What are you more afraid of - a dictatorship or a theocracy?

Question

For those people who don't know what those are...

Dictatorship = a government where one person's word is law examples like saddam hussein, ossama bin laden, and that north korean guy

Theocracy = a government that runs based on a religion.

Answer 1

Historically, the two are generally intertwined. Dictatorships rely on propaganda to pacify the public, often through the proxy of divine authority, and theocracies attempt to suppress opposing beliefs which threaten their authority, often by force.

Given the two options presented, however, and the remote possibility of an atheistic dictatorship, I'd have to go with dictatorship. Better to be forced into a belief I already support, than one I do not.

Answer 2

Osama bin Laden is not a head of state.

"That North Korean guy" is named Kim Jong Il.

Theocracies end up as dictatorships, so neither one sounds appealing, thank you.

Answer 3

having lived in the philippines for more than 20 years, I take a theocracy anytime.

Answer 4

I'm more afraid of a dictatorship that appears to be a democracy.  An example of this existed after the Roman Republic became an empire.  The empire was carefully constructed to appear to be a continuation of the Republic.  

For example if the USA were to go along this path, the Congress would still make laws but the President would enforce the parts of the laws he agreed with and ignore the rest.  

Elections would still occur and Presidents would be replaced.  The election outcome would be determined by who the rich gave the most money to.  Once in office the new President and Congress could effectively ignore the public until months before the next election.

The final irony would be if the President waged war to spread democracy.  Sometimes facts can be stranger than fiction!