Juche is one of the largest religions of the world with 19 million followers, whom are mostly North Korean. Its literal translation in English is "self-reliance". This is translated in practice by North Korea to conduct itself as an independent, self-reliant nation. Juche was founded by the late North Korean President Kim Il Sung as a communist related revolutionary philosophy that formed the basis of the political ideology of the dictatorship like, North Korean government. Although officially promoters of Juche would not call it a religion, those who have studied Juche consider it as a religion. Oxtoby provides a definition of religion that can be used to describe the characteristics of Juche that classify it as a religion. However, Juche does not fulfill all the criteria of Oxtoby's definition.
             The first part of Oxtoby's definition of religion states that religion is "a sense of power beyond the human" (Oxtoby, pg. 454), embraced, celebrated and passed on by its followers. Juche in theory has the basic underlying principle that man through his independence, creativity and consciousness, is the master of his own destiny and decides how the world around him changes. In theory this principle does not suggest any power or force beyond that of the human but in practice of Juche this is not the case. In Juche the Suryong (leader) is worshiped as a god. Kim Il Sung is considered the divine father and his son Kim Jong Il, the current President of North Korea, is also worshiped as divine. The official North Korean account of Kim Jung's Il's birth alludes to his divinity stating, "At the time of his birth there were flashes of lightning and thunder, the iceberg in the pond on Mount Paektu emitted a mysterious sound as it broke and bright double rainbows rose up" (Barnes). Thus the leader of Juche, although human in form, is considered to be a power beyond t
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