The Immanent Frame, a website dedicated to perspectives on secularism, religion, and the public spherem has published a series of posts on the changing spiritual landscape of China.

Although religion has slowly returned since Deng Xiaoping began enacting economic and social reforms in 1978, religious worship is officially frowned upon by the ruling party, according to the post: “What is Religion in China? A Brief History?”:

Taking the traditional Marxist view of religion, the CCP considers religion a negative force, and CCP members must be atheists working towards a time when “the vast majority of our citizens will be able to deal with the world and our fellowmen from a conscious scientific viewpoint, and no longer have any need for recourse to an illusory world of gods to seek spiritual solace.”

A recent Gallup poll found that 47 percent of China’s people say they are “convinced atheists”—the highest rate of atheism in the world. However, surveys show high levels of religious practice; as much as 85 percent of the population carry out rituals to honour ancestors, seek out good fortune, ward off evil, celebrate festivals, and accumulate merit for a good afterlife.

One possible reason for this is the social nature of indigenous Chinese religion. It is more about belonging than belief. Old forms of community are dying and new ones are yet to be born.

The post Secular Belief, Religious Belonging has more:

The collapse of the commune and state industrial work unit systems has made the search for forms of community not controlled by the state more pressing than ever. These alternative forms are typically established through myth and ritual, which meaningfully anchor persons to families and communities. But participants in the myth-telling and ritual performance might understand them in very diverse ways, including skepticism about the truth of the myths that they tell and the efficacy of the rituals in which they engage. However, in order to remain members of the wider community, they practice them despite their doubts. If among the middle classes of the West it is now common for religion to take the form of “belief without belonging,” in China it may just as commonly take the form of belonging without belief.

The five state approved religions overseen by the State Administration of Religious Affairs are Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism, and Protestantism. The government has allowed an increased role for religious organisations in philanthropy and disaster relief, including health care and poverty alleviation. This is largely due to the work of scholars who have courageously defended China’s spiritual heritage.

Life is unlikely to get easier for Falun Gong members, Tibetan Buddhists or Uighur Muslims, but as was seen by the Wang Yue incident that happened two years ago on Sunday – it is in society’s interest that the public believes in something as opposed to believing in nothing.

Via The Daily Dish