“Since the Chinese Communist Party’s ‘Measures for the Administration of Internet Religious Information Services’ came into effect on March 1, Christian WeChat accounts and groups became the main area of suppression. Early Rain Covenant Church’s Ran Yunfei has a WeChat group called ‘How to read.’ Group members recommended book titles and voted on them with WeChat’s built-in voting. During the most recent round, group members recommended the book, ‘Imitation of Christ’ by Thomas à Kempis. However, the voting was not able to pass WeChat’s censorship, showing the following message: ‘The word Christ you are trying to publish violates regulations on Internet Information Services, including but not limited to the following categories: pornography, gambling, and drug abuse, excessive marketing, incitement. The issue can be resolved through one of the following: (1) Edit your content (2) Submit for review.’ On December 20, 2021, China’s State Administration for Religious Affairs published the ‘Measures for the Administration of Internet Religious Information Services’ on its official website. It was created through joint efforts of five departments: State Administration for Religious Affairs, Cyberspace Administration of China, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Public Security, and Ministry of State Security. Unless the conditions specified by article 15 and article 16 are met, no organization and individual may teach on the internet, conduct religious education and training, publish sermons, repost or link related content, organize religious activities on the internet, or live broadcast or record and broadcast religious ceremonies.”
China Aid, Apr. 4, 2022
NOTE FROM D. CLOUD: We don’t recommend the book by Kempis or any of the contemplative prayer materials. See the free eBook Evangelicals and Contemplative Prayer at www.wayoflife.org.
(Friday Church News Notes, April 15, 2022, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)