Chinese think tank says Christianity is what made the West successful.

This is surprising coming from a Chinese government sponsored think tank. These are the same folks busy persecuting their Christian population and promoting the government approved non-religion of atheism.

Christianity the reason for West's success, say the Chinese

In the West we are doing our best to destroy our Christian heritage but in China, Chinese intellectuals are coming around to the view that it is precisely this heritage that has made the West so successful.

Former editor of the Sunday Telegraph, Dominic Lawson, in a review in the Sunday Times of Niall Ferguson's new book, ‘Civilisation: The West and the Rest’, carries a quote from a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in which he tries to account for the success of the West, to date.

He said: “One of the things we were asked to look into was what accounted for the success, in fact, the pre-eminence of the West all over the world.

“We studied everything we could from the historical, political, economic, and cultural perspective. At first, we thought it was because you had more powerful guns than we had.

“Then we thought it was because you had the best political system. Next we focused on your economic system.

“But in the past twenty years, we have realised that the heart of your culture is your religion: Christianity. That is why the West is so powerful.

“The Christian moral foundation of social and cultural life was what made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the successful transition to democratic politics. We don’t have any doubt about this.”

Note the source. It isn't from a religious leader, or some religious think-tank. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is an instrument of the Chinese Communist government which spends a not inconsiderable amount of time and money persecuting Christians and is officially atheistic.

If this is the conclusion it has come to, maybe Europe needs to reconsider whether it mightn't be an idea to encourage rather than eradicate Christianity.

Iona Institute


Makes you wonder if Western society isn't going in the wrong direction.

Personal beliefs aside, this definitely makes sense. One with a goal believed to affect their only allotted afterlife will probably be more successful than someone with the belief they get unlimited chances.

reply to post by FalselyFlagged

I'm not even remotely close to Asian and I find that wholly offensive. This is an intellectual forum not a South Park episode. Keep the bigotry inside the trailer please.

As to the OPost, I can totally see why the study came to it's conclusions. I mean, they've fear-mongered us (I know what I'm talking about I was Roman Catholic raised ) psychologically, physically, emotionally and spiritually. It's no wonder the unthinking majority is just that.

reply to post by FalselyFlagged


Yeah, we all know that China knows everything

Maybe they could explain why Italy, Greece and Spain are so successful economically... Oh wait...

By the way, who said anything about bigotry? Why should I respect a culture that has Mao on their currency as if he's a great man? Hah... he was an idiotic murder who killed literally millions with his insane social and economic policies. If believing the truth makes me a biggot then so be it...

Originally posted by FalselyFlagged
reply to post by FalselyFlagged

 

Yeah, we all know that China knows everything

Maybe they could explain why Italy, Greece and Spain are so successful economically... Oh wait...

By the way, who said anything about bigotry? Why should I respect a culture that has Mao on their currency as if he's a great man? Hah... he was an idiotic murder who killed literally millions with his insane social and economic policies. If believing the truth makes me a biggot then so be it...

edit on 7-3-2011 by FalselyFlagged because: (no reason given)

The bigotry I I mentioned was due to the end of your first post on this thread. And as far as respecting the culture goes, why do you associate the culture(s) of the most populous nation in the world with one dictator/faction? That's not unlike me telling you I don't respect your beliefs and culture because I disagree with your elected government.

Yes Mao was a tyrant. But your juxtaposition of the entire Chinese nation and the few who are in control is as far from "believing in the truth: you can get.

Deny Ignorance.

reply to post by FortAnthem


Just goes to show that the Chinese can screw up sometimes, too. For the vast majority of Europe's christian history it was a decaying society, a backwater of the world. Europe's jump to fame came with the Spanish conquest of the Americas, and the wealth that brought; And it's worth noting that the Spanish killed and plundered the Americans against the decrees of the church. The majority of Europe's advancements after this period came as a result of stepping away from the faith of their ancestors, which is, even to this day, violently against science and innovation. Christianity had to be put on the shelf for Christian Europe to prosper.

reply to post by FalselyFlagged


We have Washington, Jefferson, and Andrew freaking Jackson in our currency. I don't think we can gripe about Mao being on theirs seeing as we celebrate two genocidal village-burners and a slave rapist.

This conclusion is absolutely correct. It's pathetic seeing the brainwashed christ haters refusing to acknowledge the truth. What the Chinese should realize is that God is blessing China right now precisely because they have one of the largest active christian populations in the world. In fact by percentage China is a more christian nation than the US or europe. Only 4% of the US actually has a Biblical worldview. (Google the Barna poll on this issue).

In China, where being a christian is a potential death sentence, there are few fake christians. Here in the US it is fashionable to claim to be a christian but to behave otherwise and allow christ to have about the same influence over your life as the tooth fairy. Some say 10% of the Chinese belong to an illegal house church.

The West just doesn't include America, it includes Europe, Britain, Australia, New Zealand etc.
The most common thread we all share is our Christian fabric that runs through it all.
It's kept us all on the same page for quite a few centuries. That kind of cohesion can't be bought.
It's either cultivated early or it's not not.
So I agree with the conclusions that the Chinese have come too.
But then me and quite a few others on this board could've told them the same thing for FREE.

That was an obvious conclusion I came to independently. Most political and economic ideas of the west came from a Christian culture. Most naysayers underestimate how much culture affects how well a society does.

