The Rise, Causes, and Impact of Rural Religious Belief in the New Period

Since the founding of New China, and especially over the 30 years of reform and opening up, rural areas have undergone earth-shaking changes, with peasants’ political status, economic income, and cultural life reaching their highest points in history. At the same time, people’s belief systems have undergone major changes. From a nationwide perspective, some common phenomena exist: the religious fervor continues to develop, the number of religious believers has increased sharply, religious sites have multiplied, and the scale of religious activities has gradually expanded; the forms of belief have also shifted from predominantly traditional folk beliefs to the coexistence of Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, and others; the occupations of believers have become more diverse, their ages increasingly younger, and a minority of minors have shown signs of developing religious inclinations, with the believing population trending from “three many” (many elderly women, many sick people, many uneducated people) to “three increases” (increase in males, increase in young people, increase in intellectuals) [1]1 The “three many” and “three increases” are shorthand terms used in Chinese sociological and policy discussions to describe demographic shifts in the religious believing population.. The rise of rural religious belief in the New Period has profound social and historical roots, and its impact on the construction of a new socialist countryside is complex in nature, requiring widespread attention from all sectors of society.

新中国成立特别是改革开放30年以来，农村面貌发生了翻天覆地的变化，农民的政治地位、经济收入和文化生活达到历史最高点。与此同时，人们信仰体系发生了重大的变化，从全国范围看存在一些普遍现象：宗教热持续发展，信教人数急剧增加，宗教场所不断增多，宗教活动规模逐步增大；信教形式也由传统民间信仰为主到如今基督教、佛教、道教等并存；信教主体的职业趋于多样化，年龄越来越轻，少数未成年人也出现了信教苗头，信教群体呈现从“三多”（老年妇女多、有病的多、无文化的多）到“三增”（男性增多、年轻人增多、知识分子增多）的趋势①。新时期农村宗教信仰的兴起具有深刻的社会历史根源，其对新农村建设的影响具有复杂性的特点，需要引起社会各界的广泛关注。

I. Causes of the Rise of Rural Religious Belief in the New Period

一、新时期农村宗教信仰兴起的原因

There has long been considerable controversy over what religion is and whether folk religion exists in China. Generally speaking, most scholars believe that religion includes both institutional religion—that is, religion with its own unique theological system, organization, and rituals, independent of other social organizations—and diffused religion, namely folk beliefs, which, although lacking an independent organizational system, are deeply embedded in the organizational structure and social order of secular folk society. In this sense, peasants’ religious beliefs have never been severed, and with social progress, they have gradually shifted from diffused religion to institutional religion. Especially since the beginning of the 21st century, various religious organizations and activities have sprung up in rural areas like bamboo shoots after a spring rain. A three-foot ice does not form in a single day. The rise of rural religious belief in the New Period has important social roots.

关于什么是宗教，中国存在不存在民间宗教，一直存在很大争议。一般来讲，大多数学者认为宗教既包括制度性的宗教，即拥有自己独特的神学体系、组织和仪式，独立于其余社会组织。同时也包括扩散性的宗教，即民间信仰，虽然缺乏独立的组织体系但是却深深渗透于民间世俗组织结构和社会秩序之中。在此意义上来讲，农民的宗教信仰一直没有断绝，而且随着社会的进步，逐渐由扩散性的宗教转向制度性的宗教。尤其进入21世纪以来，各种宗教组织、宗教活动如雨后春笋般在农村迸发出来。冰冻三尺非一日之寒。新时期农村宗教信仰的兴起具有重要的社会根源。

(A) Social Problems Arising from the Process of Modernization

（一）现代化过程中导致的社会问题

In sociology, so-called modernization refers to the process of transition from a traditional agricultural society to a modern industrial society. It is a process of social change based on social differentiation, led by advances in science and technology, with industrialization and urbanization as main contents, and characterized by coordinated economic and social development. [2]2 This definition of modernization draws on standard sociological frameworks common in Chinese academic discourse. During this transformation, social differentiation accelerates continuously, and individual roles, social organizations, and social status are in constant flux. Modernization brings people enormous opportunities but also confronts them with tremendous challenges. Under conditions of existing normative institutional constraints, individual ability and opportunity become the keys to success in market competition.

