspice.livejournal.com]

Hoo boy...

[jaelissi.livejournal.com]

I'm a Christian. My church has a prayer ministry as well, so when people posted those videos as "shocking" I'm just looking at it like... :\
A pastor telling people to pray instead of getting medical treatment does give pause as well as all those other churches speaking out against them. I just feel for Bogummy most in this whole thing cause he's being made out to as evil or something when he's just spreading his faith. Misguided as he may be

[seulgibear.livejournal.com]

now all those rumours that irene didn't like him make a lot of sense lmaoo 👁

[honey-baymax.livejournal.com]

Lmao I thought the same thing.

Probably tried to get her to join, and like any sane person she was not here for that bs.

[tsuyoi-hikari.livejournal.com]

The fact that he believes that his church is not a cult is the main problem. I guess he just see the church as a normal church. And since his church only teach him good things (which explain a lot because his polite and nice personality), he wants to spread it thinking he is doing a good thing.

[kicking-tenshi.livejournal.com]

He's a Christian that belongs to a cult-like group... But if he believes the church's stance on prayer as a substitute for medical care, then that's a huge effing problem.

As someone who used to go to church and whose sick mom still does, the church really becomes something of an extended family, even if you don't agree with everything it says or stands for. I feel bad for PBG because it sounds like the church plays that role even more so, given his circumstances.