Christians face harassment and disruption in Beijing crackdown on religion, US government agency reports

In their effort to “exert total control” over religion and to “sinicise” Catholic and Protestant Christianity, the authorities have “ordered the removal of crosses from churches [and] replaced images of Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary with pictures of President Xi Jinping,” the report said.

The report concluded that “every facet of religious life for Buddhists, Catholics and Protestant Christians, Muslims, and Taoists” was facing pressure to incorporate CCP ideology, and religious elements considered contradictory to the state’s political agenda were being eradicated.

    • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
      191·
      3 months ago

      As a Muslim this is one of the times I’m glad paintings of humans and animals are haram in Islam. We don’t got none of that shit in mosques (or anywhere else, really).

        • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
          3·
          3 months ago

          I mean yes, but that only violates the sanctity of these mosques, which is to be fair a fucking atrocity as far as Islam is concerned. They are, however, unable to violate Islam itself, is what I’m trying to say.

      • Jin@lemmy.worldEnglish
        93·
        3 months ago

        Yeah Muslims are a bit sensitive when it comes these kinds of things

        • Maalus@lemmy.worldEnglish
          111·
          3 months ago

          That’s like saying “catholics are a bit sensitive when it comes to eating meat on fridays”. It’s a nonsense statement

          • Jin@lemmy.worldEnglish
            12·
            3 months ago

            Well you could look at incidence where things got out of hand like the “Muhammad cartoons crisis”.

            Or just look what happened in Sweden with the Quran

          • Danquebec@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            111·
            3 months ago

            I think Muslims take this more seriously because, as someone who grew up in a region where most people identified Catholic (and most of the rest just had no religion) but didn’t practice much, I wasn’t even aware of that rule.

            • Saleh@feddit.orgEnglish
              7·
              3 months ago

              It is quite weird with catholics also. You should not make an image of god is part of the commandments, yet there is all the depictions of some old bearded white dude like in the sixtine chapel.

              • the_toast_is_gone@lemmy.worldEnglish
                1·
                3 months ago

                Technically the “give something up for Lent” thing isn’t a requirement. It’s encouraged, as long as it’s actually leading you to be a better Christian, but it isn’t needed. The only requirements, in the US, are:

                1. On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, you fast from food. The minimum that counts is, basically, one meal and two snacks.
                2. On every Friday of Lent and also Ash Wednesday, you abstain from eating the meat of land-dwelling animals. In the US, the bishops have said it’s alright to substitute this penance with something else for the rest of the year; but during Lent, it’s a requirement.
      • Saleh@feddit.orgEnglish
        82·
        3 months ago

        Also Islam rejects intercessors. We pray to Allah s.w.t. and only to him. We asked for forgiveness for our sins from him and him alone. The prophets and messangers a.s. were all humans of best character and faith, which is why they were honored but also challenged with their tasks.

        This is why countries like China are particularly oppressive towards Islam. The faith is structured in a way that makes it more difficult to coopt it into exerting control over people for a government. Unfortunately we see (partly) successfull attempts at it like in Saudi Arabia. But they also control two of the holyest sites with Meqqa and Medina.

        If i understand correctly China is oppressing Buddhism more strongly too because it is also not well controllable. But i have to admit that i know little about the details of buddhist spirituality/religion.

        • lemme in@lemm.eeOPEnglish
          4·
          3 months ago

          Most religions in China get the same treatment from the CCP.

          Christian communities have had similar experiences.

          In 2016, thousands of crosses were torn down from churches throughout Zhejiang Province. The authorities have also broken up congregations that have not been approved by the state, while church leaders have been arrested and jailed.

          The demolition of domes, crosses and minarets and their replacement by Chinese-styled tiled roofs and Buddhist-styled pagodas. It involves mandatory patriotic education for Buddhist, Christian and Muslim clergy and it entails party-approved sermons and prayers.

          South of Xinjiang in Tibet, the authorities have restricted the practice of Tibetan Buddhism over the last decade. Religious festivals have been banned more frequently and government employees, teachers and students have been barred from participating in religious activities.

          https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/26/a-jealous-god-china-remakes-religions-in-its-own-image

        • friendlymessage@feddit.orgEnglish
          2·
          3 months ago

          There are many more examples than just Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan comes to mind but also many other Muslim countries use Islam and Shari’a law to control the population or use religious laws as an excuse for their authoritarianism. No religion is free of that.

        • vin@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
          31·
          3 months ago

          Rejecting intercessors has not worked out, has it? See Sunni vs Shia.

      • phar@lemmy.mlEnglish
        46·
        3 months ago

        That’s one of the dumber things I’ve heard today. Luckily it’s still early, plenty more dumb stuff to read.

          • phar@lemmy.mlEnglish
            1·
            3 months ago

            Neither? Being glad art is banned for any reason is dumb to me.

          • discount_door_garlic@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            3 months ago

            Whether they were condescending or not “militant athiesm” is a ridiculous hyperbole - people are free to believe whatever they want, just as anybody else is free to comment on that belief system when theyre not a part of it.

            • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
              2·
              3 months ago

              just as anybody else is free to comment on that belief system when theyre not a part of it.

              Yes, but “haha religion bad” is a trite point that contributes nothing to the discussion.