Secret Communist Party Document Orders New Initiative Promoting Atheism

A U.S.-based NGO has obtained a copy of a secret Communist Party Document entitled “Notice on Further Strengthening Marxist Atheism Research, Propaganda, and Education." The original Chinese-language document itself can be seen at this location.

The “Notice” directs recipients to carry out a social engineering initiative called “Marxist atheism research, propaganda, and education.” It states that Marxist atheism research, etc., is necessary to resist the efforts of “hostile Western forces” to use religion to Westernize and split China. The initiative should be particularly focused on Party cadres and young people, the notice orders. In addition, not only should officials use Marxist atheism research, etc., to teach science as a way of fighting superstition, but mass media and the Internet also have key roles in promoting the initiative. The “Notice” directs the Chinese National Fund on Social Sciences to emphasize research on atheism in its funding prospectus.

The Reverend Bob Fu, President of the China Aid Association, Inc., a U.S. NGO based in Texas, obtained a copy of the notice and released it at a Washington, D.C., press conference on November 17, 2004.