Chinese Christians Ordered to Replace Their Pictures of Jesus with President Xi Jinping

Leah Marieann Klett : Nov 16, 2017
GospelHerald.com

Chilling statement: "Many rural people are ignorant. They think God is their Savior ... After our cadres' work, they'll realize their mistakes and think: we should no longer rely on Jesus, but on the Party for help." -Qi Yan, Chairman of the Huangjinbu People's Congress

(China)— [GospelHerald.com] Thousands of Christians in an impoverished Chinese village were told to replace their posters of Jesus Christ and other religious imagery with photographs of Chinese President Xi Jinping—or lose their quota from the poverty-relief fund. (Photo: The government of Huangjinbu town in China claimed that the Christian believers chose to take down banners bearing the Christian cross and replace them with president Xi's portrait, but local Christians have disputed this/South China Morning Post/via GospelHerald.com)

The South China Morning Post reported that Christians in Yugan county in Jiangxi province were ordered to replace posters of Jesus with Xi as part of a local government poverty-relief program that aims to "transform Believers in religion into believers in the party."

Qi Yan, Chairman of the Huangjinbu People's Congress, explained the government's initiative: "Many poor households have plunged into poverty because of illness in the family. Some resorted to believing in Jesus to cure their illnesses."

"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," he added. "Many rural people are ignorant. They think God is their Savior ... After our cadres' work, they'll realize their mistakes and think: we should no longer rely on Jesus, but on the Party for help."

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