Dictatorships in An 'Enlightened' Age

by Wesley Kawato

A dictatorship exists when one person or group rules a country and no dissent is allowed. If there is any representative government, it is controlled by the dictator and his associates. The concentration of power in the hands of the few creates temptations that are hard to resist. Those who started out as benevolent dictators like Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines and Porfirio Diaz of Mexico eventually became tyrants who killed and stole at will. Because of our sin nature, humans are unable to always act justly when wielding absolute power.

Dictatorships are as old as history itself. Before the rise of democracy in the late 1700s, almost everyone assumed that absolute power should lie with the royal family. But with the rise of democracy over 200 years ago, the rules and expectations have changed. Yet some of the most evil dictatorships happened in the 20th century, long after the rise of democracy. As we shall see in the latter part of this article, there are many oppressive dictatorships today that need our prayers.

The Bloody Dictatorships of the 20th Century
In 1917, Vladimir Lenin's Russian Revolution brought into power the world's first government dedicated to atheism. Lenin's abuses opened the door for full-blown persecution under the rule of his successor, Josef Stalin. Stalin is believed to have killed 13 million people in various purges, which makes him the runner up for the number of murders committed. Stalin's victims included Christians and independent farmers who refused to allow their farms to be collectivized. Others died of starvation when Russian agriculture was disrupted during the drive to form state owned collective farms.

Around the time Stalin's purges were ending in 1939, Adolf Hitler began his reign of terror. After the German invasion of Poland in that year, German soldiers and policemen began herding Jews into concentration camps, both in Germany and in the lands they conquered. By the time the Allies liberated Germany in 1945, 12 million people had perished.

Though Hitler was notorious for his murder of six million Jews, he also exterminated the mentally retarded, homosexuals, Gypsies, and Jehovah's Witnesses. Many political dissidents also died in the concentration camps including Dietrich Bonhoffer, the great Christian scholar. Hitler is responsible for 12 million deaths, making him the second runner up.

But the world's number one killer is China's Mao Zedong. Shortly after Mao and his Red Army took control of Mainland China in 1949, he ordered the killing of millions of his political enemies, including Christians. Once securely in power, Mao ordered an end to the purges, but not for long. His efforts to radically alter Chinese society, called the Cultural Revolution, led to 11 million deaths between 1966 and 1969.

Mao died in 1976 but his legacy of violent oppression lives on. Year after year China executes more people than the rest of the world combined, many of them for such minor crimes as petty theft.

Internal tragedies aren't the only negative consequences of dictatorships. Such all-powerful rulers have a way of starting wars. Hitler's invasion of Poland started World War II. Mao's desire to spread communism led him to encourage North Korea to invade South Korea in 1950. Saddam Hussein masterminded Iraq's invasion of Iran in 1980 and Kuwait in 1990. Over the years untold millions have died in wars started by dictators.

Dictatorships Today
About a year ago, Parade Magazine asked its contributing editor, David Wallechinsky, to compile a list of the 10 worst dictators in today's world. He consulted independent human rights organizations such as Freedom House, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch. He selected the dictatorships on the basis of oppression of freedom of speech and religion, a lack of freedom for citizens to choose their own representatives, and the right to a fair trial. He also took into consideration the execution and torture of political prisoners, policies that lead to starvation, and violent interference in the affairs of other countries. Parade's role in the media is to expose these regimes. Our role in the Global Prayer Digest is to pray for God's will to prevail in these lands where Satan uses megalomaniacs for his purposes.

According to the article in Parade, Kim Jong Il of North Korea is the worst dictator alive today. He has ruled that country since the death of his father in 1994. The younger Kim, a hard core communist like his father, has continued his father's policy of repression. In nine years Kim has killed 1.6 million people, not counting the hundreds of thousands of people who have starved to death as a result of North Korea's failed economic policies. There are currently 150,000 people imprisoned in North Korea and many of them have done nothing to deserve that fate. North Korea routinely jails the children and grandchildren of dissidents. Being a Christian is illegal in North Korea, punishable by death or years of hard labor.

