When I began reading this chapter, I was a little confused. The title of the book is God in Chinatown but this specific chapter is in regards to China. Either way, the focus of the chapter is clearly religion, in specific Christianity. This chapter moves to discuss the different sects of Christianity practiced within China as well as the issues which many of them faced. I somewhat shocked me how even before the coming of the communist party, that the Chinese faced so much repression especially with religion. Most practitioners of Christianity seemed to be underground, and many weren’t even legal at all. I don’t really know how the Vatican functions but this didn’t make sense to me. If it is not supported by the major church than what is the religion. I also found it weird how the church accepted the bishops as being administered, but didn’t really accept them. It is very contradictory and confused me a little. Moreover, missionaries were outlawed but Christianity still flourished. It seemed that these secret organizations did better than those supported by the Church like the Little Flock.
With the cultural revolution though, all religion was outlawed whether official or not. This seems to fit in well with communism, especially the communism in China that aims to control everything. However, just like in any other repression the religion went underground. It is really a testament to the power of religion that people risk their lives to support their gods and that is the case in China at this time. After this cultural revolution the policies calmed down a bit. Again official churches began to open up. However, there were strict rules in order to register the sites. All of this makes sense in regards to communism. Yet, most of these rules are completely ridiculous and or obvious to someone who is trying to start an organization.