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.

  • @[email protected]English
    11•2 months ago

    I think Muslims take this more seriously because, as someone who grew up in a region where most people identified Catholic (and most of the rest just had no religion) but didn’t practice much, I wasn’t even aware of that rule.

    • @[email protected]English
      7•2 months ago

      It is quite weird with catholics also. You should not make an image of god is part of the commandments, yet there is all the depictions of some old bearded white dude like in the sixtine chapel.

      • @[email protected]English
        1•2 months ago

        Technically the “give something up for Lent” thing isn’t a requirement. It’s encouraged, as long as it’s actually leading you to be a better Christian, but it isn’t needed. The only requirements, in the US, are:

        1. On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, you fast from food. The minimum that counts is, basically, one meal and two snacks.
        2. On every Friday of Lent and also Ash Wednesday, you abstain from eating the meat of land-dwelling animals. In the US, the bishops have said it’s alright to substitute this penance with something else for the rest of the year; but during Lent, it’s a requirement.