Xi Wuyi: Be Alert to the Cultural Infiltration of International Christian Right-Wing Forces
[Summary] The global expansion strategy of Christian Neoconservatism has become a tool of US hegemonism. The passage of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 by the US Congress serves as a mechanism for using state power to conduct the global strategic expansion of Christianity. China has become a key target region for international religious right-wing forces to spread the Christian Gospel. Overseas religious penetration has become one of the most significant factors threatening our national security. Its strategic intent is to transform China’s ideology and political system. We must pay close attention to the “legal penetration” carried out by overseas Christian right-wing forces. The promotion of Christian spread in our country by overseas right-wing forces is, in essence, a form of cultural colonialism and ideological penetration. Western religious right-wing forces are particularly adept at utilizing legal channels to penetrate our cultural, educational, and academic research fronts, cultivating their own forces and propagating their worldviews, values, and political outlooks in opposition to our country’s mainstream ideology. To provide theoretical weapons for resisting the penetration of overseas religious theology from an ideological and cultural perspective, we must vigorously strengthen the academic development of the discipline of scientific atheism.
[Keywords] International Christian Right; religious penetration; national security; academic development of scientific atheism
Religious penetration refers to various activities and propaganda conducted by overseas groups, organizations, and individuals using religion to violate our country’s Constitution, laws, regulations, and policies. In my view, overseas religious penetration mainly includes three aspects: first, overseas hostile forces using religion as a tool of penetration, operating under the banner of religion to subvert our state power and socialist system and to undermine national unity and ethnic solidarity; second, overseas religious forces attempting to control our country’s religious organizations and interfere in our religious affairs by establishing religious organizations and activity outposts and developing converts within our borders; and third, overseas religious right-wing forces utilizing “cultural exchange” and “academic research” to conduct “legal penetration.”
Since the end of the Cold War, along with the process of economic globalization, the exchange, blending, and confrontation of various ideologies and cultures have become more frequent. The trend of diversification in the ideological and cultural spheres has become increasingly distinct, and the problem of our country’s cultural security has become more prominent. Developed Western countries place greater emphasis on using ideology as a "soft power" [1] to realize their national interests. Led by the United States, Western countries utilize Christian Neoconservatism to implement a proselytizing strategy of expansion toward China. Overseas religious penetration has become one of the most significant factors threatening our national security. Under the intersecting influence of complex international and domestic factors, overseas religious penetration has the potential to trigger public management crises and should be given high priority.
This article primarily analyzes the strategy of China-directed expansion by US Christian Neoconservative forces. I believe that we should currently place greater emphasis on the “legal penetration” of overseas Christian right-wing forces. To provide theoretical weapons for resisting the penetration of overseas religious theology from an ideological and cultural perspective, we must vigorously strengthen the academic development of the discipline of scientific atheism.
I. The Global Expansion Strategy of Christian Neoconservatism Has Become a Tool of US Hegemonism
In August 2008, while visiting Europe, Li Shenming, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), asked: "Could you briefly explain what the US strategy toward China is?" The head of the "Transnational Threats and Political Risk" project at the British International Institute for Strategic Studies replied: "If China rises in 'hard power,' the US will welcome it; but if China rises in 'soft power,' a direct, comprehensive, and intense conflict may occur between the US and China."
If "hard power" refers to economic strength, does the US truly welcome China’s rise? That is a separate matter. "Soft power" should refer to political systems, social culture, value systems, and so on—naturally including ideologies such as democracy, freedom, and human rights. Democratic systems and human rights concepts are the two main cards the West uses to promote "soft power" worldwide. Since the end of the Cold War, the human rights card has become increasingly prominent in international strategy. According to the interpretation of the US authorities, “religious freedom has become the primary cornerstone of human rights.”