Is it not quite humorous how it always takes an outside source to show you the truth about yourself? Christianity the religion transformed the West and made it great due to the Christian ethos it espoused. Christianity truly prevails and shines when it is left as the spiritual, moral, and guiding force behind the decisions, virtue, and ideals of the people within a nation.

Christianity when not practiced by the state is a peaceful, respectful, insightful, and virtuous religion. This religion has inspired some of the greatest men in Western history to reach for the stars. Countless great events and ideals were founded and pursued in the name of Jesus Christ and the almighty God. However tables could be turned and the same argument could be made that great evils were done in the name of Christianity, but if you took your time to read and fully understand the morals and teachings of Jesus Christ then you will understand any wrongdoing in the name of Jesus Christ is merely using his name for their own sick gain.

When we finally realize what built all the beautiful churches, cathedrals, cultures, peoples, nations, philosophies, nations, traditions, architecture, and inspired our greatest writers, thinkers, philosophers, scientists, and heroes was Christianity maybe we can wake up from this slumber where we reject everything about our rich and glorious past in favor of rejoices around the Christmas Tree for what we have that was built with the blood, sweat, and tears of fallen Christians ancestors and brethren.

I wonder if this means China is giving consideration to becoming a Christian nation? I somehow doubt that would happen and, even if they did, choosing a religion for economic reasons is the wrong way to go. If China were suddenly to go Christian because of all the so called economic benifits of Christianity, they would probably be fiercly opposed by their own people who they have trained to hate religion all these years.

Probably even the "real Christians" mentioned by a poster above would recognise the perversion of adopting religion as a commercial venture and would fight against it as well.

Something tells me that the guys that worked on this think tank will end up with the same fate as usually meets other free thinkers in Chinese society:

_________________


I just hope they can dodge bullets as well as that bananna.

Quite simple really.

It baffles me to think it takes think-tanks to reach these conclusions. Damn it! Why am I not in one!

A system of faith* is needed to progress or "evolve" for us humans. Without faith we would have simply fallen back on instincts, we wouldn't be prone to look for a collective rather than the individual and not to forget ETHICS. Without a stupid system of rules, dogmas, fantasy stories etc. A LOT of people wouldn't feel the need to behave, take a look at the AMOUNT of countless stupid videos on the internet. Those people most certainly do NOT hold Christ's forgiving ethics at heart.

These less than intelligent people can say they have faith but those are just twisted up words. Which flows into the next point: Acting like you're religious.

The great minds and scientists of the past sure said they were religious and all, because if they didn't, a mob wielding pitchforks and torches would bumrush them! But, as fate has it, without the very system of faith, the great mind and scientist would have no way of being heard(not in a non-violent way anyways) - so the coin has two sides.


*Faith can also be drawn from a rich culture. Or a book. Or science. Or a rock.

reply to post by SevenThunders

Please show me this god of yours. Have him come down to the earth and perform a miracle for me to see. Until then, it is just a joke.

Also, Christianity is not the reason for the west's success. What a rubbish thinktank. If that's the quality of a Chinese thinktank, it goes to show why China is still a filthy backwater. It had everything to do with guns and weapons.

Christianity teaches that you should treat fellow man with kindness, right? That sure didn't stop Cortez or Columbus as they slaughtered and tortured their way through the new world. It sure as hell didn't stop the settlers from making treaties with Native Americans and completely disregarding them later on. It was disregard for the principles of Christianity that made the West successful.

Religions are a joke. They're just a way for people to feel good about themselves. It gives people hope when they're down and it makes them feel like there's a meaning to life. There's surely some cognitive biases involved.

In my opinion it was actually the secularization and move AWAY from theocratic religion that made the west so prominent..You know...Enlightenment era and all that?

reply to post by hippomchippo

+1 for being more insightful than the Chinese thinktank. Everything the west did to jump ahead of China involved moving away from existing ideas and thought, many of which were based in religion.

Chritianity was instrumental in Capitalism, it was essential to brain wash the slaves that there would be a better life to come when they died as long as they worked their asses off for their masters and didnt complain about it. Thank the lord.

Its true, because Christians just happened to dominate and take over more land and force people into their religion.

I bet those good-hearted Christian morals really helped spread smallpox blankets and enforce the Open Door Policy on China.

reply to post by 547000


Like the christian prohibition against moneylending? You can't be a banker and a Christian, you know. At least, not a biblical christian.That's like being a Jewish guy working at a bacon factory, it just doesn't work. Or you know, Jesus' admonitions against the acquisition of wealth, or the core Christian belief that the "real" riches are in heaven? While I suppose these are valid ideas in their own right, you can't really argue that it's the basis of an economic society. Or how about Christianity's support of both slavery and the divine right of rulers? Slavery is certainly bad economics, and divine right monarchies are always heavily taxed centralized economies that are fearful of foreign trade - letting any power out of the monarch's hands is seen as dangerous.

Matter of fact, everywhere that the bible talks about economics - and it really odesn't talk about economics at all, point of fact - it presents the system in a way that runs directly counter to the methods by which "the west" has become economically successful. In fact the only paralells arewhere the Israelites massacre their neighbors and take their stuff - just as the Europeans did. But pillage isn't really an economic system; even Genghis Khan instituted currency and debt.