Out from the hearts of nature rolled. The burdens of the bible old. American poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson [1803-1882]

The execution in North Korea in full public view, last month, of a Christian woman activist under the pretext of distributing Bible is the most barbaric act recorded in the recent Government-controlled human society.

The executed woman, Ri Hyon-Ok, age 33, and a mother of three children was also accused of spying for South Korea and the United States. As per reports which have just now emerged, Ri Hyon-Ok was executed in the northwestern city of Ryongchon bordering China on 16 June. Not only this, her husband, children and parents were also sent to a political prison the very next day of her public execution. An Investigative Commission, constituting a coalition of 50 activist groups, is rightly calling for North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il to be charged with crimes against humanity.

Officially North Korea guarantees freedom of religion, but no North Korean citizen can dare to practice Christianity. The execution would mark a harsh turn in the crackdown on religion in North Korea, a country where Christianity once flourished and where the capital, Pyongyang, was known as the “Jerusalem of the East” for the predominance of the Christian faith.

The North Korean Government’s hate towards the Bible, the Christians, and the Christianity, and also against the human rights, is comparable to the mentality of Taliban. If the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il hates Bible and Christianity then he must stop using jetliners for flying to other parts of the world, he should also stop watching TV, stop listening radio, stop using telephones, mobile, and fax machines, and many-many more modern appliances of everyday use because these were all discovered mostly by people who grew up reading Bible, and possessing full faith in Christianity.

The English poet, William Cowper [1731-1800], in his poetry “Hope” had praised The Bible in following words;

The sacred book no longer suffers wrong, Bound in the fetters of an unknown tongue, But speaks with plainness art could never mend, What simplest minds can soonest comprehend.

The same poet, William Cowper, in his poetry “Olney Hymns” (No. 30), had bestowed his respect for The Bible as follows :

A glory gilds the sacred page, It gives the light to every age, Majestic like the Sun, It gives, but borrows none.

The English classical scholar, John Burton [1696-1771], in his poetry “Holy Bible, Book Divine”, had lauded The Bible through following lines :

Holy bible, book divine, Precious treasure, though art mine; Mine to teach me whence I came, Mine to teach me what I am.

The English divine and poet, George Herbert [1593-1633], in “Holy Scriptures”, had summed up the value of The Bible in following two lines :

Stars are poor books, and oftentimes do miss: This book of stars lights to eternal bliss.

Very rarely, like the North Korean leadership, an example in the human society is encountered wherein The Bible faces criticism. Thus, the American lawyer, agnostic, lecturer and writer—Robert Green Ingersoll [1833-1899]— in his book “The Liberty of Man, Woman, and Child, ” wrote like this: “As long as woman regards the Bible as the charter of her rights, she will be the slave of man. The Bible was not written by a woman. Within its lids there is nothing but humiliation and shame for her”.

The author of this article is not a Christian himself, but he fully respects Christianity, and treats it as one of the finest and greatest religions of the world. The author hereby records his deep anguish on the barbaric execution of an innocent Christian woman in North Korea. Before leaving, the author also wishes to reproduce a few lines of the poetry “The Monastery” written by Sir Walter Scott [1771-1832], in honor of The Bible;

Within the awful volume lies The mystery of mysteries! Happiest they of human race, To read, to fear, to hope, to pray, To lift the latch and force the way; And better had they never been born, Who read to doubt, or read to scorn?