Daming 1805

Chapter 385 Pride and Prejudice

The clerk of the Religious Management Office of Johor Province finished registering He Baolu's information and found that the other party was still looking through the information.

So I asked very casually and at the same time to arouse the other party's attention:
"Have you finished reading? Is there anything you need to add to your church materials?"

He Baolu woke up from his thoughts, and then boldly questioned:
"With all due respect, the introduction materials of your religious sects are compiled with malice and hostility by unbelievers who have a conflicting attitude towards beliefs.

"The implication of this document, that all religion is meaningless, is to make people who see this material lose interest in faith."

He Baolu thought that the other party would be angered by him, and he might be expelled.

However, the clerk on the opposite side asked blankly:

"Is your questioning mentality raised with hostility by religious believers who discriminate against unbelievers?"

He Baolu immediately explained:

"No, we will not discriminate against unbelievers, they are all lost lambs, children who need to be redeemed..."

The clerk immediately pointed to He Baolu and said:

"You're not calling yourself, are you?
"What makes you think unbelievers need your God's salvation?

"Why do you say that people who don't believe in your god are lost? This is a typical intimidating fraud.

"Also, you often compare people to sheep or livestock, which is the most direct insult.

"If someone goes to the Shicheng County Government to sue you for this, you need to make a public apology and pay compensation."

He Baolu suddenly collapsed:

"Render to Caesar what is Caesar's, and what is to God to God, this is a matter of faith, secular laws cannot be used..."

The clerk immediately interrupted He Baolu:

"Does your God refer to Haotian God?"

He Baolu was stunned for a moment:
"It refers to our god, not the Haotian Jade Emperor God..."

The clerk said with a straight face:

"I will now formally warn you once, according to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty's religious management regulations, the word "God" must not be used to refer to symbolic individuals in myths and legends other than Haotian Jade Emperor God.

"Except for the relevant departments of the Ming Dynasty, no sect shall use the name of God at will, and shall not interpret it as a symbolic individual of any other origin and sect.

"That is to say, it is not allowed to translate the god of your church into God or Tian, ​​only use God instead or transliterate it as Dous.

"This is the first time, so I was given a verbal warning. If found again, I will be fined and sent to labor camp. The third time I will be directly deported."

After the clerk finished speaking, he added a few notes to He Baolu's new file and recorded the matter.

He Baolu's Adam's apple twitched, realizing that he was agitated just now.

The Italian missionary, Matteo Ricci, translated the god of his own family into God and God, and claimed that the God that appeared in the ancient Chinese literature, the "Heaven" and "God" in traditional mythology, are essentially the same as the "only true God" of Catholicism. There is no difference.

So he started using God instead of their god.

This saying and usage was widely used by Catholic missionaries who came to the East.

But after Emperor Shizu of Ming Dynasty rebuilt Daming, this kind of behavior was clearly prohibited.

God can only be the Haotian Jade Emperor God in the traditional Chinese mythology.

Since He Baolu came to Daming to take charge of missionary missions, of course he also learned the relevant basic information.

Usually, I try my best to use Tianzhu or God as my address, but I accidentally said it when I was excited just now.

As a result, the topic is now completely off topic.

He Baolu didn't argue about whether he violated the rules, but worked hard to calm down:

"I'm sorry... I will pay attention to it in the future... It should be said that what belongs to the monarch belongs to the monarch, and what belongs to the gods belongs to the gods. Discussions about matters in the spiritual world should not be evaluated according to secular laws..."

The clerk shook his head directly and said:

"If you have only a spirit but no body, I can ignore whether you regard others as livestock.

"But your body is here, and your mouth is making a sound. Then, as an official of the Ming court, I have to let your mouth accept our Ming rules.

"No matter which god you belong to, if you come to my Da Ming territory, you must abide by the laws of Da Ming.

"By the way, I would like to remind you that you are not allowed to call others children without permission."

He Baolu was in a complicated mood, he opened his mouth several times to speak, but in the end he kept his mouth shut.

Because of his habitual rhetoric, according to the law of Daming that he just learned, it seems that there are problems everywhere.

The lamb is an insult, and from the perspective of a pure unbeliever, it can indeed be regarded as an insult.

Children can't use it casually, and the other party may not be willing to call himself a priest.

The original sin theory of being born with a sin...He Baolu didn't say it, but he realized that this might also be considered a threat and fraud.

