Writer Becky Hunter Kelm applauds Lilliput Church of England Infant School’s decision to ban songs from K-Pop Demon Hunters. She explores why, for many Christian families, discernment around spiritual themes in pop culture still matters.
Lilliput Church of England Infant School in Poole, Dorset, has banned its pupils from singing songs from the Netflix film K-Pop Demon Hunters because it doesn’t promote its “Christian ethos” and the reference to demons is to “associate them with spiritual forces opposed to God and goodness”.
I wasn’t surprised to read about pushback from the school’s parents to this decision, some of whom said the songs promoted positive messages, and one parent told the BBC, “I thought it was ridiculous. My daughter is very into K-pop and her and all of her little friends love it.”
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It’s important to note here that the ban isn’t infringing on what families do outside of school hours: “We are not asking parents to tell their children that there is anything wrong with enjoying the film or its songs if it aligns with your own views and beliefs, and this will not be the messaging we share in school either. Our role will simply be to help children understand that some of their peers may hold different views and to explore how we can respect and support those peers in upholding their faith.”
It isn’t an unreasonable request for families to be mindful of the faith school’s ethos and to learn about the viewpoints of other faiths. The same way we honour different faiths in our schools, I think it’s okay to ask people to do the same for those of Christian persuasion too. It’s also courageous for the school leader to make a decision based on his convictions, even if it makes him unpopular. My husband is a school principal, and I often pray for him and other school heads to be brave and to make school leadership decisions that align with their faith for the good of the students.
So the million-dollar question: Would I let my kids watch K-Pop Demon Hunters or sing the songs?
So the million-dollar question: Would I let my kids watch K-Pop Demon Hunters or sing the songs? Probably not. I’m a mum of three boys, and whilst one of my sons has heard of the movies, he hasn’t asked to watch them. A lot of girls in his year did dress up as Rumi for Halloween, though. Some Christians point out that if you watch the movie, you see that demon characters aren’t biblical demons, but I don’t think that matters. It says in 2 Corinthians 11:14 that, ‘Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light’. Things that come from the other camp are almost always packaged up as fun and attractive.
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I was raised in a Christian family, and my mum was pretty strict on what content I could and couldn’t consume. Any hint of woo-woo or witchcraft was out, and Harry Potter was a definite no-no (which admittedly was pretty hard at the time, but now I respect her for it.) Now, as a parent, I don’t think I would let my kids get into K-Pop Demonhunters, because no matter how fun the movie is, demons are real, and they are out to wreak havoc on God’s children.
The demons in the New Testament possess people, inflict them with mental, emotional, or physical sickness, or cause them to behave immorally. (Mark 1:21-28, 5:1-13, Acts 5:16). Our Lord and saviour Jesus spends a good chunk of his ministry casting them out and healing people throughout the gospel, so let’s not do him the disservice of entertaining anything that paints demons as anything other than what they are; unclean spirits that want to harm people.
I applaud the school for sticking to its convictions on this issue.
I applaud the school for sticking to its convictions on this issue. I personally don’t think it’s good for our kids to watch anything that makes demons or fighting demons seem fun. I have no doubt there are some themes in the K-Pop Demonhunters movie, but when there are so many other great movies out there that don’t glorify demons, as Christians, why not stay away from this one?
And look, I get it. Part of being an authentic mother of faith means blazing my own trail in parenting, and it’s not easy. I said yes to Harry Potter, but ‘no’ to the spin of Percy Jackson ‘Hades’ series because of the language used.
As Christian women facing everything the world throws at us (or our kids if we’re mums), we have a responsibility to prayerfully weigh them against scripture and listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to us.
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