Chinese Current Religion Development Situation Term Paper

Chinese Current Religion Development Situation - Term Paper Example Indeed, the religion has enjoyed a lot of support from the masses and became a guiding ideology in the Chinese context. However, Confucianism did not actually develop into a concrete national belief. Presently, over 85 % of the Chinese people subscribe to some form of religious orientation while the rest are regarded as real atheists. The atheists comprise those who do not have any religious guiding philosophy and do not engage in any religious activities in their lives. Since the beginning of Chinese history, religion in the country has always been characterized by pluralism. Religion in the country basically depends upon the free will of the people and does not really require any form of adherence. In this regard, Buddhism remains one of the most widely practiced forms of religion in the country. Indeed, this religion has a very rich history in the country dating back to the 1st century. In the same way, popular religion is one of the most widely accepted religious traditions. ... Christians make up close to 4% of the total population while Muslims stand at 1.5%. It is further important to note that several religious movements are scattered across the country considering that China is a very large country with a huge population. Many of the intellectuals in China mostly subscribe to Confucianism. Indeed, religion is a very integral part of Chinese society and this is clearly evidenced through the presence of many tall religious statues across the country. These statutes were created to represent various deities and religious personalities from the different forms of religion realized in the country (Clart, 54). The republic of China was established in 1949 and the government of the country is officially atheist. Indeed, the government views religion as a form of feudalism and an imposition of colonialism on the people and does not therefore support or regard any religion as above the other. However, the people of China are always free in terms of making their decisions. More importantly, the government has established a strong separation between the state and the church. Much of the changes with respect to religion were realized during the Cultural Revolution between 1966 and 1967 which was a policy basically geared towards the elimination of religions. During this time, many places of worship in the country were destroyed. There was a considerable relaxation of this policy in the 1970s which marked the end of the Revolution and subsequently religious expression was permitted in the country (Jenner, 46). The 1978 Constitution of China guarantees freedom of religion for everyone in Article 36. As such, it is a policy that no one shall be discriminated upon on the basis of their religion or compelled to join any religion. There