{"id":601,"date":"2011-05-10T14:13:08","date_gmt":"2011-05-10T18:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/watchwomanonthewall\/?p=601"},"modified":"2011-05-10T14:13:08","modified_gmt":"2011-05-10T18:13:08","slug":"communists-persecute-christians-chinese-unregistered-churches-petition-for-religious-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2011\/05\/communists-persecute-christians-chinese-unregistered-churches-petition-for-religious-freedom.html","title":{"rendered":"Communists Persecute Christians: Chinese Unregistered Churches Petition for Religious Freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"

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WATCHWOMAN WARNING!<\/strong> —\u00a0My dear\u00a0friends\u00a0in Christ, I am going to make an ardent petition to you. Please, please, please do not sit by\u00a0idly\u00a0doing nothing, saying nothing, not shouting from the rooftops, not writing to your Congressman, not writing to foreign embassies, not writing letters to editors of your local newspapers, regarding the\u00a0unyielding\u00a0torture and persecution of your fellow\u00a0Christians. \u00a0Here in the U.S.A. we\u00a0complain\u00a0about the price of gasoline, high taxes, Obama’s Birth Certificate, and even dumb, ridiculous things like\u00a0calling your dog or cat a pet, while we tend to cover up our eyes to the horrible persecution and torture of those in so many parts of the world where Christ is not only hated, believers are imprisoned and murdered, just for believing on His Name. \u00a0Here in the U.S.A. comparatively, we have it easy. \u00a0I write constant\u00a0criticisms\u00a0of Obama, Congress Critters, everybody in Hollyweird, and anyone else who disobeys the Law-Word of God. \u00a0I’m still free and I’ve been doing this for 20 years\u00a0publicly! \u00a0I still write and most of what I’ve written lays openly for all the eyes of all the Christ-haters on the Internet and those evildoers in power to peruse! \u00a0Maybe one day they’ll come for me, who knows, but meanwhile, here in the U.S.A. my husband and I along with our Pastor Ernie Sanders get on the radio and blast over the air waves to over a million listeners the sins of the lawmakers and the slutty trend setters. \u00a0In fact, you can listen live from 9-11 PM Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, by clicking here…What’s Right, What’s Left<\/a><\/strong>. \u00a0But it is not that way in Red China, for example. \u00a0I beg you. \u00a0I implore you. \u00a0I beseech you. \u00a0Read the following post<\/span>. \u00a0Get motivated. \u00a0Begin to tell your uninformed friends, your ignorant relatives, people in the check-out lines at the grocery stores, your silent\u00a0PASTOR<\/strong><\/span> – beg him to preach about it, how the rest of the world is trying to crucify believers every where! \u00a0The Silent Church is not doing enough right now. \u00a0Jews know how that feels. \u00a0Christians worldwide sat quietly on their padded backsides while 8 million perished. Today, the Silent Church is doing the same to their own brothers and sisters in Christ. \u00a0When will you say to yourself, “Enough is enough!” And take action? \u00a0Remember, what Pastor Martin Niem\u00f6ller said about the Nazi’s. \u00a0Here’s a 2011 version of that: \u00a0“First they came for the Christian Church in Red China, India,\u00a0Malaysia, Egypt, Syria,\u00a0Lebanon,\u00a0etc., etc., etc., and when they came for the Church in America, no one was left to speak up.” \u00a0Question for you – Have you done enough for Christ that if they came for you, you could be\u00a0accused\u00a0of actually being a Christian? <\/em>If this makes you uncomfortable, good! \u00a0Do something besides getting angry at me. \u00a0Get angry at YOUR ENEMIES! \u00a0The ones who HATE CHRIST! \u25ac Donna<\/p>\n

Chinese House Churches Petition for Religious Freedom<\/h2>\n

By Stephanie Samuel|Christian Post Reporter<\/h3>\n

House churches in China are employing new methods to push the government to peacefully resolve tensions between the Communist Party and the largest unregistered church in Beijing.<\/p>\n