From a completely objective point of view, it seems that this is indeed the case.

What sins can a good person, a newborn child, have...

Under the pressure of the powerful energy of Daming, He Baolu has mastered the method of empathy.

Otherwise it might have gone into a rage by now.

He Baolu worked hard to change his thinking:

"Thank you for your reminder, I have written it down, I will pay more attention to it in the future, and will not violate Daming's laws anymore.

"Also, I would like to ask, are all the staff members of Daming's religious management institutions unbelievers?"

The clerk opposite directly retorted:
"Why are they all unbelievers? I just believe in the Great God of the Three Realms, the God of Subduing Demons, Weiyuan Town Tianzun Guan Shengdijun, and I will be the new Mazu Empress."

He Baolu almost lost his grip again:

"This kind of panfaith is different from our church..."

The clerk immediately said:

"Why is it different? Because you have your own religious group, because you have a strict hierarchy and many rules?

"So you have the right to discriminate against people like us who you call so-called pan-believers from a certain angle?"

He Baolu worked hard to adjust his mentality:
"Sorry, it's my fault, I shouldn't have this kind of thinking, I should treat them equally.

"So, since you have faith, don't you think this document is full of prejudice?"

The clerk casually said:

"What is written on it is objective facts, why is it biased?"

He Baolu immediately said:

"This is overgeneralization, using the deeds of a few believers who made mistakes to represent the entire group of believers.

"There are lost among the Lord's believers, but it cannot be said that the whole group has problems.

"Among our brothers and sisters, there are more people who have a benevolent heart and have done countless good deeds.

"However, this document doesn't mention these things much, instead it focuses on the scum with a lot of bad deeds.

"Just like you believe in Guan Shengdijun, there must be bad people and good people among Guan Shengdijun's followers.

"You can't just write about bad guys and not good guys, can you?"

The clerk smiled and shook his head and said:
"It's different, Guan Di Shengjun has no church, and there is no distinction among believers.

"Whether it is bad or good, whether it is evil or good, but the behavior of the individual believer.

"But you have a church, and you have to hold regular religious activities to promote and strengthen your various ideas and behaviors.

"So your new map can be regarded as a whole, and all good and evil are shared by you.

"In particular, your clergy have their own rules and regulations, while our ordinary believers do not.

"That is to say, followers of Guandi Shengjun do not have the obligation to do good deeds and be cautious in their words and deeds, but your priests do.

"In other words, according to your system, you people are supposed to do good things, and doing bad things is unforgivable.

"Well, it is objectively unforgivable, but you must be able to forgive yourself. After all, is there an indulgence?"

He Baolu was speechless.

Seeing the other party's half-smile expression, He Baolu slowly realized one thing:
These staff deal with various religious personnel all day long, and their way of thinking is completely different from that of ordinary people.

The point is, they don't have any reverence for their own religion and gods.

And the members of their own religious churches do not pursue Buddhist scriptures like Buddhism and Taoism in China.

If I want to persuade the other party from any angle, it seems to be futile.

He Baolu was silent for a few seconds before changing the subject:
"Thank you for your advice. After the documents are processed, can I leave?"

The clerk is also not pestering at all:
"can."

He Baolu stood up and was about to leave, but after raising his foot, he thought of another question:
"Excuse me, I heard before that when I receive the notice in the future, I will preach to a specific person in a specific place. May I ask what is this specific place?"

The clerk answered casually:
"Inside your church."

He Baolu was taken aback again:
"The church... According to what I knew before I came to Daming, there should be at least one large church in Johor, but this church does not seem to be on Xingzhou Island in the Lion City..."

The clerk explained to He Baolu:

"Yes, it is not on Sin Chew Island where the Lion City is located, but on the opposite Batam Island. There are regular ferries to Batam Island at the pier."

Paul Ho is not very clear about how far away Batam is, but it is definitely not in the center of the Lion City and Johor Province:
"Can we apply to build a new church on Sin Chew Island?"

The clerk naturally said:

"No, the entire Xingzhou Island can be regarded as a downtown area. You monks should stay away from the world and go to the clean mountains to cultivate your body.

"The mountain closest to the Lion City is on the mainland across the strait in the north, and your church is at the foot of this mountain."

He Baolu felt in his heart that Daming was really making trouble for no reason.

