China Confiscates Bibles of American Christians
Americans in China are experiencing something most of them probably never experienced before; they are fighting to keep their Bibles in their possession. The Chinese government has, under cover of the OGs in Bejing, started a major crackdown on dissent. Along with Chinese activists Christians, even foreign ones, seem to be one of the major victims of the crackdown’s major victims.
A group of American Christians had 300 Bibles with them when they arrived in Bejing. Instead of understanding that acting against these Christians would become a major issue in the West when China could and should use the Olympics to improve its image, Chinese officials confiscated every single one of them. Members of the group now refuse to leave the southwestern city of Kunming until they get their Bibles back.
One of them, Pat Klein, said: “I heard that there’s freedom of religion in China, so why is there a problem for us to bring Bibles?” said Klein, whose Sheridan, Wyoming-based group distributes Bibles and Christian teaching materials around the world.
The Bibles were printed in Chinese. The attempt was and still is, obviously, to spread Christianity in China; a country in which religion is oppressed because the authoritarian – I do not agree with the word ‘communist’ to describe China’s leaders – fears that religion will cause dissent and, thus, decrease their power.
That does not mean that printing Bibles is outlawed in China. No; there is one printing house allowed to print Chinese Bibles. This printing house is backed by the communist party. Bibles can be bought in some bookstores. That sounds like freedom, doesn’t it?
Well, no. Spreading the Christian faith, or any other faith for that matter, is made impossible. The government allows just enough freedom to pretend that people are free to worship as they see fit. On closer investigation, however, it quickly becomes clear that reality is quite different.
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Something makes me wonder if the Chinese thought there was anti-government things written in there. I doubt that, but I could see this being why they confiscated them. I think the bibles should be given back.
Indeed. China hasn’t been a purely communist nation in years.