Topic: Bible downloads banned in China (Read 746 times)

Well, Lenin have said once that religion is opium for the people. However, I support democratic approach. You can read whatever you want, but do not offense other people.

1) The bible is not "off the shelf", it is still available in book stores

2) Around 2% of the Chinese population is Christian.  Christians do not exceed communists

3) Nobody is scared of them, lmao

4) 2% of the population believing in fairy tales is not a threat to any ruler

Yes, this may happen in every country. It is a matter of life and death to them. The bible wasn't destroying the country, it just do warn them against the negative effects of their works, ruling, and behavior. There is no reason to ban the bible.

Earlier this year a top man of God in African was almost forced to resign because Government didnt like the revelations made about the government by the particular man of God. Why government meddle with religious stuff is that the people involved cannot stand and say no. after all there should be right to religious belief. From history worst things has happened to bible yet it is still in circulation so am not worried. God has a way of sorting His own things out. No country should emulate such thing.

You don't know why the Bible is off the shelf. The key is that the number of Christian believers has exceeded the number of Communists. The government is scared!
Huge Christians threatened their rule!

China's beliefs and traditions are against the bible. That is the reason why their government had banned this holy book in their country so that Christianity could not interfere them on their laws and lifestyle.

I find this thing funny, why? because China is the largest known bible producer in the whole world.  They cannot turn down something that will give them money.

Well They are not recruiting or what so ever. what happen to the other people whos not Chinese only but different race they cant actually read bible online? much better is to limit what they can get access on the words on bible not remove it.  Its a Religions talk so i wish theres an altenative way that they can think for other people who's in china.

A communist country banning parts of religions? Color me surprised, hehe.

These countries do this because they know that without religion, they're able to idolize their leaders -- instead of people believing in a god, they think that Mao is a god (or something along these lines in the country that you're talking about)
Religion provides people with a path of resistance against the government, and it allows people to have a set of ideas that may be different than the country in. If you remove this, it allows people to be converted into your culture easier.


What's the issue with the unauthorized version, is it not edited or something along those lines to fit the narrative of the Chinese government? (This is an actual question, I actually don't know)

Though the OP should have said this in the start......

the record needs to be set straight because we have different versions of the story 'Bible downloads banned in China' and 'China only banned "downloading unauthorized versions" of the bible.
So I am confused at the moment of the actual narrative .
However, a big economy like China would not want the world to perceive them as an country that has little or no regard for alternate religion,specifically the christian bible.

it will still be possible to obtain a bible or quran in china, if someone realy wants one.

China didn't ban the bible

China only banned "downloading unauthorized versions" of the bible

You can still buy the book at any book store... and presumable download authorized versions

The Bible is coded into the BiblePay wallet, which is on many Chinese miners computers, they cannot stop the Bible

I believe in Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press

China moves to block internet VPNs from 2018 | World news ...
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/11/china-moves-to-block...
The three internet providers, China Mobile, ... China has instituted bans on VPNs and other methods to bypass censorship in the past,

China Bans Christians From All Church Activities ...
https://www.nairaland.com/4409913/china-bans-christians-all-church
ChinaAid (Luoyang, Henan —March 16, 2018) Authorities across several counties China’s central Henan province issued a warning on March 8, forbidding any Christian ..

I win   and considering your in the bitcoin camp  you must have loads of bitcoin?    so when do I get my loan of bitcoin   so I am in the camp?
good at lighting fires I am    so would be good to have me sleeping in your tent  I will even give you a snuggle  no kissing though ..

China it's leader as become a dictator an ASS HOLE..

if I DON'T REPLY  I just not seen it got to go bye..

No, they can't.

I think it is because they are implementing new laws that are trying to help their infrastructure. I refer here to the ban on being buried. People might get the feeling to have the right to be buried due to religious effects. But I am no expert on China or anything, this is just another average citizen of the world that watches occasionally the news on TV

This is one of the reason why China can't take over from the USA as the world power, they have many anti human right policies

Hence it should be impossible to stop the transfer of text versions of books, including the Bible...No they cannot stop it BUT they can catch you very easy ..
Now in china   if I said I catch you reading a text download   because we check your IP address and see what you been looking at if you been looking at the bible then i ban you from public services and if you carry on i will kill you ..How many china killed of their own anyways?..

So yes i can see a ban ..

China and human rights: jailed for speaking out - Telegraph
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8122210/...
China and human rights: jailed for speaking out The Chinese authorities show little tolerance for those who speak out over scandals the government would rather keep ...

China's 'social credit' system bans millions from ...
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/24/chinas-social-credit...
It sounds like the plot line from an episode of Black Mirror set in a dystopian future, but China's “social credit” system has already seen over 12 million people ..


AY YOU PLICK   YOU READ BIBLE I BAN YOU FROM SOCIALCARE ^^^^^^^..

hOW WILL I KNOW ?  well i can pretend to be a bible lover   and also check IP adresses ..

