China Church: The Grey Lady Gets It Right

05-30-2014
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It's not often that you'll hear us here at The Global Lane praising The New York Times. But this is one of those rare instances when we must congratulate the Grey Lady for getting it right.

Last April we showed you video of thousands of Christians encircling their church building, acting as human shields protecting Sanjiang Church in Wenzhou, China. About a week later we showed you photos of the demolished church.

Chinese authorities said the church violated local zoning ordinances and did not have permission to errect a large cross atop its steeple. We knew that was not true, but The New York Times has just proved that claim to be a lie.

NYT Reporter Ian Johnson investigated and uncovered a 9-page, internal provincial government policy statement.

He reports:

"The government has defended its actions, saying the churches violated zoning restrictions. However, an internal government document reviewed by The New York Times makes it clear the demolitions are part of a strategy to reduce Christianity’s public profile.

The nine-page provincial policy statement says the government aims to regulate “excessive religious sites” and “overly popular” religious activities, but it specifies only one religion, Christianity, and one symbol, crosses."

This proves what many of us have been saying all along: Chinese government officials will give what appear to be reasonable legal excuses to take action, but their true intent is to stop the spread of Christianity.

Read the full NYT article here.

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