English and the spread of Christianity.

Tweet

I've noticed since I've been in China that some Christians exploit Chinese education policy as a means to spread Christianity (who would have ever thought that China's own policies would be helping the spread of Christianity?). Anyway, this is how it works. Some Christians offer free English lessons on condition that the textbook used be the Holy Bible. Needledd to say, Chinese of limited financial means and desperate to pass English exams will often taek Christians up on this offer. Now while this alone will not guarantee that that Chinese will Christianise, none can deny that such a practice is still unjust and of course, if nothing else, increases the chances of Christians gaining more converts in an unfair manner by having the tables stacked in their favour. Now in principle, I am in favour of more religious freedom in China just as we see in many other countries. But on the other hand, I also believe in government not assisting, wittingly or otherwise, in the propagation of any faith. From that standpoint, I think it is important for the Chinese government, prior to giving full religious freedom in China, to first look at any policies of its which might in fact be assisting in the propagation of any faith. I believe China's English policy is one of such. I have noticed that many Chinese Christians do in fact speak English better than the average, and it is common for many to have adopted the Christian Faith thanks to their foreing teacher in university. Many foreign teachers are in fact sponsored by Christian organisations likewise. Yet here's the twist. I do not blame the Christians, either foreign or Chinese, in the least. The foreigners have the right to promote their faith (as long as it's outside the classroom, which is usually the case from what I've been able to observe), and Chinese are free to adopt the Faith. Heck, I'm a foreigner myself, and I'd had a few Chinese Christians try to bring me into the Christian fold. No harm done there, though if they're particularly aggressive about it, it can be irritating. So whom do I blame? The Chinese Ministry of Education! If primary and middle schools could choose among a wider range of languages, then English, a language the majority of whose speakers are in fact Christian, would no longer have the monopoly it does now. Imagine, for instance, that students could choose between any of China's minority languages (including Russian, Korean, Uighur, Zhuang, Mongolian, etc.), English, Esperanto, Arabic and Persian. Then we could expect that many of China's foreign teachers would be of many Faiths, with Christianity no longer holding such a monopoly through English. At the moment, I'm working on an English-language moral education curriculum fro children, and one person I was consulting immediately suggested including some quotes from teh Bible. Well, considering that the bible has in fact had quite an impact on English literature, guess what: that person had a point from a cultural standpoint. Many English speakers do in fact get their moral educaiton form the bible jsut as many chinese children do from Di Zi Gui, Lunyu, Daxue, etc. So including Bible quotes to teach moral education in English is in and of itself a reasonable proposition if we should consider it from a cultural context; the problem is that English holds a monopoly on China's foreign language curriculum, thanks to the Ministry of Education. This means that any English-language moral education curriculum that should include Bible quotes would not be taught to a small number of children just to expand their knowledge of English culture and moral conscience, but rather could be taught to such a large number as to allow it to penetrate the fabric of Chinese culture itself. For these reasons, I do beleive that, before teh Chinese government gives full freedom of religion in China, the Ministry of Education must needs change its foreign language policy first, as the two are in fact more closely interlinked than one might expect at first sight.