So many hateful remarks. Regardless of how you feel, this man devoted his life to his beliefs, and is obviously well respected among his society. There's no need to try to belittle him or the way they honor him in his afterlife.
I agree. He probably would not want this done to his remains, but when you are gone you have no say over what is done to or with your remains by those that held you above all other things.
The Chinese government resists religious influence. They will react to the rise religious leaders or churches with suppression.
They want to avoid the kind of influence we see in the U.S. where Christian beliefs can drive legislation favoring one group's desires.
The are far more suppressing of religion than we are here but they may not be as draconian as you have been told.
As long as religions stay out of government and are no threat (in party leaders opinions) to party dominance, they pretty much leave the churches alone.
Damian R, true, it can be tenuous at best to consider Buddhism a religion. But in the eyes of Chinese politicians, it is a possible source of authority to the people that, if grows strong enough of influential enough, could negatively affect or even challenge the authority of the state/party.
Asian countries are more religious diverse than you think.
And you are allowed to believe in any religion as long as it is not interfering with the politics. RDI is 7.3 in China while Singapore is 9.3. US actually is 5.2.
The Chinese government is against anything & anyone that promotes independent thinking outside of their strangle hold. They are for anything that can be twisted to keep the masses ignorant & docile. If religion happens to be to tool of the moment, fine.
The official Chinese government's stance on religion is that of atheism. Nevertheless, they do tolerate religion. I have personally attended a Catholic mass and a Seventh Day Adventist baptismal service in the city of Beijing. The Chinese allow the practice of religion in churches and in homes, but public religious expression is not allowed. You can't proselytize on the streets or on TV. Religious education is not allowed in schools.
