Posted on 11/03/2014 12:52:00 PM PST by SeekAndFind
THE coastal city of Wenzhou is sometimes called China’s Jerusalem. Ringed by mountains and far from the capital, Beijing, it has long been a haven for a religion that China’s Communist leaders view with deep unease: Christianity. Most cities of its size, with about 9M people, have no more than a dozen or so visibly Christian buildings. Until recently, in Wenzhou, hundreds of crosses decorated church roofs.
This year, however, more than 230 have been classed as “illegal structures” and removed. Videos posted on the internet show crowds of parishioners trying to form a human shield around their churches. Dozens have been injured. Other films show weeping believers defiantly singing hymns as huge red crosses are hoisted off the buildings. In April one of Wenzhou’s largest churches was completely demolished. Officials are untroubled by the clash between the city’s famously freewheeling capitalism and the Communist Party’s ideology, yet still see religion and its symbols as affronts to the party’s atheism.
Christianity is hard to control in China, and getting harder all the time. It is spreading rapidly, and infiltrating the party’s own ranks. The line is blurring between house churches and official ones, and Christians are starting to emerge from hiding to play a more active part in society. The Communist Party has to find a new way to deal with all this. There is even talk that the party, the world’s largest explicitly atheist organisation, might follow its sister parties in Vietnam and Cuba and allow members to embrace a dogma other than—even higher than—that of Marx.
(Excerpt) Read more at economist.com ...
It’s interesting to imagine there could be 250 million Christian Chinese by 2030.
Tell that to American liberals.
It will be a glorious day in heaven when all of God’s children shout “Halleluiah!” together.
“Some Chinese also discern in Christianity the roots of Western strength. They see it as the force behind the development social justice, civil society and the rule of law, all things they hope to see in China.”
American liberals know, that’s why they oppose Christianity, civil society and the rule of law.
Gets in the way of their communist proclivities.
ping
This is the most exciting, positive news possible, that God’s spirit is being poured out upon the Chinese people! Here, we are spiritually rotting, while these people are crying out for God’s Grace!
A number of my Chinese co-workers are Christians. They are very devout and extremely active in many church ministries.
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