Comments: Christianity Rising... in China
It makes perfect sense.
Posted by james wilson at April 20, 2014 1:54 PM
It thrives were it is an effort; not an affectation. It is never relevant; it is timeless.
Posted by Mikey NTH at April 20, 2014 6:42 PM
Christianity always thrives under persecution. The worst thing that ever happened to Christianity was to become official state religion.
Posted by Christopher Taylor at April 20, 2014 7:23 PM
Chris: Yes, countries like Spain and France back a few hundred years married church and state. All the exploration and colonizing the Spaniards did in South and Central America and up in Mexico was a combination of conquistadores and priests. They would gather converts and take home the gold. Any that opposed such generosity were considered infidels and usually executed.
It is a good thing our Founding Fathers knew of the dangers and set restrictions on the church/state dynamic.
Posted by chasmatic at April 20, 2014 9:20 PM
On the free enterprise side of the equation, Overseas Chinese have always been entrepreneurial. Most of the monetized wealth in Southeast Asia is controlled by ethnic Chinese who have lived in these countries for generations, if not centuries, but have remained largely distinct from the locals. And then there's Hong Kong, an entire city made up of free-market capitalists (although the statists from the Mainland are doing their level best to suck that freewheeling spirit out of the Hong Kongers). But it might be that the traits that impelled the most productive Chinese to seek their fortunes elsewhere are finally taking root in those who stayed home.
Posted by waltj at April 20, 2014 10:31 PM
Come on chasmatic, don't tell me you wouldn't be for the forced conversion to Christianity of the natives in, say, Washington, D.C.?
Posted by edaddy at April 21, 2014 7:55 AM
Keep in mind we're talking about Chinese free enterprise, and Chinese Christianity. Both under the control of the Chinese government in one form or another. Independent markets and independent churches are not in the government's interest.
Posted by Alan Kellogg at April 21, 2014 8:14 PM
edaddy: good point, ya almost got me there. Er, let me offer a quote that says what I believe in the case of DC. It seems the Catholics knew how to deal with those they did not like or trust:
When asked by a Crusader leader - at the siege of Béziers, France in 1209 - how to distinguish Cathars from Catholics, Arnaul Amalric replied:
“Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius."
Kill them all. For the Lord knoweth them that are His.
I would also encourage the Auto da Fe made popular by Catholics in Spain and Portugal.
An auto-da-fé (also auto-de-fé and auto de fe) was the ritual of public penance of condemned heretics and apostates that took place when the Spanish Inquisition or the Portuguese Inquisition had decided their punishment, followed by the execution by the civil authorities of the sentences imposed. Both auto de fe in medieval Spanish and auto da fé in Portuguese mean "act of faith".
The most extreme punishment imposed on those convicted was execution by burning. In popular usage, the term auto-da-fé, the act of public penance, came to mean the burning at the stake that was held on a separate day.
Them Jesuits are mean MFs. Don't let the frocks fool you, the Catholic Church owned an awful lot of the world back in the day. Didn't accomplish that by turning the other cheek.
Posted by chasmatic at April 22, 2014 12:19 AM