Posted on 02/28/2005 2:01:01 PM PST by s_asher
China Enacting New Regulations on Religion By ALEXA OLESEN, Associated Press Writer
BEIJING - China is implementing new regulations that the government says will protect freedom of faith. Critics contend that the broad guidelines could instead be used to persecute religious groups deemed troublesome by authorities.
The guidelines, to take effect Tuesday, are meant to give a legal framework for China's constitutional promise of freedom of religion, state media have reported.
Under existing laws, communist authorities allow worship only in state-monitored churches, temples or mosques. Millions of believers attend unauthorized services, often in private homes, but are subject to arrest and harassment.
China, which will convene its annual legislative session Saturday in Beijing, has banned many religious or spiritual groups, including the Falun Gong (news - web sites) movement and churches loyal Pope John Paul (news - web sites) II. It also tightly controls Tibetan Buddhism.
A lengthy 48 articles and seven chapters, the new Regulations on Religious Affairs cover everything from how licensed organizations can accept religious donations and claim tax exemptions to how religious institutions may accept foreign students, among other topics.
The new rules say that "anyone who compels citizens to believe in or not believe in any religions ... shall be ordered to make corrections by the religious affairs department" and could face criminal charges, the state-run newspaper China Daily said.
Such language could be used to persecute the faithful, said Nicolas Becquelin, research director of the New York-based Human Rights in China.
"The law purports to protect 'normal' religious activities which in effect means religious activities expressly authorized by the state through a system of compulsory licensing and mandatory inspections," he said.
Becquelin said overly broad regulations have been used as a pretext to "suspend, ban, suppress, religious congregations as well as fine, detain or arrest religious practitioners."
Other foreign observers say the outcome of the new rules remains uncertain.
Egil Lothe of the Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief, a nonprofit Norwegian group, said the regulations offer "an improvement on present practices," because they give clearer procedures for registering religious groups and institutions.
But, "to what extent the regulations will change other aspects of Chinese policies on religion remains to be seen," Lothe added.
The U.S. State Department said in a 2003 report that China "tries to control and regulate religious groups to prevent the rise of groups that could constitute sources of authority outside of the control of the government and the Chinese Communist Party."
The report called the government's respect of religious freedom "poor."
I read that we now have religious schools, mandrassas they call it? popping up allover the US, using textbooks authored by Sheik Saleh Al-Fawzan, who wrote slavery is part of Islam, and enslavement of conquered nonbelievers is acceptable. His textbooks are used by 5 million students world wide, from Saudi Arabia to Los Angeles.
Should freedom of speech and worship be extended to religions that openly advocate, recruit, and convert your friends, neighbors, & children to believe that they should conquer you and enslave you for being a nonbeliever?
If we opt to not allow it, will our government send agents to monitor church/temple activities like China, and tell them what they can and cannot preach?
You've been here before, haven't you?
Sarcasm in the 'Public Schools'?
I'm interested in your opinion.
Do you believe the government should determine what religious institutions can and cannot preach?
I've always taken pride in the fact that this is the freest country in the world, where you cannot overthrow the government in action, but you have the freedom to talk about it or even write a book on it.
But lately I've realized that we tolerated groups such as the American Communist Party because they have no realistic possibility of winning elections and taking over the government. If they were a real and vaiable political force, I think we'd have banned them already.
Is my opinion incorrect?
Well as the government gets more and more left, it will happen. The more left, the more muslim, the more left the less freedom.
I laughed so hard that I actually farted! Dare I continue reading the rest of the story? Im sure my co-workers hope not.
Instead of what - what they do, presently, and have for decades?
There's one thing worldwide Communism opposes, and so modern day western leftism as well - and Fulton Sheen wrote about it - religion, and specifically Catholicism (though its been weakened under the two PC Popes). For all their changing rhetoric, and 'plans', and 'third ways', and what have you, the Commies are consistently, militantly atheistic or pagan, and opposed to Christianity. The latter is the 'rulebook' for life, the statement of the one great choice we all make in this life, our purpose in being here, and the structure for a just and civil society, and so on. The former is a manmade substitute, bound to tyranny and oppression, injustice posing as 'justice', political correctness, liberalism in most all forms, and the future which is opposed by most on FR and all reasonable people of Faith.
There are plenty of religious people who are communists. For an example look at any Israeli kvutzah or kibuttez. The nature of its collective-ownership and raising of children by the community is far beyond simple sharring of resources at a nunnery.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_communism
The difference between our system and a typical communist government from 20th century is that, the communist government will nip "deviants" in the bud, while we tolerate all kinds of hippies as long as they don't become a major problem. If a group of religious folks want to form a commune, they're free to do so as long as they can afford it and don't break laws. But if a majority of Americans want to adopt Amish lifestyle tomorrow and cause a huge drop in tax revenue, I think the government will step in and do something about it, like requiring their kids to attend high school.
That's a very interesting argument you make. Waco comes to mind.
However, concerning China, since there is really no rule of law, what's written on paper really does not matter.
Because of its communist government, china and freedom are mutually exclusive. I will not belive any news of reform unless I actually see it happen.
There are no Catholic Communists. There may be posers, who are Communists posing as Catholic. You see a lot of that in the 'liturgical publishing' circles. But you didn't read what I said. I said for ALL the changes they make, for all the variations in their 20-year-occupation plans, for all the 'openness' and the eventual crack-down, one thing stays the same - their antipathy to the Faith.
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