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.

  • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
    18·
    14 hours ago

    Honestly, concerns over the possibility that religion might be a political opponent and trying to neutralize it by replacing figures with one’s own are not new.

    It’s just a little unusual to have it happening in 2024 between gods and secular leaders.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_syncretism

    Religious syncretism is the blending of religious belief systems into a new system, or the incorporation of other beliefs into an existing religious tradition.

    This can occur for many reasons, where religious traditions exist in proximity to each other, or when a culture is conquered and the conquerors bring their religious beliefs with them, but do not succeed in eradicating older beliefs and practices.

    • kent_eh@lemmy.caEnglish
      2·
      2 hours ago

      concerns over the possibility that religion might be a political opponent and trying to neutralize it by replacing figures with one’s own are not new.

      It’s been a pretty common thing that dictators have done throughout recorded history.

      It’s not about agreeing or disagreeing with the specifics of the church, it’s about eliminating divided loyalties.