Religious, cultural, political news, 8/12/08
(1) The Olympics:The Wall Street Journal reports on China and religious repression:
Religious repression rears its ugly head again:
President Bush attended church in Beijing on Sunday, worshipping with Chinese Christians and singing “Amazing Grace.”
But what happened outside the church says more about the state of religion in China.
Earlier that morning, Hua Huiqi, the pastor of an illegal underground Christian church, was detained by police as he was biking to the service that Mr. Bush was to attend. His whereabouts are still unknown. Mr. Hua’s brother, who was briefly detained, said Mr. Hua only wanted to worship at the church where he was baptized.
China’s constitution allows freedom of religion, but in practice religion is tolerated only insofar as it is controlled by the state.
The only legal churches are those run by the State Administration of Religious Affairs.
Those who choose to attend “house” churches — roughly half of China’s Christians — face harassment or…

