Eric's Beijing Diary

Grace stopped by in a taxi and picked me up this morning, and we proceeded to a meeting at her company. Grace works for a publishing company that publishes childrens books. She is looking for ways to incorporate Christian ideas and stories into Children's curriulum. I told her I thought this was an excellent idea, especially given China's opening up in recent years.

China is not a Christian country, and never has been. But in today's China, there seems to be much more openness to people of faith, and the contribution they can make to the life and culture of this country. That refreshing change is certainly welcome to believers, and will, I believe, be a great benefit to Chinese society. Understandably, the government does have concerns about how religion can impact society in negative ways, and this concern is not always understood well by Americans, and others from the West. In America, the general belief is that people with strange ideas are not dangerous. American's are inclined to feel that an individual's religious beliefs are personal, and therefore no one else's business, and that individuals should not be discriminated against on the basis of their beliefs, as long as they to their jobs well, and don't bother others.

China has a different history. The Taiping Rebellion in the 19th Century was started by a young visionary who said that he was the "second son" of God. His movement grew to be a major rebellion threatening the empire, and eventually costing the lives of 10 to 20 million people. Most Westerners have limited awareness of the violence and bloodshed caused by bizarre religious beliefs here in China. It could be argued that the Cultural Revolution was an example of this, because the young people who roamed the country like a herd of army ants destroying the "four olds" were possessed by a religious fervor very similiar to the followers of Hong Xiuquan.

But if China feels uncomfortable with the idea of giving free rein to any and every religious idea, we can at least say that this country is much more open to allowing historical, time honored Christianity to have it's place in Chinese society. Though the situation such as it is may not be the perfect model of religious freedom, I certainly wouldn't present Amercan style religious freedom as a model. China doesn't have any "Benny Hinn" types traveling around the country taking money from desparate people. I hate to pick on one person, because he isn't the only one who has been guilty of that sort of thing; my point is that Benny Hinn's abuse of the non-profit tax law is obscene, but he will probably never be prosecuted, because what he is doing is completely legal under American law. It would not be legal in China. Still, there certainly are some things China can learn from the American experiment. But the solutions China comes up with need to be Chinese solutions for Chinese problems.