Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
China: The Economics of Religious Freedom
China: The Economics of Religious Freedom
Mar 5, 2026 2:28 AM

Here’s a summary of a piece over at Forum 18:

Economics has a large effect on China’s religious freedom, Forum 18 News Service notes. Factors such as the need of munities for non-state e, significant regional wealth disparities, conflicts over economic interests, and artificially-induced dependence on the state e all provide the state with alternative ways of exercising control over munities. Examples where economics has a noticeable effect on religious freedom include, to Forum 18’s knowledge, the Buddhist Shaolin Temple’s business enterprises, clashes between Buddhist temple personnel and the tourism industry, the demolition of a Protestant church in Zhejiang Province, the expropriation of Catholic properties in Xian and Tianjin mercial development, the dependence of senior state-sanctioned religious leaders on the state for personal e, petition between and amongst registered and unregistered religious groups. Perhaps the greatest beneficiary of economic clashes is the state, which can use both control of e and also favouritism in economic conflicts to restrict religious freedom.

The Voice of the Martyrs News & Prayer Update also passed this along from the China Aid Association:

A pastor in the Three-Self Church in Pinglu County, Shanxi Province was prohibited from preaching and forced to leave the church by the Religious Affairs Bureau. The Pinglu Church invited a Hong Kong-based American pastor, Dennis be (Chinese name Bao Dening), to visit the church. The evening of July 9th, the head of the Pinglu Religious Affairs Bureau, Zhang Lianjie, came to the church and tried to dismiss the Bible classes and forbid the children to listen to Bible stories. He returned the next day with more officials, forcing the elders to retract their invitation to Pastor Bao Dening. In spite of immense pressure, church activities continued. On July 24th, Zhang came again and announced that a meeting would be held the next day to “discuss” Pastor Hu Qinghua’s leaving Pinlu. All the members of TSPM (Three-Self-Patriotic Movement) and CCC (Chinese Christianity Council) were to be at the meeting. The meeting began at 6 p.m. and the elders enumerated the achievements of Pastor Hu since taking charge of the church. The meeting continued till 11 p.m., but no matter how hard the elders insisted, Zhang Lianjie declared that Pastor Hu Qinghua had to leave Pinglu Church immediately. Pastor Hu Qinghua has left Pinglu, but he still tries fort and encourage the brothers and sisters in Linglu Church, by phone, to stand firm in the truth.

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
Unemployment as economic-spiritual indicator — March 2018 report
Series Note: Jobs are one of the most important aspects of a morally functioning economy. They help us serve the needs of our neighbors and lead to human flourishing both for the individual and munities. Conversely, not having a job can adversely affect spiritual and psychological well-being of individuals and families. Because unemployment is a spiritual problem, Christians in America need to understand and be aware of the monthly data on employment. Each month highlight the latest numbers we need...
How the principle of ‘eye for an eye’ advanced human equality
“An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind” is a claim frequently attributed to Mohandas Gandhi. But while the quote might fit the attitude of a non-violent civil rights leader, it misses how the concept of “eye for an eye” changed the world for the better. The phrase “eye for an eye” is taken from passages in the Old Testament that refer to what is often called thelex talionis, the “law of retaliation.” While it sounds harsh, it...
French strike for the right to retire at 52
Some 4.5 million French have been immobilized by a national rail strike over what might be termed the most thoroughly French of all labor demands: the right to retire with full benefits at age 52. How extensive is the strike? On Tuesday the nationalized railway, SNCF, kicked off the first of a nearly three-month-long strike. With 86 percent of all trains canceled nationwide, 230 miles of traffic jams congested French roads on “Black Tuesday.” Video surfaced purporting to show desperate...
Radio Free Acton: Discussing ‘Communism & Christian Faith’; Upstream with mystery novelist Sally Wright
On this episode of Radio Free Acton, Acton’s Drew McGinnis and Dan Hugger discuss the book Communism & Christian Faith with Pavel Hanes, professor in the department of theology at Matej Bel University in Slovakia. Communism & Christian Faith was written by Lester DeKoster at the height of the Cold War and is newly reissued in the Acton bookshop. Then we have an Econ Quiz segment on trade deficits: what are they and how are they measured? Finally, on the...
Gresham’s Law and social media for sale
In his latest column for Forbes, Alejandro Chafuen, the managing director of Acton’s international activities, has a ranking of free-market think tanks measured by social media impact, and discussesGresham’s Law as it relates to social media: The current discussions about the manipulation of social media for political purposes and mercial interests of social-media giants has raised important questions about its impact and deserves much further analysis. In his surprising announcement that he was going to retire in 16 months, Arthur...
‘I, Pencil,’ continued: How man cooperates with nature
In Leonard Read’s famous essay,“I, Pencil,”he marvels over the cooperation and collaboration involved in the assemblyof a simple pencil — plex coordination among global creators that is, quite miraculously,uncoordinated. Read’s lesson is simple: Rather than try to stifle or control these creative energies, we ought to “organize society to act in harmony with this lesson,” permitting “these creative know-hows to freely flow.” In doing so, we will see similar stories manifest, fostering further evidence fora faith “as practical as the...
Utah becomes first state to legalize ‘free-range parenting’
My parents should have been jailed for child neglect. At least that’s what would be their fate if I were growing up today. Fortunately for them (and for me), I was a child during the 1970s, a time when kids were (mostly) free to explore the world. At age seven I was allowed to wander a mile in each direction from my home. By age nine I was exploring the underground sewers and drainage system of Wichita Falls, Texas. When...
5 facts about the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Today marks the 50thanniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Here are five facts you should know about the killing of the civil rights leader in Memphis, Tennessee. 1. The killing of King in 1968 was the second attempt on his life. A decade before he was assassinated, King was nearly stabbed to death in Harlem when amentally ill African-American womanwho believed he was conspiring against her munists, stabbed him in the chest with a letter opener. He...
Marxism, the classless society and history
“Marx always insisted that he derived his system from a careful study of history,” says Lester Dekoster in this week’s Acton Commentary. “Marxists are fond of insisting that they think ‘concretely,’ which means they always stick to the facts. That this is not really the case may be shown by an illustration.” Let us suppose that a student of Marxism grasps the truth that the concept of the classless society, the earthly paradise, is not only the capstone of Marxist...
How growth rates affect the wealth of nations
Note: This is post #74 in a weekly video series on basic economics. In the previous video in this series we learned a basic fact of economic wealth—that countries can vary widely in standard of living. How can we explain wealth disparities between countries? The answer, as Alex Tabarrok of Marginal Revolution university explains, is growth rates. Tabarrok examines the growth rate of the U.S. economy and considers what would life be like if our economy had grown at an...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved