Zhang Aihui and Gao Jianjun: Research on Innovative Mechanisms for Universities to Prevent and Resolve the Risks of Online Religious Infiltration
With the application and development of internet technology, cyber-religion has gradually become a new modality of global religious development. Religious infiltration carried out by Western hostile forces using the internet poses a threat to the ideological security of Chinese universities. Therefore, how universities can more effectively prevent and defuse the risks of cyber-religious infiltration has become a major issue requiring an urgent solution.
I. An Analysis of the Significance of Preventing and Defusing the Risk of Cyber-Religious Infiltration in Universities
There is no clear definition of the concept of "cyber-religion" in academic circles. Scholars generally divide cyber-religion into broad and narrow categories. Broadly defined, cyber-religion refers to religion on the internet, including the transmission of religion via the web as well as virtual religions that exist solely online. In the narrow sense, cyber-religion is a "religious form established using the internet as a carrier, setting up online clergy groups and online temples, advocating for online cultivation [1] and online worship, and built through the interaction between moderators and netizens." Cyber-religious infiltration, meanwhile, refers to "overseas religious organizations and individuals using internet carriers and virtual spaces to distort China's existing religious policies and regulations, and preaching illegal religious content and extremist ideologies to achieve cross-temporal and cross-spatial religious transmission, with the aim of interfering in China's internal affairs, subverting China's socialist system, and undermining the great cause of national unification." Cyber-religious infiltration poses a threat to our country, ethnic groups, and individual citizens; its harmfulness must not be underestimated. As the main front for resisting the cyber-ideological infiltration of overseas hostile forces, universities must clearly recognize the situation, increase vigilance, and take active precautions. Therefore, preventing, resisting, and defusing the risks of cyber-religious infiltration in universities possesses both important realistic significance and practical urgency and necessity.
(1) A Necessary Strategy to Counter the Ideological "Containment" of Western Hostile Forces
It is well known that with the continuous deepening of reform and opening up, China's comprehensive national strength has further increased, and its international status and influence have achieved a stable and significant rise. China's rapid rise and swift development have inevitably drawn the attention, and even the panic, of some nations. Western developed countries, represented by the United States, "take it for granted" that China is a formidable competitor following the end of the Cold War. Carrying a "New Cold War mentality," they have intensified comprehensive "infiltration" into China's ideological sphere. Utilizing the unique advantages of ideological infiltration—low cost, high concealment, and high impact—Western hostile forces have placed greater emphasis on launching powerful strategic offensives against China in the fields of politics, art, culture, technology, and religion. They employ both hard and soft tactics—pressing, neutralizing via "soft containment," or deluding—to exert their utmost to export their ideology. For instance, the United States constantly clamors that "human rights are superior to sovereignty" and "religion is the primary human right," using religious issues to interfere in China's internal affairs. Under the guise of advocating for human rights and maintaining international religious freedom, the U.S. not only groundlessly accuses China of "suppressing" religious freedom but even uses the pretext of striving for religious democracy to deliberately support certain religious organizations or groups specifically dedicated to opposing the government's lawful management. With the widespread application of the internet, these Western hostile forces have turned to utilizing the fruits of information technology development to upgrade their ideological infiltration once again; cyber-religious infiltration is a tool they frequently employ.
Faced with a situation where Western hostile forces are conducting naked and intensified cyber-ideological infiltration in the network information age, universities shoulder an extremely arduous task, as college students have long been the premeditated targets of ideological infiltration by Western hostile forces. Protecting college students from the erosion of cyber-ideology, especially cyber-religion, is both a requirement for maintaining ideological security in universities and a matter concerning the long-term stability [2] and future development of the country. There is no room for negligence. Thus, active prevention, resistance, and defusing of the risks of cyber-religious infiltration by universities is a necessary choice for China to respond to the ideological "infiltration" of Western hostile forces.
(2) An Essential Requirement for Assisting the Healthy Growth and All-around Development of College Students
The university years are a critical period for young students to establish their "Three Outlooks" [3]. The spread and infiltration of religion will directly affect whether college students can successfully construct a scientific world outlook, outlook on life, and values. Marxism holds that religion is a distorted reflection of the objective world, an inverted world outlook, and an idealistic way of viewing the world. It often caters to people's needs by propagating the existence of a so-called "sacred and beautiful world," while the path it provides for people to achieve this goal is submission—humbly pinning one's hopes on the salvation of an external "Supreme God" or supernatural forces.
When college students encounter religion online or in reality, they may feel curiosity or attraction, and subsequently, their world outlook and outlook on life are imperceptibly influenced: they may gradually become pessimistic or escapist, becoming intoxicated by the so-called "universal values" such as abstract "equality, freedom, and universal love" and failing to discern the truth; they may stop relying on their own strength to forge ahead, instead passively waiting for salvation from external forces; they may fail to proceed from reality and seek truth from facts, instead becoming obsessed with subjective fantasies and willing to "be resigned to fate." College students are the successors to the socialist cause who shoulder the heavy responsibility of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The realization of the Chinese Dream requires college students to be tenacious, to charge ahead, and to be scientific, rational, confident, and decisive. Therefore, the active prevention, resistance, and defusing of cyber-religious infiltration risks by universities is a long-term strategy for the healthy growth and all-around development of the vast number of young students, and it is a scientific plan that must and should be made for the future development of our country and the realization of the Chinese Dream.
(3) A Practical Step to Improve the Effectiveness of Ideological and Political Education in Universities
Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee has attached great importance to ideological and political education (IPE) in universities, making comprehensive deployments and systematic arrangements for the construction of IPE courses in particular. IPE in universities has seen significant improvements in terms of educational concepts, management mechanisms, and educational quality. However, it also faces many challenges, including the problem that "the effectiveness of ideological and political education needs improvement." There are many reasons for this situation, involving factors of the synergistic subjects of IPE, factors of the objects (targets) of IPE, and issues within the work of IPE itself. Among these, the most important reason stems from "college students"—a special group that acts as both the object of IPE and the subject of self-education.
Living against a backdrop of multicultural impact, college students, due to their not-yet-stable "Three Outlooks" and weak capacity for rational critique, are easily influenced by the ideological infiltration of Western hostile forces. The purpose of IPE in universities is to guide students to use the viewpoints and methods of dialectical materialism and historical materialism to understand the world and actively transform it; to teach students to love their country, ethnic group, and culture; to deeply plant the sentiment of "family-country integration" [4]; and to cultivate their spirit of seeking truth and dedicating themselves to society. The ideological infiltration of Western hostile forces is exactly the opposite; they utilize high-sounding reasons such as cultural exchange to "contend for" or "control" our innocent college students spiritually. Some college students who are deeply deluded or poisoned by Western ideology will gradually come to worship Western civilization and despise traditional Chinese culture; they yearn for Western lifestyles and are filled with endless complaints and dissatisfaction toward the society they live in; they cannot truly proceed from reality, nor can they view the problems existing in reform and opening up in a comprehensive and dialectical manner.
The fundamental task of IPE in universities is "fostering virtue through education" (立德树人, lide shuren) and cultivating high-quality, useful talents for society. The ideological infiltration of Western hostile forces, especially the fallout of cyber-religion, directly contradicts socialist educational policies and the fundamental mission. Therefore, universities should actively prevent and defuse the risks of cyber-religious infiltration and resist and eliminate the hazards and influences of Western ideological infiltration to the greatest extent. This is a practical step for universities to effectively improve the effectiveness of ideological and political education.
II. Main Methods and Characteristics of Cyber-Religious Infiltration into Universities
To better understand the current situation, main methods, and characteristics of cyber-religion's infiltration into universities, our research group designed standardized questionnaires and case interview outlines according to the research plan. We selected three different types of universities in the Subei (Northern Jiangsu) region to implement a certain range of questionnaire sampling surveys (1,080 valid questionnaires recovered) and conducted case interviews with 20 people selected from typical survey points. The survey scope was extensive, involving students from different majors in liberal arts and science and engineering, ranging from freshmen to juniors. The research group conducted a rational and objective analysis of the survey results.
Scholars have already provided many elaborations on the methods and characteristics of the transmission and infiltration of cyber-religion in universities. A typical example is revealed by Chen Guocheng in his article: cyber-religious infiltration in universities often exploits the different psychological states of college students, conforms to or caters to their value orientations, and distorts certain value concepts. It presents characteristics such as "the massive volume of religious content, the openness of e-commerce, the political nature of overseas infiltration, and the interactivity of communication." Through our investigation, the research group found that cyber-religious infiltration in universities also exhibits the following characteristics.
(1) Cyber-religion is primarily transmitted through network media; the transmission media are very extensive, covering almost all media in an omnimedia convergence environment
The survey results show that the primary way college students learn about religious knowledge or religious beliefs is "through network transmission platforms" (44.71%), followed by "printed books" (25.26%), and then "publicity of religious activities" and "proselytizing by clergy." It is evident that cyber-religion is indeed an important form through which current college students understand religious knowledge or religious beliefs.
Cyber-religious transmission platforms encompass almost all common media. The main network platforms through which college students learn about religion are, in order: forums (16.04%), Weibo (11.26%), WeChat Moments (9.9%), QQ groups (5.8%), and religious APPs (3.07%). The frequency with which college students encounter cyber-religion-related information is also noteworthy: although 76.45% of students claimed they had "never" encountered cyber-religion-related information, 1.71% of students stated they "frequently browse religious websites and APPs," and 21.84% of students "occasionally see related religious information push notifications." The intelligent and precise push notifications powered by mobile big data have clearly boosted the transmission and infiltration of cyber-religion.
(2) College students are full of curiosity and hold ambiguous attitudes toward religion, but they are cautious when dealing with cyber-religious information and possess a certain level of vigilance
The phenomenon of college students holding religious beliefs is not uncommon, especially in recent years as university enrollment has expanded and the education of ethnic minorities has developed, leading to a continuous increase in the number of college students from ethnic minority areas. Among the 563 ethnic minority college students surveyed by the research group, those with religious beliefs actually accounted for 42.5%; 14.35% of students stated they "do not currently believe in a religion, but are interested and might believe in the future"; and only 43.15% of students clearly stated they "will not believe in the future." Of course, the vast majority of religious students are mainly influenced by family traditions of faith (91.3%), while those influenced by religious films, television, or the internet accounted for 4.35%. Therefore, how to better guide college students to view religion correctly has become an urgent issue.
The survey shows that most students are full of curiosity about religion; they do not resolutely oppose it, nor do they decisively reject it, holding a relatively ambiguous attitude. When asked "If a classmate nearby introduces religious knowledge, what is your attitude?", 58.15% of college students chose "Listen to the explanation out of politeness"; 14.81% chose "Listen to the explanation out of curiosity"; another 10.37% would "listen intently"; and only 16.67% of students stated they "would directly refuse." When explaining their purpose for having participated or having an interest in participating in religious activities, 55.56% of students stated "out of curiosity"; 24.44% said it was to "learn religious knowledge"; and 10% indicated they wanted to "express faith and seek divine protection."
Regarding the behavior of participating in online religious activities, nearly 10.6% of college students expressed approval, believing that online religious activities are "novel and convenient"; 8.87% of students felt that participating in online religious activities was "not devout enough"; while the majority (80.55%) held an indifferent attitude. Regarding cyber-religious information, college students have a certain degree of vigilance: those who chose "completely believe" accounted for 1.02%; 62.8% of students do not completely believe, thinking that "individual pieces of information need to be screened"; and 36.18% of students chose "completely disbelieve." When asked "Whether you approve of the new form of religion using the internet for transmission," most students viewed the issue relatively dialectically and objectively: 5.8% "approved," feeling that "the internet is of great benefit to religious transmission and can better promote and develop followers"; 8.87% "disapproved" because "it is difficult to distinguish true from false on the internet and it will undermine the authority of traditional churches"; and 85.32% believed that "there are both advantages and disadvantages, and it must be treated objectively."
(3) University students are able to recognize certain problems in online religious transmission, but they possess an insufficient understanding of the hazards posed by the online religious infiltration of Western hostile forces.
When asked “How do you view the transmission of religion via the Internet?,” 24.91% of students disapproved of using the network to spread religion at all; 44.71% purposefully noted that “audiences must learn to distinguish right from wrong to avoid being exploited by lawless elements”; and 27.99% believed that it “can be spread, but must be moderated.” In the eyes of university students, the problems or chaotic phenomena [5] existing in online religious transmission are, in descending order: “inappropriate links spreading harmful information” and “potentially providing opportunities for illegal religious forces” (both at 45.05%); “fraudulent fundraising” and “heretical extremists spreading cults” (both at 44.37%); “the negative impact of online speech on religion” (34.13%); and “regulatory issues regarding religious audio-visual products” (26.96%).
