FPI / October 16, 2024

Geostrategy-Direct

Karl Marx, the father of communism, defined religion as the “opium of the people.”

A church in Jiangxi features a prominent picture of Xi Jinping instead of religious imagery. / Bitter Winter

In his tract “The Communist Manifesto”, Marx stated that communism and religion were incompatible.

The Chinese Constitution guarantees freedom of religious belief, at least on paper.

A report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) says communist authorities in China have instituted new regulations forcing state-controlled religious organizations to incorporate communist ideology into every facet of religious life.

China’s government is cracking down on Catholic and Protestant churches in the country by ordering images of Jesus to be removed and replaced with photos of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping, according to the USCIRF report.

The officially atheist CCP has launched what the report calls a campaign of coercive “sinicization” of religion that is targeting all elements of spiritual activities in the country, according to a Washington Times report by security correspondent Bill Gertz.

“The government has ordered the removal of crosses from churches, replaced images of Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary with pictures of President Xi, required the display of CCP slogans at the entrances of churches, censored religious texts, imposed CCP-approved religious materials, and instructed clergy to preach CCP ideology,” said the report, made public last month.

Unofficial religious activities not sanctioned by the CCP have been outlawed as well.

The report said, however, that “tens of millions” of Christians have rejected the government-controlled churches and instead are worshiping independently.

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