opinion

China's atheist leaders confront the growth of religion

The world's most-populated nation has a problem. China's people are becoming more religious.

That leaves the Marxist, officially atheist government struggling with how to handle the growth of unapproved churches.

Enter scholar Liu Peng, founder of the Pu Shi Institute of Social Sciences in Beijing. For the past 15 years, he has been trying to apply the rule of law to religion in China.

Liu and journalist Rob Gifford spoke at Corban University's recent symposium, "Religious Freedom and the Rule of Law."

China is a dictatorship – albeit a dictatorship by committee and with term limits. Thus in an interview with Liu, it was not surprising that he avoided the term "religious freedom" and instead used "rule of law."

In the U.S., people can do anything as long as it's not against the law. It's the opposite in China: Laws specify the permitted activities. People cannot do anything, such as participating in a church, unless there is a law expressly allowing it.

That is why Liu is trying to bring the rule of law to religion.

It is a long-term effort. A dictatorship can change policies on a whim, yet the Chinese value stability. It is a good sign that the Chinese government has not blocked Liu's research and his institute's discussion of "promoting freedom of belief within the framework of rule of law."

The concept of religion confounds China's leaders, as it is deemed incompatible with Marxism.

About 15 years ago, the leadership dispatched Liu to Notre Dame to learn more about the Vatican and about church-state relationships in America. Back then, Liu was deputy chief of the Religion Section of the United Front Work Department, Central Committee of the Communist Party.

The Chinese constitution officially provides for freedom of religious belief. However, the government regulates religion, as it does other aspects of life, and can crack down on unregistered or banned religious groups.

The U.S.-based Council on Foreign Relations notes that the Chinese Communist Party prohibits its members from holding religious views but has become more tolerant of religion in society during the past 40 years: "Amid China's economic boom and rapid modernization, experts point to the emergence of a spiritual vacuum as a trigger for the growing number of religious believers, particularly adherents of Christianity and traditional Chinese religious groups."

The government authorizes five religions as legal: Buddhism, Catholicism, Daoism, Islam and Protestantism.

Liu said that without the rule of law to guide decisions, bureaucrats in the government's religion bureau can make arbitrary decisions on who can hold what offices in a church, what can be said during sermons, what religious materials can be used, the size of a church and other matters.

Rule of law would benefit religious institutions and adherents by allowing more autonomy, Liu said. It also would free up the government from being a constant overseer of religion.

There currently are numerous unregistered "house churches" – some with large congregations – and other illegal religious organizations. Liu said the house churches have become much bigger than government-recognized churches.

For the government, having vast numbers of people engaged in an illegal activity is seen as a threat to societal order. Liu is convinced that the existing religion regulatory system is unworkable, and the answer is to bring religion under the law.

In China, a law is necessary to give people more freedom and to reduce government intervention.

Dick Hughes, who wishes he knew as much about other countries as foreigners do about the U.S., is editorial page editor and a content coach for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at dhughes@StatesmanJournal.com; P.O. Box 13009, Salem, OR 97309; or (503) 399-6727.