Since the 1970s, a phenomenon worthy of attention has appeared in American social life: the rapid growth of American Christian Evangelicalism and its active expansion from the sphere of cultural belief into the political sphere. US Christian Evangelicals promote a global strategy of proselytizing expansion, triggering many social conflicts. Yet, they unilaterally blame the failure of diverse religious cultures in the international community to coexist harmoniously on developing countries, accusing these countries' social environments of failing to meet American standards of religious freedom. Consequently, so-called "international religious freedom" has become a major political agenda for American religious organizations. In recent years, due to the revival of Christian Evangelicalism and the "political awakening" of the religious right, the role of religion in US domestic and foreign policy has become increasingly prominent.
Since the end of the Cold War, international religious right-wing forces have actively promoted a global strategy of proselytizing expansion. In 1998, US Christian Neoconservative forces allied with political Neoconservative forces to jointly push Congress to pass the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, making it a tool for the global strategic expansion of Christianity through state power. The establishment of this act was a landmark event in which US religious forces influenced national foreign policy. The passage of legislation by a superpower to periodically review the religious status of countries worldwide represents a significant strategic shift on the international stage after the Cold War. This "faith-based diplomacy" has become the latest version of historical "missionary diplomacy" and contemporary "human rights diplomacy."
The US authorities use state power to reinforce American values in the international field of human rights. For instance, the 2006 International Religious Freedom Report declared: "Religious belief, as a personal choice and a fundamental freedom, is a cornerstone of the American identity, rooted in the ideals of our founding fathers. From our founding to the present day, religious freedom has remained one of our most primary freedoms. The determination of the American people to defend religious freedom—not only at home but throughout the world—remains unwavering. As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said: 'For the United States, there is nothing more fundamental than religious freedom and religious conscience. Our country was founded on this basis. Religious freedom is the heart of democracy.'" US politicians have symbolized "religious freedom," turning it into a totem of the Western-style democratic system and a strategic tool for the US to promote hegemonism.
Is Christianity the foundation upon which the United States was built? In fact, this is an interpretation by contemporary American politicians. In the view of many American historians, the historical facts are otherwise. Most leaders during the American founding period had weak religious sentiments. Among them, Thomas Paine, the political activist and Enlightenment thinker who participated in drafting the Declaration of Independence, was also a famous atheist. The second US President, John Adams, said: "History will attribute the American Revolution to Thomas Paine." In his book The Age of Reason, Paine sharply criticized Christianity, saying: "The age of ignorance commenced with the Christian system. Theology hindered the development of science." He pointed out: "Christianity is based on the Bible, and the Bible was established entirely by the sword, and the sword was used in the worst way, not only for intimidation but for destruction." The love mentioned in the Bible refers to love between believers under the premise of worshipping God. Toward ethnic groups or heathens who do not believe in God, it is full of bloodshed and slaughter. This is the doctrinal basis for religious wars.
I believe it should be pointed out that the "international religious freedom" vigorously promoted by the US government is measured by the standard of US national interests. For example, the "2002 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom" issued by the US State Department listed Burma, China, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, and Sudan as "Countries of Particular Concern." The 2004 annual report then removed Iraq from the list. In reality, in US-occupied Iraq, "jihadist" killings were constant, and the physical safety of the people could hardly be guaranteed. Did religious belief instead gain greater freedom? The Iraq War initiated by the United States was criticized by international human rights organizations as the "greatest humanitarian disaster of the first decade of this century." Recently, WikiLeaks revealed that out of a total of 109,000 deaths in the Iraq War, 66,000 were non-combatants. Another London-based organization, "Iraq Body Count," stated that civilian deaths in the war reached as high as 122,000.
"Counter-terrorism, counter-terrorism; the more we counter it, the more terror there is" has become a popular international catchphrase. According to research by scholars at the University of Chicago, in the 1980s there were only 5 suicide attacks per year globally; by the 1990s, this rose to an average of 50 per year; and in 2009 alone, "human bomb" incidents worldwide reached 500. The most important reason for this is resistance against the occupation by foreign troops. The US government claims that "countries that respect religious freedom rarely pose a security threat to other nations." This "I-alone-am-supreme" preaching is not worth refuting in the face of iron-clad facts.