在社会学中，所谓现代化是指由传统农业社会向现代工业社会的变迁过程，是在社会分化的基础上，以科学技术进步为先导，以工业化、城市化等为主要内容，经济与社会协调发展的社会变迁过程。② 在此转化过程中，社会分化不断加速，个人角色、社会组织、社会地位处于不断变动之中，现代化带给了人们巨大的机遇，同时也使人们面临巨大的挑战。在既有规范的制度约束情况下，个人能力和机遇成为市场竞争成功的关键。

Because rural areas have long been in a backward position, some peasants have seized the once-in-a-lifetime opportunities history has given them, becoming trendsetters in the tide of the market economy, rapidly amassing great wealth, and forming a new wealthy stratum in the countryside. However, for the majority of peasants, clinging to old ways and being reluctant to leave their native land have become their habitual modes of thinking. Faced with external temptations, most peasants dare not or cannot become active promoters of modernization. Modernization awakens their longing and hope for a better life, yet reality is so cold and ruthless for them. External forces bring a tremendous psychological shock; finding no spiritual sustenance in real society, they can only place their hopes in the afterlife. The characteristics of religion itself happen to fill the void in their hearts. Therefore, aside from traditional Buddhism and Taoism, the most striking phenomenon among the religions prevalent in rural areas is the widespread spread of Christianity. The Christian doctrines of original sin, redemption, and the Ten Commandments precisely provide a kind of spiritual sustenance and explanation for the numerous social problems emerging during the transition period.

由于农村长期以来处于落后地位，有一些农民抓住了历史赋予他们千载难逢的良机，成为市场经济大潮中的弄潮儿，迅速攫取了大量财富，成为农村新富裕阶层。然而，对于大多数农民来说，因循守旧、安土重迁成为他们一贯的思维模式，面对外界的诱惑，大多数的农民不敢或者不能成为现代化的积极推动者。现代化唤起了他们对于美好生活的向往和期望，然而现实对于他们来说却是那么的冷酷无情。外界对于心理上带来巨大的冲击，心灵在现实社会找不到寄托，只好寄希望于来世，宗教本身具有的特性恰好弥补了他们心灵上的空缺。因此，农村流行的宗教除传统的佛教和道教以外，最引人注目的现象就是基督教的广泛传播。基督教的原罪、救赎以及十诫之说，正好为转型期出现的大量社会问题提供了一种精神上的寄托和解释。

Some scholars believe that the social anomie brought about by social change in China since reform and opening up is an important root cause of the rise of rural religion. Specifically, this includes anomie in the economic sphere: under market economy conditions, the contingency and variability of production and exchange increase, the flow process becomes complex, and the market becomes an alien force dominating people’s behavior; dishonest practices in economic life such as fraud, defamation, denigration, enticement, coercion, false advertising, and bribery cause emotional imbalance among people. Anomie in the political sphere—the inaction of grassroots organizations. Anomie in the cultural sphere—the collision of different values causes enormous changes in peasants’ social mentality; the lack of a dominant social spirit leads to a vacuum in some people’s beliefs; impoverished rural spiritual and cultural life leaves people without spiritual support. It is precisely because of the many anomic phenomena existing in these three spheres that the proliferation of rural Christianity and other beliefs has resulted. [3]3 The concept of “social anomie” (社会失范) here refers to a breakdown of social norms and regulatory mechanisms during rapid transition, a usage influenced by Durkheimian sociology as adapted in Chinese scholarship. In fact, the rise of religion in China’s rural areas must be considered against the broad background of the times. For a long time, China’s development policy of emphasizing industry over agriculture has caused rural development to lag increasingly behind cities. Reform and opening up broadened peasants’ horizons and ignited their expectations for life. However, due to constraints from both subjective and objective factors, their hopes could not be realized. Rational reflection is always painful, and the narcotic effect of religion holds great appeal. Yet, as China’s social transformation accelerates and social division of labor and differentiation become increasingly apparent, large numbers of young and middle-aged laborers leave their hometowns to work elsewhere, leaving behind mostly the elderly, women, and children in rural areas. Material deprivation and psychological poverty intertwine, leaving the left-behind rural population without spiritual belonging. Some scholars, taking a coastal town as their survey site, found that local Christians exhibit the following structural characteristics: first, they are generally older in age, with the vast majority married; second, they are predominantly female, with few males; third, they are mainly peasants, with relatively concentrated residential areas; fourth, their household economic income is relatively low; fifth, their level of education is generally not high. [4]4 This paragraph cites a specific local survey; the original source is not provided in the text.

