Forum18 – The role of Chinese local authorities in religious freedom violations is often documented. On 2 August 2005, local public security officials in the province of Hubei raided a fellowship of 41 Protestant house church pastors and members, which included two American seminarians, in a private house. The China Aid Association reported that the two Americans were released after seven hours of interrogation, while the 41 Chinese Christians were briefly imprisoned and some were beaten by prison officials On 25 July, the Cardinal Kung Foundation reported, police in Fujian province raided the home of Father Lin Daixian, a priest of the underground Catholic Church loyal to the Vatican, where he was celebrating Mass. Police ransacked his home and detained him. Also arrested were a seminarian and nine parishioners. Several of those present were beaten and injured in the violent raid, before the priest and his companions were taken to a local prison. Other than the obvious fact that all these incidents were religious freedom violations, the common factor is that local authorities were the primary culprits. Indeed, it is by now conventional wisdom that significant regional variations characterise the pattern of religious freedom violations. Although this conventional wisdom is not supported by any data produced by systematic surveys, anecdotal evidence generally supports this observation. For example, in Henan and Hebei provinces – where unregistered Christian communities, both Protestant and Catholic, proliferate – countless attacks by local authorities against members of these communities have been recorded. It is also common knowledge that the Shanghai municipality has the strictest regulations on religious affairs and one of the most active governmental enforcement of these regulations in all of China . Yet similar reports of state repression have not surfaced in other parts of the country. Moreover, the patterns of religious freedom violations even lack uniformity within the provinces mentioned above [
FEATURED
Stifling the Praise of God
02/02/2023 Washington D.C. (International Christian MORE
TRENDING
FACEBOOK FEED
Jeff King's book, "Last Words of the Martyrs" is LIVE and available to purchase at a special rate - 99¢ on Kindle or $5.99 for paperback:
www.amazon.com/Last-Words-Martyrs-Spiritual-Believers-ebook/dp/B0BT877F3C/ref=sr_1_3
This deal will only be available for a few more days! If you have been longing for a way to live, really live, for Christ by magnifying your faith and ministry on this earth, grab your copy now.
Here's what one reader shared:
"The Last Words of the Martyrs tell the courageous stories of people who are committed and dependent on our Lord in ways few in the West have ever been. Even more importantly for us in the church, to "translate" what occurred into lessons for us to better understand, and then apply in our walk with the Lord. One lesson is that God uses what is clearly evil, and builds His Church in persecuted areas of the world. Many in the West have become too comfortable in our ease, busyness, and distractions to even consider getting out of our comfort zone to be salt and light for Jesus, to our dark and darkening culture, to reach out to people that God loves to be reconciled to."
... See MoreSee Less
- Likes: 6
- Shares: 2
- Comments: 0
Since 2013, an estimated 2,000-3,000 crosses have been torn down from churches in the Zhejiang province, exemplifying the negative perceptions and actions taken against believers in China.
www.persecution.org/2018/10/11/crosses-catholic-church-removed-spite-signed-vatican-china-deal/
... See MoreSee Less