Originally published on the CGS blog on February 6, 2015.
Both religious tolerance and suppression have been common throughout China’s history, depending on who was ruling at the time. This is true regardless of the religion in question, including but not limited to Christianity.
Typically, if the ruler believed that philosophies or religious doctrines would hinder his interests, he would persecute followers of those creeds, destroying religious structures and documents. The Qin Dynasty, which lasted from 221 to 206 BCE, was particularly notorious for persecuting Confucian followers and destroying Confucian texts.
This does not mean that history must always repeat itself. However, the current Chinese Communist Party is following a historical cycle in China where the ruling party seeks to crush or co-opt possible religious opposition to their rule.
The Chinese Communist Party gets particularly concerned when other groups that could potentially oppose it become much larger than its own membership, which now stands at 83 million. Today, there are also an estimated 70 million Chinese Christians over the age of 16.
China recently has been destroying both official and unofficial churches (underground house churches) under current President Xi Jinping, who is seeking to suppress possible opposition. In some ways this is similar to what happened under Mao Zedong during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), although it hasn’t become as aggressive.
The government has also been removing large crosses from several churches, claiming that under building and safety codes that they cause a driving hazard, even though it’s obvious what the real purpose is.
China needs separation of religion and state with a general agreement among its population to coexist peacefully, regardless of religious identity, so that the cycle of religious intolerance and suppression can come to end.
Hopefully China’s evangelical movement is full of members dedicated to a peaceful, religiously pluralistic China, especially if they believe it should be one’s heart that chooses one’s religion, rather than the state dictating who, what, and how to worship.
Organizations such as China Aid established by Bob Fu, a Chinese evangelical Christian pastor, are dedicated to achieving greater religious freedom in China–not only for Christians, which is its main focus, but for all religions. China Aid’s sister site Monitor China provides updates on persecution against followers of all religions in China.
If China’s growing evangelical movement can engage in interfaith dialogue and cooperation and set up the institutions for tolerance and appreciation of religious diversity, the world may eventually see a religiously democratic China.
