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China Bans Online Bible Sales as It Tightens Religious Controls

nytimes.com

11–20 of 150 posts

Re: China Bans Online Bible Sales as It Tightens Religious Controls

#11

This is bad. I get that religion has taboos, but religion also has an influence on morals. Yes, there are ways to be a good moral person without the Bible, but are we really giving people agency and the ability to choose if they are sensored? Human rights are human rights and as a human I should have the right to obtain a Bible if I so chose and live the consequences there of.

It's bad because of censorship, not because of any supposed good influence on morals by religion.

Re: China Bans Online Bible Sales as It Tightens Religious Controls

#12
post #3

What are the Chinese government so scared of! They have complete control in a way not possible in the West, I can’t really foresee how the state would be overthrown by the people there?

They are afraid of other power blocks and that's what churches really are when you strip away the veneer.

You can still see this all over Europe, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Poland, Germany, Ireland, England, Spain and Italy have very powerful religious entities, and in many other countries even though the religious fractions are not quite that powerful they still have lot of power to influence politics and life in general.

Re: China Bans Online Bible Sales as It Tightens Religious Controls

#13

That’s... just evil. Even atheists generally support people’s freedom to read and believe as they please.

"Even atheists"? Are atheists pretty evil, but not quite this evil? Are atheists well-known for being anti-freedom? Why "even atheists"?

I think just because atheists don’t tend to care for the book. But yeah we’re typically less in to banning books than religious people so it is an odd comment.

Re: China Bans Online Bible Sales as It Tightens Religious Controls

#14
post #6

The Heathens! It's been spiraling down for a while now. I know quite a few Chinese who moved from China to the U.S. now, while they can. A couple of them are LGBT, where it was made clear they weren't welcome - even with PhD's in Chemical Engineering and Physics.

And yes the US doesn’t always treat foreigners as welcome either. :-/

Re: China Bans Online Bible Sales as It Tightens Religious Controls

#15

That’s... just evil. Even atheists generally support people’s freedom to read and believe as they please.

Why "even atheists"? Historically, atheists are not even close to the biggest aggressors against Christians. That would be other Christians, probably followed by Muslims (during the ascendancy of the Caliphates).

Re: China Bans Online Bible Sales as It Tightens Religious Controls

#16

That’s... just evil. Even atheists generally support people’s freedom to read and believe as they please.

"Even atheists"? Are atheists pretty evil, but not quite this evil? Are atheists well-known for being anti-freedom? Why "even atheists"?

Athiests (the community) are known for being outspoken about the damage that certian religions have caused and are causing, but they're also known for supporting the free exchange of ideas including those that they think are harmful. Atheists (the definition) aren't known for anything because atheism doesn't demand any specific behaviors.

Re: China Bans Online Bible Sales as It Tightens Religious Controls

#17

That’s... just evil. Even atheists generally support people’s freedom to read and believe as they please.

"Even atheists"? Are atheists pretty evil, but not quite this evil? Are atheists well-known for being anti-freedom? Why "even atheists"?

Atheists have a reputation for being anti-religion. This certainly isn't inherent to Atheism or reflective of all Atheists. However, I have met many Atheists who were highly intolerant or disrespectful of religion.

Re: China Bans Online Bible Sales as It Tightens Religious Controls

#18

This is bad. I get that religion has taboos, but religion also has an influence on morals. Yes, there are ways to be a good moral person without the Bible, but are we really giving people agency and the ability to choose if they are sensored? Human rights are human rights and as a human I should have the right to obtain a Bible if I so chose and live the consequences there of.

I think you mean "there are ways to be a good moral person even with the Bible," ?

remember that every religion teaches intolerance to other beliefs. if not directly by simply suggesting it is the only truth.

Re: China Bans Online Bible Sales as It Tightens Religious Controls

#19
post #6

The Heathens! It's been spiraling down for a while now. I know quite a few Chinese who moved from China to the U.S. now, while they can. A couple of them are LGBT, where it was made clear they weren't welcome - even with PhD's in Chemical Engineering and Physics.

And yes the US doesn’t always treat foreigners as welcome either. :-/

No doubt... It's just strange China is literally chasing away some serious talent because they don't agree with their moral code.

Re: China Bans Online Bible Sales as It Tightens Religious Controls

#20
post #3

What are the Chinese government so scared of! They have complete control in a way not possible in the West, I can’t really foresee how the state would be overthrown by the people there?

They are afraid of other power blocks and that's what churches really are when you strip away the veneer. You can still see this all over Europe, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Poland, Germany, Ireland, England, Spain and Italy have very powerful religious entities, and in many other countries even though the religious fractions are not quite that powerful they still have lot of power to influence politics and life in ge…

The church has literally zero power to do anything in the UK.

We live in secular societies and I cannot believe your statement is provably true. No church/religion will ever go up against the power of the Chinese state, unless God herself returns to Earth...

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