The Spirit Moves in Admiralty

Those watching video of the recent upheaval in the streets of Hong Kong may have been intrigued—or, in my case, electrified—by hearing the old Evangelical chant “Sing Hallelujah to the Lord.” Why are they all singing a Christian hymn? Is something going on religiously that we should know about?

And the usual media, the MSM, were as usual basically silent on this. Religion is anathema to them.

A piece in The Federalist, by an author who was born in China, seems to explain. The authorities had called the protesters “an angry mob,” justifying sending in muscle to clear the streets. According to Hong Kong’s basic law, religious gatherings are protected. So, make it a religious gathering.

And, I can say from personal experience, outdoor Christian gatherings are familiar in Hong Kong. I walked through the downtown core on a Sunday once. The streets were otherwise silent, but in every park or open space were the Filipina ayahs, singing and “Bible sharing.” It was a thing of beauty.

Apparently, the Hong Kong Chinese were watching.

So the protesters, although most of them were not Christian, took their cue from the Christian practice. Their assemblies were the model. No doubt they took up this particular hymn because it is easy to learn and to sing. Simple as that.

Or maybe not. The same Federalist author lauds the protesters for how remarkably orderly they were. Young protesters stayed late to clean up. At one point they parted like the Red Sea to let an ambulance through.

I had just watched, only hours before, a new video by a South African YouTuber lamenting at how the Chinese—mainland Chinese—showed no civic responsibility; how they spit and do other broadly unmentionable business in the street. He has seen someone distraught or assaulted, obviously in need of aid, and nobody would come to their aid. 

The contrast with the Hong Kong protests could not be more dramatic. What made the difference?

What else, but the example of Christianity? Not just from the many Filipinas who live among them, and own the city of a Sunday morning. The missionaries, too, have long been resident. Most Hong Kongers have gone to Christian schools. The difference we see here between the Hong Kong protests and the mainland is the difference between the social ethos promoted by Communism and Confucianism, on the one hand, and Christianity on the other.

There is a reason why China is a “low trust” society, and Canada and other Christian nations are “high trust.” According to traditional Chinese values, the family is everything. You do not care about those with whom you do not have some formal relationship. You owe them nothing.

Christianity stands apart from all other systems in believing in the brotherhood of man. Islam arguably does as well—but Islam tends to restrict brotherhood to fellow Muslims. Only Christianity has the parable of the Good Samaritan.

It really does matter. It is, as many Chinese seem to be realizing, the foundation for our generally far more orderly and better-functioning civil society. In which the weak are not abandoned or exploited.

There are indeed signs that ordinary China may be moving in general to Christianity. When I taught in China, students asked to come to church with me. When I taught Chinese teachers in Canada, the first thing many wanted to know was how they could get in contact with a local church.

Over the few generations since World War II, Korea has become 30% Christian—Christianity is now the single largest religion there.

If the lid came off, it looks as though the same thing might happen in culturally-similar China. We might have 450,000,000 additional Christians in the world, and China become the world’s largest Christian nation.

At the very moment Europe and America are taking a wrecking ball to their culture, and destroying their advantage.

Sing Hallelujah to the Lord.