However, a small number of students lack sufficient understanding of the “ambitions” and ill intentions of Western hostile forces conducting online religious infiltration. Some 2.39% of students believed that “as a new type of communication, the Internet has a wide reach, fast speed, and saves money and effort; it doesn't matter what content is spread.” This attitude of “it doesn't matter” actually carries certain risks and requires timely correction and proper guidance.
III. Analysis of the Reasons for Online Religious Infiltration into Universities
The research group believes that the smooth infiltration of online religion into universities in the context of the New Era is primarily related to the following factors.
(1) Online religion has intensified the strength of its transmission and infiltration into universities by leveraging the advantages of convergent media.
According to information released in the 52nd “Statistical Report on China's Internet Development,” as of June 2023, the scale of China’s internet users has reached 1.079 billion. In this world's largest and most vibrant digital society, the student user group is the most numerous. It is precisely this young student user group that constitutes the “key population” for the ideological infiltration of Western hostile forces and religious extremists. Many illegal religious organizations and religious extremist forces have seized upon the convenience of convergent media communication and the current difficulties in regulation to aggressively peddle so-called “religious culture” to university students as a means of promoting religious extremist thought.
(2) The fragility of university students’ rational-critical consciousness and psychological quality provides opportunities for online religious infiltration.
As “Generation Z,” young university students face the strong impact of diverse ideologies—both good and bad—that saturate convergent media, making it inevitable that they feel disillusioned. Novel and mysterious religions exert a great attraction; combined with the inability to find outlets for numerous real-world troubles and confusions, many people turn to religion for liberation and solace. The research group’s survey results show that 54.07% of students view religion as a form of spiritual sustenance; 24.81% believe religious faith can help them escape psychological distress and reduce pressure; and 14.81% feel that religious belief helps them better handle relationships with those around them. Although some students recognize the negative impacts—for instance, 18.15% believe “religion is a spiritual narcotic that easily leads people to evade problems,” and 15.19% even state that “religious dogmas are unsuitable for modern society and provide no help to the soul”—the majority still lack rational-critical consciousness. They focus perceptually only on the positive roles and active influences of religion while choosing to turn a blind eye to its negative and passive effects.
(3) Deficiencies in ideological and political education in universities have weakened students' immunity to online religious infiltration.
As the main channel for education on the Marxist view of religion and the popularization of scientific knowledge, university ideological and political courses (hereafter "si-zheng" courses) have failed to effectively shoulder the arduous task of "cultivating virtue and nurturing people" (lǐdé shùrén) [6]. The research group found that when students experience confusion or disillusionment about life, their first choice for help is family and friends (84.44%), followed by other channels, and then professional teachers and counselors (3.7%). Surprisingly, not a single student chose their si-zheng teacher. The status, role, and effectiveness of ideological and political education in the minds of students can be clearly seen from this.
On one hand, the current state of education on the Marxist view of religion in universities is worrying. The survey found that, except for some ethnic minority colleges, the majority of universities do not offer specialized courses on the Marxist view of religion. Relevant content is only scattered throughout some si-zheng textbooks, such as the understanding of the "essence of religion" in Basic Principles of Marxism or issues regarding "firmly grasping leadership over ideology" in the Introduction to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. However, these textbooks cover too little of the Party’s religious policies and religious work, making them unable to resolve the doubts or confusion of teachers and students; even less is said about specific content like how to genuinely enhance students' ability to resist religious infiltration. Furthermore, most si-zheng teachers themselves have a shallow understanding of the Marxist view of religion. Consequently, they often neglect the relevant content in their lectures or even intentionally avoid religious issues. Hotspots and difficult religious questions that students care about or are confused by are thus set aside, failing to receive timely clarification or correct guidance. On the other hand, si-zheng education on students' ideals and convictions, scientific knowledge, and Socialist Core Values is also hindered by unrealistic instructional design and singular, lagging teaching models, making it difficult to stimulate student interest and affecting educational outcomes.
(4) Universities have an insufficient understanding of the severe situation regarding religious infiltration risks, leading to limited preventive effects.