有的学者认为，改革开放以来中国社会变迁带来的社会失范是农村宗教兴起的重要根源。具体来讲包括经济领域的失范：市场经济条件下，生产和交换的偶然性、变动性增加，流动过程复杂，市场成为支配人们行为的异己力量；经济生活领域里的欺诈、诋毁、贬低、引诱、胁迫、虚假广告、贿赂等不正当行为使人们情绪失衡。政治领域的失范——基层组织的不作为。文化领域的失范——不同价值观的相互碰撞，引起农民社会心态的巨大变化；社会主导精神缺失，导致部分人信仰上出现真空；贫乏的农村精神文化生活使人们缺少精神依托。正是因为三个领域存在的诸多失范现象，导致了农村基督教以及其他信仰的泛滥。③ 其实，中国农村宗教的兴起必须放在广阔的时代背景下来考虑这个问题。长期以来，中国重工抑农的发展政策使农村发展日益滞后于城市，改革开放打开了农民的视野和眼界，点燃了他们生活的期望，然而由于主客观等多种因素的约束，使他们的希望无法实现。理性的思考总是痛苦的，宗教的麻醉作用具有巨大的吸引力。然而，随着中国社会转型的加速，社会分工和分化的日益显现，大批青壮年劳动力背井离乡出外打工，留守农村的多为老年人和妇女儿童，物质上的贫乏和心理上的贫困交织在一起，使农村留守群体精神无所归依。有的学者以沿海某镇为调查地点，发现当地基督教徒在结构上呈如下特点：一是年龄普遍较大，绝大多数已婚；二是以女性为主，男性较少；三是以农民为主，居住地域比较集中；四是家庭经济收入相对偏低；五是受教育程度普遍不高④。

(B) The Shrinkage of the Rural Public Sphere

（二）农村公共领域的缩减

Humans are by nature social animals. When facing common problems of production and life that they cannot solve on their own, they need help from others. An intermediary and mechanism for communication and expression of interests and demands is needed among social forces at various levels. The network and social space formed by this interaction and deliberation can be called the public sphere. According to Habermas, “the public sphere can best be described as a network for communicating information and points of view (i.e., opinions); there the streams of communication are filtered and synthesized in such a way that they coalesce into bundles of topically specified public opinions.” [5]5 This is a paraphrase of Jürgen Habermas’s concept of the public sphere, as presented in Chinese academic translations of his work. The existence of the public sphere arises not from some external need but from people’s internal needs and demands.

人类本身就是社会性的动物，面对共同的生产生活问题，自身无法解决的时候，需要他人的帮助，各层次的社会力量之间需要有一个沟通和表达自身利益和要求的中介和机制，这种互动和商谈形成的网络和社会空间可以被称作公共领域。按照哈贝马斯的说法，“公共领域最好被描述为一个关于内容、观点，也就是一个意见的交往网络；在那里，交往之流被以一种特定的方式加以过滤和综合，从而成为根据特定议题集束而成的公共意见或舆论”。⑤ 公共领域的存在不是出于某种外在需求，而是出于人们内在需要和要求。

