Chinese Christian Churches are being forced to replace Crosses with the national flag atop their buildings and are being forced by authorities to replace images of Jesus and the cross inside the Church with pictures of Xi Jinping.
China Aid is reporting that churches throughout Xinyu County and Jiangxi have received official orders from the communist government to display the national flag on top of their buildings and to post pictures of Xi Jinping as well as posters with socialist values throughout their buildings.
In addition, children have been banned from attending church, furthermore, if localās fail to follow the governmentās instructions, the allowance for low-income nationals will be cut.
Locals have reported that in another area of Jiangxi, more than forty churches were forced to hang slogans that said: āNon-locals are prohibited from preaching; no underage people allowed in church.ā
Chinaās Global Times Newspaper was quoted saying, in regards to the matter; āAll religious venues should raise Chinaās national flag to strengthen awareness of respect to the flag and preserve the flagās dignityā¦..places of worship [that] do not follow the practice could face scrutiny.ā
Earlier this year, China initiated restrictions on religious freedom, with the goal of creating a state-sanctioned Christianity. The regulations place the state before God.
āChinaās Policies and Practices on Protecting Freedom of Religious Belief,ā religious leaders āmust conduct religious activities in the Chinese context, practice core socialist values, carry forward the fine traditions of the Chinese nation, and actively explore religious thought which conforms to the reality in China.ā
An Open Doors researcher stated in regards to the matter that the Communist party āā¦.believes the Church is a de-stabilizing force, but not because it is bad; in fact, local communities and authorities tend to believe Christians are good people. Some suggest that because Christiansā allegiance is first and foremost to God and not the Communist Party, there is a conflict of interests that the party believes can potentially hinder the process of unification. Others are more concerned by what they perceive as potential āchaosā arising from the huge number of Christians.ā
Chinaās actions against Christians are similar to what was conducted under the former Communist mass-murderer Mao Zedong and are similar to what was done under Stalin and the Soviet Union.
The persecution in China is not particularly because of the partyās leader Xi Jinping; rather, the actions are in line with Socialist and Communist principles and values.
In the majority of cases, throughout history, Christians are persecuted by regimes, who place state before person or ācollective rightsā before individual rights, and such is wildly present in regards to socialism and communism.
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