Christianity Inflicting ‘Enormous Harm’ on China, Warns Communist Party By LEAH MARIEANN KLETT for Gospel Herald
A local government communications agency in China recently held a seminar to discuss with Communist Party members the “enormous harm” Christianity is to the atheist nation and identify ways to stunt its growth.
According to Chinese Christian persecution watchdog China Aid, the event, titled “Christianity’s Enormous Harm on China’s Security,” was held on April 22 in the city of Hebi in China’s Henan province.
According to the NGO, the seminar encouraged party members to avoid being persuaded by Christian ideology and to sustain “correct views” when it comes to religion.
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“The Chinese government often views religions, including Christianity, as foreign attempts to undermine its rule, even though there is no evidential basis for such a claim,” China Aid reports. “As a result, they often try to suppress religious adherents, and they openly forbid Communist Party members from practicing a religion.”
UCANews.com reports that the Hebi Municipal Radio Administrative Bureau in Henan publicly admitted to holding the seminar on its WeChat page.
“It said the seminar was to help members correctly understand Christianity and prevent the occurrence of ideological deviations,” notes the outlet. However, the WeChat message was deleted only two days after it was released.
Fenggang Yang, a professor of sociology at Purdue University’s Center on Religion and Chinese Society, estimated in 2017 that there are anywhere from 93 million to 115 million Christians in a nation of over 1.3 billion people, reports the South China Morning Post. It’s estimated China is on track to have the largest Christian population in the world by 2030.
In efforts to control the growth and spread of Christianity, Communist authorities have shut down a number of prominent house churches and arrested Christians and church leaders for worshiping without the approval of the government. It has also cracked down on the online sale of Bibles; the Bible is printed in China but legally available only at church bookstores.