With the dissolution of the people’s communes and the implementation of the household contract responsibility system, individual production replaced the collective economy. While releasing enormous productive forces, peasants’ lifestyles underwent major changes. The traditional politically-led, compulsory interdependence transformed into a greatly expanded space for peasants’ autonomous and independent activities. At the same time, mutual connections among peasants gradually weakened. Traditional public gathering places for peasants, such as teahouses and open-air cinemas, have withered away one after another. The popularization of modern media such as television has confined peasants to their homes, making them servants of modern media. Communication and exchange among people lack corresponding media. Township leaders’ organization of peasants’ collective life is mostly concentrated around the period of village elections. Due to the usual lack of mutual communication and exchange, democratic knowledge and skills are weak, greatly diminishing the effectiveness of elections. Peasants’ spiritual life is impoverished. Since spiritual pursuits cannot find new carriers, they have to resort to traditional forms. Religious belief and corresponding religious gatherings become important tools for peasants to satisfy their own need for public participation. Added to this is the long-term neglect of compulsory education in rural areas by the state, resulting in peasants’ low modern scientific and cultural quality and poor rational thinking ability, giving rise to much confusion with nowhere to place it, making them easily influenced by external religious ideas.

随着人民公社的解体，联产承包责任制的推行，个体生产代替了集体经济，释放出巨大生产力的同时，农民的生活方式发生了重大的变化，传统政治领导型强制性的相互依存转变为农民自主独立活动空间大大增强。与此同时，农民之间相互联系逐渐减弱。传统农民公共集会场所如茶馆、露天电影院等纷纷消亡，现代电视等媒体的普及使农民蜗居在家中，成为现代传媒的奴仆。人与人之间的交流和沟通缺乏相应的媒介。而乡镇领导对于农民集体生活的组织多集中于村民选举时期，由于平常缺乏相互沟通和交流，民主知识和技能薄弱，使选举效果大打折扣。农民精神生活贫乏，精神追求既然不能寻找到新的载体，只好求助于传统形式，而宗教信仰以及相应宗教集会成为农民满足自身公共参与的重要工具。加上国家长期以来对于农村义务教育的忽视，农民现代科学文化素质较低，理性思维能力较差，产生了许多迷惘无处寄托，很容易受到外界宗教思想的影响。

(C) Changes in the National Political System

（三）国家政治体制的变迁

Religious belief has a long history in the development of human society. After the founding of the People's Republic, it underwent a tortuous process, especially during the unprecedented Cultural Revolution, when religious organizations suffered devastating blows, places of worship were destroyed, religious personnel were criticized, and many religions were suppressed under political pressure. However, religion is deeply rooted in people's production and daily life, possessing immense vitality that far exceeds what any political power can subdue by force. After reform and opening up, with the establishment of religious policies suited to China's national conditions and the implementation of the policy of freedom of religious belief, religious organizations, religious activities, and believers have sprung up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

宗教信仰在人类历史发展中源远流长，在建国后经历了一段曲折的过程，特别是史无前例的文化大革命，使宗教组织遭到毁灭性的打击，活动场所被捣毁，宗教人员受到批判，政治高压之下许多宗教受到压制。但是，宗教深深根植于人们生产生活之中，具有的巨大生命力，远远不是一个政权凭借强力所能屈服的。改革开放后，随着符合中国国情的宗教政策的确立，宗教信仰自由政策的贯彻，宗教组织、宗教活动、信教人员如雨后春笋一般勃兴。

Apart from the implementation of the policy of freedom of religious belief and the government's lifting of high-pressure policies, the development policy centered on economic construction indirectly contributed to the rise of religion in rural areas. On the one hand, the focus on economic construction promoted the development of the rural economy; on the other hand, it also led to the differentiation of rural social strata and the widening gap between rich and poor. At the same time, facing the rapid transformation of social development, governments at all levels concentrated their attention on attracting investment, paying little or virtually no attention to the development of rural culture. The spiritual life of peasants has long been in a state of impoverishment. Modern mass media, such as television, which focus on urbanization and metropolitan life, find it difficult to resonate with the hearts of peasants. Faced with the complex and ever-changing new social phenomena, the decline of traditional values, and the kaleidoscope of new values, people's sense of anxiety has generally increased. Peasants feel unable to adapt, and their restless souls must find a place of rest. Religion, whether for the rich or the poor, the elderly or the young, men or women, is undoubtedly the best choice.

