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Hope for Christians around the World

Can you see hope with N. Korea?


Are Communist Nations gaining territory?


Communism - a social organization system - was appealing, when Karl Marx was progressively dissing centuries of royal regimes as doing nothing but repressing the people from advancement. The upper class was given the best treatment, while others struggled.



"What we have to deal with here is a communist society, not as it has developed on its own foundations, but on the contrary, just as it emerges from capitalist society: which is thus in every respect still stamped with the birthmarks of the old society from whose womb it emerges," says Marx.



This first stage is the necessary gestation period for full communism: is it as time when the people who have destroyed capitalism are engaged in the task of total reconstruction. As a way of life and organization it has traits in common with both capitalism and full communism and Marx never indicates how long this may take—the first stage gives way gradually almost imperceptibly to the second.



Marx's views on the dictatorship of the proletariat are taken from the Communist Manifesto. In the Communist Manifesto, there are ten measures that workers' parties are urged to put into effect immediately after their victory over the capitalists. By viewings these measures are already accomplished, we can use this list as a basis for our picture of the first stage.



What Marx asks for are: "1) Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes. 2) A heavy progressive or graduated income tax. 3) Abolition of all right of inheritance. 4) Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels. 5) Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly. 6) Centralization of communication and transport in the hands of the state. 7) Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state, the bringing in cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan. 8) Equal liability of all to labour. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture. 9) Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equable distribution of population over the country. 10) Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc., etc."



It is conceded that "these measures will of course differ in different countries," but in the most advanced countries they "will be pretty generally applicable." No matter the variation in means, and it appears these variations would be modest ones, the goals remain the same: "to wrest... all capital from the bourgeoisie, to centralize all instruments of production in the hands of the state... and to increase the total of productive forces as rapidly as possible."


Socialism on the other hand is an economic theory wherein the means of production, distribution, and exchange are owned and controlled by the society as a whole. Wealth distribution in socialism is done as per the efforts and contribution. Here you should know that Communism is a subset of socialism.



The paramount differences between communism and socialism are discussed in the given points:



Communism is defined as the system of social organization where the focus is made on communal ownership and a classless society.



Socialism refers to the social organization in which there is public or cooperative ownership of the means of production. Communism is both political as well as economic theory while socialism is an economic theory.



Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the German Philosophers, propounded the concept of communism whereas Robert Owen propounded Socialism.



The theme of communism is to achieve equality among members of society and advocates a society free from class. On the other hand, achieving equality and fairness among the society members is the main idea of socialism. In communism, the wealth is distributed among the people according to their needs. Conversely, in socialism, the distribution of wealth is based on the contribution made by them. The members of the state collectively own the means of production in communism. As opposed to socialism where the means of production are owned by the citizens. In communism, the management of resources lies in the hands of few people belonging to a particular authoritarian party.



In the case of socialism, the management of resources is done by the people. In socialism, people are free to own property. However, ownership of public property is permitted, but private property is not permitted, as it makes a distinction between public property and the private one. Communism tries to remove capitalism, whereas, in socialism, somehow capitalism exists.



Conclusion:
Both the ideologies promote secularism (i.e. Rejects religion). Communism has lost its existence with the passage of time. The only reason for the non-existence of communism in most of the countries is that it removes the incentives that inspire people to work harder. The man who works hard will receive the same amount of money as an idle man gets. However, Socialism still exists in many countries.



Kim Jong Un, the ruling chairman of North Korea, has continued many things started by his father and his grandfather. He obviously, considers himself a perfect leader and inspiration for Communism.



He has continued a series of brutal labor camps that commit daily human rights atrocities. He has murdered political and cultural rivals. He has established himself as Supreme Leader and created a cult of personality around him and his family (throughout the country are more than 40,000 statues of the Kim family that must be cleaned and worshiped by the North Korean people).



And he has specifically targeted Christianity.



Although Kim recently extended an invitation to Pope Francis to visit his country for what some say is part of a diplomatic effort to ease sanctions and military pressures, make no mistake. In his seventh year of power, the third leader of the Kim family and head of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) continues to lead a country with perhaps the world’s most egregious human rights record. It is the most dangerous country for Christians and has been No. 1 on Open Doors’ World Watch List for almost 20 years.



Propaganda and politics vs. Jesus Christianity has a long, surprising history in North Korea. Before the end of World War II, there were more Christians in what is now North Korea than there were in modern-day South Korea. And Pyongyang had many churches—even known to some observers as the “Jerusalem of the East.”



