
China’s clampdown on religious freedom - tomohawk
https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/04/article/chinas-dire-clampdown-on-religious-freedom/
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jostmey
I haven’t read the article, but I have been following the story on the news. I
think ultimately the Chinese government will fail. Religion is stronger than
government. Virtually every human society has had religion, And religion has
existed long before organized government came to be.

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hunta2097
If you really want to suppress religion just educate your population.

Higher levels of education are linked with lower levels of religious
commitment, especially the more extreme versions of zealotry.

I don't really understand how someone who studies biology or physics to any
degree could subscribe to an interventional deity.

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hprotagonist
while literally sitting on the toilet, the following names come to mind:

physics: issac newton, gottfried Leibniz, george lemaitre, james maxwell, lord
kelvin,j. j. thompson ...

biology: gregor mendel, pasteur, francis collins...

there are rather a few very big names who are Just Fine doing both.

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Mirioron
Sure, but their understanding of the world was different. Everywhere around
them religion was important. That's not the case anymore. Furthermore, they
also knew a lot less about the world in general, because such information
simply wasn't available back then.

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hprotagonist
i don’t think we’ve made any staggering advances in knowledge since 1960, when
lemaitre died, for instance.

it’s just a false dichotomy, sorry.

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ardy42
> i don’t think we’ve made any staggering advances in knowledge since 1960,
> when lemaitre died, for instance.

We've got Twitter and Reddit, and if those don't encapsulate staggering
advances in human knowledge, I don't know what would.

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DougN7
Can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not...

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biubiubiu
As a native Chinese, I generally find this kind of articles to be funny.

With a master degree in computer science, I would consider myself to be well
educated. During my entire education, no one told me to not to be religious.
In fact, "religious freedom" was literally written in our textbooks. And we
are educated to respect other people's religion. I, and many other well-
educated Chinese people, am not religious, simply because we don't find them
convincing.

I know many religious people. And I have nothing good to say about them. They
are generally less educated, selfish and double-standard. They blame
everything bad happened to them, which usually are their own fault, on other
(non-religious) people. They credit everything good, which are usually help
received from non-religious people, to god. I wouldn't say they are stupid,
because they are smart enough to use their religion for their own personal
gain.

I'm not saying religious people or religion in general are bad. I'm sure they
are not in your part of the world. I'm sure the religious people you known
even contribute positively to the society. But that's the pattern here in
China, through out the history.

I understand the need for religions. They are very effective tools for keeping
a huge portion of population, usually less educated, in check.

I'm not a fan of the CCP. But I hate the prospective of replacing it with any
religion ruled by stupider people.

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lcall
I have thought long and hard about why I believe in God (and appreciate
science greatly, of course). I have posted my thoughts in detail at
[http://lukecall.net](http://lukecall.net) . These things help me even when
life is hard (as designed--but worth it). (edit: I should probably have made
this as a reply to other comments ... having some computer trouble in last few
days; will try to remember. Also, the web site is lightweight and easy, I
hope, to get around. The link in question is a few lines from the top.)