宗教信仰的兴起除宗教信仰自由政策的实施，政府解除高压政策外，以经济建设为中心的发展方针间接促使了宗教在农村的兴起。经济建设为中心一方面促进了农村经济的发展，另一方面也促使了农村阶层的分化，贫富差距拉大。同时，面对社会发展的快速转换，各级政府注意力都集中在招商引资上，很少或者基本上不关心农村文化的发展，农民精神生活长期处于贫乏状态。现代大众传媒如电视等以都市化、城市化为主要内容很难得到农民心灵上的共鸣。面对纷繁芜杂变化万千的社会新现象，传统价值观念的衰落，新型价值观变化万千，人们焦虑感普遍增加。农民感到自身无法适应，躁动的心灵必须找到安息的场所，宗教无论对于富人还是穷人，老年人还是年轻人，男性还是女性，无疑都是一种最佳的选择。

(4) The Enhancement of Peasants' Awareness of Participation

（四）农民参与意识的增强

Political participation is an important component of modern democratic politics and the foundation on which the democratic system of modern society relies. Modern democratic politics requires that various social classes, strata, and even the general public participate in politics, directly or indirectly, to varying degrees. Political participation refers to "the activities of ordinary citizens aimed at influencing government decision-making." The awareness of political participation among peasants refers to the totality of their thoughts, views, knowledge, and psychology regarding political participation—that is, their desire to participate in politics. As a large agricultural country, the level of political participation awareness among 900 million peasants is a key parameter for measuring the construction of political civilization in our country and a major political issue concerning the smooth realization of the construction of a new socialist countryside. An important foundation of political participation is social participation. Without sound systems and habits of social participation, true political democracy—that is, the current implementation of villager self-governance—can only become empty talk. The vitality of rural religious organizations and the increase in religious believers themselves indicate that peasants are no longer satisfied with being confined to their homes for a long time, facing cold mass media, nor are they satisfied with the long periods of neglect after the brief excitement of elections. They want to step out of their families and realize their desire for participation.

政治参与，是现代民主政治的重要内容，是现代社会民主制度赖以存在的基础。现代民主政治要求社会各阶级，各阶层，乃至社会公众不同程度地直接或间接地参与政治。政治参与（political participation）是指“平民试图影响政府决策的活动”。而农民政治参与意识则是指农民关于政治参与的思想、观点、知识、心理的总称，即农民参与政治的愿望。作为一个农业大国，9亿农民政治参与意识如何，水平高低是衡量我国政治文明建设的重要参数，是事关社会主义新农村建设能否顺利实现的重大政治问题。而政治参与的重要基础是社会参与。没有良好的社会参与制度和习惯，真正的政治民主也就是当下实施的村民自治只能陷于空谈。农村宗教组织的活跃和信教群众的增加本身表明，农民不满足于长期以来禁锢在家中，面对冷冰冰的大众传媒，也不满足于仅仅在选举时异常热闹的狂欢后长时间的被冷落，他们要走出家庭，实现自身参与的愿望。

2. The Impact of Religion on the Construction of a New Socialist Countryside

二、宗教对于新农村建设的影响

The reasons for the rise of religion are very complex, and its impact on the construction of a new socialist countryside is multifaceted. There are both beneficial and harmful aspects. However, overall, after long-term development of rural religion itself, coupled with standardized guidance and management by the government, the benefits outweigh the harms.