At the 2016 National Conference on Religious Work, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “We must resolutely resist overseas hostile forces using religion for infiltration and actively prevent the encroachment of religious extremist thought.” He has repeatedly cautioned that today, as the Internet increasingly becomes the main front, main battlefield, and front line of ideological struggle, we must pay high attention to Internet religious issues. Many universities have responded timely to the national call by strengthening supervision and prevention of online religious infiltration, but some still do not attach particular importance to how to specifically prevent and resolve these risks. For example, a few universities still cling to traditional religious United Front concepts or models; when encountering students privately practicing religion, they either use crude suppression or grant indulgent connivance. They fail to meticulously listen to the troubles and confusion of ethnic minority students influenced by family factors, foreign students and teachers with religious backgrounds, or young returned overseas teachers with “cultural believer” tendencies, and thus fail to find the root of the problem to provide correct guidance. The reason is that these universities have not yet profoundly realized the seriousness of current online religious infiltration or the grim situation of preventing and resolving such risks against the backdrop of the "changes unseen in a century" [7]. Under the new situation where online religious infiltration is becoming increasingly rampant and pervasive, this state of affairs is particularly dangerous and worrying.
IV. Exploration of Innovative Mechanisms for Universities to Prevent and Resolve Online Religious Infiltration Risks
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized at the 2016 National Conference on Religious Work: “We must firmly grasp the initiative in religious work.” Consequently, to prevent, resist, and resolve risks, universities must recognize the situation, combine it with university realities, exert effort from multiple directions, provide flexible guidance, and engage in collaborative construction to create a long-term mechanism.
(1) Increasing wisdom and clarifying principles: Solidly strengthening education on the Marxist view of religion.
The primary task for universities is to solidly strengthen education on the Marxist view of religion, as this is the mainstay for resisting online religious infiltration and maintaining ideological security.
Universities must clarify and highlight the content of Marxist religious education and increase content on anti-infiltration. In constructing the curriculum system, besides standardizing basic Marxist views (e.g., the fundamental Marxist perspectives on religion, the theory of religion with Chinese characteristics, and religious hotspots), universities should supplement this with knowledge about current global religious developments, China’s latest religious work strategies, and religious governance regulations. Simultaneously, specialized sessions on ideological security and anti-infiltration should be added to Communist Youth League and Party classes to ensure students truly understand the grim situation and enhance their sensitivity and rational-critical capacity.
In this process, university teachers must also focus on "humanistic care" (rénwén guānhuái) to help students break away from ideological tendencies toward religious dependence. Teachers should be “student-centered,” caring for students’ lives and psychological states, strengthening spiritual exchange, listening empathetically, and providing practical help. Universities can alleviate students’ confusion, tension, or anxiety through regular mental health lectures, psychological counseling, and career guidance, resolving spiritual distress as much as possible and enhancing their psychological resilience.
(2) Strengthening the foundation and casting the soul: Vigorously promoting the innovation and reform of ideological and political education.
Universities must focus on the role of si-zheng theory courses as the "key courses" for "cultivating virtue and nurturing people." "We must seize the critical period when young people's values are forming and being established, and guide them in 'fastening the first button of life' [8]." To this end, universities must not only emphasize education in scientific atheism—cultivating a "scientific spirit, a spirit of seeking truth, and a spirit of courageous exploration and innovation"—but also "pay special attention to education on life values and moral ideals." Si-zheng teachers should understand students’ emotional distress and spiritual disillusionment, address their curiosity and persistence regarding "ultimate concerns," and guide them to explore the sublime realms of life by drawing strength from fine traditional Chinese culture, the scientific faith of Communism, and positive role models. This helps students establish a scientific worldview, outlook on life, and values, using Socialist Core Values to guide their daily behavior, truly "strengthening roots and casting the soul, enlightening wisdom and nourishing the heart" (péigēn zhùhún, qǐzhì rùnxīn), and powerfully resisting the negative influence of religious worldviews.
Universities should further strengthen education in "Situations and Policies" and "Four Histories" [9], helping students understand the history of socialist development, the Party, the New China, and the Reform and Opening-up. This allows them to experience the arduous journey of exploring the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, appreciate the great achievements of the Chinese people, and objectively view the inevitable problems that arise during rapid development, thereby stimulating their courage and conviction to strive for the Chinese Dream.
