Relationship between Communists & the Churches

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Relationship between Communists & the Churches

1.Important points regarding issue

  • Christian churches were forced to close
  • Foreign priests expelled from China
  • Confucianism, Buddhism and Christianity were denounced as worthless
  • Buddhism and Confucianism were forbidden
  • Even ancestor worshiping was denounced as superstition
  • Attack against religion reinforced in Cultural Revolution


2.How this affected Mao’s maintenance of power

  • Mao was afraid that provinces would be encouraged by Religion to start independence movement
  • Sent troops in 1950 to Tibet and Xinjiang
  • Mao knew that some toleration needed to be shown and so “patriotic churches”, which were state-controlled, were founded
  • Generally, Mao wanted Maoism to spread