For background on Orthodox Christianity in China, see here.
For previous ChristianPersecution.com coverage of the persecution of Christians in China, see here.
“Wenzhou, Parents Asked to Sign a ‘Kindergarten Family Commitment Not to Believe in Religion,’” by He Yuyan, Bitter Winter, March 24, 2023:
A good Communist Party education starts from kindergarten, and it should necessarily include atheism. At the beginning of March, Christian parents from the Longwan District of Wenzhou, Zhejiang, sent to several human rights media pledges they are required to sign to have their children, aged 3 to 6, continue to attend kindergarten. The documents look genuine, and similar texts have been circulated previously in China.
The document is called a “Kindergarten Family Commitment Not to Believe in Religion” and should be signed by the parents, who should indicate the name of the children.
The parents promise to lead “civilized families” who “do not believe in religion, do not participate in any religious activities, do not teach religion to children.” Parents commit that they and their children will stay away from “Falun Gong of any other xie jiao,” avoid ‘feudal superstition,” and teach kindergarten children faith in science, socialism, and the Chinese Communist Party.
Campaigns for atheism may become more or less visible, but never subsided in China. Xi Jinping himself has repeatedly insisted that scientific atheism is an essential feature of Marxism, and popular culture is mobilized to inculcate this idea….
