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Friday, April 29, 2022

China Re-Introduces It's "Little Red Book"

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The Communist Party of Guangxi, China, launched a campaign this month to pressure citizens to carry around a “little red book” of dictator Xi Jinping’s cult ideology, “socialism with Chinese characteristics,” greatly escalating with the publication of a video on social media this week showing citizens reading communist propaganda to toddlers.

Much like public school activists in America reading transgender materials to kindergarteners. 

This is not a new effort by Communist China. It's a "renewed effort"---a new version of Mao's little red book.

I'm certain, in a matter of days, the newly minted "Little Red Book" will be showing up on American campuses. 

Be informed, not misled.

"The Little Red Book" and me.

Since taking over the country in 2013, Xi has worked slowly but surely to usurp Mao's place in history, cementing his own name in the Chinese constitution and that of the Chinese Communist Party and coining his own ideology.

The new version of "The Little Red Book" is titled "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era."

The "book" was formally titled, "Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung," and was meant to be an analogy to the Communist Manifesto making the murderous ideology accessible to all Chinese citizens and facilitating the indoctrination of the entire country. 

Some years ago when I was a youth pastor, I faced the almost daily challenge of the sayings and thoughts of Mao-Zedong as a challenge to the teachings of Jesus Christ.

I had many responses to the confused kids of the time, but the one I enjoyed most was first reminding them that Mao-Zedong sought power by killing tens of millions of people---some historians say he killed as many as 45 million people from 1958 to 1962 as he advanced his "Great Leap Forward Policy"---making him a greater killer than Hitler and Stalin combined.

I would then tell them that Jesus killed no one, but laid down his own life so that billions of people could have eternal life through His Ressurection.

Who do you want to follow?  If you follow Mao, you'll end up in hell with him and his colleagues. If you follow Jesus, you will end up in heaven. Let's talk about it.

Xi's agenda.

Xi’s regime had already used its “social credit system” – which ascribes every citizen numerical scores based on their loyalty to communism – to force citizens to memorize “Xi Jinping Thought.” The government has forced Communist Party officials to regularly use a mobile app known as “Xuexi Qiangguo” (“Study to Make China Strong”) to memorize Xi’s quotes since 2019, a form of virtual “little red book.”

At least one province appears to have added a “retro” form of indoctrination to its policies in addition to the mobile app. This month, the government of Nanning, Guanxi’s capital, announced the return of the Xi version of a “little red book” to prepare for this year’s Communist Party Congress.

“In the past few days, a series of ‘pocket-sized books’ of ‘Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era’ [known as] ‘Everyone Learns,’ carefully compiled by the Propaganda Department of the [Nanning] Party Committee has become an authoritative teaching material,” a government notice posted on April 18 read, calling it “a treasure in the palm of your hand.”

Communist officials have reportedly forced all bookstores to install a display case with Xi Jinping's"pocketbook" and "regularly organize the masses to carry out learning and exchanges."

Reports indicate that bookstores are not the only ones being forced to distribute the propaganda item: schools, rural areas, businesses, local hotels, and even hospitals are handing out the "pocketbook."

"Weibo" is a government-controlled social media site in China. It too is promoting "The Little Red Book."

Beginning Wednesday of this week Weibo began running a video of people of all ages interrupting their day to sit and read the book. One elderly man can be seen reading to a child of about 2 years of age.


Concerning parallels.


While the return to carrying a physical red book is a novel turn for Xi’s regime, forcing citizens – particularly children – to memorize Xi’s “Thoughts” is a policy at least five years old. In 2017, China’s Education Minister Chen Baosheng ordered his officials to rewrite all school textbooks to include “Xi Jinping Thought.”

  • “There is no limit in doing research,” Chen said, “But you are not allowed to voice dissidence in the classroom.”
  • There is also a project underway in China to re-write the Bible integrating Xi's thoughts with Scripture.
  • “Chen said the ministry would start amending textbooks and training teachers after the Congress as part of the education sector’s ‘historic task,’” the South China Morning Post reported at the time.
  • “The topic [Xi Jinping Thought] will become part of political ideology courses that all pupils and students in the education system are required to take.”

It isn't a big leap to draw some comparisons to the progressive agenda in our own country.

Is forcing 5-year-old kindergarteners to be introduced to transgenderism and homosexuality that much different?

I understand Communist China's goals---certainly don't agree, but understand their agenda.

It's global domination.

What could the cultural agenda of the leftists in our own country be other than to groom little children to follow them on their pathway to destruction?

Over the past few years, China has been opening Confucius Institutes on American colleges and even high school campuses. The Institutes, we're told, are to teach the Chinese culture so we can all better understand one another.

With some of our elected public servants beginning to push back and ask questions about what is really going on with these "institutes," some have been closed. Most have not.

The University of Washington has hosted one since 2010. So has Pacific Lutheran University (PLU).

With this effort to indoctrinate their own children, does anyone doubt that Communist China will hesitate to launch an all-out effort to indoctrinate our kids?

The Little Red Book will soon appear here in our country, and the conversation will be renewed and revived.

Should we follow Xi Jinping or Jesus? Why?

I pray our kids and youth ministry leaders can turn America's attention from studying our belly button in order to decide what sex we are---to a conversation about life. And eternity. 

And I sincerely pray our pulpits are prepared to put aside the "5 Ways to be Happy" sermons and speak the Truth to this present darkness.

Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.