China: November 24, 2003

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The government continues its crack down on organized religion, and not just Falungong. Hundreds of Christian temples and Buddhist temples have been closed, and thousands of active practitioners have been arrested. There are only fifty million Christians in China (about four percent of the population), but many more Buddhists. China is not a religious country, in the Western sense. Most Chinese observe ancient customs, some of them religious, but none of them dependent on any organized religion. But over the past few centuries, organized religious movements have often led massive rebellions against the government. Chinese leaders have always taken their history lessons very seriously.

 

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