Despite the pressure traditionally put on unregistered “house churches,” clergy from dozens of these churches are petitioning China’s legislature to guarantee the religious freedom of Shouwang Church. Many of the church’s members were arrested last month while trying to hold worship services outside.<\/p>\n

The petition is the first of its kind in 60 years of communist rule of China, states persecution watchdog China Aid Association. Autumn Rain Church, a signatory church located in Chengdu, said of the petition in a Sunday newsletter, “Starting tomorrow, May 9, the church will pray and fast for three days for this first peaceful petition by Chinese house churches in 60 years.”<\/p>\n

The newsletter continued, “We ask the Lord to strengthen the church’s resolve, and protect and use this citizens’ petition to make an open and public defense of our faith.”<\/p>\n

ChinaAid says the churches’ petition represents the bold efforts of the house church movement.<\/p>\n

House churches have been emboldened by the Communist Party’s April efforts to prevent the Shouwang congregation of over 1,000 members from occupying the premises it originally rented to hold services.<\/p>\n

Unregistered house churches such as Shouwang Church are not permitted to openly hold religious services unless they affiliate with a patriotic religious association such as the Three-Self Patriotic Movement or Catholic Patriotic Association, according to ChinaAid.<\/p>\n

However, the Pew Research Center estimated in 2007 that 50 million to 70 million Christians practice in unregistered religious gatherings or house churches<\/strong><\/span>. Meanwhile, the number of Christians belonging to registered organizations totals less than half of that.<\/p>\n

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Deputy Director of Policy and Research Scott Flipse told The Christian Post that before February, the Communist Party had been turning a blind eye to unregistered churches.<\/p>\n

However, the Chinese government is upping its enforcement of church regulations in the wake of a rumored political uprising dubbed the Jasmine Revolution.<\/p>\n

In a February 2011 speech, Wang Zu’on, head of China’s State Administration for Religious Affairs, called on government officials to renew efforts to “guide” unregistered Protestants to worship in state-sanctioned churches and break up large unregistered churches such as Shouwang into small groups.<\/p>\n

In response to government efforts to break up Shouwang Church, members assembled outside of its locked church building and tried to hold an outdoor worship service. The police broke up the service, arresting over 100 members including Shouwang’s senior pastor, Jin Tianming.<\/p>\n

Undaunted, members planned for outdoor prayers on Easter Sunday as they tried to get permission from Chinese officials to celebrate indoors at their usual building. Despite international appeals to the government respect the Christian holy day, dozens were detained while at least 500 were confined to their homes, ChinaAid reported.<\/p>\n

Now, other unregistered churches are rallying in support and petitioning to give the Chinese government “a historic opportunity to make a difference by either opening a new better chapter that will affirm and consolidate the religious freedom guaranteed in China’s Constitution or allowing the current worsening situation to continue ,” said Pastor Bob Fu, founder and president of ChinaAid.<\/p>\n

The petition’s release comes as talks between U.S. and Chinese officials opened on Monday.<\/p>\n

The heads of 16 U.S. government agencies and representatives of 20 Chinese government departments are meeting during the two-day bilateral Strategic and Economic Dialogue summit in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

As the dialogue opened, U.S. officials pushed China strongly to ease a crackdown against dissidents, according to Reuters. “We have vigorous disagreement in the area of human rights,” said U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said, while adding that the Obama administration will continue to raise its concerns with Beijing.<\/p>\n

Flipse of USCIRF said earlier the Obama administration must do more during diplomatic discussions such as this week’s talks to send a unified message that freedoms of speech and religion are important.<\/p>\n

Source: Christian Post<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
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\"\"<\/dt>\n
The Christian Martyrs Last Prayer by Leon Gerome <\/dd>\n
It is NOT just about what happened 2,000 years ago in Rome, it is about what is happening now!<\/strong><\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n

\n<\/strong><\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WATCHWOMAN WARNING! —\u00a0My dear\u00a0friends\u00a0in Christ, I am going to make an ardent petition to you. 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