宗教兴起的原因非常复杂，对于新农村建设的影响也是多重性的。既有有利一面，也有有害一面。但是，总起来讲，农村宗教自身经过长期发展，政府规范化的引导和管理，利还是大于弊的。

(1) Enhancing Trust Among the People

（一）增强了民众之间的信任

The social differentiation in rural areas requires corresponding social integration forces to regulate the behavior of peasants. As the moral integration force of traditional clans gradually weakens with social transformation, religion, as a shared belief, easily resonates with the hearts of peasants, allowing them to find ultimate spiritual sustenance in a complex and ever-changing world. Believers who share a common faith have a strong sense of identity. Religion can use its own doctrines to influence the worldview, outlook on life, and values of its followers, and its precepts can regulate their behavior. In particular, the religious teachings of tolerance, benevolence, doing good deeds, accumulating virtue, self-restraint, and altruism enable people to care for each other, unite, and bring together various forces and interests in rural areas, allowing them to coexist peacefully. This is conducive to improving interpersonal relationships and eradicating rural bad habits. Especially in the current situation where there are many left-behind rural residents and public security is difficult for the government to maintain, the role of religion as a bond to ease tense interpersonal relationships is becoming increasingly prominent.

农村的社会分化需要相应的社会整合力量来规范农民的行为。在传统宗族的道德整合力量随着社会转型逐渐弱化的情况下，宗教作为共同的信仰很容易得到农民心灵上的共鸣，使农民在纷繁芜杂、变化万千的世界中找到最终的心灵寄托。具有共同信仰的教众之间具有较强的认同意识，宗教能够利用自身教义影响教徒的世界观、人生观和价值观，教规可以规约教徒自身的行为，特别是宗教提倡的宽厚仁爱、行善积德、克己利他的处事方式，使群众相互之间能够互相关爱，团结一致，将农村中各种力量各种利益集中在一起并使之和平共处，有利于人际关系的改善和乡村陋习的革除。特别是当前农村留守群众较多，在政府治安难度较大的情况下，宗教作为调节人与人之间紧张的关系纽带的作用日益得到凸显。

(2) Enriching Rural Culture

（二）丰富了农村文化

The rapid economic development has been accompanied by a sharp decline in rural cultural life. The incompatibility between urban culture and rural conditions has led conservative peasants to seek traditional forms of entertainment to meet their own needs. The popular religions in rural areas—Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, as well as Catholicism and Christianity, which have developed rapidly since reform and opening up—have all closely integrated with the long-standing folk culture of the countryside and quickly merged into the production and daily life of local peasants. Traditional rural celebrations have strong religious overtones. The revival of traditional culture under the banner of religion reflects, on the one hand, peasants' unfamiliarity with and resistance to new-era cultural forms, highlighting the poverty of their spiritual and cultural life in the new era; on the other hand, it underscores the immense attraction of religious culture with its long traditions for peasants. Through sermons by church leaders and collective study by believers, to a certain extent, the deficiencies of peasants' compulsory education are compensated for, and their cultural knowledge and skills are enhanced.

经济的飞速发展与之相随的却是农村文化生活的急剧衰落。城市文化与农村的水土不适，使保守的农民寻求传统文化的娱乐形式来满足自身的需求。农村流行的宗教，道教、佛教、伊斯兰教包括改革开放后发展迅猛的天主教、基督教，均和农村长期延续下来的民俗文化密切融合，迅速融入了当地农民的生产生活之中。农村传统的庆典具有浓厚的宗教色彩因素。传统文化打着宗教旗帜重新复兴，一方面表现农民对于新时代文化形式的陌生和抵触，反映了农民新时代精神文化生活的贫乏，另一方面也突出了具有悠久传统的宗教文化对于农民的巨大吸引力。通过教会中领导人的布道，教徒们的集中学习，一定意义上弥补了农民义务教育的缺陷，增强了文化知识技能。

(3) Exercising Peasants' Ability to Participate

（三）锻炼了农民的参与能力

Traditional agriculture's low productivity has resulted in peasants' weak sense of autonomy, strong dependence, and deeply ingrained worship psychology. The worship of natural gods and the worship of humans have run through the history of rural development. The top priority in building a new socialist countryside is to transform peasants from a subject consciousness to a citizen consciousness. The implementation of the villager self-governance system is undoubtedly an important institutional breakthrough. However, due to the long-term lack of training and cultivation of corresponding skills among peasants, their awareness of participation is weak. Moreover, due to defects in institutional design, the methods and means for peasants to participate in social affairs have not been fixed or normalized, and for a long time, peasants' desire to participate has had no outlet. Religion itself, with its inclusiveness and openness, can accommodate peasants from all strata. Supported by a common faith, they participate equally in religious activities. In this process, peasants' democratic awareness, participation awareness, and participation ability are all significantly improved.

