Daming 1805

Chapter 384 Absolute Freedom

At the civilian port of Lion City, a passenger ship from Taixi slowly landed.

Passengers on board got off the ship one by one with documents and luggage, and were then diverted to different directions according to their identities.

People from Daming, people from the vassal states of Ming Dynasty, people who hold the residence permits of the Ming Dynasty, and those who hold the residence permits of the Nanyang countries of the Ming Dynasty can go through the main passage, show the certificates to the export officers, and then they can leave the port directly.

Those who hold ordinary entry permits with different durations and purposes need another channel to undergo an on-site inspection by the officers of the Shicheng Bureau of the Immigration Management Department of Daming Jinyiwei.

But on the two passages, all first-time entry people will be singled out again and accepted the basic common sense rules and regulations preached by the officers of the Immigration Management Department.

He Baolu, a Catholic priest, was screened out when he left the port with an entry permit, and was sent into a rather spacious hall with another group of businessmen and tourists from all over the world.

After more than 200 people gathered at the scene, the door of the hall was closed.

On the podium in the middle of the hall, a Jinyiwei officer in his 30s picked up the microphone beside him and began to speak:
"Attention everyone, please confirm your identity and purpose again before entering the country formally.

"To all those who conduct espionage, including information gathering, and carry out any form of sabotage, Daming Jinyiwei is now issuing a final warning to you.

"Once any corresponding behavior is discovered, Jin Yiwei will deal with it strictly and severely in accordance with the laws of Ming Dynasty, and give the highest penalty.

"All those entering the country, please pay attention again, please ensure that you have the ability to live normally in Daming territory.

"Daming Jinyiwei and all law enforcement officers, Daming Exit-Entry Administration Bureau and all public officials will not provide any language options and translations that are not in Daming's elegant language when dealing with all public and private affairs facing you. All public and private documents that are finally issued will only be Daming Yayan explained.

"Please make sure that all immigrants can go through all the formalities in Daming Yayan, can complete the corresponding communication, or are accompanied by translators with corresponding capabilities.

"All consequences arising from the language barrier shall be borne by the entrants themselves."

The officer of Jinyiwei followed the script, almost instinctively repeating the announcement he had made countless times.

There were more than a dozen warnings and reminders from various aspects, and then his eyes fell on He Baolu in the crowd, and at the same time he gave the last reminder and warning:
"All persons with religious beliefs please note that Daming pursues an absolute policy of freedom of religious belief.

"If you find that people who do not believe in the religion you believe in actively tell and convey any religious information to you without the permission of the relevant institutions of the Ming Dynasty and yourself, please report directly to the nearest Jinyiwei.

"All full-time religious personnel, please change into normal clothes that have nothing to do with religion before entering the country, and are not allowed to wear or display any religious symbols. Communicate any religion-related information externally.

"When providing religious services to people seeking religious beliefs, third parties must not be affected in any way, and any coercion, intimidation, and anxiety-creating rhetoric must not be used.

"You must explain the advantages and disadvantages of the religious services you provide in an absolutely objective and calm manner, and you must truthfully explain the origin, development, and current status of the relevant beliefs.

"Any act that violates the corresponding regulations will be deported or forced to work, exiled to a desert island or even executed according to the severity of the violation."

What this officer said before was all warnings. Although the content was rather strong and overbearing, most of the staff could understand it directly and understand how to deal with it.

But when it came to the last two, many people were confused, especially those who believed in the scene.

As a religious person, He Baolu directly raised his hand.

Jin Yiwei on the stage seemed to be looking at He Baolu:
"What's your problem?"

He Baolu asked with a bit of an Italian accent, but quite fluently in Daming's elegant language, and asked in confusion:

"Hello, officer, you just reminded that Daming pursues a policy of freedom of religious belief, but religious personnel are prohibited from using religious clothing and symbols, and are not allowed to publicly convey information about their beliefs. Is this inconsistent?"

The officer of Jinyiwei has encountered this kind of thing many times, and the corresponding explanation of the relevant regulations has long been familiarized, and now he directly responds:

"Absolute freedom of belief includes freedom to believe and freedom not to believe.

"It also includes the freedom to touch, and the freedom not to touch.

"Including the freedom not to be influenced by relevant information when the person is not yet able to judge.