I believe that with today's Internet it is impossible to stop the flow of ideas.

Hence it should be impossible to stop the transfer of text versions of books, including the Bible.

Therefore this thread is nonsense.

Chinese government has always been very sensitive about all the religious matters especially after Xinjiang conflict started. And to their credit, they are coping quite fine with the task: vast majority of population still remains religion-free, saying that the only thing they believe in is money. I don't think this internet ban on Bibles is that serious since you can still buy a physical book in store, it just makes it a lot easier to control the authenticity of the content.

haven't heard of that , that's really messed up. I wouldn't want to live in a country that bans simple human rights.

The problem with both Christianity and Islam is that they tend to interfere in the governance unlike the case with the oriental religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Shintoism. Perhaps that is the reason why the Chinese government is adopting such a hostile approach.

there are many religions around the world, and each of them brings in both negative and positive features of life in society. In order to avoid a bad influence on the Chinese people, the government is doing everything possible to make their people return to their origins.

Most religions cause a lot of trouble but Christianity isn’t one of the them. In an effort to control everything they think that the clampdown of bible downloads will be good for their regime.

I disagree with this. The different translations of the Bible do not change it meaning. A lot of people have to be educated on this.

I think religion and governance are two separate entities which shouldn't be merged. Religion constitute what some people trully believe and have faith in and so interfering into it sometimes is not good. But we should also know that if religion is leading to a nationwide problem then it needs to be attended to. I think we should really know the reason why the Chinese government is doing that.

In our country, we have the so-called 'separation of the church and the state' and I believe that it is the best thing a nation could do when it comes to religion. And that idea, I think, must be imposed to other countries just like China. I do not think that the regulation when it comes to religion should be imposed and bible application must be at a ban. People must be given a freedom to choose what religion they want to join as long as the individual involved is not a threat to the sovereignty and the welfare of the whole nation. To sum up everything, my opinion is just an opinion for what I think is appropriaye and what is right, but still, it is the Chinese government and the people of China to decide and have a discourse.

Native religions such as Buddhism and Taoism doesn't face any restrictions in China. The authorities are concerned mainly with the spread of Islam and Christianity, because these two religions have a history of interfering in the governance. 

Chinese still behave like communist and is not surprise if Bible download is banned. Freedom and human right somehow seem limited in China and Budhism and other religions have taken root over there, they don't want their people to be converted ,hence all these ban .

I am not too surprised with this news, because we know together that in the country of china adopt communist ideology or in other words do not believe in the existence of god (atheist) so that the ban on the bible or the Qur'an or related to religion is not so important news in that country, our beliefs can not necessarily be made a reason for the Chinese state to determine its government, there is more importance to the rules of the government than to deal with religious matters, here is my opinion about this

Sounds like you're ready to punish fraud victims by execution.

Religion should be recognized as fraud by law. China, though smacks of totalitarianism, but in the case of religion, they are doing the right thing

Asian people firmly believe in the separation between the church and the state. In Christian majority Asian nations such as South Korea and the Philippines, it is the church which dictates the government policies. The Chinese doesn't want the same to happen in their country.

very saddening new especially to Christians in China. Coming from a free country, we  adhere to the separation of church and state. news about China banning people from downloading the Bible is a swift move to prevent the spread of Christianity in a Traditional Buddhist country.
Why don't we just allow the word of God to penetrate every country. Why is Christianism the only religion that everybody is against?

In our country, separation of church and state is such a big issue. Our state doesn't want the church to go within their boundaries but it doesn't mean that they haven't freedom of speech where they can still say what they want. If we turn in upside down, the state should do the same with the church. They should not be involved in any regulation on church matter. In our country, I haven't seen anything like this. China shouldn't regulate religion as church and government are two entities of society that solely works on their own. Hence, I believe that the separation of church and state should be strictly done for this is what should happen in a more rational sense.

Are they atheist though , I'm not aware on this news but really banning bible , i have some another article that i've recent search feel free to look at though.

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/05/world/asia/china-bans-bible-sales.html
share your opinion

This is hilarious. China is run by a Leninist government with a Capitalist economic system The Chinese government rejects economic socialism, Marxism, direct democracy, and even egalitarianism If you want to criticize Karl Marx then look at Fidel Castro, not the Leninist Party of China

And banning the Bible is unprecedented. I think that people who read the Bible can figure out that the Judeo-Christian is a genocidal maniac who destroys cities, encourages genocide of Canaanites, causes plagues, endorses pillaging and raping of civilians, supports slavery (yeah I got banned from twitter for pointing this out). He even created Satan and placed him in charge of humanity. Aging, predation and disease alone are enough to stop me from worshipping this madman. And there's reaaaally dark stuff like Gehenna and the tenth Egyptian plague.

