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Atheism and repressive prisons (view source)
Revision as of 05:27, February 21, 2017
, 05:27, February 21, 2017Created page with " == Atheistic China, political prisoners and forced labor in prisons == See also: Atheism and repressive prisons and Atheism and forced labor and Atheism and commun..."
== Atheistic China, political prisoners and forced labor in prisons ==
See also: [[Atheism and repressive prisons]] and [[Atheism and forced labor]] and [[Atheism and communism]]
[[File:Flag of the PRC.png|thumbnail|200px|right|According to [[CNN]], hundreds (or perhaps thousands) of labor camps and forced labor prisons (called laogai) still exist in modern [[China]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/china.50/red.giant/prisons/wu.essay/ |title=Labor camps reinforce China's totalitarian rule |publisher=Cnn.com |date=1984-10-09 |accessdate=2013-03-20}}</ref>]]
Most atheists are [[East Asia]]ns (see: [[Asian atheism]]).
[[China]] has the world's largest [[atheism|atheist]] population.<ref>[http://www.thechapmans.nl/news/Atheist.pdf Top 50 Countries With Highest Proportion of Atheists / Agnostics (Zuckerman, 2005)]</ref><ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/23/a-surprising-map-of-where-the-worlds-atheists-live/ A surprising map of where the world’s atheists live], ''Washington Post'' By Max Fisher and Caitlin Dewey May 23, 2013</ref>
In 1955, [[China|Chinese]] [[communism|communist]] leader Zhou Enlai declared, "We Communists are atheists".<ref>Noebel, David, The Battle for Truth, Harvest House, 2001.</ref> In 2014, the Communist Party of China reaffirmed that members of their party must be atheists.<ref>
*[http://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/asia/item/19567-china-s-communist-party-reaffirms-marxism-maoism-atheism China’s Communist Party Reaffirms Marxism, Maoism, Atheism], ''New American'', 2014
*[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/02/china-communist-party-atheism-zhejiang-ban-religious-members-christianity_n_6599722.html China's Communist Party Bans Believers, Doubles Down On Atheism]</ref>
In 2016, the ''International Business Times'' reported:
{{cquote|A senior Chinese advisor on religious affairs has said the country should promote atheism throughout society, in remarks that appear to reflect a deepening campaign to reinforce traditional Marxist values in China — and could add to concern about official attitudes among believers in the country’s five officially recognized religions.<ref>[http://www.ibtimes.com/senior-chinese-religious-advisor-calls-promotion-atheism-society-2363850 Senior Chinese Religious Advisor Calls For Promotion Of Atheism In Society], ''International Business Times''</ref>}}
According to [[CNN]], hundreds (or perhaps thousands) of labor camps and forced labor prisons (called laogai) still exist in modern China.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/china.50/red.giant/prisons/wu.essay/ |title=Labor camps reinforce China's totalitarian rule |publisher=Cnn.com |date=1984-10-09 |accessdate=2013-03-20}}</ref> The prisons house political prisoners and dissidents alongside dangerous criminals.
The Chinese government run media outlet Xinhua reported in early 2013 that the country plans to reform its "controversial re-education through labor system this year."<ref>{{cite news|title=China to reform re-education through labor system|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-01/07/c_132086402.htm|accessdate=January 8, 2013|publisher=Xinhua|date=January 8, 2013}}</ref>
See also:
*[[Atheism and forced labor]]
*[[Atheism and communism]]
== China and involuntary organ harvesting of prisoners ==
''See also:'' [[China and involuntary organ harvesting]]
Several researchers — for example, Canadian human rights lawyer David Matas, former Canadian parliamentarian David Kilgour, and the investigative journalist Ethan Gutmann estimate that tens of thousands of [[Falun Gong]] prisoners in [[communism|communist]] [[China]] have been killed to supply a financially lucrative trade in human organs and cadavers, and that these human rights abuses may be ongoing concern.<ref>[http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/slaughter-mass-killings-organ-harvesting Review of: Ethan Gutmann, “''The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting and China’s Secret Solution to Its Dissident Problem''”, (Prometheus Books, 2014).]</ref>
== Soviet Gulags, political prisoners and forced labor ==
''See also:'' [[Atheism and forced labor]] and [[Atheism and communism]]
According to the [[University of Cambridge]], historically, the "most notable spread of atheism was achieved through the success of the 1917 [[Russian Revolution]], which brought the [[Marxism-Leninism|Marxist-Leninists]] to power."<ref name="Marxism-Leninism">{{cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20130728215151/http://www.investigatingatheism.info/marxism.html|title=Investigating atheism: Marxism|publisher = [[University of Cambridge]]|quote=The most notable spread of atheism was achieved through the success of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which brought the Marxist-Leninists to power. For the first time in history, atheism thus became the official ideology of a state.|year=2008|accessdate=July 17, 2014}}</ref>
The [[Gulag]] is the extensive network of prison camps used in the atheistic [[Soviet Union]] to imprison [[Joseph Stalin]]'s political enemies. Although the prison camps housed a wide variety of criminals, it also had a large amount of political prisoners.
For information about forced labor in Soviet prison camps, please see: [[Atheism and forced labor#Atheistic communism and forced labor|Atheistic communism and forced labor]]
== See also ==