"Daming's freedom of religious belief protects all people of faith.

"And the absolute liberty of those who wish to acquire their faith.

"But it does not include the freedom of those who live by faith.

"Any active dissemination of religious information is a violation of the freedom of others who do not want to have access to religious information."

Listening to this almost unreasonable explanation, there was a burst of suppressed discussion at the scene.

This so-called absolute freedom is completely opposite to what normal people understand.

But if you think about it carefully, it seems to be a bit logical. In fact, many people hate being preached by riding their faces.

He Baolu's expression was a bit complicated. In fact, he had heard about the relevant situation before, otherwise, as a religious person, he would not have had the opportunity to obtain an entry permit to enter the neighboring kingdoms of the Ming Dynasty.

He Baolu just didn't quite understand how Daming's successor law enforcement officers interpreted this regulation, how to match the regulation with the actual implementation and justify it.

Hearing this Jin Yiwei's explanation directly now, it can be regarded as a complete understanding of this logic.

Then He Baolu asked again and confirmed another situation:
"Since priests are not allowed to take the initiative to spread the Lord's gospel to others, how should lambs obtain corresponding services when they want to be saved?"

The officer of Jinyiwei continued to say of course:

"Applications can be submitted to the religious management departments of the yamen at all levels of the Ming government, and the staff of the management department will contact the corresponding religious service personnel for them to provide one-on-one services in a separate designated place."

Ordinary people around think that these regulations and operations are outrageous. If you want to seek faith, you have to go to the government yamen, let the yamen act as an intermediary, and God knows how the staff of the yamen will introduce these religions.

He Baolu's lips trembled slightly:
"Then... those lost lambs who don't know any religious information at all, how do they know which religion and sect to seek services from?"

The officer of Jinyiwei continued to take it for granted:

"The administrative departments of the yamen at all levels in the Ming Dynasty will provide a brief description of all legal churches, so that those who seek religious services can choose suitable objects to provide services."

He Baolu remembered the mission statement he got when he came here:

"Wait for the notification from the Religious Affairs Bureau of Johor Province, and preach to the designated personnel alone."

He Baolu thought that his task was to preach to some special people, maybe even the nobles and even members of the imperial family of Ming Dynasty, and there might even be corresponding people who were seeking this kind of service, and he would go to work after he came.

It turned out that the actual situation was not like that at all, and my task was to preach to ordinary people.

Moreover, there is no existing high-level task to do by myself. I have to wait for ordinary people to choose Roman Catholicism, and then I have the opportunity to "provide faith services."

This statement made He Baolu feel extraordinarily weird, and even thought of many inexplicable "services".

He Baolu felt that he was completely cheated, and this kind of task was a waste of time.

If you don't take the initiative to spread it, would the people of Ming Dynasty want to gain faith?

Even if you seek protection from gods, you will instinctively worship Bodhisattva, Dragon King, God, Mazu, God of Wealth, and Guan Erye. If you are a professional, you should go to Taoist temples and temples first.

How could he think of finding his own master?
He Baolu was a little annoyed and continued to ask:

"Ordinary people don't know the message of faith at all, how can they know that they need faith for salvation?"

The Jinyiwei officer directly asked:
"A person who doesn't know that he needs faith to be saved, does he really need the so-called faith to be saved?

"We protect the freedom to believe, the freedom not to believe, and the freedom not to be redeemed.

"You Taixi believers should learn from Taoists and pursue a way of letting nature take its course.

"Or learn from those great monks, and pay attention to a predestined method in everything.

"When predestined people really need salvation, they should naturally know that they need salvation.

"When someone needs your god's salvation, your god will naturally arrange for them to come to you to provide services.

"After all, is your god omnipotent...

"Okay, that's all I've said. Others can go. This Tessian, you changed your clothes."

Others left the scene one after another. Under the supervision of Jin Yiwei, He Baolu took off his priest's robe and the cross, and changed into ordinary clothes in his luggage.

After checking all the information again, he confirmed that his information was correct, and then a Jin Yiwei in his early 20s came over and led He Baolu out of the pier alone.

Other ordinary people were free, but even if He Baolu changed his clothes and decorations, he was still not completely free.

He was led to the Yamen of the Johor government office, and after turning around in the hall of the government office, he finally entered the location of the religious department that was hidden very deeply.

