Congregations in China’s officially recognized Protestant church have been forced to replace mandments to Moses with a quotation about the triumph of socialism, according to a religious liberty watchdog. The action literally substitutes socialism as an idol, in violation of the First Commandment.The Chinese government’s attempt to change the teachings of the60,000-church Three-Self Patriotic Movement unmasks how socialism crushesreligious liberty and reduces Christians to subservience – or elevates them to martyrdom.

The magazineBitter Harvestreports:

The Ten Commandments are the basis of Christian moral code, an essential part of believers’ life throughout the world. But in atheist China, they have e an eyesore for the country’s dictator, and are eliminated from places of worship.

Even though a state-runThree-Self churchin acountyof Luoyang city in the centralprovinceof Henan has replaced the Ten Commandments with PresidentXi Jinping’s quotes after repeated demands, it didn’t escape reprimands from the government. “The Party must be obeyed in every respect. You have to do whatever the Party tells you to do. If you contradict, your church will be shut down immediately,”United Front Work Departmentofficials lectured the congregation at the end of June.

One of those quotations states that socialism will subsume all religions.

“Thecore socialist valuesand Chinese culture will help to immerse various religions of China. Support munity [sic] in interpreting religious thought, doctrines, and teachings in a way that conforms with the needs of the progress of the times. Resolutely guard against the infiltration of Western ideology, and consciously resist the influence of extremist thought,” Prime Minister Xi Jinping told the CentralUnited FrontWork Department working meeting on May 18, 2015.

China has progressively promoted the “Sinicization” of all society, including the religious realm, shaping the teachings of all faiths to promotethe Chinesebrand of socialism.

“The Communist Party’s ultimate goal is to e God.’ This is what the devil has always done,” said the church’s pastor, who wished to remain anonymous. “We have no freedom at all.”

The Chinese government has reportedly replaced other church displays of the Ten Commandments with portraits of Mao Tse-tung and Jinping. An official reportedlyexplainedBeijing’s objection: “Christianity claims that no other gods should be worshiped.” Government officials reportederasedthe First Commandment, forbidding idolatry, from another church display.

Christians trapped in China’s socialist system lack both the political and economic means to defend their religious freedom. The nation’sSocial Credit Systemchains financial success to obedience to the government, which increasingly resembles a cult of personality around Jinping. When everyone’s economic survivaldependson state approval, political leaders can erect any idol they wish pel worship.

China’s actions should reveal atheistic socialism for the idol it is.

Read the full report here.

Jinping receives the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle award from Vladimir Putin in Russia, 2017.Kremlin.ru. This photo has been cropped.)