RE: North Korea - smear on atheism?
April 20, 2013 at 9:38 am
(This post was last modified: April 20, 2013 at 9:42 am by The Grand Nudger.)
To be completely blunt, there is no such thing as an "atheist state" - no more so than a "christian state" or "muslim state". The people or the powers that be may be predominantly one or the other, but states themselves have no beliefs...and so descriptors like this usually serve a political or propaganda purpose first and foremost. In the case of N. Korea this is very plainly the case, as the whole "atheist state" song and dance is just a remnant of cold war drama. They no longer care about that- it's kept like a vestigial organ. Continuity of authority. Depending on the context of divine or heavenly (and on that I am unqualified to answer...the only N. Koreans I've ever known were civilian defectors working in electronics manufacturing- i can't tell you what N. Koreans take those two words to mean and neither directly, in every case, are equivalent to "god") the descriptor may or may not be accurate depending upon the vantage point of the observer. It certainly doesn't seem to be accurate to us (the inclusive us - we, you and I) - clearly, but that might have something to do with what we've invested the words divine and heavenly with, eh?
Now, the point in agonizing over whether or not N. Korea is an atheist state eludes me, supposing that they were (and that the term really applies) what then?
Now, the point in agonizing over whether or not N. Korea is an atheist state eludes me, supposing that they were (and that the term really applies) what then?
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