As the important vehicle for ideological education, si-zheng courses must undergo bold classroom reforms to become "alive," avoiding "hollow" preaching and "force-feeding" pedagogy. They should enhance their affinity and attractiveness. Creating and utilizing online ideological education websites can provide a platform for students to learn, discuss, and resolve doubts, allowing nourishment to occur "silently like a seasonal rain" (rùnwù wúshēng) [10].
Beyond si-zheng courses, all other university courses should undergo "Curriculum Ideological and Political" (kèchéng sīzhèng) [11] comprehensive reform to build a "Grand Si-zheng" educational pattern. Teachers of natural sciences, humanities, and social sciences alike should deeply excavate the ideological elements within their subjects and integrate them naturally into teaching, so students receive value guidance while learning basic knowledge.
(3) Cultural immersion: Focusing on manifesting the scientific spirit and "Red charm" of campus culture.
To resolve risks, universities should also focus on cultural immersion.
First, the power of culture should be used to innovate the university religious United Front work model—guiding, persuading, and instructing students. Based on the "Two Combinations" [12], this aims to achieve the goal of "gentle transformation" and "silent nourishment" to consolidate hearts and minds. United Front workers in universities should improve their own cultural literacy, striving to use fine traditional Chinese culture to immerse and interpret religion and using Socialist Core Values to lead students’ religious views. This allows students to become more firm in their conviction in socialism with Chinese characteristics through a gentle and rich cultural influence.
Second, efforts must be made to create a positive, upwardly mobile campus cultural environment that reflects the characteristics of higher education institutions. In addition to publicizing and educating on "anti-cults and anti-infiltration," universities should vigorously promote excellent traditional culture with local characteristics, advanced socialist culture, and red revolutionary culture [13]. They should invite local revolutionary heroes, "great country craftsmen" (大国工匠), scientists, and labor models into classrooms or lecture halls to nurture students with a scientific spirit, inspire them with noble character, and influence them through vivid local examples and lofty role models. This will strengthen university students' ideals and convictions, rouse their fighting spirit, enhance their cultural confidence, and keep them away from cults and superstitions.
Finally, university students' multi-cultural discernment capabilities should be enhanced through rich campus cultural activities. Universities should focus on exerting the students' subjective initiative, encouraging them to establish "anti-cult associations," "anti-infiltration associations," and "Marxist theory study groups," with teachers of Marxist views on religion or ideological and political theory courses serving as club advisors. Regular activities such as knowledge competitions, debates, speech contests, or themed class meetings related to anti-cultism and anti-Internet religious infiltration should be conducted, allowing students to improve their cognition and enhance their rational judgment and discernment through participation.
(4) Observing Rules and Regulations: Firmly Establishing a Legal Barrier for Internet Religious Supervision
Surveys show that the combination of religion and the Internet not only facilitates religious infiltration by Western hostile forces [14] but also brings a series of challenges to China's supervision of Internet religion. These include the difficulty of supervising Internet religious venues, incomplete laws and regulations, the difficulty of auditing information disseminated via religious networks, and the difficulty of managing the qualification certification of religious clergy on the Internet. However, the development of Internet religion is an established fact. As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out at the 2015 Central United Front Work Conference, we must "adapt to the trend of information technology development, deeply study and explore the conduct of Internet United Front work [15], and be adept not only at 'face-to-face' work but also 'key-to-key' work, coalescing people's hearts through benign interaction between offline and online."
On the one hand, universities must firmly seize the advantages of current convergent media circulation to scientifically and rationally use network information technology for education on the Marxist view of religion, allowing students to profoundly understand and grasp the essence and laws of religion. They should increase publicity for the theory of religion with Chinese characteristics and the Party's religious policies, using the vivid practices of local religious management departments in governing religion according to the law to influence and guide students. Teachers of Marxist views on religion or ideological and political theory courses can use social software such as QQ and WeChat, or online information platforms like virtual communities and micro-classrooms, to promptly answer students' doubts, channel their negative emotions, and correct biased concepts.
