Towards the 21st Century:  Religious Liberty and Pluralism in China

Bao Jia Yuan

Associate General Secretary

China Christian Council

Nanjing

                While change is the rule of history, the end of any century might be a time men and women talk more about change, together with their hopes and aspirations for the new era. This is usually the time people become more optimistic. They would very much like to leave behind the yesterdays that saw struggle and sorrow, frustration and failure, and get ready for the success to come. This is the sentiment of humanity as a whole at the turn of the century. China has long been familiar with change in that the country took a dramatic turn in the late 70s and early 80s–a turn in policy which set in motion an economy that continues to expand. With the restructuring of the economy, a profound social change was bound to take place.

                The church in China is therefore a church in a changing society. The Chinese society is in every way undergoing remarkable changes that lead to social realities which are pluralistic in nature. Pluralism can be exemplified in many ways in different parts of the world. In China the saying which comes closest is “Let a hundred flowers bloom.” In different historical periods, the word pluralism is spelled out according to its social context. From the end of the 19th century into the early 20th, the cry for political pluralism was expressed in the overthrow of the Manchurian monarchy and the founding of a democratic republic. Cultural pluralism was demanded by intellectuals who saw the dark aspects of a cultural tradition that for some 500 years had been stagnant, inhibiting cultural and scientific creativity. Western culture was generally appreciated. For the second time in this century, the concept of pluralism came to fore. Now the saying went, “Let a hundred flowers bloom, and a hundred schools open.” Although the saying was first put forward by the leading circles of the Communist Party of China in the 50s, it was made true in the early 80s on a much larger scale, and still holds good today. It was taken up as the antithesis to the ultra-left obscurantism of the so-called Cultural Revolution which, of course, turned out to be a cultural, political, and economic disaster.

                Post-Cultural Revolution pluralism in the 1980s was primarily an economic concept: Social productivity can be raised in a variety of ways, rather than just one way as in a demand economy. During the following 15 years or so, privately run shops, factories, and joint ventures began to dot the country. Today non-government-managed enterprises comprise more than one third of the economy, and this sector continues to grow.

                Such economic pluralism brings in its train cultural diversity. Although western culture was still in vogue,  Chinese traditionalism, so vehemently attacked in the pluralistic drive of the late 1910s, enjoyed a triumphant comeback, at least in academic circles. However, it was no longer pre-eminent or pre-dominant. It coexisted with other schools of thought. As for religion, it was formerly defined as an opiate by some students of social science who largely missed the Marxist understanding of religion. After much debate, the opiate theory withered away, and one no longer hears it today. Then, in the search for the rationale of Western civilization and the meaning of personal life, some conscientious intellectuals came to see that Christianity played an important role in the formation of western civilization. It influenced some of the imposing figures in history they admire. They began to appreciate the Christian faith, speaking highly of it. While some of them still keep a distance from church life, others have gone so far as to profess Christianity and to be baptized. Such are now called “cultural Christians.”

                The majority of the people are nevertheless prone to be influenced by popular culture as conveyed by the mass media.  For a nation that had been under the ultra-left devaluation of religion for so long, a backlash, as expressed in any cultural genre, would tend not to be anti-religion but pro-religion. When men and women are no longer driven by one thought pattern, but freely seek truth, goodness, and beauty as conscience leads them, they are not likely to show contempt for true religion--which affirms all that is true, good, and beautiful. However, pluralism also poses problems for religion.  If religion benefits from pluralism, so also does secularism. But the diseases of secularism are to be cured by religion. In a pluralistic society religion is probably in its natural state, open to opportunities and challenges.

                There are in China five main religions: Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Islam, and Taoism, the last being the only native religion. Since the late 70s all of them are on the increase.

                It is generally accepted that social pluralism means a society that is more tolerant, that has more space for the exercise of religious liberty. In a pluralistic society people are less burdened with a given thought pattern, making it easier for them to find real answers for themselves. The pluralistic ethos also makes it easy for them, as religious believers, to be recognized socially. It does not necessarily take a rebel or a maverick to follow a religion that may be alien to the majority.

                China is led by a political party that is avowedly atheistic, and thus theoretically it should not have any love for religion. But as it is now, the party is not so dogmatic as to work for the extermination of religion. Rather it works with religion for the well-being of the people. Pragmatic Communists are also influenced by pluralistic thinking.

                While religious freedom is an inherent human right, it should also have a legal basis. The Constitution of the People’s Republic of China stipulates that all citizens are to enjoy the freedom of religious belief. No state organ, no social organization, no individual has the right to force a citizen to believe in religion, or to discriminate against a citizen on grounds of the citizen’s belief or lack thereof. The state is to protect all normal religious activities. But nobody should make use of religion to carry on activities which jeopardize order in society, harm physical health, or damage the educational system of the state. Religious organizations and affairs are not to be directed by foreign bodies.

                In 1994 the state issued “Regulations on the Administration of Sites for Religious Activities.” Formulated in accordance with the Constitution, these regulations protect normal religious activities and the lawful rights and interests of places for religious activities.

                Religious liberty should not be based on the favor of any mortal. Emperors and kings come and go, none outliving the sublime ideals of true religion. Sociologically, religious freedom needs necessarily to be secured by law.          With the growth of market-oriented economic reform, state authorities began to talk about socialist democracy.  The People’s Congress is the nation’s highest legislative body.  It is playing an ever more important role in Chinese political life. It has, for example, passed a variety of laws on issues concerning life, industry, agriculture, banking, and environmental protection. For a nation that suffered lawlessness and chaos during the Cultural Revolution, it is good news to have life regulated by law. And for a nation that for centuries lived under a feudal system in which patriarchal authoritarianism was the rule, it is a giant step forward.

                Religious freedom is part of the body of legitimate rights any citizen in China should expect to enjoy.  However, some local cadres, not eager to implement this principle, try to counter the trend to pluralism. They are still preoccupied with the wrong understanding of religion. This is often due to their prejudice against religion, their misinterpretation of government policy, and their abuse of power. Such cases usually occur in remote and poor rural areas.

                On the other hand, religious believers can, by their good behavior, influence the people around them in respecting their freedom. This is not difficult for any sincere follower of religion, because every religion has its moral teachings and ethical demands. In China, where Christians are a small minority, there are nevertheless a good number of Christian workers, teachers, engineers, and housewives who are held in high esteem by others in their workplaces and their neighborhoods. They not only help the people around them know Christ’s presence in China, but also form an active evangelizing force through their silent witness to the faith. As the whole society becomes more pluralistic, they are becoming more and more confident in exercising religious liberty with all its implications.

                Chinese society may be less pluralistic than Western society. Human efforts in the direction of pluralism are  important; however, pluralism alone should not be as much of a goal as should be liberty itself. Human beings long for liberty in every time and in every social system. This is what is noble about humanity.  Religious liberty is the crown of other kinds of liberty in that it is about the ultimate concern of men and women. The emergence of religion and its growth in China’s post-Cultural Revolution period indicates that it can hardly be suppressed.

                We are thankful to live in a society that is becoming increasingly pluralistic. We take great delight in the challenges and opportunities that pluralism brings, for we know with certainty that we have come for this time.

                Edited from an address by the Rev. Bao to the IRLA’s Fourth World Congress on Religious Liberty, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1997.

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