Religion Freedom?
“I heard there was no reglion freedom in China. Is that true?” I’ve heard more than one U.S students asking this question which I don’t really know how to respond. Different individuals have different definitions of freedom. I am not an expert of religion topics. So I always remain cautious when I give any comments on that. The interesting part is people always say “I HEAR”instead of “I SEE”when they throw me this topic. You might say if “I SEE”already it won’t be necessary to ask. You might be right. Yet I don’t believe things like reglion, which is a really big and complicated topic, can be easily judged by a simply “see”. We assume a standing chopstick in a glass of water is broken if we have no physics knowledge on optics. We always make our own assumptions before we really know a little bit, which often lead us to wrong outcomes. That we see or hear doesn’t mean we know and understand. It is appreciative that people ask for explanations when they are not clear or they are not sure they are clear about something. Freedom is never an absolute concept. Some people might wish no law exists, for laws set restrictions in our life. Yet it is law that allow for freedom.
Following is an article about China’s religion freedom. Take a look and hear China’s voice.
China blasts US accusation on religious freedom
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-09-19 09:52
China on Monday denounced the U.S. accusation on China’s religion policy and freedom, saying the “groundless” criticism, in violation of international norms, was “interference in China’s internal affairs.”
“China is strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposed to the U.S. accusation on the country in its religious freedom report,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement.
Qin’s comments came in the wake of the U.S. State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report 2006, which was released last Friday.
The annual report was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that “the Chinese government’s respect for freedom of religion and freedom of conscience remained poor.”
“That’s a groundless criticism on China’s religion policy and situation of religious freedom,” Qin said.
“It violated the basic norms guiding international relations and interfered with China’s internal affairs,” the spokesman said.
It is an undisputable fact that the Chinese government protects the citizens’ freedom of religious belief in accordance with laws, and Chinese people of all ethnic groups enjoy full freedom of religious belief according to laws, Qin stressed.
He demanded the U.S. side “face squarely” its own problems including religious freedom violations and stop interfering with China’s domestic affairs.
China has more than 100 million religious adherents, more than 100,000 venues for religious activities, and about 300,000 clergy members, according to official statistics.
Normal religious ceremonies or rituals conducted by ministers and all other normal religious activities — carried out either in venues for religious activities or homes of religious adherents in accordance with religious tradition — are taken care of by believers themselves and protected by law.