Sinicization of Religion - Chinas Coercive Religious Policy

[FlyersFan]

For those who wonder what sinicization of religion in China is - Sinicization, is the process by which non-Chinese societies or groups are acculturated or assimilated into Chinese culture.

We already know this but I thought I'd share the official statement from the US Government on the Chinese government interfering with religious freedom in the country of China.  They force religions to incorporate the communist rule and agenda into the religious rituals, services, media, ... everything.  Chinese nationalism and communism is integrated ... even to the point of rewriting bible passages.  As a note on Catholicism ... China appoints it's own bishops and calls them Catholic, and then tells the Vatican that they have to accept the people the Chinese government has appointed.  

Statement issued by the United States Commission of International Religious Freedom - 

Sinicization of Religion - Chinas Coercive Religious Policy

Under Xi Jinping’s rule as the paramount leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the government has implemented the coercive “sinicization of religion” policy, which has fundamentally transformed China’s religious environment. Sinicization, or the complete subordination of religious groups to the CCP’s political agenda and Marxist vision for religion, has become the core driving principle of the government’s management of religious affairs. Through regulations and state-controlled religious organizations, authorities incorporate CCP ideology into every facet of religious life for Buddhists, Catholic and Protestant Christians, Muslims, and Taoists. They also forcibly eradicate religious elements considered contradictory to the CCP’s political and policy agenda with ultranationalist overtones. Government officials have installed CCP loyalists as leading religious figures, altered houses of worship with CCP-approved architecture, integrated CCP propaganda into religious doctrines, and otherwise criminalized non-CCP-backed religious activities, all with the goal to ensure the stability of CCP rule. These government measures have routinely violated the internationally protected right to freedom of religion or belief.

Persecution.Org - Chinese Communist Party Rewrites Portions of the Bible

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government is rewriting portions of the Bible in an effort to increase its control over religion in country, according to U.S. Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI).  In a meeting of the House Select Committee on the CCP, Rep. Gallagher stated that Chairman Xi Jinping is on a “quest to make the faithful serve the party rather than God.”
 
Rep. Gallagher referenced a statement from Chairman Xi during the 19[sup]th[/sup] Party Congress in 2017 that declares the intent to pursue “the Sinicization of Chinese religions and provide active guidance for religion and socialism to coexist.” Besides attempting to control Christian doctrine and practice, the CCP is persecuting other Buddhist and Muslim ethnic minorities, according to Rep. Gallagher.
 
The CCP sees itself as possessing absolute authority over religion in China. For example, in 2018, the Vatican compromised with the CCP on the prerogative to appoint Roman Catholic clergy in China. Multiple sources have warned that the CCP aims to select the next Dalai Lama—the supreme leader of Tibetan Buddhism. Thus, the CCP forcing the church to be subservient to the state infringes the Western conception of religious liberty, which is founded on the Christian understanding of the church and the state as distinct institutions ordained by God.

[UltraBudgie]

With regards to the Dalai Lama, I recently watched Scorsese's 1997 film "Kundun", about the life of the Dalai Lama and the Chinese Cultural Revolution. It does not portray Mao in a good light.  A beautiful film, it flopped at the box office, as Disney's Michael Eisner bowed to Chinese pressure and limited distribution and pulled marketing.  It was released on Christmas day, in only two theaters.

China really annoys me at times.

[FlyersFan]

China Begins Ordering Crosses Taken Down From Churches Replaced with Pics of PResident Xi Jinping

(NCR) A new report details the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) efforts to “exert total control” over the Catholic Church and other religious faiths within its borders and to “forcibly eradicate religious elements” that the party deems contrary to its political and policy agenda.
 
The analysis, published by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) last week, asserts that the CCP’s “sinicization of religion” policy consistently violates the internationally protected right to freedom of religion. The term sinicization means to conform something to Chinese culture, but the policy essentially subordinates faiths to “the CCP’s political agenda and Marxist vision for religion,” according to the report.
 
Chinese officials have ordered the removal of crosses from churches and have replaced images of Christ and the Virgin Mary with images of President Xi Jinping, according to the report. They have also censored religious texts, forced members of the clergy to preach CCP ideology, and mandated to continue reading, ...

More at the link