Christians in China forced to renounce their faith and put portraits of Chairman Mao and President Xi Jinping
In the midst of the covid-19 crisis, the Christian church stills faces persecution. According to reports, Christians don’t have liberty to express their faith the way they would like in this nation.
Recent reports show how the goverment are not only forcing them to renounce their faith but also to put portraits of Chairman Mao and President Xi Jinping. If they refuse to do what the government wants, the are in danger to lose their welfare benefits.
In April, officials with China’s Communist Party went to the houses of Christians in Linfen and ordered the ones who receive social welfare payments from the government to replace crosses, religious symbols, and images in their homes with portraits of communist leaders.
Officials cancel the benefits of Christians if they refuse to obey the order
“All impoverished households in the town were told to display Mao Zedong images. The government is trying to eliminate our belief and wants to become God instead of Jesus,” a local pastor told Bitter Winter.
A member of a state-sponsored Three-Self church in one of the villages recounted how local officials tore down all religious images and a calendar with an image of Jesus in his home and posted a portrait of Mao Zedong instead.
“Impoverished religious households can’t receive money from the state for nothing — they must obey the Communist Party for the money they receive,” A member of a state-sponsored Three-Self church in one of the villages quoted an official as stating.
The government stopped giving her help for saying “Thank God”
According to the testimony of a Christian woman, 80, in Jiangxi’s Poyang county, the government removed her from the aid list because she said “Thank God” after receiving her monthly 200 RMB (about $28) subsidy in mid-January.
“They expected me to praise the kindness of the Communist Party instead,” she said.
Arrests of Christian, destruction of churches using cranes and heavy-duty machinery, removal of crosses, etc., are some of the hard situations Christians in China face during their everyday life, all that due to their faith.
China is number 23 on the Open Doors USA’s World Watch List of countries that face Christian persecution.
The organization notes that the government consider churches a threat if they become too large, too political, or invite foreign guests.
