The Chinese Communist Party’s Atheistic Approach to Religious Freedom in China

Abstract

This article examines whether and the extent to which Chinese Marxist atheism and religious freedom exist in dualistic opposition, along with how Marxist atheism has been instantiated in the practical restrictions on religious freedom imposed by the Chinese Communist Party at the institutional level. Moreover, it develops an integrated model of Party–state–religion relations, articulating the dualistic structure of both Marxist atheism and the restricted religious freedom in China’s authoritarian context. Furthermore, it provides a nuanced analysis of the reinforcement of the dominance of Marxist atheism as a restriction on religious freedom through the integrated legalistic–political approach adopted in the revision of the Regulation on Religious Affairs in 2017, taking Protestant house churches as an illustrative example.

Keywords: Right to religious freedom, Protestant house church, Marxist atheism, religion-state relations, Chinese Communist Party