Since the end of the Cold War, the most significant change in the international strategic structure is the attempt by US Neoconservative forces to establish a unipolar era of global dominance. Certain authoritative figures advocate for a hegemonic policy of unilateralism and implement a strategy of neo-interventionism. This theory has two pillars: first, the defense of "universal human values," asserting that Western "human rights" and the "rule of law" are "universal values," and regarding "religious freedom" as the primary cornerstone of human rights. Second, the idea that "human rights transcend sovereignty," asserting that "human rights have no borders," thereby providing legal support for neo-interventionism.
I believe that the core discourse of contemporary Western powers has shifted toward human rights "with religious freedom as the cornerstone." The "universal values" of Christianity are constantly being abstracted into a totem of the Western-style democratic system; as former US Secretary of State Rice said, "religious freedom is the heart of democracy." These symbolized "universal values" attempt to strip the core social value system away from the basic social relations of various countries, turning them into a weapon for "neo-interventionism" on the international stage. This tendency toward the ideologicalization of religion has affected the development of cultural pluralism in the international community and caused global instability.
II. The Strategic Intent of International Religious Right-Wing Forces in Proselytizing to China
To contain China’s rapid rise, some Western countries—finding military and economic means to have limited effect—have placed greater emphasis on exerting pressure in areas such as politics, human rights, ethnicity, and religion. Posing as "guardians of human rights" and using "universal values" as a weapon, they occupy the so-called "moral high ground." Utilizing their advantage in international public opinion, they accuse our country of "suppressing religious freedom" and "persecuting religious figures" to damage China’s international image. In diplomatic relations, they treat "religious freedom" as a core component of their China policy and continuously apply pressure. Since 1998, the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices published every March by the US State Department, the International Religious Freedom Report published every September, and the International Religious Freedom Report published every May by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom have all baselessly accused our country of "religious persecution" and listed China as a "Country of Particular Concern" regarding religion and human rights.
One of the ideological foundations of American global hegemony is the belief that "the American nation is chosen by God to save humanity." The American authorities' concept that "human rights transcend sovereignty" is deeply rooted in this American ideological tradition. In the minds of most Americans, only divine right is superior to human rights. Although the US Constitution mandates the separation of church and state, forbidding religious forces from interfering in politics, in reality, religious influence on politics is omnipresent. Attacking China for a perceived lack of religious freedom and supporting Tibetan separatist forces led by the Dalai Lama are expressions of American conservative Christian forces interfering in China's internal affairs. American neo-conservative Christian forces are implementing an expansionist missionary strategy worldwide. They dispatch English teachers, cultural institutions, volunteers, and political and economic advisors to all corners of the globe—especially to mainland China—a significant proportion of whom have Evangelical backgrounds. This expansionist missionary posture is one of the primary forms of American ideological outward expansion in the era of globalization.
American Christian Right forces are actively expanding their influence in China, with one objective being the attempt to achieve the "peaceful evolution" [2] of China through Western culture. David Aikman, former Beijing bureau chief for Time magazine (mistakenly cited as New York Daily), authored a book titled Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity is Transforming China and Changing the Global Balance of Power. In this book, he posits that if the number of Chinese Christians approaches 70 million in the future, Chinese Christianity will become one of the largest Christian groups in the world; if the number reaches 20–30% of the total population within the next thirty years, Christian concepts will become the dominant worldview in Chinese politics and culture. Once the "Chinese Dragon" is "tamed" by the "Christian Lamb," China will no longer pose a threat to the United States or the rest of the world.
Through various means and channels, they cultivate and support religious forces within our borders, inciting resistance against the government's lawful administration and countering patriotic religious organizations. They aim to turn these cultivated religious forces into the most important grassroots "democratic" power for changing China’s social system. The most prominent example is the open support given by some Western countries to the development of so-called "house churches" [3] in China. They believe this is the most effective way to change China's ideology and political system, ultimately integrating a rising China into the Western civilizational system.
