tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2807403883562053852.post5529509880584178049..comments2024-03-27T08:40:31.785-06:00Comments on Clayton Cramer.: Dangerous Ideas Will Not Be ToleratedClayton Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03258083387204776812noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2807403883562053852.post-83578268320617373192016-05-23T22:38:49.294-06:002016-05-23T22:38:49.294-06:00I don't see this as an ideological campaign. T...I don't see this as an <i>ideological</i> campaign. Tearing the crosses off steeples is a symbolic act.<br /><br />The Chinese government is afraid of anything which is an alternative to state authority. They have persecuted Falun Gong ferociously, for the same reason. But they patronize state-controlled churches.<br /><br />Western anticlericalism is a rather different. It is rooted in the liberal enmity toward established churches that were props of the authoritarian old order. Communists shared this enmity (one reason why liberals have so often been useful idiots); in fact, explicit atheism was baked into Communist doctrine. And the totalitarian element in Communism attacked anything outside the state, which churches always were, even when everything else was absorbed.<br /><br />For liberals, there was also opposition by many religious groups to social reform, personal liberty, and freedom of expression (which didn't matter to Communists). Modern liberals imagine they are still fighting the Inquisition and Comstockery. Most churches in the West have been co-opted by the welfare state; they aren't the major foci of resistance, given the vast array of other non-state institutions.<br /><br />As to China: the regime has largely abandoned Communist ideas in practice; its fear is purely authoritarian paranoia.Rich Rostromhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13262703348236110420noreply@blogger.com