Page 11 - aruba-today-24dec-2016

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WORLD NEWS Saturday 24 december 2016

Christmas in N. Korea: Lights and trees, but devoid of Jesus

rea was fertile ground for to operate, but under tight- en for granted almost cer-
missionaries and Pyong- ly restricted conditions. tainly signals how little as-
yang had more Christians There are four state-ap- sociation they evoke with
than any other city in Ko- proved Christian churches the officially frowned-upon
rea. in Pyongyang — one Rus- and subversive religion that
It even had a seated sian Orthodox, two Protes- spawned them.
Catholic bishop. Most of tant and one Catholic. Overt, unsanctioned reli-
that presence was erased Inside the Catholic cathe- gious activities are a very
by the early 1950s, and the dral are crosses, but no different matter.
North has kept a tight lid on crucifixes. Weekly services As one American tourist
all Christian activities in the feature hymns and prayers found out not too long ago,
country since. offered in a highly formal- merely leaving a Bible in a
Article 68 of the North Ko- ized manner, but there public space is enough to
rean constitution does give are no sacraments. State- land you in jail for a poten-
a nod to the freedom of appointed laymen lead tially very long time: Jeffrey
religion — with the rather the services, which are not Fowle was sentenced to 15
significant proviso that “re- sanctioned by the Vatican. years but ended up being
ligion must not be used as The Protestant churches released after six months.
a pretext for drawing in are reportedly largely un- And Canadian Hyeon Soo
foreign forces or for harm- used. Lim, a Christian pastor, was
ing the State or social or- The fact that Christmas- sentenced last year to life
der.” A handful of Christian themed music and deco- in prison with hard labor for
churches and other reli- rations are allowed at all alleged anti-state crimes
A waitress serves customers before a Christmas tree decorated gious facilities are allowed and, in fact, generally tak- inside the country.q
with lights, ribbons and balloons in Pyongyang, North Korea.
(AP Photo/Eric Talmadge)

ERIC TALMADGE local elite and the small
Associated Press community of resident for-
PYONGYANG, North Ko- eigners. A waist-high tree
rea (AP) — If Santa Claus was long a feature at the
stops in North Korea this offices of the Koryolink mo-
year, he’ll find some trees bile phone provider.
and lights and might even The trees are often deco-
hear a Christmas song or rated with colorful lights
two. But he won’t encoun- and shiny baubles, but
ter even a hint of what none of the displays have
Christmas actually means explicitly religious associa-
— not under a regime that tions. Many are up all year,
sees foreign religion a very further diluting their Christ-
real threat. mas connotation.
There are almost no prac- Instrumental versions of
ticing Christians in North Ko- “White Christmas” and “Let
rea. But there used to be. It Snow” have been in the
And while the trappings of rotation of mood music
the holiday season they piped into the dining room
once celebrated haven’t of one of Pyongyang’s ritzi-
been completely ex- est hotels since at least last
punged, any connections August. In the countryside,
they had to the birth of Je- where such pockets of af-
sus have been thoroughly fluence are rare to nonex-
erased. istent, so too, presumably,
Take Christmas trees, for ex- are any of these sorts of
ample. glitzy decorations.
They aren’t especially hard This wasn’t always the
to find in Pyongyang, espe- case.
cially in upscale restaurants Before the advent of the
or shops that cater to the ruling Kim regime, North Ko-