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Christians Among Communists
As history records and everyone remembers, the Soviet Empire collapsed in the late evening of the 20th century, approximately seventy years after its bloody birth in the 1917 Russian revolution. Looking back, one can see that its collapse should have surprised no one, because the dehumanizing system at work in the Soviet Union was rotting it from within, making it only a matter of time before it would eventually collapse. Its invincibility had been no more than a facade all along. The heart of the Soviet problem, and the font from which flowed all its other ills, was ideological. Karl Marx’s materialistic determinism denied the spiritual dimension of man and woman. Simultaneously, his atheistic disavowal of God’s existence and our dependence on him made it impossible for human beings to function as human beings. The only way the Soviet Union endured as long as it did was by the same Bolshevik brutality that launched it to power in the first place. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) learned from the Russians and launched their own revolution four years later. The impetus for this revolution had begun with what was popularly called the cultural revolution, which intended to open China up to Western influences, but which had the unintended consequence of throwing China into turmoil. Now, another revolution has been unfolding in China. As has been widely reported in recent times, China is attempting to blend free market economics with classic Marxist socialism. One of the untold stories of this new revolution is the large scale Christian conversion of the people of China. What is happening in China provides some valuable insights for us. According to Asia News, at least one-third of the 60 million members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) now belong to a religious organization, and half of them, some 10 million members, participate regularly in religious services. The Central Committee is not standing by passively, however. It is prohibiting party cadres from participating in religious activities, and is promoting Marxism and atheism. It recently invested 20 million euros in a campaign to revitalize Marxism. Yet, many members of the party are defending their religious faith, and saying: “Faith is a personal matter and we will never sell ourselves to the Party.” According to statistics of the CCP’s Disciplinary Commission, the number of cadres involved in religious activities in cities stands at 12 million, and among them, 5 million are regulars. In rural areas, 8 million CCP cadres attend religious events, and 4 million among them are regulars. In some cases, whole families are involved, and some local CCP organizations participate as a group. Reminiscent of the early persecuted Christians, various mid- and high-level cadres have set up rooms in their homes for use as underground church units, in order to avoid problems with their leadership. It appears that the increase in religious practice among its members has reached the point where it is beyond the Party’s control. The Central Committee has begun issuing formal notices prohibiting cadres from participating in religious activities, and threatening expulsion from the party, but to no avail, because there are so many people practicing religion. President Hu Jintao has reportedly said: “The corrosion of religious ideas into the Party organizations and members has transformed from subtle influence to open contention. It will change the mindsets of Party cadres and lead to a collapse in their faith in the Communist Party, exacerbating the decline in Party principles and further plunging the Party and state into various political and social crises.” What has led to this rise of religious faith in China? There are probably a number of contributing causes. The economy, which now allows private investment in and ownership of companies inclines people toward new realizations of their individual uniqueness, rights, and dignity. The old threats of economic deprivation as punishment f anyone who does not cow tow to the party line have lost their teeth, because people are finding new ways to be economically self-sufficient. Because of their growing economic independence, the Party is no longer able to capture people’s imagination and allegiance as a great protector and provider. By some estimates, rural membership in the party has dropped by 80%. Today, party membership has only limited value for many as a generic, but empty, symbol of good citizenship. What the economic transformation has done for the Chinese is to provide them with a freedom they had never known under collectivism. But this freedom would not in itself have led them to religious faith and practice. There must be something inherent in religion that has satisfied an unmet need. And this could only be the light that religious faith sheds on the ultimate meaning and purpose of our existence, and the religious moral code which alone adequately reflects, promotes, and defends the sacredness of human life and the dignity of every person. Once the seeds of truth and life are planted by religion, they grow and spread rapidly. That explains the explosive growth of Christianity in China today, just as it did in the first centuries after Christ. The Chinese are now learning what we have always known, and should never forget. Our faith is a most precious treasure, more important than anything else in life. Our souls can never know peace or happiness without God in our lives. The present season of Lent invites us to remember how much others have suffered for the faith, to be thankful for our religious freedom, and resolve to protect it, including the rights of conscience, against all encroachments. It is also a time to pray for those who have not yet come to believe, and to renew ourselves in the practice of the faith, lest we lose that priceless light which is our window unto God and eternity. +Bishop Raymundo J. Peña last updated 09-Jun-2010 10:44 sitemap |
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