I don't know.

That doesn't make any sense.

Welcome to Curiously, Caitlin, where we take a kid question, where we take a kid question about God, theology, or the Bible, and find a scholar to answer it.

This week, we have a question I felt I needed to answer myself, in part because this sweet child addressed it directly to me,

and in part because it's something I have thought about a lot.

So, let's hear our question this week. Hi, Ms. Caitlin. Does God still love dictators?

This is such a good question. I imagine this kid has been hearing grown-ups talk about politics

lately in America, around the world. Maybe they're hearing grownups at home or at church or at

school talk about our political situation here in the states as one sliding into authoritarianism

or people talking about our president as a dictator. Maybe they're learning in school about

forms of government and world history and they hear about dictators, leaders who do

really bad things. And they're confused. We learn in church that we're supposed to love everyone,

but then sometimes grown-ups talk about people in politics or in history or even people in the

Bible, like they're so bad that we shouldn't love them. And sometimes we even hear them talk about how

someone should hurt or even kill some political leaders. And sometimes even in church, we hear

Bible passages that talk about kings and rulers really harshly. When I was a kid, I used to pray

for the former Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein, every day.

I heard grown-ups talk about him as an evil leader, but I also heard grown-ups talk in church about praying for our enemies

and that God could change people's heart, so I prayed he would turn to God and treat people better.

But I also remember someone at church telling me

I shouldn't pray for him because he was an evil man. So, does God still love dictators?

Let's start with what dictators even are. Dictators, most simply, are political rulers who have

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