Religion
Summary
-Mao was previously tolerant of religion, however, began to denounce
religious beliefs as feudal superstitions
-Religion kept the working class in their position devoted to a God/Gods
reducing their loyalty to the CCP
-They believed since some of the religious beliefs came from the West, the
West was controlling people in China using their imperialistic ideologies.
Christianity (Protestant):
-Protestant leaders were forced to organise a patriotic church movement
to support the regime: The church should be self-ruling, self-supporting
and self-propagating.
-They had to be completely obedient to the government: The communists
believed the church was representative of western imperialist ideologies
-People were committed to their faiths rather than the CCP, which lead to
their persecution
-Schools, Universities and hospitals set up and run by the protestant
church were taken over by the government: By 1949, there had been
5000 protestant missionaries in China. By April 1952, there were less than
100.
Christianity (Catholics):
-In Shanghai, special exhibitions were created to demonstrate ‘catholic
espionage activities’
-Catholic churches were tried for using patients as guinea pigs for new
medicines
-Churches were attacked as centres of cultural aggression and for
attacking on the behalf of the United States Army.
-In January 1952, 3222 Catholic missionaries. By November 1953, there
were just 364 left.
-In 1955, a further crackdown on the catholic counterrevolutionary cliques
was launched and 1500 believers were jailed for crimes such as
imperialism.
Summary
-Mao was previously tolerant of religion, however, began to denounce
religious beliefs as feudal superstitions
-Religion kept the working class in their position devoted to a God/Gods
reducing their loyalty to the CCP
-They believed since some of the religious beliefs came from the West, the
West was controlling people in China using their imperialistic ideologies.
Christianity (Protestant):
-Protestant leaders were forced to organise a patriotic church movement
to support the regime: The church should be self-ruling, self-supporting
and self-propagating.
-They had to be completely obedient to the government: The communists
believed the church was representative of western imperialist ideologies
-People were committed to their faiths rather than the CCP, which lead to
their persecution
-Schools, Universities and hospitals set up and run by the protestant
church were taken over by the government: By 1949, there had been
5000 protestant missionaries in China. By April 1952, there were less than
100.
Christianity (Catholics):
-In Shanghai, special exhibitions were created to demonstrate ‘catholic
espionage activities’
-Catholic churches were tried for using patients as guinea pigs for new
medicines
-Churches were attacked as centres of cultural aggression and for
attacking on the behalf of the United States Army.
-In January 1952, 3222 Catholic missionaries. By November 1953, there
were just 364 left.
-In 1955, a further crackdown on the catholic counterrevolutionary cliques
was launched and 1500 believers were jailed for crimes such as
imperialism.
