Police in China remove church’s cross amid crackdown
9 replies, posted
[quote]Hundreds of police took down a church’s cross in eastern China early Monday amid a crackdown on church buildings in a coastal region where thousands of people are embracing Christianity.
Evangelist Qu Linuo, who belongs to another church, said hundreds of police showed up Monday at the Longgang Huai En Church in the city of Wenzhou and used a crane to remove the cross from its steeple. Qu said he and about 200 others had flocked to the church a few hours earlier to protect the church but peacefully made way for the police.
Qu said authorities told the church the cross violated building height limits. A man at Cangnan county’s public security office said he didn’t know anything about the incident. The Longgang township police didn’t answer phone calls.
Across Zhejiang province, where Wenzhou sits, authorities have toppled or threatened to topple crosses at more than 130 Protestant churches. In a few cases, the government has even razed sanctuaries.
Officials have said they’re only enforcing building codes, although often they won’t specify which ones. Church groups, however, say the government is targeting the fast-growing religion, which by official estimates has 23 million believers in China. The Pew Research Center estimated 58 million Protestants in the country practiced the religion in 2011, along with 9 million Catholics the year before.
Last week, parishioners at another church in Wenzhou successfully protected their cross from hundreds of police, said Zheng Changye, a 36-year-old member of another church who said he had rushed over to the scene. He said three people suffered serious injuries in the clash with police, and photos posted online showed several people bleeding from head injuries.
On Monday, other photos posted on the China social media site Weibo showed parishioners at the Longgang Huai En Church praying on its steps and holding banners reading “Anti-graft, anti-corruption, protect religion.”
Qu said authorities afterward returned the roughly 10-foot-tall, red cross to parishioners, who wept and prayed around it.[/quote]
[url]http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/police-in-china-remove-churchs-cross-amid-crackdown/article19800703/[/url]
Why did they need to send over a hundred police officers, I don't see why they care so much to oppress Christians over there with stuff like this.
Anything that says its more powerful than them threatens their power.
[editline]28th July 2014[/editline]
Its the same reason the Soviet Union stepped on religion.
[QUOTE=Swilly;45528139]Anything that says its more powerful than them threatens their power.
[editline]28th July 2014[/editline]
Its the same reason the Soviet Union stepped on religion.[/QUOTE]
The Soviet Union "repressed" religion because it conflicted with the communist worldview. And even with their atheist propaganda, they let religious people practice in peace as long as they kept it private and in the confines of the establishment. (i.e. no public religious events) The myth of the atheist state is just a myth - the Soviets never actually reached the point where they could totally remove religion.
[QUOTE=Swilly;45528139]Anything that says its more powerful than them threatens their power.
[/QUOTE]
Like every massive rebellion in Chinese history that has killed like 20 million people has involved some minority religion, Christianity, Taoism, Islam, etc. Kind of why the party cracks down on Fuong Gong, Buddhism and Islam pretty hard.
I imagine Christianity becoming one of the largest religions is scaring some higher up CCP officials.
The CCP power days are numbered, I can't see a communist socialist China lasting very longer
[QUOTE=Stopper;45528525]The Soviet Union "repressed" religion because it conflicted with the communist worldview. And even with their atheist propaganda, they let religious people practice in peace as long as they kept it private and in the confines of the establishment. (i.e. no public religious events) The myth of the atheist state is just a myth - the Soviets never actually reached the point where they could totally remove religion.[/QUOTE]
The more ya learn, didn't know that.
[QUOTE=Swilly;45528139]Anything that says its more powerful than them threatens their power.
[editline]28th July 2014[/editline]
Its the same reason the Soviet Union stepped on religion.[/QUOTE]
Communist ideas have always kinda conflict with religious views. The idea of communism is to eventually make all men equal, no class, no gods, no government, etc. Marxists try to use the state to remove other oppressive systems (capitalism, bigotry, religious superiority, and others), then dissolve it, but uh, it doesn't seem to have a very good track record.
[QUOTE=fruxodaily;45528933]The CCP power days are numbered, I can't see a communist socialist China lasting very longer[/QUOTE]
but we also said that about putin's government, sheeple will be sheeple and china if anything has a much better propaganda machine than russia
[QUOTE=Stopper;45528525]The Soviet Union "repressed" religion because it conflicted with the communist worldview. And even with their atheist propaganda, they let religious people practice in peace as long as they kept it private and in the confines of the establishment. (i.e. no public religious events) The myth of the atheist state is just a myth - the Soviets never actually reached the point where they could totally remove religion.[/QUOTE]
And it conflicts with their worldview because it threatens its power...
"As long as they kept it pr..."
Sounds like a bullshit justification, because one of the points of religion, specifically, Christianity, is to attend mass. And you can't attend mass if they are burning down, destroying and or keeping you away from churches.
OF course they never managed to totally remove religion, but to say that is to admit they tried to remove religion.
[QUOTE]The idea of communism is to eventually make all men equal, no class, no gods, no government, etc.[/QUOTE]
Don't want to mass debate this thread but it is an idea silly in itself.
Materially....ok, we could accept that
Intellectually, physically and socially there's no way you can make everybody equal. Someone is going to be behind someone in something and that creates space for power and conflict.
Nothing will happen. The Chinese will suck it up just like the Soviet people did
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