| Do Chinese People Really Believe in God? | |
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| Jul 7, 2006 03:19 | #11   |
 | No, Rita - I don't think such a place of joint-worshipping exists anywhere else in the world. It is unique in China and it reflects the cultural standard of her people. Whilst religions teach us to be peaceful and good, etc, etc, yet we see a lot of troubles stemming from religions. Maybe this is partly attributed to some religions that claim the existence and authority of their only god, it must be humans that make all these trouble. |
| Jul 7, 2006 04:48 | #12 |
| Back to your question, Kevin. No, from what I know Chinese generally don't believe in God - the type of God that u probably are referring to. Before communism, the Chinese people prayed and sought solace in the Almighty - be it in the form of idols or a spiritual being such as God. But their attitude towards such "beings" are more out of belief that these "beings" can help them solve their problems or create some hope for them. Except for the minority of people who believe in the Bible God & Allah, there is no God the Almighty & everlasting life, etc. The Chinese are almost completely different from the Indians in this respect. The Indians are preparing for their next lives. They don't live in the present. |
| Jul 7, 2006 10:36 | #13 |
| Sorry, I mean the "green green" don't love for the present. |
| Jul 7, 2006 11:49 | #14 |
| Dear PINETREE and GAZ07 and other respondents, Thanks for your comments and enlightened replies. Thjis religion business fascinates me so i was wondering how a highly civilised country like China coped with it. I begin to see the picture. I guess there will be a lot of surprises waiting for a lot of people when they die!! Incidentally, in Bombay [now Mumbai] in western India there is a temply which caters to three religions - Muslim, Christian, Hindu. An interesting place in this land of religious tensions. |
| Jul 7, 2006 19:21 | #15 |
| It is nice to hear that there is another place that practises religion-tolerance. There should be more of this. Since existence of human being, there have been death and life. Ever wonder where and what these deads are now ? Religions believe that God will preside after death & believe in HIM is absolute and the ONLY chance to heaven/everlasting life. Some advocate that there is reward/punishment after death for what was done during life. If only they can come back & tell us about it. I've been thinking : when a person is on the verge of death, does he/she wonders what's going to happen to him/her over the next minutes ? I can imagine that it could be quite a scary thought - not knowing what's going to happening to us the moment we pass the point of living. I think believing(not knowing) that one is heading for helps bring solace & relief to that person. Most of us have been brought up to believe that there is something after death. But it is unknown what that is. So why frighten ourselves ? It needs a very strong personality/self-confidence to accept that death may be the complete end of everything - there is nothing to fear. |
| Jul 7, 2006 21:30 | #16 |
| I like your thinking, PINETREE. Displays maturity and respect. Yes, from the dawn of history, people have wondered what happens at death. In our deepest heart we know it cannot be the end. Religion, properly understood, does help us to cope. Have a nice day. |
| Jul 8, 2006 02:43 | #17 |
| hi people, firstly, i want to say i take offence at Gaz07 for putting up that photo. this cannot be tolerated. i would like the moderator or someone to remove it. someone/s once kick up so much a fuss about and against others who put up culturally sensitive photos of chinese ladies with foreign man, yet very tolerant about such photo. to me, a chinese, this is more culturally insensitive. this is definitely a very western display and gesture of disrespect especially towards an asian society that has harmonious religious consciousness. dont forget there are in china, at least 60 millions believers of Jesus whom you try to disrespect, worst still, make him to look like you.(you might want to see your skrink about this). i wonder how much you know it would take and have to do for this jesus to have millions of followers in every country around the world. this is not just religion, this is reality, reality you have not understood. secondly, i feel that most contributors here so far, are like the four blind men trying to describe an elephant just from their personal perspective. it really looks like a scene of the blind leading the blind, or the blind complementing the blind. Let's just stick to the topic of whether chinese people do believe in God. I wonder how can the moderator overlook this?  |
| Jul 8, 2006 03:32 | #18 |
| Ethnic, I believe that I must be 1 of the participants that you refer to in your comments. On hindsight, yes u have a point re Gaz's pic of Jesus. I am not part of the purported police force on this Forum - as an ex senior member used to allege. But if u feel that it is unfair, yes open up & say your piece by all means. My inclination re opposition to the manner some western men treat Chinese gals is different from that towards religion. To me religion is not close to my heart - tho obviously it is to you. To me it is perfectly OK to discuss religion & race as long as we do it maturedly & if it doesn't offend anyone. This is my personal feeling. Nonetheless, my apology since this discussion offends u in any way. And I for one shall not participate on this subject anymore. It is a fact that most of us are at least partially blind but by excluding such discussion now only you know how a whole elephant looks like, sadly. Btw, did u contribute towards the stand on foreign men vs Chinese women ? I can't remember, sorry. Am also open on PMS pl. |
| Jul 8, 2006 10:34 | #19 |
| Dear ETHNICEAST and PINETREE, I say thanks again for your mature contributions to the discussion. When it comes to God, all of us are blind and our little say is so small compared to the truth. The more mature among the contributers argue for respect and i feel this is very important indeed. All discussions begin there. No on has the full truth. I found great tolerance when I was in China - though I presume that like any other country in the world there is some injustice, prejudice, fundamentalism. I hope that Asia's name for tolerance will not fade away. As for GAZ07's picture, I feel that while it was in very bad taste, the intention, hopefully, was not to show disrespect to Christians or Jesus. |
| Jul 9, 2006 12:34 | #20 |
| Ethnic, The picture is not there to offend you or any other believers in Christianity. It simply represents MY view and experience of Christianity. However, if you wish for my picture to be removed then it is perfectly fine by me to do so. I personally find your picture and comments on "reality" equally, if not more offensive, but i respect that it is part of what you wish to contribute, and represents your view on the subject. I was born into a practicing Christian family and have a muslim girlfriend and do not take kindly into your "blind" personal attack on my understanding of religion. Let us not forget this is a discussion forum, not an FAQ. So i think it is perfectly acceptable that we discuss the topic in hand as fully as we wish, rather than simply answer the question rigidly. --------------------------- Anyway, back to the topic. I would be very curious to see a picture of the Triple Religion Temple's in China and India. As a past art student, i've always been interested in the architecture (if not content) of religious buildings, especially churches. If anybody has pictures it would be appreciated. Secondly a question for those living in China. Around the world there is religious tension in communities, is this the case at all in China? I visited a mosque in Xi'an (not the "great mosque") for the reason above and was welcomed into it even as a non-muslim. In some communities, this is without question impossible. Why do you think this is not the case in China? A picture of the mosque in Xi'an: (Can anybody translate?)  |
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