Religion is BANNED in China?! 中国宗教信仰自由吗？ 

Stick around to the end of the video where i go to a church in China, it was interesting!!

Religion is not banned in China. China only ban those who use religion as a "divisive tool" for personal gain.

When I was posted to China more than 5 years ago to teach, I attended a local church in China. It was always overflowing with congregation. The pastor and visiting preachers were all local Chinese and at some points, I was surprised that some sermons touched on sensitive social and political issues. I attended church services for foreigners too and entry was by passport. The preachers are foreigners. I realized what the Chinese authority wants to ensure that religion is not used by foreigners as avenue of political influence. Years earlier, I remembered church members from overseas visiting China were asked to bring copies of Chinese bibles into China. During my posting in China, bibles were sold on the campus. I bought a couple as each costs less than US$2. At that price, China can export bibles for the world!

This is the legal norm in China. According to the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, the people have the freedom to believe in religion, and no organization or individual can interfere with the freedom of religious belief of others. However, people who believe in religion cannot gather to promote religion among atheist masses, and can only hold it in specific religious places. Similarly, atheists cannot preach atheism in religious places like theists. Most people in China are atheists. For places such as universities and colleges, reminding foreign friends not to gather crowds to promote religion on atheistic occasions is a matter in compliance with the law.

Even if the west can only understand "religion" as meaning only Christianity, the answer is a firm "No"! Religion is definitely not banned in China. There are numerous churches in China, and they are often well attended, unlike the many parish churches in the west with dwindling congregations of elderly pensioners. But churches in China are required to be registered and expected to be free from foreign interference or dependence. Foreign meddling can come in various forms, such as denominational dogmatic oversight and strictures. It can also come in the form of "teaching material" such as Bible study notes and books into which can be smuggled cultural or political ideologies and lifestyle which are detrimental to Chinese traditions. "Home churches" or underground churches are naturally frowned upon because they are by their nature often trying to form counter-cultural and even anti-communist movements among its members. Many of them also see evangelisation or "witnessing" or proselytization as a divine imposition on the followers, leading to people being badgered or pressured. Straight-laced American evangelicals will also dismiss China's myriad religious practices as religion. Seen as idolatry, Chinese religions are inconsequential to the arrogant western religionists. China has thousands of deities that people worship regularly. That's their RELIGION, and millions freely practise them without hindrance. Go to Fijian, the home of the Mazu cult, and you see millions of devout followers. Pop into any Buddhist or Taoist temple and religious freedom stares you in the face from the statues. There are many other religions such as Islam, Zoroastrian, Shamanism, etc. that flourish in China as long as they stick to what religions are supposed to be about. So to talk about religion being banned in China is ridiculous. Yes, certain "religions" are banned because they are deemed to be dangerous to social and political stability or corrosive of Chinese traditional culture, whether Han, Uyghur, Kazakh, Zhang, Miao, Lisu, etc. Doomsday cults, of which many American fundamentalist versions of Christianity tend to veer towards, are much frowned upon. Many are led by "charismatic" leaders who often live lavish lifestyles on the "giving" of their followers. China is right to ban them. If only politicians in the west have the courage to ban the devious televangelists who blatantly scam their flocks. But when people can be so easily (mis)led, it is a gift to the politician in a system where power comes through popularity.

Everytime someone tells me that we banned religion, I was like, really? There is a catholic church right in the very center of Beijing. An entire automous province of muslims. Buddhist and Daoist temples everywhere. Not mentioning all the traditional gods temples like the drgon kings, the Old Man of the Moon. Religion is banned in normal campus, because it's a place for study, and it's only banned for preaching, nobody cares if you believe in some religion yourselves. And there are even actual religious universities where you can study buddhism, catholic, islam, or whatever you want.

I was born and raised in China, my father had been a PLA (People's Liberation Army) high-ranking officer before his retirement, being a communist Party member is a must, and of course, he had no religion. The interesting thing is, it has never been a problem that my mother was and still is a devout Buddhist,. I am an atheist and I married an Orthodox Russian-Ukrainian wife, moreover, our kids are Orthodox as well under the influence of their mother and Babushka (grandmother), and we have been living under the same roof happily. It might be a rare case but my family reflects a tiny part of reality in China, religions are not banned.

My mom is a Christian. She is the most devout Christian in the world. Since childhood, she must thank God for any good or bad things that happen around us. Thanks to my mom, our family became atheists. But I respect God very much. My mother is actually a sensitive and fragile person and God helped her a lot.

To be precise, Chinese law only allows preaching and other religious activities in places of worship, such as churches, temples, mosques, etc., but it is illegal to conduct religious activities in other public places. In short, the Chinese government treats religion like the US government treats alcohol, you can have it，but you can't just have it on the street.

