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China Bans Online Bible Sales as It Tightens Religious Controls

nytimes.com

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

#21

Post by dragonwriter »

andy_ppp wrote: 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?

> What are the Chinese government so scared of! They have complete control in a way not possible in the West

And they rely very heavily on maintaining that, and vendors of competing ideologies are a threat to that.

> I can’t really foresee how the state would be overthrown by the people there?

If the history of authoritarian regimes being overthrown is any guide, with intense violence by both outsiders and non-top insiders of the current regime against top insiders andnl those who remain loyal to them. The risk per year is much lower than, say, the risk per year of the leadership of a western democracy being replaced, but the lifetime risk is probably reasonably concerning on the absence of active steps to destroy alternate sources of ideology and identity, and the consequences for the leadership should that risk be realized are quite severe.

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

#22

Post by hangonhn »

monochromatic wrote: post #2

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

This has nothing to do with religion or what people believe. This is about control. Religion is another source of authority, which the Chinese government will never tolerate. This is also why there is a campaign to promote the more traditional Confucian values: obedience to your elders and emperor (now replace emperor with government) and be a useful member of a hierarchy.

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

#23

Post by galieos_ghost »

For an authoritarian government to work long term they have to be the highest power. This is why the Soviets worked so hard to destroy the church as well as the concept of family, people who value god or family above the government are a threat. In effect the government has to become god.

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

#24

Post by vkou »

jacquesm wrote: post #12
andy_ppp wrote: 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…

Also, outside of Europe, the United States (Although church power there is not centralized in any one particular denomination.)

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

#26

Post by Quarrelsome »

Its worth noting the absolutely insane impact that cargo cult Christianity had on China which arguably caused the Chinese civil war. That might be some context as to why Christianity has been singled out?

EDIT: why would you downvote this?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Heavenly_Kingdom

From the source:

> A self-proclaimed convert to Christianity, Hong Xiuquan ... [claimed] ... that he was the second son of God and the younger brother of Jesus.

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

#27

Post by offhand2464 »

lawlessone wrote: post #8
monochromatic wrote: post #2

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

As an atheist i can't even see why they would ban it. It's a mish mash of traditional views, fallacies , contradictions and stories. Studying it should teach you see all these things.

To make a bad comparison, not everyone can develop antibodies upon mild exposure to a virus.

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

#28

Post by GuiA »

A friend of mine has a theory that as China grows in power, it will eventually push its own alternative calendar as an ideological statement, as the calendar we currently use is based on the birth of Jesus Christ, something the Chinese government does not particularly care about.

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

#29

Post by assblaster »

lawlessone wrote: post #8
monochromatic wrote: post #2

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

As an atheist i can't even see why they would ban it. It's a mish mash of traditional views, fallacies , contradictions and stories. Studying it should teach you see all these things.

The stories include a historical person named Jesus who started a new religion after he died and was seen by his followers being alive after he was dead. These followers went on to become martyrs voluntarily.

I think it's pretty obvious why the Chinese government is so afraid of the Bible, since historically, people's lives have been changed dramatically based on what is inside the Bible. The Bible can only lead to instability.

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

#30

Post by madengr »

lawlessone wrote: post #8
monochromatic wrote: post #2

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

As an atheist i can't even see why they would ban it. It's a mish mash of traditional views, fallacies , contradictions and stories. Studying it should teach you see all these things.

Ditto. By banning something, they just encourage people to seek it. Better to just expose the kookiness of all religions.
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