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Most of Chinese Christians I have met are pro-Bush and pro-Western civilization. The remnants of Confucianism still infects China. When you layer Confucianism with Atheistic Communism you end up with confused thinking. Confucianism by the way is about the belief in luck and chance. Free will is not seen as being as important as in Judeo/Christian cultures.

Confucianism by the way is about the belief in luck and chance. Free will is not seen as being as important as in Judeo/Christian cultures.

Well, having studied Confucius, I would say this statement is partially correct. It's correct to say that free will is not seen as being as important. However, Confucius believed not so much in luck and chance as in fate and destiny. Any ex-followers you've met who think it's about chance either don't understand his teachings or have been taught by someone who misled them -- both of which are frequent problem for most philosophies.

Confucius emphasized ethics very heavily, and taught that rulers can only be great if they are of exemplary moral code and the highest integrity. Confucius can't be faulted for China's problems; they'd be doing far better than most nations if they'd actually listened to his teachings. An example of Confucius' solid grounding in principle: "Without steadfastness, a gentleman would not command respect, and his learning would not be sound. Advocating loyalty and trustworthiness, he has no friend who is not his equal. He would not hesitate to correct his faults." Quality advice from which any leader could benefit.

I know it's a minor point in the whole thing, but so few westerners understand the eastern philosophies, it sometimes seems that the issue is worth trying to illuminate. Maybe not, though. : )

p.s. - to any closed-minded readers: i'm not a confuciunist, i've just spent many years studying philosophy -- so no self-righteous condemnations in response to this post, please.