It is worth noting that the trend of using the spread of the Christian Gospel to change China's socialist system is gradually escalating. On May 11, 2006, then-President George W. Bush invited Yu Jie and two other mainland Chinese "house church members" to visit the White House to express "concern for religious freedom in China." This was the first time since 1949 that a US President met with members of the mainland underground church. During this meeting, Yu Jie brazenly suggested to President Bush: "President Reagan became one of the greatest presidents in American history because he buried the communist systems of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Helping China undergo such a change may be the historical mission God has given to you, Mr. President."
An online commentary titled "What Does Bush Meeting Yu Jie Signify?" noted: "Bush’s reception of Yu Jie is a major event. It signifies that the United States believes the time is ripe to begin employing the highest level of offensive means—ideological control. This means the strategy of the ruling party to remain on the defensive and 'wait and see' is becoming untenable. People like Yu Jie are not ordinary right-wingers; what they intend to do is not just at the political level, but at the civilizational level. They intend to occupy the ideological field—currently in a state of chaos and vacuum—by developing Christian house churches in China. Once this goal is achieved—that is, once Christian religious faith is established among the vast lower and middle classes of China—the foundation of the ruling party’s existence will completely collapse. At that point, no matter what means or measures the ruling party takes, its legitimacy will be fundamentally negated. Although this is a 'slow-working' process [4], it is a fundamental measure. It is not just political competition; it is a clash of civilizations. For the United States, this is the ultimate means to thoroughly solve the 'China problem.'"
This is the language of netizens—somewhat acerbic—but such "alarmist" commentary is worth our reflection.
After the Obama administration took office, its immediate priority was dealing with the economic crisis. In promoting "American core values," the US government adjusted its strategy to use "softer, lower-profile means." On April 8, 2012, the US State Department released its annual Human Rights Report, praising the "Jasmine Revolutions" sweeping the Middle East for their potential to bring about "lasting democratic societies," while sharply criticizing the human rights records of socialist countries like China, Cuba, and Belarus. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that in 2010, China's human rights situation clearly suffered a reversal, and the situation this year had worsened further. Within this framework, sentencing Liu Xiaobo for subverting state power was characterized as restricting freedom of speech, and the crackdown on separatist forces in Tibet and Xinjiang was characterized as "harsh suppression." We must soberly realize that whether it is the Republican Party or the Democratic Party, the international strategic direction of the American rulers leads to the same destination via different paths.
III. The Infiltration of Overseas Religious Forces Threatens Our National Security
The promotion of Christianity in China by overseas forces is, in essence, a form of cultural colonialism and ideological infiltration. In the words of the veteran missionary Timothy Richard, cultural missionizing is "seizing China's head and spine." Ideology is embodied in shared values and social order; it is the fundamental basis for a country's survival. "Religion is a historical, continuous pattern of traditional culture and a social ideology with real-world penetrative power." Overseas infiltrating forces advocate and promote the universalization of Christianity, raising slogans of "cultural mission" and "cultural saturation" toward our society. Overseas religious forces use religious language to cloak the concept of Western supremacy and its core values, eroding the patriotic consciousness and national spirit of the Chinese people. They directly attack our country's religion, human rights, and socialist system.
In the face of the historical process of globalization and the complex situation of Reform and Opening-up, the infiltration of Western religion will be extensive and profound. Through spreading religious dogma, funding religious groups, instigating sectarian opposition, and developing religious converts, Western developed countries attack the dominant position of socialist ideology, numb the national consciousness, and manufacture ethnic separatist incidents. In actual reality, the content of ideological contradictions increasingly manifests as conflicts over economic interests—specifically competition for material resources, human resources, and market share. This competition and struggle are characterized by being direct, specific, and fragmented; on the surface, they involve the economic interests of legal entities, but in essence, they involve national economic interests. Viewed in isolation, they are economic interests; viewed collectively, they are political interests. They are linked to fundamental issues of value orientation and political systems.