As Chinese Catholic living in Beijing China, I really love this video. Thank you for your sharing.

Thank you Lucas for the video sharing. This is really an open eye for Chinese in Malaysia as many of us (youngsters) still eagling to go to travel in China. Hope to meet you there one day! 😁 Subscribed to your channel straight away~~

Very interesting, one of your best videos.

Church and state functions are strictly separated - and its quite normal based on international practice and experience of course to preserve one individual's right to believe and question spirituality. People should research more on the 1982 PRC Constituion, and the complex histories of religions in China such as Buddhism (Mahayana, Tantric, Theravada and Pure Land schools), Christianity, Islam, Daoism and traditional folk religions, including Bön and shamanism. Requires an open mind and REAL WORLD interviews with real experts, adherents and relevant people

thanks for your video, it is very necessary to have more Vloggers to introduce more real situations to the western audiences.

You could make a few videos about the university life in China, it would be interesting for those that want to study in China.

Amazing video. Keep up the good work. Support

Thanks for share things about China. My father is atheist, my mother is Buddhist, my sister-in-law and my best friend are Christians, and I went to college with about ten Muslims in my class, I'm a Chinese living in Uk

Thanks for sharing. Even allowed to film inside a church. You can't film in a church in some places in the west. You can't preach openly on the street in the UK. In the UK you can't openly read the Bible in some churches unless you are qualified or registered.

Luke always can see the depth of an issue, really touching the core of crux, your opinion is valuable and insightful 👍

在中国，真正的宗教和信仰是完全自由的。 但是，不能对信徒和公众造成人身伤害，宗教不能颠覆政治，宗教不能煽动暴乱和造谣！中国政府要确保以上这些，就必须要注册宗教在中国的合法性。其他的中国政府是不管的，谁要信什么教都不会管，只要不会造自己和其他人和社会的伤害就可以了。

I am a Catholic, living in Shanghai. There is a church just 2 miles off where I live. I don't see a problem with religion in China. Just that the US and UK love to tell the world that China forbids religion. Which is kind of BS.

感谢你的正义！

Interesting info from a Brit. I still don't know what to make of western religion in China. Well I'll keep an open mind for sure. Enjoyed a lot of the comments also.

7:35 I subscribed immediately 😆

Thank you very much

Beautiful hymn!

Buddhism is religion. Temples can be seen everywhere. Christianity is exotic religion, government pays more attention because some people were misled and went extremism with it, like Falungong. If you are a Christian or any other religious belief and just doing your faith alone, no one cares you, but if you preach some unknown religion there, government can not tell what purpose you are after. That is why the restriction comes. They just do not want another Falungong again.

great video

因为很多宗教不好好服务教徒 总想着触及政治，远离了宗教本身。

Go to any temple in China and they are teeming with people praying, making offerings, etc.

Well done. I think the reason why Bible is not available everywhere in China is that most of Chinese are atheists like yourself, and of course that is just based on my 27 years of personal experience living in China. It is not true Chinese people or government are against any religions.

In the comments section, many people said that Chinese law does not allow missionary activities in non-religious places. Yes, large missionary activities targeting atheists at non-religious sites are certainly not allowed. But if only a few people are talking, and one of them is a member of a certain religion, he propagates religion to several others and wants them to convert. In this case, the government will not interfere.

Hey Luke, what are the least competitive universities to get into for the csc scholarship

You're telling the truth.

When I was posted to work in China years ago (in early 2000's), I saw bibles sold on a campus in Wuhan (street stalls within the campus). It costs less than US$1 for a bible. I bought a couple.to give it to my Chinese Christian colleagues. I also attended a Chinese local church close to where I worked. It was overflowing with congregation. I had to go half an hour early to get a seat. The pastors in the Chinese church are all Chinese. From their sermons, I guessed that had training overseas as they made reference to churches overseas. In one of the sermons, I was surprised to hear an advice to give thanks to God first, not to the Communist Party! I also attended a foreigner's church which is only meant for foreigners (entry by passport). The difference is the pastors are all foreigners. I guess China does not want the churches to be used as a tool for subversion but as a spiritual institution.

The local churches around here only open at certain times.

good view which is basically based on facts..

There are more Christians in Zunyi Church than in London Anglican Church?

I attended an international Christian Church when I lived in China. Not sure if the content of the sermons needed to be approved first.

did you notice something , that there's no statue inside the church.

Very interesting video, hahah 以前在大学的时候有个同学就是基督教，他们还经常在学校聚一起唱基督教的歌，好像学校也没有干涉。不过在中国大部分都是无神论，如果去西藏这一块区域，就会发佛教比较多。

The current China allows any believe if it doesn't involve any political issues which is a good way to see if it is good believe

There are so many churches where I live, every time I passed by one, the words that pop up in my mind are tithe and tax evasion.