On the other hand, universities must rely on the power of the rule of law to strengthen the supervision and management of campus network platforms. General Secretary Xi Jinping has specifically pointed out the need to vigorously improve the level of the rule of law in religious work. To standardize the management of Internet religious affairs, the new "Regulations on Religious Affairs" [16]—officially implemented by the state on February 1, 2018—put forward clear provisions for Internet religious management. In December 2021, the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the Cyberspace Administration of China, and three other departments jointly formulated and issued the "Administrative Measures for Internet Religious Information Services." Universities can, in accordance with national laws and combined with their own realities, formulate management measures for campus network and information security. They should strictly supervise and review the content of religious culture publicity and cooperate well with local law enforcement departments to promptly block and crack down on improper and illegal Internet religious platforms, strictly preventing Western hostile forces and religious extremists from conducting Internet religious infiltration of university students and purifying the campus network environment. At the same time, education on network security and "civilized network use" (文明用网) should be strengthened to standardize students' online behavior, improving their awareness and ability to resist Internet religious infiltration and cult incitement, allowing students to grow healthily in a transparent, safe, harmonious, and civilized atmosphere.
(5) Unity of Will: Jointly Creating a Professional Team to Prevent Internet Religious Infiltration
To prevent and resolve the risks of Internet religious infiltration, universities must be equipped with an anti-infiltration team characterized by high ideological and political awareness, good professional quality, and a strong sense of responsibility. This team mainly includes the following members:
First, teachers of the Marxist view of religion. Universities must not only offer specialized courses on the Marxist view of religion but also be equipped with a group of full-time teachers who are both familiar with religious theory and clear about China's religious work policies, and who are truly competent in teaching the Marxist view of religion.
Second, ideological and political theory course teachers. To prevent Internet religious infiltration, universities must build a team of ideological and political teachers who are "strong in politics, deep in sentiment, innovative in thinking, broad in vision, strict in self-discipline, and upright in personality." [17] The quality of these teachers directly affects the "Three Outlooks" (三观) [18] and political literacy of university students. They must cultivate a scientific spirit and ideals and convictions in students, which is crucial for university students to consciously resist Internet religious infiltration and incitement by religious extremist forces.
Third, teachers of all other types of courses. Teachers of other courses besides ideological and political theory are all important components of the university ideological and political education team. In their teaching, they likewise need to persist in "fostering virtue through education" (立德树人), consciously combining knowledge impartation with value guidance to improve students' comprehensive quality and ability.
Fourth, counselors and class advisors. They are the important guides for university students' studies, thoughts, and lives. They have the most contact with students and understand their joys, sorrows, and ideological and spiritual conditions best. Therefore, they play an irreplaceable role in leading students to prevent Internet religious infiltration.
Fifth, relatives and friends of university students. Universities should strengthen communication and exchange with students' relatives, especially parents, to understand students' ideological status. They should regularly invite parents to the school to attend lectures on the Marxist view of religion, encouraging parents to continuously improve their own scientific awareness and thereby guide their children to establish correct religious and world views.
Sixth, network information technology personnel. To do a good job in the supervision of Internet religion, universities must establish a professional team that both understands religious knowledge and masters the operation of network information technology to perform the monitoring of Internet religious platforms and the review of religious information.
Seventh, student Party members and class cadres. On the one hand, they are the teachers' capable assistants who can help teachers master the students' actual situation in a timely manner by providing feedback on classmates' ideological status or religious belief information. On the other hand, as peers with role-model qualities and driving force, their attitudes or preventive measures toward Internet religious infiltration will have a significant impact on other students.
Universities must also continuously improve the professional capabilities and basic qualities of this anti-Internet religious infiltration team through regular professional and technical training. Universities can use expert lectures or specialized online training to provide basic education on the Marxist view of religion to teachers of various courses and network information supervisors, and regularly hold work promotion meetings for university United Front work, anti-cultism, and the prevention of Internet religious infiltration. Teachers should be encouraged to actively carry out relevant academic research and practical exploration, using research to promote teaching and learning, thereby further enhancing the effectiveness of education on the Marxist view of religion for university students. Universities must also mobilize the enthusiasm of student Party members and class cadres, grasp students' ideological dynamics and psychological needs in a timely manner, leverage the advantages of peer education, and continuously strengthen students' awareness and ability to resist Internet religious infiltration.
(Author Bios: Zhang Aihui is an Associate Professor at Jiangsu Vocational College of Finance and Economics and a part-time researcher at the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Research Center of Huai’an, Jiangsu Province; Gao Jianjun is an Assistant Researcher at Jiangsu Vocational College of Finance and Economics.)
Network Editor: Tongxin Source: Science and Atheism, Issue 2, 2024.