Since the 1990s, against the backdrop of Western religion's expansionist missionary strategy toward China, Christianity has rapidly heated up in China's urban and rural areas. This is especially true for illegal Christian meeting points outside the "Three-Self Patriotic Movement" [5] and the growth of underground Catholic church forces. Many overseas Christian heresies, such as the "Shouters" [6], have spread widely. These self-proclaimed missionaries penetrate deep into urban and rural areas, altering the structure of interpersonal networks, bringing tension and conflict to families, causing social division, and denying Chinese civilization. They further weaken the subjectivity of traditional culture, intervene in social and political affairs, and sap the legitimacy of the existing system.
Overseas Christian churches, as the primary force for spreading the Gospel, have set their sights on contemporary Chinese university campuses. The organizational form of campus Christian propagation is the continuous establishment and development of "campus fellowships," while internet proselytizing has become an important virtual form. A covert method of campus Christian propagation is entering the field of teaching to conduct cultural missions. Within this expansionist missionary trend, the number of Christian university students has shown a relatively rapid growth trend. In recent years, to compete for our ideological positions and young students, overseas religious forces have treated universities as key battlegrounds for infiltration. Through overseas missionaries and foreign religious faculty and students, and by utilizing "English corners," seminars, academic exchanges, poverty alleviation, student aid, and the internet, they have continuously increased the intensity of infiltration, developing student converts and conducting illegal religious activities. This has become a potential factor affecting the faith of teachers and students and endangering the political stability of universities. They constantly adjust their strategies, change their methods, and update their missionary channels.
The communicative advantages of the internet inevitably weaken traditional ideological control. According to scholarly statistics, there are approximately 1,040 Chinese-language websites with strong religious overtones—160 Catholic and 380 Protestant—70% of which are based in Hong Kong or Taiwan. For example, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association website first promotes evangelical faith through various means to shape an ethics and value system centered on moderate evangelicalism. It uses religious means to disseminate political value symbols and moderately influence people's political choices. "International Christian Concern" is a US-based human rights organization with participation from various churches that "dedicated to aiding and supporting Christians who are persecuted for their faith." This website provides a large number of reports on so-called "religious persecution" in China, categorized as "in-depth reports," "briefs," and "press releases," seizing the highland of cultural public opinion.
In today's world, the strategic resource high ground of the internet is almost exclusively monopolized by the United States. Since its birth, the internet has been firmly controlled by the US. Currently, there are 13 root servers globally; the only "master" root server is in the US, and of the remaining 12 "slave" root servers, nine are in the US. All root servers are managed uniformly by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), authorized by the US government, which is responsible for managing the global internet root domain name servers, the domain name system, and IP addresses. Various countries and international organizations like the UN have requested to break the US monopoly on root servers and share management rights, but these requests have been rejected by the US. The United States uses its monopoly over internet resources to interfere in other countries' internal affairs through various forms.
Relying on its powerful technological strength, the United States promotes hegemonism under the banner of "internet freedom." Christianity and new religious movements have used the network to develop rapidly. In recent years, overseas religious organizations and institutions have conducted remote religious training targeting mainland China, which has become a convenient way to missionize. Due to the openness, interactivity, and casual nature of the internet, religious activities hosted online break the limits of traditional religious venues, spreading faster, wider, and with greater influence, making regulation more difficult. It is well known that "Falun Gong" [7], with the support of certain Right-wing forces, took root in North America and uses high-tech internet means provided by certain US institutions to remotely command activities in mainland China.
IV. We Must Pay Attention to the "Legal Infiltration" of Overseas Christian Right Forces
The primary forms of "legal infiltration" by overseas Christian Right forces are "cultural exchange" and "academic research." Through the education system and research institutions, they promote the theory of "Christian superiority" among young intellectuals, attributing modern Western civilization to religious faith while disparaging Chinese traditional culture and devaluing socialist values. To date, we lack an academic response; scientific atheism has almost no "discourse power" [8]. We should tell young students how science and technology, as the primary productive forces, drove the historical process of Western modernization, and the enlightening role played by secular humanism and scientific atheism.