Throughout Chinese history, religion and politics have been separated... But there are religions outside of China that have always wanted to interfere with politics. So if purely religious beliefs are not forbidden. From the historical point of view... Religious involvement in politics has always been a war.

Mostly correct and fair. But 2 corrections: most good Unis in china are govt founded and maitained sort of so not really private institution; and if you are a party member you are not allowed to believe in any religions, which sort of make sense cuz party members need to believe in science and communism.

中国是一个无神论的国家，大多数人都没有宗教信仰，所以当你遇到一个中国人，不要跟他谈信仰。但在中国你的宗教信仰是自由的，你可以选择归依任何一个宗教，只是在公共场所，不会举行大规模的宗教活动，官方的定位是，宗教可以净化你的心灵，让你更善良，摒除恶念，但不能制造分裂，凌驾于国家的管制体制之上。

It is true, if u r a party member, they don't want u to carry any religion as your view could be biased. I can understand why and respect that. Decision needs to be made independently from once's religion. Would you use your Christianity or Islam views at meetings in IBM, Oracle or HP? Of course not. That is why CCP does not want topics like that influencing decisions at country level.

I have gone to Roman Catholic mass daily in Shanghai, The government refurbished the oldest catholic Cathedral in Shanghai at their expense. A religion has to be registered with the government just like the USA. Peace be with you!

Allowing promotion of one religion will be unfair to one another. So i think the China Gov is doing right thing. You can still practice religion privately. Don't forget thete are 1.4 Billions people in China

Religion is not benned, it’s just don’t take such importance in commun life organization. As a Chinese person, religion just like dance club, you can choose or not choose it, of course, if your mother is a dancer, you may be proposed to dance since childhood.

Let me give you a simple example: in a religious country (especially a certain religion), a person must be born into that religion, and the person cannot get rid of that religion or follow another religion, and if a person wants to leave the religion, he will be hated and even killed. However, in China, a person has the full right to join a certain religion and to withdraw from a certain religion, and it is illegal for someone to force others to convert or prohibit others from leaving in the name of religion.

中国一直都不是一个政教合一的国家。这跟欧洲的历史和发展经历有很大的不同。

宗教信仰在中国大陆并没有受到限制，只是出于国情考虑，有些需要监管，避免出现那种狂热的宗教份子，只要不影响社会秩序与国家利益，你信什么教，政府不会管你。

At least you don't need to be worried about getting shot either in the Christian church or mosque in China

对宗教的传教规范限制不仅是针对天主教或者基督教，对所有宗教都是一样的，包括中国道教和佛教。之所以有这些限制是因为中国政府不想中国人因为宗教信仰的不同而产生以宗教信仰为基础的分裂群体。这就像欧美现在的第三性别，不管你支持或者不支持第三性别本身属于个人自由，但欧美的政客为了选票人为的制造出以支持第三性别和不支持第三性别为基础的两个群体，政府非但没弱化而是强化凸显了这种意识形态上的差异，必然引起不同信仰或者说不同观点群体之间的矛盾和分裂。这对所有人都没好处，只会让人无休止地互相伤害。

China allows almost all religion, but prohibits any religious behavior with a political purpose

指正一下，中国任何学校都是明令禁止宗教的，这是政府的命令，学校就是学习的地方，禁止任何宗教传播。 同时，中国除了执政的共产党之外，还有其他八个政党，都会参与国家政策的制定和施行。 中国共产党是无神论政党，只要你加入共产党，就不能参与宗教，你的信仰是国家和人民。 中国本土是道教，很多人信仰。 但中国人更多信仰的是自己祖先，信仰生活是自己奋斗出来的，而不是神给予的。

Actually as a person who is good at singing, i remembered i sang christian songs in a choir when i was young to give performance to a group of adults😂even if i am not christian at all😂

严格说，圣经在中国是免费的。所以不能商业销售或购买圣经，但你可以免费通过教堂获取。

😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

It's not banned in mainland China, but rather local governments respect its people’s religious beliefs

Thanks for the video.....guess we told that China was such...cruel government.......till now many is still in the blues....about Christian being tortured so on so on...till I met a American teacher from Texas when he arrived in Malaysia from China telling us there is more freedom then of the USA ..🤔

what i say religion in China is free to worship but regulated.... also the government determines which ones are legit and which are cults

Me personally: I respect your religious practices within the law, but don't bother me or even force me to join. Besides, I am also from Guizhou, but in my hometown, I have never seen a church (or I have not followed it). The church in your video feels more like a group of friends getting together, singing, talking and so on.