传统农业生产力的低下，农民自主意识薄弱，依赖意识浓厚，崇拜心理根深蒂固。从对自然神的崇拜到对人的崇拜一直贯穿于农村发展的历史。新农村建设重中之重是将农民由原来的臣民意识转变为公民意识，村民自治制度的实施无疑是制度上的重要突破。然而，由于长期以来农民缺乏相应技能的培养和训练，参与意识淡薄，后者由于制度设计的缺陷，没有将农民对于社会事务参与的方式方法固定化、常态化，长期以来农民参与愿望无处实现。宗教本身具有的包容性、开放性能够将各阶层农民容纳进来，在共同信仰的支撑下，平等参与宗教活动。在此过程中，农民的民主意识、参与意识、参与能力均明显得到提高。

At the same time, we must also clearly recognize the negative impacts of the large-scale rise of religion on rural development, be vigilant in times of peace, and take early precautions.

与此同时，我们也必须清醒地认识到宗教大量兴起对于农村发展带来的负面影响，居安思危，及早防范。

(1) Tendency Toward Commercialization

（一）商业化倾向

Chinese folk society has long lacked serious religious belief, with a strong tendency toward utilitarianism. Peasants believe in religion either to seek spiritual sustenance from religious organizations or for recreation and entertainment. The impact of the market economy on rural areas, the prevalence of money worship and materialism, has led some people to use religious organizations as tools for profit. By organizing religious activities, they use temptation, deception, and even superstitious coercion to swindle money from believers, who are often deceived without realizing it. Township-level grassroots political organizations often lack supervision over such activities. The current performance evaluation methods for township leaders also lead some local governments to rack their brains to find "paths to wealth." To attract investment, they adopt the approach of "temple fairs set the stage, the economy performs" and "to promote tourism, build temples first," investing heavily in the construction, expansion, and renovation of temples. The religious industry is developing rapidly, and the market for religious products lacks effective regulation. Some leaders of religious organizations collude with officials to defraud believers of their money.

中国民间一直缺乏严肃的宗教信仰，功利倾向浓厚。农民信教或者希望从教会组织寻找心灵寄托，或者为了消遣娱乐。市场经济大潮对于农村的冲击，拜金主义、物质至上的盛行，使某些人把宗教组织作为牟利的工具，通过组织宗教活动，利用诱惑、欺骗甚至用迷信胁迫的方式骗取信教群众的钱财，信教群众受骗上当而茫然不知。乡镇基层政权组织往往缺乏对这方面活动的监管，现有乡镇领导政绩考核方式也使一些地方政府挖空心思寻找“致富之路”。为了招商引资，采用“庙会搭台，经济唱戏”、“为兴旅游，寺庙先行”，大规模投资新建扩建改建寺庙。宗教产业发展迅速，宗教产品市场缺乏有效监管。有些宗教组织领导人与官员相互勾结，欺诈信教群众钱财。

(2) Tendency Toward Small-Group Cliques

（二）小集团倾向

The large number of religious groups emerging in rural areas are informal groups, lacking the constraint of clearly stipulated rules and regulations. However, because of shared beliefs, they form common interests and possess characteristics such as clustering by kind, mutual benefit, folk nature, and organization. Therefore, when the functions of rural grassroots political power decline and grassroots leaders’ governance loses popular support, religious groups become an important force influencing peasants’ production and life. They either use legal channels to influence rural elections or adopt confrontational methods to resist rural public authority. In some areas, highly exclusive religious organizations not only confront public authority but also create numerous conflicts among people of different faiths, affecting rural harmony and stability.

