* A local government's poverty-relief programme has urged Christians to swap posters of Jesus for portraits of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
* Officials reportedly visited poor Christian families and 600 villagers "voluntarily" removed images of Jesus and many put up pictures of Xi.
* Some say the changes were not voluntary and that aid is dependent on the removal of religious symbols, a claim local officials deny.
* However, an official did say they are asking religious posters to be removed from houses' living rooms, where people should not forget the "party's kindness." 

Thousands of Christians in an impoverished county in rural southeast China have swapped their posters of Jesus for portraits of President Xi Jinping as part of a local government poverty-relief programme that seeks to “transform believers in religion into believers in the party”.

Located on the edge of Poyang, China’s largest freshwater lake, Yugan county in Jiangxi province is known equally for its poverty and its large Christian community.

More than 11 per cent of its 1 million residents live below the country’s official poverty line, while nearly 10 per cent of its population is Christian, according to official data.

But as the local government redoubles its efforts to alleviate poverty, many believers have been told to take down the images of Jesus, the crosses and the gospel couplets that form the centerpieces of their homes, and hang portraits of Xi instead – a practice that hearkens back to the era of the personality cult around late chairman Mao Zedong, whose portraits were once ubiquitous in Chinese homes.

Under Xi, the ruling Communist Party has made ending poverty by 2020 a top priority. The campaign is not only crucial to the political legacy of the country’s most powerful leader since Mao, but also serves to consolidate the party’s control over the grass roots of society, who despite their vast numbers have been largely neglected in China’s decades-long pursuit of economic growth.

In Yugan, the officially atheist party is competing for influence with Christianity, which has spread rapidly in both poor rural villages and prosperous cities since the end of the Cultural Revolution more than 40 years ago. By some estimates, Christians in China now outnumber the 90 million members of the party.

http://www.newsscrollngr.com/index.php/art/item/12335-christian-chinese-villagers-told-to-rely-on-communist-party-not-jesus-to-escape-poverty

Ehen

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