generalspeaking

Chinese Churches Under Threat

"We call on the Zhejiang government to immediately terminate its 'Cross and Church Demolition' campaign."
"Christianity has been practised in China for more than 1,000 years and has become a part of society. The sudden government order ... represents a gross interference in the beliefs and practises of worshippers."
"We hope the government will terminate this demolition campaign immediately. We are worried more churches will be affected."
Chinese Christian petition

According to one of the petition's authors, Zheng Leguo, over three hundred religious leaders had signed the petition in the 24 hours since an electronic version of it began its circulation. China can no longer practise its traditional stern control over information and communication, thanks to the Internet which links and bonds people, giving them the comfort of numbers engaged in a communal struggle to survive attacks by the state against the values they hold most dear.

Ten places of worship in Zhejiang province have been threatened with demolition or with the threat of enforced removal of crosses considered too controversially conspicuous to be overlooked by the communist overseers. Inspiring in Christians in eastern China the need to embark on an aggressive protest campaign to convince communist party leaders to abandon their "ill-conceived", invasively punishing enterprise of church demolition.

Located 370 kilometres south of Shanghai, Wenzhou with its seven million residents host about 15% church faithful, those who regularly attend, the majority of whom are Protestant. British missionaries had set up churches there in the 19th Century and the spires of those churches and the red crosses atop them remain on the skyline. Claims have surfaced that party chiefs had begun a campaign against the large Christian community in Zhejiang.

Leading thousands of the faithful to occupy the Sanjiang church located in the port city of Wenzhou, colloquially recognized as the "Jerusalem of the East", after local officials had issued a threat to demolish the church. Chinese have certainly become more assertive of their rights, of late. Perhaps an outcome of a new premier who appears to be somewhat less authoritarian than his predecessors, perhaps spurred by an ease in communication through social media.

While "house" churches, conventionally non-compliant with Communist Party rules, have been subjected to crackdowns, like one in 2000 where hundreds of churches and temples were demolished across Zhejiang, the Sanjiang church is part of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement representing China's officially sanctioned, government-controlled Protestant Church. Such protests are not known to occur from among establishment churches.

According to Mr. Zheng, there is good reason for the collective and impressively determined protests. Other churches were facing threats as well, with demolition orders served to churches elsewhere in the province, including Taishun, Wencheng and Ruian, as published by the South China Morning Post.  A petition circulating between religious leaders accused local officials of "gross interference" in religious freedoms.

There is an official guarantee in China's constitution of freedom of religion for Chinese citizens. Mr. Zheng sweeps aside that official guarantee scoffingly mentioning that officials use charges to hinder the growth of churches, such as illegal occupation of land, illegal business operation, and illegal construction. Simply put, the Communist Party remains fearful of the growth of religion, as a threat to their longevity.

Labels: China, Christianity, Communism, Human Relations, Threats

posted by Pieface @ Thursday, April 10, 2014