农村兴起的大量宗教群体属于非正式群体，缺乏明文规定的规章制度的约束，但是因为共同的信仰，形成了共同的利益，具有同类相聚性、互益性、民间性、组织性等特点。所以，当农村基层政权功能衰落，基层领导人施政不得人心的时候，宗教团体成为影响农民生产生活的一支重要力量。他们或者采取合法的渠道影响农村选举，或者采取对抗的方式抵制农村公共权威。个别地区出现排他性较强的宗教组织，不但对抗公共权威，而且在不同信仰群众之间制造了大量矛盾，影响到农村和谐稳定。

(3) Tendency toward confrontation

（三）对抗倾向

The smooth progress of new rural construction requires harmonious interpersonal relationships. Many contents of religious doctrine reflect the common moral demands of humanity and conform to human psychological needs for family affection, friendship, justice, fairness, virtue, and so on. This is compatible with the ideas of building a new socialist countryside’s cultural construction. Actively utilizing the educational function of religion is not only beneficial to the construction of advanced rural culture but also helps coordinate social interpersonal relationships, guiding religious believers and non-believers to respect each other, live in harmony, and advance new rural construction. On the other hand, some believers have narrow religious identities, often taking themselves as the standard and viewing other religions, sects, or non-believers as alien, which easily leads to tension, estrangement, and even opposition and conflict in interpersonal relationships.

新农村建设的顺利进行需要和谐的人际关系。宗教教义的许多内容反映了人类共同的道德要求，符合人性对亲情、友爱、正义、公正、德性等等的心理需求，是与建设社会主义新农村文化建设思想相适应的。积极发挥宗教教化功能不仅有利于农村先进文化建设，也有利于协调社会人际关系，引导信教群众和不信教群众互相尊重、和睦相处，推进新农村建设。但另一方面，一些信徒宗教认同思想狭隘，常常有以己为宗，视其他宗教、教派或不信教群众为异己，容易导致人际关系的紧张、疏远乃至对立冲突。

In summary, faced with the surging rise of religious belief in rural areas, government management departments should deeply reflect on their own behavior and adopt rational policies to deal with it. They must neither let it run its course, thinking it irrelevant to the overall situation of economic construction and thus remaining numb and indifferent, nor regard it as a flood of beasts and solve it through crude methods. They can only manage it according to law and guide religion to adapt to the development of socialist society.

总之，面对农村汹涌澎湃的宗教信仰的兴起，政府管理部门应该深深反思自身的行为，采取理性政策来对待。切不可放任自流，认为无关经济建设的大局所以麻木不仁，漠然视之，也不能视为洪水猛兽，采取粗暴的方式解决，而只能依法管理，引导宗教适应社会主义社会的发展。

Notes:

注释：

① Hu Shubao: “Discussion on Religious Issues in New Rural Construction.” Journal of the Party School of the Zhengzhou Municipal Committee of the CPC, 2008 (1), 70-72.

① 胡述宝：新农村建设中的宗教问题探讨．中共郑州市委党校学报，2008（1），70-72．

② Feng Gang, ed., Sociology, Zhejiang University Press, 2004 edition, 271.

② 冯钢主编，社会学，浙江大学出版社，2004版，271．

③ Chao Guoqing: “Reasons for the Prevalence of Rural Religion Today.” Guangxi Social Sciences, 2005 (5), 182-184.

③ 晁国庆：当前农村宗教盛行的原因．广西社会科学，2005（5），182-184.

④ Bi Weining: “Reform and Opening Up and the Transformation of Christianity in China’s Coastal Rural Areas.” Wuhan University Journal, 2001 (5), 124-129.

④ 闭伟宁：改革开放与基督教在我国沿海农村的变迁．武汉大学学报，2001（5），124-129.

⑤ Jürgen Habermas, trans. Tong Shijun: Between Facts and Norms, SDX Joint Publishing Company, 2003, 446.

⑤ 哈贝马斯著，童世骏译：在事实与规范之间，三联书店，2003，446.

⑥ Liu Zhihua: “Reflections on the Development of Christianity in China’s Rural Areas.” Journal of Inner Mongolia University for Nationalities, 2006 (2), 73-76.

⑥ 刘智华：关于我国农村基督教发展的思考．内蒙古民族大学学报，2006（2），73-76.