When law and missionary work clash in China there can be harsh repercussions.
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China is a communist country with clear lines about the separation of church and state. Religion is not allowed in the public school system at any level. KeDaFu is an expat university professor who has been living, studying, and working in China for the last 12 years. He weighs in on a current problem of foreign missionaries attempting to convert Chinese students.
“All the professors at my university got an email about a month ago from the Dean. He was relaying a message from the local government that said, ‘Do not talk about religion in the classroom.’ This is one of few policies that comes from 人民广场 (People’s Park) that I agree with. After some investigation, I found a lot of problems and consequences.”
KeDaFu has had a wealth of experience traveling and studying social science around the world.
“In my experience I have found two types of religious people. Ones who disagree but respect your beliefs, and the other ones who try to convert you, ‘If you do not follow our path you will burn in hell for eternity,’ is exactly what I have been told from some of these bible-freaks here and at home. I heard stories about some 老外 (plural-colloquial for foreigners) who think its their mission in life to convert Chinese students at a public university. They are not allowed to do that in their home country, so why try it in a communist atheist one. They are breaking the law and making it bad for the ‘science’ professors here.”
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As we all know, we us must look at history sometimes to calibrate our contemporary methods and means. KeDaFu points us to a historical precedence which should be considered seriously when it comes to missionary work in the public forum of China.
“The last time this happened was about about 114-115 years ago in China. Foreign priests and their converts were hunted down and executed. The Chinese are still angry about this, and they can now resist the ‘barbarians’ a lot better.”
KeDaFu’s final advice for foreigners seeking to do religious work inside China:
“Religious freedom, religious persecution, missionary work, conversion. These are all hot topics of debate. However, when it comes to China, it is best that outsiders respect the local law. So please, keep your religion at home or in the church, or it could be your proverbial head on a spike.”
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Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Oyez, oyez! Missionaries are offensive per se; would that it were possible here in the West to get them to keep their delusions and fairytales and scoldy little high-handed sermons to themselves.