上初中的时候就老师讲。就算你反对宗教也不能和他们辩论。保护宗教，例如 上帝能创造自己搬不动的石头吗？

👍👍👍

我信佛，佛有很多人生哲理，我不需要去唱歌和参拜，非常自由！

All religions if you sincere and honest,then all Gods will forgive no matters female or kids

Here in Canadian province of Quebec, wear religious symbol if your are a state servants, whether be it the hospitals, schools or offices. And we all know about France no Muslim women can wear their Hijab or any kind of Islamic modesty, if you do you will be dragged and fined.

I am Bhuddhist i connect the Temple master via wechat does not look have any problem though.

religion law in China in short: no religion activities is allowed in public areas and only allowed in religion facility or area like a church, payment recruitment and force for religions not allow, everyone has rights to chose religion or not, everyone has right to quit from religions at any time; however one rule in China: communist is non religionism! (in other words communisms itself is a religion)

Chinese government not encourage people to believe religion. But religion is definitely not ban in China.

If I run a university, I wouldn’t want religious teaching in my campus too especially the one that contains violence in its holy scripture

Short answear no.

What China does not allow is proselytising.

Nice job dubbing whatever the preacher said. 😁 You know that Buddhists are supposed to be atheists, right? 😇

The most of universities are stated ownd in china，not privite。The religinon acctivy can only be hanpped in religion area，campus is not religion area，SO it is illegal。your video remind me one interesting thing，there is a bible in every hotle in 20 years ago，But now There is not

信仰自由，是包括人有信仰任何一个宗教的自由，也有不信宗教的自由。 但是很多地方不能随意传教倒是真的，比如学校这种有很多未成年人的地方。 我觉得西方很多国家并没有信仰自由，至少并不怎么尊重没有宗教信仰的人。

I hate to say this but here in the US the media are telling people Uighur culture, writing, religion, books, festivals, music, dances, etc are banned in China! And here you are telling us you are experiencing these things about the Uighurs in China? Well, somebody is lying and I don’t think it is you!

Religion is not banned in China.

China do not ban religion.useless it is politicised..same policy in my country..and a good policy too...

We Chinese like religion, because we are now sick of the Communism religion.

因为宗教在中国就是一个抽象的不能抽象的东西了，小说里有修仙大能，那我都代入做飞升大能了都，那我信的宗教的头头到底是什么啊😅

It is not banned obviously. :)

When i like to laugh at stupidity,ive watch something like this.😅

Respect countries culture and tradition.mind your own.dont go there,plain and simple🙂

you know china more than a normal chinese does.

Very simple... Individual belief, nobody gives a hoot, organized spreading, nan.

I'm guessing bible is not widely sold there simply because most Chinese aren't Christian. Also, religion is not that important for most of us...I'm an atheist myself, even though my family is Buddhist..

It's better to ban religion. Religion is divisive.

Thank you. Please let all Brits know what you see and trash BBC !

Yes yes ccp is very powerful but chinese people easy to buy western people .

Religion isn't banned in china. Only the "wrong" kind of religion is. Like Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Taoism. You are free to practice the one good religion, aka communism.

mark, set, 6sec, what happen to all those f$%king gods! ha..............................................

我们有信的自由也有不信的自由，不会有人说你是异教徒！

I need to correct that you can buy The Bible and the Quran freely on taobao or other online shopping webs. Why can not? Strange fake news.

Correction, China never banned any religions. In fact China have many religions, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Taoist and etc,etc. Better do more research and homework.

反正我个人是很讨厌法轮功的，我身边就有认识的人去学，还是大学的老师，结果后来疯掉了。有病也不去医院看病，天天说师傅会传功给她，然后他老公没办法了，把她绑到医院去看病了。我妈也差点要学了，还去听课了，回来说要买书和磁带，要30块。那个年代30块不是小数字了，然后被我爸一顿骂，骗钱的东西，才没去继续学。要不然，可能又神经了一个。看法轮功在外面的宣传，什么器官移植，骗骗农民还差不多，竟然还那么多外国人信了...🤣。现在神韵一场海外演出贵宾票300欧元，好像看到了我妈当年那30块的故事。

don't speak for us most of Chinese don't like Abraham religion like Islam or Christian, they are not our culture. we have Taoism and Confucius, which are sufficient for ppl who needs so-called religion. the freedom of religion in China is to allow anyone to discuss religion and object any religions, and allow any one to abandon religious belief without consequences no one needs to respect anyone just because the person is religious any religion can't intervene people's regular life that's why Islam is highly objectionable in China don't bring your ideology or religion to China you are not welcome if you don't et pork, don't com to China don't tell us to respect you, but you don't observe our culture or traditions

Religions are not banned in China, all you heard is all western anti-CPC propaganda or western stereo typing. In school you are not allowed to teach religion but all the food for muslim halah food are cater for.