20th Century Communist China

In the western world, the relationship between church and state exists as separate entities. Individuals have the freedom to practice or not practice any religion without the government becoming involved. China, too, allows for this freedom of religious belief. However, most governments in the western world use a democratic form of government whereas China uses a communist form of ruling. Therefore, although the freedom of religious belief does exist, a strong interdependence between the state and religion still remains and in the end, the government possesses absolute authority. Buddhism remains China’s most prevalent religion with over 102 million followers (Gnanarama 1998, 4). Because of the strong tie between government and religion, the
Government uses religion as a solution to problems that they themselves cannot fix. Religion provides a temporary antidote to inescapable problems so that they do not have to be explained. Government and the rulers start using religion in a negative way to promote unity among their constituents. The constituents, who are followers of Buddhism, may then place more trust in the government because the government’s ideologies align with the constituents’ ideologies as well but they do not realize that their immediate problems and concerns are not getting
Therefore, a group of religious authority must exist to help deal with the problems of the government and strike and mediate the role of politics and how many compromises can be made. On the surface, the samgha provides such religious authority. In the eyes of the people, the samgha voices the concerns of the people and ensure that China’s communist regime does not use religion inappropriately as a blanket to cover up problems and concerns of the people. The samgha ensures that Buddhism and the Dharma’s interpretations are correct. Moreover, the samgha also possess authority to adapt Buddhist scriptures and law to fit societal expectations. Therefore, it seems that a balance of power exists. Before the samgha makes any changes, the laity should be notified so that the laity can voice their opinions and the samgha can still maintain their