Chinese Communist Party to commence nationwide crackdown on Christianity including Jehovah's Witnesses

by jwleaks 28 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  jwleaks

  8 October 2016

  China's governing Communist Party is set to launch a nationwide crackdown on the Christian Church.

  By Matthew Carney - ABC

  The Communist Party has just enacted much tougher laws that criminalise Christians if they do not pledge loyalty to the state.

  Chinese President Xi Jinping has warned that all religions now have to become "Chinese" and the new laws will attempt to bring churchgoers and their leaders under party control.

  The new laws will put the state firmly in charge, giving the Communist Party the ability to hire and fire church leaders and change religious doctrine to make it more Chinese...

  That means churchgoers will have to pledge loyalty to the Communist Party first.

  There is good reason to be afraid. Chinese Authorities have already started the crackdown in the Christian heartland in the southern province of Zhejiang.

  It's been extensive and brutal. In the past two years they have torn down nearly 2000 crosses and in some cases demolished churches.

  Church leaders and their followers have been arrested and imprisoned.

  There's also good reason to why the Communist Party is threatened by the Church.

  Some say there are 100 million Christians in China — that's more than Communist Party members.

  The Chinese Government admits there are about 25 million Christians registered at state-run churches where pastors are appointed by the state and theology approved by the governments Religious Affairs Bureau.

  ABC http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-08/chinese-communist-partys-crackdown-on-religion/7912140

  See also:

  New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/08/world/asia/china-religion-regulations.html

  Which stance will the governing body of jehovah's witnesses take:

  Option 1: abandon Chinese JWs (eg. By publicly stating it's a personal decision and then privately stating the opposite)

  Option 2: the Mexico approach

  Option 3: the Malawi approach

  Option 4: new light

  Option 5: have all the JWs around the world write to the PRC Communist leaders telling them to leave the JWs alone or jehovah will remove them (as they did to Hitler and the Nazi Party)

  Option 6: Use this as 'proof' the JWs are the true religion because of the persecution (never mind the fact that there are 40-70 million other so-called Christians in China)

  Option 7: Order Chinese take-out delivered to their boardroom and discuss whether the changshan dress, as worn by Chinese males, is suitable for Christians considering it is the male equivelent of the female cheongsam dress.
• 

  dropoffyourkeylee

  How many JWs are in China? Do they publish it?
• 

  rebel8

  1, 2, 5, 6, and 7

  I don't think they would pull a Malawi again, but who knows? It sure did people in other countries feel safe knowing they are in the one true religion that gets persecuted, without having to be persecuted themselves.

  I remember writing Malawi letters as you mentioned in #5, but I don't recall being aware of this happening with Hitler.

  You could make another option:

  Option 8: Write the Chinese government a letter saying how they support its ideals (like they did with Hitler).
  
• 

  Saename

  I don't quite understand (because of my lack of knowledge on the subject) options 2 and 3. What was the approach the Governing Body took in Mexico and Malawi? I would appreciate if someone could fill me in on the matter.

  Thanks in advance.
• 

  zeb

  sounds like a return to that terrible 'cultural revolution' .
  
• 

  jwleaks

  Re: Options 2 and 3

  Mexico vs Malawi

  By Paul Grundy

  Many faithful Jehovah's Witnesses have died obeying the Watchtower stance on neutrality. This article shows the tragedy that occurred when Malawian Witnesses were hypocritically forced to uphold a higher standard than was expected of those in Mexico, or by the Governing Body themselves.

  Religion becomes most culpable when its rules lead to the death of its followers. In ancient times this was as blatant as human sacrifice; in modern times it is subtler, such as forbidding medical treatment. Graphic representation of this in Watchtower history has been the devastating torture and murder of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Malawi during the 1970’s and 1980’s. Most disturbing is that the doctrine enforced in Malawi is misguided and was not applied consistently in different countries.

  When reading Crisis of Conscience by Raymond Franz, chapter 6 titled “Double Standards” disturbed me more than any other. Here was explained how a Watchtower doctrinal principle that lead to the torture and death of 1000’s of Malawian Witnesses was excused for those in Mexico. Malawian Witnesses suffered unspeakable atrocities due to following the Watchtower’s illogical policy forbidding them to hold a political card in a one party state. During the same period, Witnesses in Mexico were permitted to bribe officials for a Cartilla card in order to escape military service.

  See below link for full article:

  http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/malawi-mexico-oath-allegiance.php
  
• 

  Saename

  Thanks for the link. I'll read it immediately. Seems interesting.
• 

  smiddy

  What with our conditioning when we were JW`s ,this news may have had a big impact on our thinking about the time we are living in ,when in reality , its no big deal .

  Its just another little ripple in the pond of life ,we were conditioned to believe that any little thing that happened in the scheme of things in life , political ,religious ,or military wise , was a sign we were living in the last days .

  When you stop and seriously consider it ,how ridiculous. ! When you consider the history of the world of any nation or groups of nations , their has`t been a time when something significant or major was occurring.

  And had we been living then we may have concluded it was fullfillment of Bible prophecy.

  Nothing to see here move on , live your life and enjoy it.
• 

  redpilltwice

  Saename, if you are not familiar with the Mexico/ Malawi scandal yet... welcome to TTATT! That story is gruesome to read and a real eye-opener. You will be shocked about the blood on the hands of the WT.
• 

  Bonsai

  Fei cheng hao! 非常好！