March 8, 2004
A LIGHT IN ASIA:
China opens door to Christianity - of a patriotic sort: Beijing more or less publically admits to the popularity and benefits of spirituality. (Robert Marquand, 3/08/04, CS Monitor)
Yao Chun works for an upscale private firm, has a polished "corporate" persona, and loves China. But as an evangelical Christian he also loves the Gospels, which he encountered as a student in the US, describing them as "a light I never experienced before." In China, his strong faith makes for life in a gray zone of semilegality.He visits the largest official church in Beijing, but the crowds on Sunday often force him into the basement with a closed circuit screen. "We feel strange praying to a TV," he quips. Mostly, Yao attends an illegal "home church." The small group rents an apartment for Sunday services and weekday study. The Bible study is most frowned upon since officials feel such gatherings can incubate dissent, Yao says. So he and friends sing and pray in low voices.
Yet despite the challenges of practicing Christianity in China, there are signs that the once near pariah faith is being given more latitude. Most striking is what appears to be a public admittance by Beijing that Christianity is not only on the rise but is growing rapidly - and that the church is benefiting a spiritually hungry population that is growing more "individualistic."
The change is part of a new official formula that is fitfully taking shape here: a basic and perhaps grudging acceptance of faith, including low-level experiments with religious exchange abroad - so long as Chinese believers profess loyalty and patriotism to the state.
"Christianity is growing quickly here, faster maybe than in any other part of the world," says Gao Ying, vice president of the Beijing Christian Council. "Individualism is growing, and people need to feel love and community."
If the Chinese are smart enough to learn from the secular West's mistake and recognize that only Judeo-Christian faith can maintain community as the forces of individualism are set loose, they truly will be a great nation one day--perhaps more like America than like the dying nations of Europe. Posted by Orrin Judd at March 8, 2004 3:18 PM
The interesting thing to me is that the Chinese government, politically speaking, might in at least one respect find evangelical Christianity a better fit for its "patriotic" purposes than Catholicism. After all, hasn't the (ostensible, anyway) Chinese government objection to the Catholic Church been that the Vatican insists on its right to appoint the bishops and priests? That problem doesn't obtain with evangelicals.
Posted by: Joe at March 8, 2004 5:41 PMCan't trust the BBC, I suppose, but it reports the BJP is poised to take an absolute majority of the the Parliament of rapidly Christianizing India, on a platform of excluding all but Hindus from public affairs.
Posted by: Harry Eagar at March 8, 2004 7:50 PMaction meet reaction
Posted by: oj at March 8, 2004 8:32 PMThis article is wishful thinking.
The "official" Christianity in China is effeminate - a lot of the foundation has been gutted. The state version does not allow for mention of salvation, repentance, and the second coming. The 'house' churches are where the faith is being spread.
The national government does allow for spirituality, but primarily because the ancient animist beliefs are dying as China modernizes. The 'house' churches are persecuted by the local authorities (with Beijing's silent encouragment) and things are worse now than 10 years ago. It is true that there are probably more Christians in China than in North America, and their number will grow, but Beijing wants to hold the cards.
Besides, there are only a very limited number of "official" churches in Beijing (one when I was there); a few thousand people attending a sterilized service once a week is not going to impact a nation of 1.2 billion. But the underground churches will.
Posted by: jim hamlen at March 9, 2004 3:46 AMYes, that explains why the largely non-Christian nations of Asia like Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, etc. have done so well. Or let's see, one of the most successful commercial centers on the planet - Hong Kong. It also explains why despite the tremendous piety and non-secularism of Latin America, that that region is so full of clusterf[lip]s. Indeed, to think about it, Eastern Europe is full of Christians, I mean chock full of them really, yet that region of world lags far behind the Asian tigers which are mostly non-Christian. Indeed, the fastest growing economies on the planet are by and large non-Christian; which should tell you something about your theory. Really, think about what the hell you are writing about before you write it.
Posted by: Gary Gunnels at March 10, 2004 2:28 AMGary-
Possibly the British Empire had something to do with it? The corelation between a former British presnce or their absence is more telling than the spin you employ.
I believe the British Empire considered itself a "Christian" and civilizing enetrprise in addition to its mercantalism.
Posted by: Tom C., Stamford,Ct. at March 10, 2004 3:54 PM