"China orders Ten Commandments replaced with Communist leader’s quotes"

"China’s Communist regime has ordered some churches to replace the Ten Commandments with quotes from President Xi Jinping, reports say.

The Ten Commandments provide the Christian moral code and the foundation of belief for Christians around the world. In atheist China, they are being eliminated from places of worship, according to Bitter Winter, an online magazine centered on religious liberty and human rights in China.

Authorities issued orders to remove the Ten Commandments to every state-registered 'Three-Self' church and meeting venue in one county of Luoyang, a prefecture-level city in the Henan province, according to a report from Barnabas Aid, an international Christian aid agency. The move was part of the government’s ongoing campaign to 'Sinicize' (make Chinese) Christianity, the report said.

The Three-Self Patriotic Movement is a state-sanctioned Protestant church in mainland China.

Churches that refused to comply were shut down or told that their members will be 'blacklisted,' meaning the Christians’ travel, education and employment will be restricted by authorities.

Officials claimed that disobeying the orders equates to opposing the Communist Party, the Bitter Winter report said."