Christians face harassment and disruption in Beijing crackdown on religion, US government agency reports

In their effort to “exert total control” over religion and to “sinicise” Catholic and Protestant Christianity, the authorities have “ordered the removal of crosses from churches [and] replaced images of Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary with pictures of President Xi Jinping,” the report said.

The report concluded that “every facet of religious life for Buddhists, Catholics and Protestant Christians, Muslims, and Taoists” was facing pressure to incorporate CCP ideology, and religious elements considered contradictory to the state’s political agenda were being eradicated.

    • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
      161·
      6 days ago

      As a Muslim this is one of the times I’m glad paintings of humans and animals are haram in Islam. We don’t got none of that shit in mosques (or anywhere else, really).

        • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
          3·
          5 days ago

          I mean yes, but that only violates the sanctity of these mosques, which is to be fair a fucking atrocity as far as Islam is concerned. They are, however, unable to violate Islam itself, is what I’m trying to say.

      • Jin@lemmy.worldEnglish
        93·
        6 days ago

        Yeah Muslims are a bit sensitive when it comes these kinds of things

        • Maalus@lemmy.worldEnglish
          111·
          6 days ago

          That’s like saying “catholics are a bit sensitive when it comes to eating meat on fridays”. It’s a nonsense statement

          • Jin@lemmy.worldEnglish
            12·
            6 days ago

            Well you could look at incidence where things got out of hand like the “Muhammad cartoons crisis”.

            Or just look what happened in Sweden with the Quran

          • Danquebec@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            101·
            6 days ago

            I think Muslims take this more seriously because, as someone who grew up in a region where most people identified Catholic (and most of the rest just had no religion) but didn’t practice much, I wasn’t even aware of that rule.

              • the_toast_is_gone@lemmy.worldEnglish
                1·
                5 days ago

                Technically the “give something up for Lent” thing isn’t a requirement. It’s encouraged, as long as it’s actually leading you to be a better Christian, but it isn’t needed. The only requirements, in the US, are:

                1. On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, you fast from food. The minimum that counts is, basically, one meal and two snacks.
                2. On every Friday of Lent and also Ash Wednesday, you abstain from eating the meat of land-dwelling animals. In the US, the bishops have said it’s alright to substitute this penance with something else for the rest of the year; but during Lent, it’s a requirement.
      • phar@lemmy.mlEnglish
        45·
        5 days ago

        That’s one of the dumber things I’ve heard today. Luckily it’s still early, plenty more dumb stuff to read.

          • phar@lemmy.mlEnglish
            1·
            4 days ago

            Neither? Being glad art is banned for any reason is dumb to me.

          • discount_door_garlic@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            5 days ago

            Whether they were condescending or not “militant athiesm” is a ridiculous hyperbole - people are free to believe whatever they want, just as anybody else is free to comment on that belief system when theyre not a part of it.

            • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
              2·
              5 days ago

              just as anybody else is free to comment on that belief system when theyre not a part of it.

              Yes, but “haha religion bad” is a trite point that contributes nothing to the discussion.