Comments on: china’s green religion http://www.sustainablechina.info/2009/11/05/chinas-green-religion/ researching religious values for ecological sustainability Sat, 07 Jan 2012 17:20:49 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: james http://www.sustainablechina.info/2009/11/05/chinas-green-religion/comment-page-1/#comment-473 james Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:30:42 +0000 http://www.sustainablechina.info/?p=308#comment-473 I think that from a US perspective, the concept of an "official religion" in the sense of a national religion is certainly forbidden by the constitution. On the other hand, at some level religions in the West have to be officially recognized as religions in order to claim tax exempt status and other privileges afforded by the state. Since 1979 China has taken the step of officially authorizing and legally protecting five religions, Islam, Buddhism, Daoism, Catholicism and Protestantism. Other religious traditions such as Orthodox Christianity also exist in China though their legal status is not so clearly defined. I think that from a US perspective, the concept of an “official religion” in the sense of a national religion is certainly forbidden by the constitution. On the other hand, at some level religions in the West have to be officially recognized as religions in order to claim tax exempt status and other privileges afforded by the state.

Since 1979 China has taken the step of officially authorizing and legally protecting five religions, Islam, Buddhism, Daoism, Catholicism and Protestantism. Other religious traditions such as Orthodox Christianity also exist in China though their legal status is not so clearly defined.

]]> By: Michael http://www.sustainablechina.info/2009/11/05/chinas-green-religion/comment-page-1/#comment-472 Michael Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:21:27 +0000 http://www.sustainablechina.info/?p=308#comment-472 With reference to the penultimate sentence of your last paragraph: An "official" religion is a contradiction in terms. With reference to the penultimate sentence of your last paragraph: An “official” religion is a contradiction in terms.

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