Since Reform and Opening-up, as the social-economic structure and interest patterns have undergone profound changes, the variability and diversity of people's thoughts have continuously increased. One notable social phenomenon is the increasing number of religious believers. The study of religion has gradually evolved from a peripheral discipline into a "prominent field of study" (xuanxue). With the rise of "religion fever" and the massive funding of religious research by various missionary enterprises, an academic trend of "meticulously nurturing" religion has become the mainstream voice in academia. Some individuals go as far as to highly praise Christian culture, interpreting it as the "source of morality," the "foundation of democracy," and even the "premise of science."
To illustrate with a specific example how overseas Christianity creates discourse power within our institutions of higher learning: contemporary international Christian forces have organized massive funding to establish foundations and research institutes. Institutions such as the U.S.-based John Templeton Foundation and the Discovery Institute promote "dialogue between science and religion," aiming to reconcile the conflict between the two and shroud modern religion in a "scientific" halo. The Templeton Foundation uses multi-million dollar rewards to entice people to engage in research on "cooperation between science and religion." Currently, the Templeton Prize—the world's highest-valued individual annual award—is presented by this foundation. Its annual prize money exceeds 1 million GBP, surpassing the amount of the Nobel Prize. In 2012, the Templeton Prize was awarded to the Dalai Lama [9], making its political intentions quite obvious.
This trend of thought, manufactured by international Christian forces—claiming that "without Christianity, there would be no modern science"—has already ascended the lecterns of China's famous universities. For instance, funded by the British branch of the Templeton Foundation, Wuhan University hosted a lecture series titled "Science and Religion" from November 30 to December 14, 2005, inviting four American Christian scholars to speak. Utilizing the "three traditions of Christian faith—Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism" and "abundant Christian convictions," they explained to young Chinese students that "God created the laws of physics" and "religious belief can provide the philosophical foundation for scientific development," and so on. This lecture series was edited into a book titled Dialogue Between Science and Religion, published as part of a religious studies collection by Peking University. Such "Science and Religion" lecture series have been held continuously not only at Wuhan University, but also at Peking University and Fudan University, with various lecture collections being published successively. The influence this exerts in higher education warrants deep investigation and research. Currently, some graduates from philosophy departments have become highly active missionaries on university campuses, which has already drawn public concern.
This trend of thought has already been transformed into the voices of Chinese scholars. On December 30, 2007, at the Capital Science Forum [10], a certain professor from Peking University gave a lecture titled "The Origins of Modern Science." He claimed: "Christianity provided powerful support for the rise of modern science; it can be said that without Christianity, there would be no modern science."
We know that, in the words of Engels, in medieval Europe "only one form of ideology existed, namely religion and theology." At that time, all disciplines were tools of Christian theology; under the control of theology, they lost their own independence. In those days, if a new scientific discovery could not be explained by religious concepts, the scientist would be regarded as a heretic or atheist and subjected to cruel persecution. For example, the astronomer Galileo, who supported the "heliocentric theory" proposed by Copernicus, was subjected to a brutal trial by the Inquisition. It was only with the development of human reason—as people scientifically explored nature and the universe and gradually broke through the shackles of Christian theology—that various natural sciences, humanities, and social sciences were able to develop. It was precisely the rise of the modern Enlightenment and the critique of Christian theology by scientific atheism that weakened the rule of Christian theology and opened the path for the independent development of various disciplines.
Religious penetration has become a primary component of foreign cultural penetration. Issues of culture, religion, and even ideology require an ideological response. Ideological education should be like "gentle breeze and mild rain" or "spring rain nourishing the crops" [11].