Your temples and Taoist temples are used to being built in the mountains, so we cannot ask our churches to be built in the mountains too.

Your ordinary people will not go to temples and Taoist temples for a long time. Our believers must go to churches to worship regularly!

Then he explained almost subconsciously:
"Our priests don't need to stay away from the world, nor do they need to go to the mountains to cultivate themselves, that's the habit of Taoism and Buddhism.

"Our tradition is to live in cities, and churches should be built in residential areas so that believers can go there at any time."

The clerk replied, of course:

"In Daming, you have to abide by the rules of Daming, and monks in Daming have to stay away from the world, and you have to cultivate your body and mind.

"If you can't accept it, you can go back to your hometown and don't cause trouble in Daming.

"In addition, I remind you again that you can stay in the Lion City, but you must find an ordinary job as soon as possible.

"Or go directly to the church, live with other members of your church, and wait for the summons from the authority.

"Otherwise, staying in the Lion City for a long time without any job may be regarded as secretly preaching.

"You will be summoned regularly for investigation, and if abnormalities are found, you will be deported."

He Baolu did not ask why he, as a priest, had to find a normal job. The key point was that he could not preach.

I didn't ask again, how should the believers do their daily worship when the church is built in the mountain.

These questions are now moot.

He Baolu agreed with a complicated expression, and then left the government office with his new documents.

On the street outside Fuya, He Baolu thought about it for a long time, and finally decided to go to the church first.

Subconsciously, He Baolu wanted to go to the station and ask the people around him how to get to the church.

But the moment the words were about to come out, they were stopped.

He Baolu was a little skeptical that asking strangers about church affairs in public would violate Ming's laws.

So after hesitating, He Baolu went back to the management office and inquired carefully about the way to go to the church.

Take the train from the Lion City Railway Station, drive northward for more than 20 kilometers, and cross the railway bridge over the Johor Strait.

On the opposite side of the Malay Peninsula, continue to drive about ten kilometers north inland.

Got off the train in a small town and hired a carriage.

Driving more than ten kilometers northwest of the town, I came to a mountain village at the foot of a small hill.

Passed through the mountain village, entered the forest, and ran another two kilometers.Finally entered a mountain valley.

There is a rather huge yard in the middle of the canyon.

The carriage was at the gate of the big courtyard, and He Baolu, who was slightly motion sick, got out of the carriage and slowly moved to the gate of the courtyard.

The people in the compound are locked, and there are two passages on both sides of the door that can only be passed by one person in turn.

Next to the passage were two porters with small windows.

He Baolu followed the entrance passage to the concierge, and a middle-aged woman in her 40s came out:
"What are you doing? Do you know where this is?"

He Baolu handed over his identity document:
"I am... let me read the file..."

He Baolu swallowed his self-introduction because he remembered the advice he had heard before.

You cannot identify yourself in public.

The middle-aged woman on the opposite side read He Baolu's document, signed it, and then came back:

"go in."

He Baolu took back his identity documents and walked into the compound along the passage.

In the middle of the big yard is a small square, and there is a circle of small yards around the square.

The layout of the buildings in these small courtyards is exactly the same, and they are all Chinese traditional pavilion structures.

There are walls painted with red paint, buildings with cornices and brackets, and majestic and solemn stone statues.

All the courtyard doors are hung with wharf plaques, and peach charm couplets are hung on the door frames.

All the small courtyards are only different from the plaques and couplets.

He Baolu searched around and found a Roman Catholic "church" in the middle of the yards of the Persian Zoroastrianism and the Tianfang Sunni sect.

To be honest, if it weren't for the signboard, it would be difficult for He Baolu to connect this garden with the church.

It is a little persuasive to say that it is a temple or a Taoist temple.

There are indeed courtyards with Taoist and temple signs around.

This small square and most of the yard can be said to be very deserted.

Only those two temples and Taoist temples are occasionally visited by people.

There was no one outside the other courtyard gates.

Not only are there no believers and followers, but even the priests who should be in the garden will not show up.

He Baolu has already learned that priests are not allowed to wear religious clothing to go out, let alone talk to believers outside the door.

The reason was that it might have an impact on other church personnel.

It may constitute an act that violates the freedom of belief of others.

However, this may also have certain benefits, so that the personnel of various churches will not meet and fight.

(End of this chapter)