China's Communists asked to give up religion
19 July 2017 6:36 PM GMT
In a controversial move, China's ruling Communist Party has directed its nearly 90 million members to shun religion for maintaining party unity, warning that religious belief is a "redline" for the cadres and those who resist would be punished.
The head of China's top religious affairs regulator said that party members should not seek value and faith in religion and those who have religious beliefs should be persuaded to give them up.
Experts said the direction is meant to maintain party unity, the official media reported on Wednesday.
"Party members should not have religious beliefs, which is a redline for all members...Party members should be firm Marxist atheists, obey party rules and stick to the party's faith...they are not allowed to seek value and belief in religion," Wang Zuoan, director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) wrote in an article released in the Qiushi Journal on Saturday, the flagship magazine of the CPC Central Committee.
Officials who have religious faith should be persuaded to give it up, and those who resist would be punished by the party organisation, Wang wrote.
The order came as the CPC, which has about 88.76 million members, geared up to hold its 19th Congress expected to be in October this year in which President Xi Jinping who heads the party and the military is likely to get elected for another five-year term.
Wang said the party members are also forbidden from supporting or getting involved in religious affairs in the name of developing the economy or diversifying culture.
Elaborating on the new order by the party, Zhu Weiqun, chairman of the Ethnic and Religious Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said "It is important that Wang constantly reminds Party members not to have religious beliefs. Some people who claim to be scholars support religious beliefs in the party, which has undermined the party's values based on dialectical materialism."
"Once the party's values are damaged, party unity, as well as the party's basic policy to regulate religions, would be sabotaged," Zhu told state-run Global Times.
Wang also stressed the need for a firm political direction in managing religious affairs.AGENCIESChina's Communists asked to give up religion
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