V. Strengthen the Development of Scientific Atheism to Resist Overseas Religious Penetration
Scientific atheism is an important foundation of Marxist philosophy and religious theory. The development of this discipline concerns not only the implementation of the strategy of "reinvigorating the country through science and education" and the improvement of the entire nation's quality [12], but also the resistance against the penetration of overseas extreme religious forces and the issue of national cultural security.
Ideological security is a vital component and the core of national political and cultural security; it is an important guarantee for national security. Ideological management is the fundamental way to maintain national ideological security. The global ideological management strategy pushed by developed Western countries has already seriously threatened our national ideological security. Led by the United States, Western countries abstract Christian doctrine into so-called "universal values," which are essentially an expression of Western discourse hegemony. The Christian neoconservative forces in developed Western countries actively promote these "universal values" to China; this is a concrete method of their plot to "westernize" and "divide" our country [13], and it is also a source of the value confusion occurring in contemporary China.
Under the increasing influence of overseas religious penetration, various "new theisms" are quite active in current academic circles, attempting to sever the relationship between Marxism and atheism and belittle the status of scientific atheism. Certain academic authorities vigorously advocate the "Sino-Christian Theology" movement [14] and actively promote this "religious theology" as an academic direction for national research institutions and universities, doing their utmost to elevate the status of theism. This trend of thought has begun to influence policy formulation and the direction of public opinion.
In recent years, under the situation of increasing religious influence, the tendency to "meticulously care for" religious culture has heated up daily, while voices criticizing the negative factors of religion find it difficult to obtain their rightful discourse power. There is a serious lack of discourse power for scientific atheism. Some "authoritative" scholars who claim to study the Marxist view of religion never mention atheism and attempt to castrate atheism from Marxism. Disparaging atheism and opposing the research and propagation of atheism has, for a time, formed a powerful atmosphere of public opinion. Research on atheism has to some extent become a "forbidden zone," which has damaged the reputation of atheism and squeezed its space for influence. This situation not only seriously affects the research, propagation, and education of scientific atheism but also poses a considerable threat to the research and development of Marxist theory.
Compared with the work of propagating and educating atheism, the academic endeavor of atheism research remains in a weak position. To respond to the current grim domestic and international situation, it is imperative to carry out the development of the discipline of scientific atheism. Only by forming a systematic theoretical framework of scientific atheism can we provide a solid ideological and theoretical foundation for response strategies and specific policies. The development of the scientific atheism discipline will influence a healthy shift in ideological trends and academic structures in relevant fields nationwide. Furthermore, it will promote the development of the Socialist Core Value System, exert a positive effect on the development of advanced socialist culture and the improvement of national quality, and provide a targeted ideological and theoretical weapon to resist religious penetration.
Within the Socialist Core Value System, the materialist worldview and active outlook on life of scientific atheism occupy an important position. The Party Central Committee has repeatedly pointed out: we must consolidate the guiding position of Marxism and enhance the attractiveness and cohesion of socialist ideology; the role of scientific atheism cannot be ignored. For some time, a certain type of public opinion has sought to exclude scientific atheism from the Marxist view of religion and socialist ideology. This is dangerous; it neither conforms to the secularization trends of human history and the contemporary era, nor does it align with China's humanist tradition.
Ideological competition is one of the main battlefields in the competition over contemporary social modes of existence. The war on the ideological front is won through intense and sophisticated intellectual competition. Strengthening the development of socialist ideology should include vigorously strengthening the development of scientific atheism. Researching the relationship between Marxist atheism and historical and dialectical materialism, its relationship with the Socialist Core Value System, its relationship with modern science and technology, its relationship with the Party's religious policy, and its relationship with resisting religious penetration, etc., is not only a requirement for strengthening the research and propagation of scientific atheism but is also a requirement for Marxist research and education, and a further extension of the Marxist Theory Research and Development Project [15]. Only by providing theoretical weapons from an ideological and cultural perspective to resist the penetration of overseas religious theology can we ensure our country's cultural and ideological security.