The Bible is why people leave Christianity! If you want to condemn religion, just make religions pay taxes. I think that mass-murdering the Falun Gong is an unforgivable crime against humanity! Same with the genocide in Tibet. The Chinese government has MAJOR human rights violations to be held accountable for. Banning certain versions of the Bible is not what I'm outraged against. I think governments have the right to place age-restrictions on books. But banning a book goes against free speech, and people are gonna read it anyways! Yet compared the the murder and organ harvesting of Falun Gong, Tibetans, and various minorities? Those are the big issues. Genocide is what makes me advocate for sanctions. If people in China had net neutrality then they wouldn't need to worry about not being able to read books. But yeah. The people responsible for crimes against humanity should all be jailed.

Just read what happened to Orthodox Church of China and its followers.

https://orthodoxwiki.org/Martyrs_of_China

Despite changes in official agenda, the modern regime still continues same "humane" treatment of orthodox christians. Status of Orthodox Church is de facto equal to that of well-known terrorist organiations, like IS or Al-Quaeda.

It would be ridiculous to refer to Bible downloads ban after giving that into account.

Government should tax the religious businesses aka churches.  Donations to religious businesses (churches) should not be tax deductible.

Government has no business blocking flow of information.

Blocking downloads of books is a big no-no.

China has already sanctioned many of the churches and denominations and the authorities have problem only with those churches which refuse to register and engage in underground activities. I wouldn't say that this is interference in personal beliefs.

Politics (Government) and the Church will always have their gap, and we can't as much do anything about it, even if there is a freedom of speech. We can't make people believe in our beliefs just because we think it's right, and we also can't make people leave the country only because they won't allow that religion. It's okay to be strict when it comes to religion, but I hope there is hate-shaming on each other with this. It would be better if people were aware of your faith rather than not so they can avoid bad mouthing.

Maybe because Bible to them was against to their belief, due to most of them are budhism if I am not mistaken. Besides, we nothing about it due to it is the country rules of China's governement.

The problem is, the only reason why China isn't fighting religions such as "Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism" is, they are too inbred in the people. Fighting those religions would cause rebellion and civil war that would weaken China.

The truth is that the Chinese government would like all religions except the Chinese-government-religion to go away, so that the Chinese leaders have full control, and get more money that way.

I like your word "other."

Without government there wouldn't be any tax to get a tax break from.

Government can't help to have something to do with religion, because government, itself, is a religion.

I think the Chinese people respect the other religions. Also it is important that the government intervenes at times

Haha!! China moving towards civilizational decay. Freedom of expression of one's opinion should not be curbed be it any faith. Let religion propagate their ideas and if people find it relevant in their lives they will follow it. The more you try to supress something, the more extreme it grows.

state always will fight religion except the state has its own religion.

if you have a completely atheistic state, the elite wil run a secret religion.

like in the west/soviet union -> freemasons

In my opinion no government should be allowed to ban any book.
In the best case I could accept an age limit but no complete ban.

It does not matter if it's the bible or any other book.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_books_banned_by_governments

Well there are a lot of things that should never be emulated from the chinese and i don't think any state would be crazy enough to impliment such laws. Their government seems to ve very fond of having control over everything there

There is only one country in the world which has successfully managed to counter religious extremism, and that is China. They are doing the right thing. The preference should be given to native religions such as Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism. Foreign religions such as Islam and Christianity should not be allowed to convert people in China.

China is one country that do not believe in God. They refuse to hear and learn other religion or doctrines. This should not be adopt by other countries. Man has free will. He has the right to choose what is right or wrong and what is best for him. A man should not be dictated by government when it comes to religion.

Really ? They not allowing bible in their country ? Then why ? A bible is full of Gods story , so why they do not allowed it . And i think if people read a bible they feel better and they recognize and solve their own problems.

Just like what i did , If time comes i feel like im not happy , stress, sick etc . I always read a bible and it answer why i feel that way .

The Communist Party is all about order and stability and they probably view religion as a possible destabilizing factor (Muslim secessionists in the western provinces, protesting Buddhist monks in Tibet, etc.). They know religion can also always be used as a rally cause and probably observed how the Catholic Church in nearby Philippines helped break the Marcos dictatorship in 1986. The Tiananmen Massacre happened 1989 as a wave of anti-authoritarianism spread around the world (8888 uprising in Burma in 1988, Velvet Revolution in then Czechoslovakia in 1989, the collapse of the communist regime in Romania also in 1989, etc)

Officials are also required to be atheists and so they'll be probably avoid trying to look soft against religious groups to keep up appearances in the party.

Funny that some religious groups would complain when the state would tell them they are being intolerant, etc., but would gladly take the tax break which is still government interference.

I don't think government should have anything to do with religion.
Not regulating it, not give it tax brakes, nothing.

With all the news coming out of China, like Xi being able to rule without term limits, this is one that didn't surprised me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqeg8vLlx7c

Do you agree with this? Should the state regulate religion as strictly as China does? For example, they screen people before allowing them to go an the haj to Mecca.