Chinese Government Continues Crackdown On Churches; Imposes Communism

The Chinese government continues its crackdown on Christian churches by demolishing crosses and other symbols of Christianity. 
 
Recently, Island Head Christian church was torn down under the pretense that the building was illegally constructed, reports China Aid.
 
Members of the three-story church building resisted demolition but later yielded when state officials threatened them. 
 
One church member estimated that the cost of the church was 3 million Yuan or $460,000.
 
Meanwhile last weekend, China held its first conference on religious "freedom" but instead of rallying for freedom it called for its termination.
 
President Xi Jinping demanded that "unyielding Marxist atheists" impose communism onto the nation's religious groups.
 
"We must resolutely guard against overseas infiltrations via religious means and prevent ideological infringement by extremists," Xi said at the meeting. Members of the Chinese Communist Party, he asserted, must be "unyielding Marxist atheists, consolidate their faith, and bear in mind the Party's tenets."
 
Xi also said that communists have a special obligation to keep teenagers away from religion, while religious leaders must "interpret religious doctrines in a way that is conducive to modern China's progress and in line with our excellent traditional culture."
 
If leaders don't, they are subject to torture in "reeducation" programs, or they simply disappear. 
 
At least five priests have "disappeared" across China during April alone, reports UCA News, a Catholic news publication.
 
Chinese authorities buried one pastor and his wife alive as they were demolishing their church building. 
 
Pastor Li Jiangong managed to survive after clawing his way out. His wife, Ding Cuimei, died of suffocation. 
 
Since 2014, communist authorities across the Zhejiang province have destroyed more than 2,000 church crosses, with more than 50 destroyed in Wenzhou during the month of March alone.