Schoolchildren in China are being taught that believing in God is abnormal and teachers are encouraging them to report their religious relatives to the authorities, it was reported in July.
New regulations, which were adopted last year, prohibit children from attending places of worship and so Chinese schools are taking unprecedented measures to keep students away from the matters of faith. Children are now taught to oppose their religious relatives and they suffer great psychological stress out of fear that their parents or loved ones could be arrested because they go to church. Families have shared their experiences with Bitter Winter, a religious liberty and human-rights magazine. A Christian woman’s son who attends primary school found a leaflet about Christianity at home. The boy said that his teacher had told him Christianity is a xie jiao, a religious movement that is considered to be hostile against the government. He said: ‘If you believe in it, you will leave home and not take care of me. You might set yourself on fire, too’.
He then took out from his bag a school textbook, Morality and Society, and showed his mother the content related to xie jiao. The text also explained how to resist such religious groups. ‘The teacher told us during class that xie jiao groups are so terrible,’ he said, asking his mother to tear up the religious leaflet.
The Chinese Government has branded the religious groups that grow rapidly and are not under its control as xie jiao, which are severely prosecuted. Quite often, though, authorities use the label of ‘heterodox teachings’ to crack down on Christian house churches and other religious groups that are not on the list as xie jiao. The practice, it seems, has infiltrated schools as well, to manipulate and confuse young students. Questions about xie jiao are also included in the final exam for primary schools.
Out of fear, the mother hid all religious symbols and other items related to her faith. But a month later, when her son found another religious leaflet in his mother’s bag, he threatened her with a knife, saying she must give up her faith.
The woman said: ‘Before starting school, I told my child about God’s creation, and he believed it. But after being taught at school, my child is like a different person. In atheistic China, these pure and innocent children have been taught to hate God,’ she said.
In April, primary schools in the central province of Henan held a meeting for students on how to oppose religion and showed students an animated anti-religion propaganda film. A teacher also told students that religious people might hex them and that they should report to the police any believers they encounter.
Students at a primary school in the northern province of Hebei were required to supervise their parents to make sure they don’t participate in any religious activities.
As a result, a student urged his Christian father not to believe in God ‘because it was abnormal and dangerous’.