He Baolu paid special attention to it. There is no sign outside this road at all, and there is no written reminder.

Even inside this department, there are no religious decorations, it looks like a very ordinary office.

Jin Yiwei found a clerk and asked him to register information for He Baolu.

While He Baolu was waiting by the side, he tentatively asked the other party some questions:
"Hello, according to the instructions I have received, people who need religious services will get a basic introduction to each religion here. Can I guide how these introductions are done? Can I see the relevant introduction documents?"

The clerk on the opposite side glanced at He Baolu, and then took out a stack of documents from the lower drawer.

"Thank you."

After He Baolu thanked him, he took the document and opened it to look for the instruction of Catholicism first.

Then he saw a few paragraphs of introductions that looked like modern textbooks.

Who is the founder, the origin of the legend, the core teachings, and representative stories.

These are actually not bad, but the supplementary information later made He Baolu frown directly.

There is a lot of profanity recorded on it...

There is the logic of the church and the power of the Roman emperor, there is an introduction to the sacking of Constantinople by the Crusades, there is an introduction to the way the church makes money and indulgences, and the Reformation.

There is also what Daming exposed, the actions of the corrupt church personnel, and the incident of the little boy in the basement of the church.

There is also the spread of religion in the New World, the unspoken rule that those who have faith have souls, and those who do not have faith are not considered human beings.

Finally, there are some typical behaviors of believers.

All of them are very objective, using the style of recording history and news to explain the history and current situation of Catholicism.

He Baolu couldn't imagine that an adult would continue to seek salvation from the Catholic Church after reading these things...

As for the children...they are not eligible for faith services.

According to the law of Ming Dynasty, instilling religious information in any form to people who do not have the ability to judge is a violation of freedom of belief.

He Baolu continued to read the introductions of other religions, and found that they all had similar patterns.

The situation on the Protestant side is more complicated. On the basis of Catholicism, witch hunting is added, and there is also the matter of the King of England falling out with the church for divorce.

Finally, there are contradictions and disputes between different factions.

After looking at this comparison and introduction, He Baolu found that Protestantism seemed to be worse.

But overall it's pretty much the same.

In the end, He Baolu also found that even the local religions of Ming Dynasty and the traditional religions that have been spoken in local languages ​​are all introduced with the same logic, and there is no praise.

The temples merged and occupied land, controlled the population and labor force, deceived people, and raised money to rebel.

Taoism also has many broken things.

This is still a legal orthodox religion, which already makes people feel disillusioned.

Finally, there are some typical banned religions, or more extensive cults, which are also listed in official documents.

Of course, this kind of service is not provided as a contact, but to warn ordinary people not to contact.

It lists its actions, explains its main harm, and analyzes the other party's main methods of deception and evil.

These things give people the feeling that they are really evil.

After reading it, He Baolu felt that if a person who does not understand religion at all, after reading these religious introductions, he would probably choose to simply pay homage to Guan Erye and be done.

Participating in organized religion is making yourself uncomfortable.

The rise of Guan Yu's status in the gods began in the middle of the Ming Dynasty.

By the time of Wanli, it was already "the great emperor of the three realms who subdue the demons, Weiyuan, Tianzun, Guanshengdijun".

And enjoying a separate sacrifice, Yue Fei is just Guan Yu's subordinate.

As a professional religious person, or a person who will come to Daming to work, He Baolu certainly knows about these things.

Guan Yu's historical prototype is quite outstanding, as well as the folk blessing of acting novels.

The key is that there is no organization to discredit it, and it can truly be believed freely.

So it stands out from a bunch of religions.

From the perspective of religion itself, the mature monotheistic system of Catholicism is of course more mature and advanced than traditional natural beliefs and ancestor beliefs.

The control over believers, the influence over society, and the power that can be exerted are much stronger.

But because of this kind of control, this kind of social influence has been increasingly restricted.

The side effects brought about by the organization are also getting bigger and bigger, and the religious reform has also moved towards justification by faith.

Many systems in China and many wind speed habits seem to be relatively primitive and traditional.

But if you look deeper, you will find that that may be the ultimate direction.

Feeling that his thinking seems to be getting more and more complicated, He Baolu feels confused about his work.

(End of this chapter)