Some Conclusions

Abstract

The confrontation between the Chinese regime and The Church of Almighty God does not happen in a vacuum. The chapter reconstructs the different attitudes the Chinese Communist Party has had toward religions. Mao originally believed that, with the progress of Communism in China, religion will naturally disappear. Meanwhile, he tried to control it through five national associations (Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Buddhist, and Daoist), to which all believers should mandatorily adhere. This strategy, however, failed to prevent the growth of independent religious bodies, and the Cultural Revolution tried to wipe religion out entirely. After the dust of the Cultural Revolution settled, Deng Xiaoping restored the five national associations and granted religion a limited tolerance. The chapter also shows that, under Xi Jinping, the attitude toward religion became again more negative. The groups banned as xie jiao suffer more than all the others.