Bush speaks out in China
AP PHOTO/Gerald Herbert Accompanied by Pastor Jian-An, President Bushmakes remarks after attending church at the Beijing Kuanjie Protestant Christian Church during his visit to the 2008 Summer Olympic games in Beijing, China on Aug. 10.
I saw Pres. Bush’s interview Sunday with Bob Costas, NBC Olympics commentator, in Beijing.
The president said he had attended a state-sanctioned church during his visit to China. My ears perked up when he said he has suggested that Chinese officials register underground house churches like they do state-sanctioned churches.
Bush’s comments to Costas more than hinted around religion — they really seemed to center around that theme.
In last week’s interview about the Voice of the Martyrs’ China prayer bracelets, Todd Nettleton, Voice of the Martyrs director of media development, said state-sanctioned Christian churches are those that the Chinese government allows to operate, thus the government has final say about who can preach there and what they can and cannot preach about.
The house churches that are not sanctioned in this way are called “underground” because they are not registered.
Nettleton said Voice of the Martyrs, based in Bartlesville, thinks that about 20 percent of Christians in China attend the state-sanctioned churches, while the majority attend underground churches because they feel more free to worship there.
“Obviously a lot of Christians say ‘Hey, we believe Christ is the head of the church not the Communist government’,” Nettleton said. “That’s why they refuse to come under those government controls.”
Will Chinese leaders take Bush’s suggestion seriously?
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
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