A very disturbing report is coming out of China this morning, a report that says Christians in China are being told to put their faith in President Xi Jinping instead of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Not only that, but they are also being forced in some areas to take down images of Jesus and replace them with photos of Xi:
WAPO – Jesus Christ won’t drag you out of poverty or cure your illnesses, but the Chinese Communist Party will, so take down those pictures of Christ and put up a nice photograph of President Xi Jinping.
That’s what thousands of villagers in southeastern China have been told by local officials, in a sign of the growing cult of personality around the country’s powerful leader, as well as rising pressure on Christian worship.
A social media account in Jiangxi province’s Yugan county said villagers had “willingly” removed 624 posters showing Christian religious sayings and images, and replaced them with 453 images of Xi. The move, while still on a small scale, harks back to the personality cult surrounding Communist China’s first leader, Mao Zedong, whose picture was in every home.
“Help turn those who believe in religions into believing in the Party” pic.twitter.com/dKXnmX1KK8
— Yaqiu Wang 王亚秋 (@Yaqiu) November 13, 2017
In the latest campaign, party members involved in poverty alleviation toured villages telling people how the party was supporting agriculture and removing poverty, “melting the hard ice in the hearts of religious believers” and “helping turn them into believers in the party.”
Qi Yan, chairman of the people’s congress in the township of Huangjinbu within Yugan county and the man in charge of the local poverty alleviation effort, told the South China Morning Post that villagers “should no longer rely on Jesus, but on the party for help.”
“Many poor households have plunged into poverty because of illness in the family. Some resorted to believing in Jesus to cure their illnesses,” Qi said. “But we tried to tell them that getting ill is a physical thing and that the people who can really help them are the Communist Party and General Secretary Xi.”
Qi said the campaign has been running since March in Huangjinbu township, with more than 1,000 portraits of Xi distributed and hung in homes. Christians make up around one-third of the population there, with between 5,000 and 6,000 families, he said.
“Many rural people are ignorant. They think God is their savior,” he said. “After our cadres’ work, they’ll realize their mistakes and think: We should no longer rely on Jesus, but on the party for help.”
Chinese officials told people NOT to believe in Jesus…
DAILY MAIL – A pastor told Radio Free Asia that such poverty-relief activities were seen in Yugan county of Jiangxi Province, which has a large Christian community.
Christians in Huangjinbu town were told to remove pictures of Jesus Christ, Christian cross and other Christian items as the local government launched the campaign said to be aimed at tackling poverty issues.
Pastor Huang said in an interview with Radio Free Asia that the poverty relief was a scam.
‘The officials told people not to believe in Jesus and told them to learn from president Xi and take Xi as a role model,’ he said.
We reported a few weeks ago that China had returned to strongman rule that harkens back to the days of Mao Zedong. Now it appears they are also cracking down on Christianity once again as they have in the past and it is truly disgusting.
Not that it’s ever been great there, but China has a horrible record in the 20th century of trying to brutally squash Christianity and it looks like those dark days might once again be upon us.
But the Lord hears the cries of His people…