Estimates vary about how many Christians are currently in North Korea, but Open Doors places the number around 300,000, most of whom operate in secret networks of house churches.



A 2014 UN report found that “The state considers the spread of Christianity a particularly serious threat, since it challenges ideologically the official personality cult and provides a platform for social and political organization and interaction outside the realm of the state.”



From birth until death, North Korean citizens are taught state propaganda. This means learning about the leaders of North Korea in elementary school, hearing propaganda on loudspeakers in homes and businesses and living under constant threat of imprisonment.



While technically resting on traditional communist thought, North Korea’s real political philosophy rests in an idea called “Juche.” The official website of the North Korean regime defines the concept as in a nutshell, “that the masters of the revolution and construction are the masses of the people, and that they are also the motive force of the revolution and construction.” In practice, this has translated to a brutal dictatorship that has stretched back decades, totally dependent on a single family for every aspect of culture and politics.



So why is Kim Jong Un so afraid of Christianity?



It’s likely because people who are following Jesus and who are committed to one another mean there are people he can’t control, and who follow a greater King. It means there are people who practice radical love for each other and for Jesus–who won’t so easily follow him and the lies of his regime.

Christianity, of course, directly challenges the notion of any Supreme Leader and the idea that there is any master outside of Jesus Christ. Additionally, Christianity offers a new way and identity for people in North Korea. Both aspects of faith are direct threats to the ruling family of North Korea.

Second-class citizens … and ‘dangerous’ This is why Christians continue to be seen as “dangerous” and are also part of the hostile class, according to the country’s social system called songbun. What this means is that anyone who is known to be a follower of Jesus is immediately assumed to be a hostile political figure.



One 2014 U.S. State Department report found that “ownership of Bibles or other religious materials is reportedly illegal and punishable by imprisonment and severe punishment, including, in some cases, execution.” And in a summary of a United Nations’ report, the International Bar Association’s 2017 study wrote that “Christians are heavily persecuted and receive especially harsh treatment in prison camps, with one former prison guard testifying that ‘Christians were reactionaries and there were lots of instructions . . . to wipe out the seed of reactionaries’” [emphasis added].



Open Doors estimates there are at least 50,000 Christians in camps, restricted villages, or otherwise imprisoned, many of whom are suffering under unthinkable conditions. Christians are treated with the same hostility that the Kim regime wields against those it deems as political, revolutionary or cultural threats.



One woman, Hannah (not her real name), and her family had escaped to China but were discovered and repatriated back to a North Korean prison camp. She describes what it was like to be a Christian there:



“Prisoners in solitary confinement were badly beaten up. Nobody dared to resist because you’d only make the torture worse. But my husband was different. The more they tortured him, the harder he defended his faith. He yelled at them: ‘If believing in God is a sin, I’d rather die! Just kill me! It’s my mission to live according to God’s will!’



“But each time he spoke out against them, they stripped him of his clothes and beat him as if he was an animal. His flesh was torn and ripped. When he lost consciousness, they woke him up and started again.



“When we got to the office [before our eventual release], there were two male prisoners. One I recognized as my son, but the other was in such a bad shape. I didn’t recognize my husband, and he didn’t recognize me. That’s how mutilated we looked due to this Christian torture. His ribs and collarbone were broken so that he could not even stand up straight. But I realized it was him.



“[After our release], my husband suggested that I take my daughter first and go back to China. I did what he said and reached China with our daughter. One month went by. No word from my husband. Then, a second month, a third, a fourth … I waited three years. Then I found out that he had died shortly after we left. He was never able to overcome the pain and illnesses from prison. My son was too young to help him. So he died slowly, in pain.”



Praying With North Korean Believers Please continue to join your brothers and sisters in North Korea in prayer. Pray for their strength in the face of a regime that views their faith as a special threat. Pray for God’s grace in every situation. And pray for a change in the hearts of the regime, that they would see the love of Jesus as the road to truth and peace.



Open Doors’ goal is to “strengthen what remains and is about to die” (Rev 3:2). This verse is especially applicable to the situation of the North Korean church. Without our support, many Christians in this underground church of 300,000 believers would starve to death.  Please Give.

To some North Koreans, Kim Jong-un is a god. He is one of the three members of the Mount Paektu Bloodline and has been deified by the North Korean cult of Personality along with his father Kim Jong-Il and grandfather Kim Il-Sung. They're North Korea's version of the Holy Trinity I guess.

If we want no nuclear weapons on earth, then we must pray.  If we want no human atrocities on earth, then we must pray.  If we want no more land grabbing, then we must pray.    Let's Pray.



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