Christianity on the Rise in ChinaThis BBC News article is interesting. I found myself surprised at how similar the Chinese government's policy on religious tolerance is, compared to my own. The most direct overlaps are in bold:
They report to the State Administration for Religious Affairs. They are forbidden to take part in any religious activity outside their places of worship and sign up to the slogan, "Love the country - love your religion."
In return the Party promotes atheism in schools but undertakes "to protect and respect religion until such time as religion itself will disappear".
I don't agree with the Chinese government on much, but this is a welcome exception. However, one of the reasons Christianity is thriving in China is that the government doesn't get a lot of its other policies right, and does a particularly poor job of promoting an enriching cultural ethos. The BBC article also mentioned the country's naked embrace of capitalism, which, due to its poor execution, has damaged the fabric of society and sent people looking toward non-material authorities for the usual reassurances.
Also mentioned, and worth reiterating, is the influence of fundamentalist evangelicals. China has been bombarded by Christian missionaries for decades (I even have friends among those ranks), and, by its nature, fundamentalist evangelism spreads like a virus wherever in the world it can take hold. Additionally, the Vatican is apparently engaged in its time-tested strategem of undermining national governments in secret.
Will China resist? The government and individual citizens had better start thinking about this, because Christianity always imposes itself on a society when it goes ignored for long enough.
