Posted on 03/09/2023 5:55:27 PM PST by marshmallow
"Smart Religion' app is a part of the government's monitoring and control of religious affairs, critics say
The authorities in a central province of Communist-ruled China have asked followers of all religions to register online for permission to attend all prayer services in religious worship places, reports a rights group.
The officials in Henan province recently issued a circular to implement an order that requires prior reservation and approval from the provincial religious department for anyone willing to attend services in churches, mosques, or Buddhist temples, ChinaAid reported on March 6.
Adherents of religions must make online reservations and appointments through an application called “Smart Religion” and they must select the venue to attend the services.
Applicants must fill in personal information, including name, phone number, ID number, permanent residence, occupation, and date of birth, before they can make a reservation.
The app, developed by the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Commission of Henan Province, does not allow religious keywords such as temple, mosque, Christianity, and Catholicism.
Henan is the third most populous province and has one of the largest Christian populations in China. About seven million of the province’s more than 98 million people are Christians, according to official data.
The majority of the Christians are Protestants belonging to various house churches based in rural parts of the province.
There are concerns that elderly people who do not know how to operate mobile phone applications to make reservations might be isolated. Officials, however, said the staff would help them in doing so.
ChinaAid reported that due to the requirement of permission, the number of Christians attending services in the churches has dropped.
Two Christians who asked not to be named told China Christian Daily that during a Sunday service at a church in Zhengzhou city, they were told not to......
(Excerpt) Read more at ucanews.com ...
And China is Russia’s BFF.
We are not much better. Democrats dream of this.
And people want us to be more like China.
IE less free and mobile and able to buy necessities. Oh, and like their housing fiasco, go broke by bail-ins, particularly on our banks.
Gavin Newsom’s wet dream.
We’re not far behind.
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