China Urges Rural Christians to Replace Jesus Images with Xi Jinping
Chinese officials and residents in a rural area of Jiangxi province have revealed a government plan to ?melt the hard ice? in the hearts of Christians towards communism by denying them pivotal poverty relief packages if they do not replace images of Jesus in their households with photos of President Xi Jinping.
One official stated that the move was necessary because Christians are ?ignorant? and need to be taught to worship the state, not God.
?Many rural people are ignorant. They think God is their savior. ? After our cadres? work, they?ll realise their mistakes and think: we should no longer rely on Jesus, but on the party for help,? Qi told the newspaper.
A local resident, which the South China Morning Post identified as ?Liu,? stated that many families were forced to remove their images because they would otherwise not receive their poverty relief packages, putting their lives in jeopardy.
China only formally allows two Christian churches to practice: the Catholic Church and the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, a state-controlled Protestant entity.
Most Christians in China are estimated not to belong to either of the legal churches, but to worship in underground ?house? churches, which are illegal. Researchers have estimated the total Christian population in China to be around 100 million, compared to 85 million members of the CPC.