Bureau of Religious Affairs
The Bureau of Religious Affairs, an official government agency within the People's Republic of China (PRC), enforces PRC policies related to religious affairs. It is directly administrated by the State Council and was established in 1954.
The bureau's task is to register venues (such as monasteries and churches) for "normal religious activities," to ensure that religious organizations are not subject to any foreign domination and to protect freedom of religious belief. Article 36 of the 1982 constitution defines "normal religious activities" as activities that do not "disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens, or interfere with the educational system of the state." This definition reflects the post-1976 shift away from the fiercely antireligious stance of Mao Zedong (1893–1976).
The PRC claims that the bureau fosters the rule of law and patriotism by linking legitimate religious activities with the maintenance of state order, national unity, and socialist development. The bureau has been instrumental in helping various religious bodies reclaim and restore properties lost or destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). It also has tended to scrutinize or prosecute some religious groups and activities more than others, especially socalled ethnic religions (Buddhism in Tibet and Inner Mongolia, Islam in Xinjiang), small unregistered bodies (charismatic Protestant Christian "house churches"), "superstitions" (mixin) such as fortune-telling and faith healing, and politically suspect groups (Falun Gong/Falun Dafa).
Further Reading
Dean, Kenneth. (1997) "Ritual and Space: Civil Society or Popular Religion?" In Civil Society in China, edited by Timothy Brook and B. Michael Frolic. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.
Gladney, Dru C. (1994) "Salman Rushdie in China: Religion, Ethnicity, and State Definition in the People's Republic." In Asian Visions of Authority: Religion and the Modern States of East and Southeast Asia, edited by Charles F. Keyes, Laurel Kendall, and Helen Hardacre. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.
MacInnis, Donald E. (1989) Religion in China Today: Policy and Practice. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. (2000) Findings on Russia, China, and Sudan; and Religious Persecutions in the World. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
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