OMF Blog
10. Atheism in North Korea
NK Blog - Thursday 21 August 2008... What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1:19-20
Marx saw religion as a symptom that resulted from the class struggles in society. Because of those class struggles, people created religion to help them through their struggles. “Religion is the opiate of the people.” If all of society’s economic and class problems were solved, claimed Marx, religion would not be needed and would fade away. (19) Thus, all communist nations are by definition atheistic. North Korea is officially atheist, holding standard atheist beliefs that there is no God and that the world developed through evolution and was not created. But North Korea’s atheism is also unique. Many of the roles that God fulfills in the Western world and in the Church, Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il fulfill in North Korea. North Koreans grow up in a setting of atheism, believing that there is no god and that Kim Il-Sung and his son provide everything they need.
Before meals in nursery schools, children give thanks to the Great Leader and the Dear Leader (Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il respectively) for the food. One South Korean said teaching North Koreans about Christianity would not be hard; we would just have to substitute the word “God” for the word “Kim Il-Sung.”
- Praise God that he has planted a consciousness of himself in every human being, including North Koreans.
- Pray that North Koreans would see the aspects of nature and family love that cannot be explained by atheism and and seek the God who created them.
- Pray that people in the North would come to believe that there is a God and that many would worship him.