Source: www.persecution.org
Date: December 5, 2020
China (International Christian Concern) – Wenzhou city in China’s Zhejiang province, one of the cities in China that has the highest number of Christians, is reportedly asking its teachers to sign a pledge to not believe in any religion.
According to China Aid, the “Teacher’s Promise to Not Believe in Any Faith” issued by the Communist Party of China (CPC) has recently been distributed to Longwan District School (primary school) in Wenzhou, requiring all teachers’ signature. The form requires the teacher to fill in their names, gender, age, working hours, positions and schools. They are required to sign and date the form under four “publicly announced commitments.”
The table contains political content and requires teachers to fulfill four requirements: “firmly establish a Marxist religious view, strengthen atheism education, do not believe in any religion, do not participate in any religious activities, do not preach and disseminate religion in any place”, and “actively promote socialism and new civilization, do not promote feudal superstition, and do not engage in feudal superstition activities.” A teacher shared with China Aid that they were handed the document at a teachers’ meeting recently.
In addition, teachers who are CPC members were required to receive the “Communist Party Member’s Promise to Not Believe in Any Faith ” in triplicate and fill it out at the meeting: one copy for self-retention, and two copies to be handed in after the meeting. The filling date of all the forms was pre-filled as November 30, 2020.
While this measure is nothing novel, since after Xi Jinping came into power, Zhejiang has seen a sharp rise in Christian persecution, including large scale cross removal, banning of minors in churches, and banning Christian teachers from teaching at schools, it shows that the CPC has not one day stopped its plan to clamp down on Christianity.
HOW TO PRAY: Pray for protection for the religious freedom of teachers in China. Pray for the safety of Chinese Christians who worship in secrecy. Pray for the Gospel to spread throughout China.