Truth is, the worst place to be a Christian is in China because you can actually be arrested and prosecuted for preaching the word of God. Recently, Christians in China have received a new order, ‘remove all images of Jesus Christ and put up those of the President.’ It was also gathered that the Christian villagers were also told to remove crosses, gospel passages and everything religious from their homes. The goal is to “transform believers in religion into believers in the party.” Basically, the government wants them to stop looking to Jesus but turn instead to their leaders for assistance.
According to Ucanews, these locals in Jiangxi province were told that they would be given poverty relief aid if they replaced their religious images with posters of President Xi. The party has denied the particular claim. However, Qi Yan, the chairman of the Huangjinbu people’s congress and the person-in-charge of the township’s poverty-relief drive has given several reasons why people should see the government as their helper. In an interview with the South China Morning Post (SCMP), he said:
“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.”
“Many rural people are ignorant. They think God is their saviour. After our cadres’ work, they’ll realise their mistakes and think: we should no longer rely on Jesus, but on the party for help.”
600 people complied with this order. Only 453 went on to hang portraits of the Communist leader.