Only slightly less evil are King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah, the co-rulers of Saudi Arabia. Elections are forbidden in this Arab land. Those who criticize the royal family face death or years of imprisonment. The monarchy enforces strict Islamic Law. Women are especially hard hit by these regulations. A woman can't leave her home unless accompanied by a man. She must also keep her face veiled at all times. Failure to do so may result in a flogging. A Saudi national who follows Jesus Christ faces the death penalty. The third and fourth worst dictators, Saddam Hussein of Iraq, and Charles Taylor of Liberia, have been deposed since the time the Parade article was written, so we shall move on to number five.

Than Shwe of Burma or Myanmar, is the fifth worst. His dictatorial junta is noted for its cruelty to minority groups like the Shans and the Karens. The Burmese government has "no rule of law, only the dictates of the military junta," according to Parade. This junta widely uses forced labor and child soldiers to achieve its ends.

Teodoro Obiang Nguema is the dictator of Equatorial Guinea. The West forgot this tiny nation until oil was discovered there in 1995. Since that time, American oil companies have pumped five billion dollars into the country, most of which goes to Nguema. His regime, which is noted for its greed, commonly arrests and tortures political opponents.

The number seven worst dictator is best known for setting up a personality cult much like Josef Stalin once did in the USSR. His name is Saparmurad Niyazov of Turkmenistan. He has set up elaborate palaces and monuments for himself at the expense of a much-needed infrastructure in this struggling nation.

Some dictators are more of a threat to world peace than they are to their own people. Muammar Gaddafi of Libya is such a person. Gaddafi's secular, socialist regime doesn't enforce Islamic Law. Women aren't severely restricted like they are in Saudi Arabia. But Gaddafi has a history of using the profits from Libya's oil sales to fund terrorist groups. One of his main benefactors has been the Moro Liberation Front, which is fighting to create an independent Muslim state in the Southern Philippines. This group has engaged in numerous bombings, assassinations and kidnappings. Some of their kidnap victims have been Christian missionaries. Gaddafi has also funded various Palestinian terrorist groups. One of them bombed Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland in 1988. Over the years hundreds of people have been killed by the terrorists Gaddafi has supported.

Dictators rarely reform their behavior. However, an example of a change is that of the world's longest reigning despot, Fidel Castro, who has ruled Cuba with an iron fist since 1959. Initially, he gained support from rich and poor Cubans alike, who opposed the corrupt regime of Gulgencio Batista. Castro quickly adopted communism and destroyed Cuba's economy. During the early years, he executed or imprisoned thousands of Christians. After the worldwide collapse of communism between 1989 and 1991 and the loss of support from his traditional ally, the USSR, his behavior changed. Castro legalized Christianity. Today gospel crusades may be televised on the national television network. But he has refused to grant amnesty to the political dissidents and Christians jailed prior to 1991. He was ranked number nine on Parade's list of the world's worst living dictators.

The number 10 spot goes to a little known dictator, Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus. This admirer of Stalin has jailed political opponents, manipulated elections, and harassed journalists.

We shall also be praying for additional oppressed countries such as the following: Sudan's regime continues to kill, rape, and enslave ethnic groups that oppose their form of Islamic fascism. Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe's regime is forcibly taking land and distributing it to his supporters. And the leaders of the Laotian and Chinese governments continue to oppress ethnic and religious minorities.

Let's Pray!
Christians need to pray for those trapped in lands misruled by dictators. Pray that these people would be set free. Political misrule may also result in poverty. Pray that God would meet the needs of the people trapped in these lands. Christianity is a forbidden religion in many dictatorships. Pray that God would free and protect believers in these lands. As we have seen, dictators also have been known to start wars. Pray that the lands bordering such countries may be protected from aggression. Let us also pray for the salvation of the dictators themselves. In Daniel 4:37, we see the humbled dictator Nebuchadnezzar praising God. Perhaps God will humble and reform dictators in today's world. Along that same line, let's pray for God to depose those whose hearts will never bend to His will.