Over the years, stories about Life in North Korea have stuck around in our minds, like a bad earworm song. They seem to come back time after time, whenever North Korea is mentioned.
It might be the story of Dear Leader (the late and unlamented Kim Jong Il) shooting a 38-under-par 34 in his first round of golf ever, which included five aces. Or it might be something less amusing, like the story of the North Korean fisherman who was pulled out of the drink by some folks in the South, and when he was being nursed back to health in a South Korean hospital, told authorities that he could never marry a woman from Seoul--because they were too big.
That is what malnutrition does to the North's population. It distorts more than just perception.
Because of brave runaways and more than a few spies, the West also knows about the judicial system in North Korea. Or some things about it. For awful example, there's the practice of sentencing whole families for the crimes of one. It can go down three generations. Imagine paying not only for the sins of your father, but of your grandfather!
A new report by the U.S. State Department tells the story of religious freedom in North Korea, or the lack thereof. One family was arrested for the "crime" of owning a Bible. Call it possession with intent to distribute the Good News. The entire family, according to the report, was given a life sentence. Including a 2-year-old toddler.
They were all sent to a political prisoner camp. For the duration--either of their lives or of the Kim regime/dynasty.
The conviction and sentence of this family took place in 2009; it's just now making the news. North Korea doesn't share information readily. There is no FOIA there.
The Kim family dynasty won't allow citizens to show devotion to anybody else except the Kim family dynasty. (A Communist empire passed down through family bloodlines. Wouldn't the Romanovs be surprised!)
The press reports that Christianity poses a threat to the dynasty, which it certainly does, and the crackdowns got more serious after the Kims studied how Church leaders helped bring about the fall of the USSR in the 1980s-90s.
According to a report in The Telegraph, "Defectors have revealed horrific details of Christians being brutally tortured, killed and incarcerated in gulags." How Roman. Late Roman.
"It is estimated that between 50,000 to 70,000 North Korean citizens are held in prison for their Christian beliefs, according to Open Doors USA, which advocates for persecuted Christians around the world. The group has stated that 'life for Christians ... is a constant cauldron of pressure; capture or death is only a mistake away.'
"In its World Watch List report, released earlier this year, Open Doors said Pyongyang had intensified its hounding of Christians, hunting for underground churches. It documented a 'horrifying incident' where several dozen believers were discovered and executed, with more than 100 of their family members sent to labour camps."
It's not like Christians are being persecuted for Christian beliefs. Any religion can get you--and your 2-year-old--a life sentence. Don't try practicing shamanism or Cheondoism in North Korea, either. The only deities you're allowed to worship--required to worship--are shortish, pudgy little dictators in Pyongyang who are naturally great at golf and, when they are born, cause new stars to appear in the sky.
That's not a joke. New stars appearing at a human birth are standard press release stuff when the North Korean media fawns over the Kims.
Cracking down on religious types is nothing new in this world. The practice goes back thousands of years. At least. Especially for those subversive Christian types who believe in a Higher Authority.
The focus point of the religion, He who lived more than 2,000 years ago, was a subversive who overturned tables, among other things, and challenged government authorities. One of the first things he does in the book of Mark is to break the law by gathering up corn on the Sabbath. (Mark 2:23-24)
An all-controlling government, or a government trying to be all-controlling, can't have folks reading about hero subversives. Next thing you know, they'll be running red lights and demanding a First Amendment.
The Christians in North Korea might be soothed to remember a certain Prophet who said blessed are ye, when men prosecute you, and say all manner of evil against you, for great is your reward in heaven.
And the rest of us have a duty, too. We can bear witness.
We have our souls to think about.